In My Mind I'm Goin' to Carolina

Was there ever anything so old as an old running back? As I watched the Panther running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, run roughshod over the poor, defenseless Bucs last night, I was able to appreciate the difference between some of these older backs, the Jamal Lewises and Freddie Taylors of the world, and the new breed of lightning fast, turn-on-a-dime, fake you out of your jock variety of back.

They made Ronde Barber look like an old plodder, on both sides of the field, and, if the thought of retirement had never occurred to him before, I’m sure last night he may have had his first. Both these fine young Carolina running backs made cuts that shouldn’t even be possible at the speed they were going.

I never really like to get into stats, you can read that anywhere, but these two romped for an average of seven yards per carry. Both of them. Most of it was done on their own. But that, I think, may be the key to controlling them. Don’t let them be on their own. That they made it that far, one-on-one with only a scared cornerback between them and paydirt, was the big mistake.

Our Giants may have some trouble on their hands, even with a healthy Brandon Jacobs and a Plaxico look-alike who can actually catch the friggin’ football. Because, even if they take the measure of everyone else in the league, they’ll still probably find Carolina at the end of the line, that line that separates the also-ran from the Super Bowl.

But there is hope. The Giants front seven is tougher and faster than that of the Bucs. They should make it tougher to find a seam, or to get around the end. They have some pretty tough tacklers in the secondary too, but I wouldn’t want to see them put to the test.

The really scary thing about the Panthers is that they can pass the ball too. Even with a not totally healthy Jake Delhomme, that Delhomme to Steve Smith combination is tough, very tough, and they’ve connected way too many times for any team facing them to think that they could maybe put eight men in the box. Smith would certainly demand double coverage, practically all the time.

And, oh yeah, the Panthers play pretty good defense too. They have the freaky Julius Peppers to deal with on their defensive line, and the other guys are no picnic either. Their defense is kind of suspect, though, as a few teams have discovered this year, but only those teams with strong running games themselves, and teams that could stop the run.

I’m speaking of Minnesota, who held them to ten points in a 20-10 win, and Atlanta, when Michael Turner lit them up for four big touchdowns in a wild 45-28 win. Their other loss was to the same Tampa team they dismantled tonight. That game was in Tampa and they were held to three points. The Bucs held both Panther running backs to a little over two yards per carry in that one, and there just weren’t that many carries, as the Panthers fell behind and had to pass. Delhomme was intercepted three times in that endeavor.

So, the key to beating them would seem to be to take an early lead, pound the ball at their defense, and stop their running game early. The Giants should be capable of that, but only if Jacobs comes back healthy, and Hixon starts catching the ball. Aside from the “x” in both their names, there just doesn’t appear to be that much similarity in their games.

All of this, of course, is looking way ahead, even though there are only three games left. The G-Men have to face the surprisingly tough Cowboys this week, and the Boyz may find the G-Men a soft touch after having to face the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Romo was running for his life most of the time, and I just haven’t seen that kind of pressure exerted by the Giants this year.

As the Cowboys have to win out to make the playoffs at all, the G-Men will be facing a terribly dangerous team. The loss of Plaxico hurts almost every phase of their game. Their running game suffers as the defense can focus on it. Their special teams suffer because Hixon may not have the same explosiveness if he has to run patterns all game. Their defense even suffers as the Giants may not be able to sustain drives to keep them off the field.
Antonio Pierce too was victimized a few times in the Sunday contest against the Eagles. One wonders what kind of effect his legal troubles may be having. It can’t be good. As leader of the defense, he has to set an example for his defensive teammates, and that’s kind of difficult if he’s not making plays himself.

So the Giants don’t have the cakewalk they appeared to have just a couple of weeks ago. The Eagles exposed their vulnerabilities. Our G-Men looked all too beatable, almost as defeatable as those crazy Jets.

The Jets would appear to be a schizophrenic team, beating the Pats and Titans only to lose to the Broncos and Niners. A closer look, though, uncovers even more serious problems than that. They cannot stop the passing game of their opponents.

The Titans tried to stuff the ball down the Jets’ throats. Their running game was effectively bottled up, and they didn’t resort to passing until the game was out of hand. The Pats have been hurting all year, and, even with that, Matt Cassel rang them up for 400 yards passing, and the Jets escaped with a 34-31 win.

So both the local teams should have a very trying end of season. The G-Men may lose their home game throughout the playoffs. The Jets may not make them at all. If it comes down to coaching, you have to like the Giants’ chances.