Deja...Blue!!! A great win, but we still have one more to go

The prediction here is that Eli does not have to win this game for us. He manages the game, limits the turnovers, and lets the defense do its thing. GIANTS 20 49ERS 10. (The Jewish Star, sports column, January 19, 2012).

I don’t mean to gloat, but there are a lot of columnists getting paid a lot more than I am, who were a lot farther off than I was. Now that I have that prediction, as well as the more general prediction of the path to victory over the Packers, on my resume’, I think what I have to say this week will be accepted with the necessary seriousness.

For many years, I have attended my son, Menashe’s, ice hockey games. Over that time, Menashe has described me as the father who “only sees what I did wrong, never crediting me for how well I played.” Menashe was partially right. There were many times when he was clearly the best player on the ice. However, there were many times when his level of effort and quality of decision making would have left him at a tremendous disadvantage against a higher quality opponent. As his #1 fan, I felt it was my responsibility to point out some of his flaws.

With that introduction, I would like to praise the Giants for one of the gutsiest playoff performances I have ever seen. In conditions that beckoned every ball handler to put the pigskin on the ground, they had zero turnovers. Against a defense that was head and shoulders above any defense they’ve faced since the last 49ers game, they found a way to score 20 points. They went into San Francisco with one goal, and they achieved that goal. We are going to the Super Bowl!!

If we coach and execute in Indianapolis the same way we did in San Francisco….we will surely go home as Super Bowl losers. I appeal to Tom Coughlin to heed my advice and give some serious thought to some of the points I’m about to bring up.

Tom…can we come up with a better play for 3rd or 4th and 1. No matter what team we play; no matter which player gets the ball; we cannot get that yard. May I recommend abandoning the run completely or coming up with a running play that doesn’t start five yards behind the line.

Can David Baas go one game without a major mistake? Is it my imagination, or did our offensive line start playing better when he was out with his headache? That holding call on the 49er 12 yard line very easily could have cost us the game.

I can’t believe how many years I have been complaining about this. Can someone send Eli Manning the next play with enough time to get to the line and change it. Why are the Giants always fighting to avoid a delay of the game penalty? Why do we have to waste at least one timeout every game because we ran out of time? I’m certain the timeout we wasted at the 12 minute mark of the second quarter would have come in very handy before halftime. In fact, if we had that timeout, we may have been able to score a touchdown, rather than run out of time, and be stuck with a field goal.

While we are on the subject of timeouts, Tom, you have to be smarter with your 4th quarter use. From football 101 comes the concept that you should use your timeouts during the last few minutes of the game to assure that you will have enough time to score on your last possession. From football 102 comes the concept that you don’t want to have so much time left as to allow your opponent the opportunity to have the ball after you. So please Tom, look back at that timeout you took with three minutes left, and realize that you gave the 49ers two more chances to score after using it.

I also would like to know what you were thinking on 4th and 4 from the 49er 46 with 27 seconds left. Against a team that never turns the ball over; against a team that you have not been able to move the ball against, do you really want to send the game to overtime, when you are one first down away from an opportunity for a game winning field goal? I’m thankful that it didn’t cost us the game, but you have to go for the win there!!

Tom…what happened before the winning field goal!!! After running Ahmad Bradshaw three times, risking a fumble, to gain extra yardage for Lawrence Tynes, how can we possibly take a delay of game penalty!! That was a “twilight zone” play. It simply cannot happen!

Overall Tom Coughlin deserves all the credit he is getting for leading the Giants to the Super Bowl. I believe they pulled out this game in spite of some of these coaching miscues. As I told Menashe, we got away with it this week, but against a better team, who we will see in the Super Bowl, any coaching mistakes could lead to a regretful defeat.

I’m certain many of my readers are anxiously awaiting my Super Bowl pick. I have decided to focus this week’s article on the NFC championship game and save my Super Bowl breakdown for next week.

Going into this week’s championship game, many commentators brought up the last time these two teams played in San Francisco for the right to go to the Super Bowl. In January 1991, the Giants beat the 49ers 15-13 on their way to their second Super Bowl championship. Ironically, the two teams who faced each other this Sunday were exactly the opposite of the two teams who played 21 years ago. In 1991, with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, the 49ers had a powerful offense capable of putting huge numbers on the scoreboard. The Giants, on the other hand, had a smothering defense, a solid running game, and counted on their quarterback to play a mistake free, conservative game to make sure he didn’t lose it. Even more ironically, it turned out that the two games ended the same way. A huge fumble by the 49ers led to a “walk off” field goal by the Giants.

The 49ers had the Giants beat just the way they beat 14 other teams this year. They won the field position battle thanks to their great defense and incredible special teams. Alex Smith and Vernon Davis did just enough to give the 49ers what they needed to win. But the Niners didn’t count on the Giants’ special teams showing up. A year after we had to hold our breath every time Matt Dodge went back to punt the ball, Steve Weatherford stepped up with huge punt after huge punt in the biggest game of his life. Thanks to Kyle Williams’ knee, and Jaquan Williams’ long reach, the Giants got the two breaks they needed to pull out the win.

Now a moment on Eli Manning. I owe Trent Dilfer a huge debt of gratitude. I was so happy with the big win, but I was down on Eli. In spite of the continuous stream of praise heaped on Eli from the FOX broadcasters, I was seeing right through it. Over the last ten minutes of the game, Eli had FIVE opportunities to bring the Giants within field goal range. It looked as if he could have had FIFTY FIVE opportunities and would have been scoreless. Kyle Williams bailed out the entire Giant team, but no one more than Eli Manning. Or so I thought. That night, about an hour after the game, I heard Trent Dilfer claim that this was the best game he’s ever seen Eli play. When you combine the high level of the 49er defense, and the brutal hits that Eli took throughout the game, with the horrendous field conditions, it is amazing that Eli could have gone back to pass 64 times, and not turned the ball over once (of course he had a fumble and two “sure” interceptions dropped). I am convinced. I am relieved that we still have our eli-te quarterback intact.

So, just like the Giants, I am spending this week celebrating the NFC championship. Next Monday it is back to work preparing for the final “biggest” game of the year.

GO BIG BLUE!!!

In honor of the Giants Super Bowl Run, Seasons of Lawrence is offering some amazing game day specials.

Check out our website at SeasonsNY.com, and call Shiv, 516 295 3300 to place your orders!

Send any Big Blue questions or comments to bbsupersol@aol.com.

About the writer..Benjy Schreier is best known locally for his close to thirty years managing Supersol, and now Seasons. He lives in Woodmere, with his wife, Penina, who is a co-founder of Gan Ami, a popular nursery program in Cedarhurst. Their children, Menashe, 21, Batya, 16, Dalia 15, and Hillel, 14 have kept up the Big Blue tradition that has made Benjy one of the most recognized Giant fans in the area. His video presentation, “The Giants 2007 Playoff Run..the plays that no one talks about” is a staple in every Giant fan’s video library. In addition, he was a semi finalist in the WFAN “Fantasy Phenom” contest this past year.