5 Keys To A Giants Victory over New Orleans- Week 6

Hello SportSpacers! What a crazy week it has been! Sorry for the lack of 5 Keys last week. I figured since we played the Oakland Raiders, most of you would be able to figure out the 5 Keys pretty easily. For those that are new to football I'll recap the 5 Keys to beating Oakland now: 1) Make sure the Giants take the bus to Giants Stadium. 2) Make Sure NY Giants get off the bus to Giants Stadium. 3.) Make sure uniforms are on correctly. 4.) Make sure the entire team doesn't go blind. 5.) Make Sure the Giants don't all die from laughter after watching the worst-team ever. Seriously though, that was not even enjoyable to watch. What was enjoyable was me parading around Philadelphia in full Giants gear, seeing "Wind" at the hotel in Philly and getting a pound, (please use appropriate definition...pause!) and watching the NY Yankees take care of buisness against the Minnesota Twins. Between the Yankees, Rangers, NY Giants and start of Knicks pre-season it has been a busy week for the fans of NY. Speaking of fans and being busy, NY Giants Girl Reby Sky has been on a whirlwind tour this week. According to her twit page she's been on Howard Stern and CBS. Ok, Ok back to business. After 3 straight wins over sub-par teams whose combined record is 1-14 I'd say the G-Men are in for a significant challenge against one of the NFC's best teams the New Orleans Saints. What makes this week so difficult is that there are so many things to discuss. That is why we have the 5 Keys! To cut through all the crap, and get to the point. In the spirit of getting down to business I present to you the: 5 Keys To A Giants Victory over New Orleans- Week 6

1) Don't take a trip to the "Sharper Image" For those of us who live and breathe Giants football, we know that there are certain players who kill the Giants; Guys like Brian Westbrook, Emmitt Smith in the 90's and on defense one player that comes to recent mind is Darren Sharper. Some quick stats; in his 13 year career Sharper has 59 Int's. In 2005, Sharper had a 3 Int game against the G-Men with one of those going for 6 on a 92yd return. He followed that up in 2007 taking one of Eli's 4 Int's 20 yards for the score. When asked why he likes abusing the Giants he said "maybe the real reason like 6 years ago the Giants tried to offer me a contract and it was a little bit bad so I kind of held a little grudge." Coming off of a bye where Darren took Mark Sanchez pass for a score after reading his eyes the whole way, it is imperative for Eli to look off his recievers, make quick decisions, and fire the ball in there. Also with the loud crowd noise in the SuperDome for such a big game, I anticipate Eli to be going with silent counts, and many audibles to counter-act the noise. With the Giants propensity for Delay-of-Games penalties, Eli must now add another thing to check for before the snap...Where is Darren Sharper. Eli needs to know where Sharper is at all times. The Giants can also help neutralize Sharper with a solid run game which would bring him closer to the line. For the Giants to win this week, Eli Manning CANNOT throw an interception to Darren Sharper.

2.) Kevin Gillbride vs. Gregg Williams Many people think the Saints are a contender this year. I agree. One of the major questions marks they have always had is their ability to play defense. Nobody has questioned their fire-power on offense, with Colston, Bush, and Brees...Well maybe they question Brees.. (What is that thing?) After hiring Gregg Williams in the off-season the changes to the defense have been evident early on. They have gone from 17th to 7th in rushing defense and from 23rd to 11th in passing defense. Also, they are the 3rd best in the NFL this year as a scoring defense. As per usual over the last few years the Giants have an extremely potent offense. 2nd in Scoring, 4th in Rushing, and 9th in Passing. Although the stats are good they could be even better. A putrid red-zone offense which I have been talking about for weeks (8-24TD to "Green Zone" trips ratio), and Kevin Gillbride's lack of creativity with the play-calling has created some real question marks for me. Typically on early downs with Brandon Jacobs in the game, the Giants well..they run straight ahead into the line. This has been effective, but against the Saints and Greg Williams who loves to run blitz early, Kevin needs to get aggresive. Some quick slants & rb screen passes (with Jacobs in the game) on first down should help neutralize the aggressive play calling and loosen things up for Jacobs later on in the game. As part of a play calling package, I'd like to see Keving Gillbride turn over the keys to the offense to Eli Manning and say "Eli, lets go no huddle." This will force the Saints to call their own plays, and not allow them to substitute as frequently. For the Giants to win this week, Kevin Gillbride has to out-coach, out-think, and out- work Gregg Williams.

3.) "Battle of The Special Teams" Man, do I hate myself for writing this. Really, I do. That cliche is so over used I might even erase it. Ok, so I'll strike it for effect. But seriously this week, with these two teams, this battle will go a long way to determining the outcome. The Giants are a team that is very weird on Special Teams. They lead the league in Field Goals, and have the fewest Punt Per game than anyone. However they are last in Kick Returns. The Saints on the other hand have a kicker, who Giants fans are familiar with, John Carney. In past articles I have made a plea for a better kicker than Tynes, who although he has a good leg, scares me with his accuracy. Carney's long field goal on the year is 39yds. Additionally the Saints are 30th in Kick Return Defense. So what does all this mean? It means the following. a) The Giants would go a long way by averaging at least 30 yards per kick return, which would double their season average, and against a bad kick return defense a TD is not out of the realm, especially with Hixon healthy again. b) try and make John Carney hit long field goals. Even with Garrett Hartley returning and the Saints carrying 2 kickers (Giants did last year) Carney is still going to handle the FG duties. The Giants would help their cause by making Carney test his leg late in the Game if they can hold the Saints from picking up yards on 3rd and longs in their half of the field. That means the Giants D needs to make it a KEY to attack New Orleans to keep them from picking up a yard or two, when that could be all Carney needs to eek one over the uprights. I have a feeling Tynes is going to have to kick a game-winner in the SuperDome. So Mr. Clutch (no not him) Lawerence Tynes, prove my dislike of you wrong...Please?

4) Hold Jeremy Shockey to under 70 yds and 0 TD's Words can't express how much I loved Jeremy Shockey when he was a Giant. His brash behavior and catches over Brian Dawkins were memorable. I knew when Jerry Reese traded him, it was the right move. We got a lot for him (Terrell Thomas & Jonathan Goff), and he could not stay healthy. Shockey will undoubtedly want some form of revenge against his ex-mates. With as many weapons as the Saints have, Shockey presents another challenge as a mobile tight end, and it is crucial that the Defense, especially Antonio Pierce understands that Shockey is a big threat. Since our safeties, Johnson, and Brown will likely be giving help to turf burner Devery Henderson and Marques Colston, Pierce will most likely be 1 on 1 with JShock. I'd say hit him hard and hit him early, and make him know if he catches a ball, its going to hurt a whole lot.

5) Giants Over 200 yards Rushing They say the best defense is a good offense, and this is the week I want the Giants to show the NFL that they are THE BEST TEAM IN FOOTBALL. By establishing a smart running attack and controlling the line of scrimmage the Giants can keep Brees off of the field by controlling the game clock. This week, I expect Brandon Jacobs even though he is CBSSports' sit of the week in fantasy, to have a huge game, especially in the 2nd half. As I eluded to in the 2nd Key, Jacobs should be prepared to block the run-blitz on first down, and keep fresh for a 2nd half when I expect him to control the tempo of the game. Since Bradshaw is the shiftier back, I'd like to see Ahmad used in the 1st half a lot more, and avoid the run blitz with some screen catches and shifty footwork. If the Giants rush for over 200 yards they will assuredly win the game.

Prediction: Giants 27, Saints 24 (Tynes hits one with 2 minutes to go)