AUTHOR: Anthony Fucilli TITLE: A Must-Win Situation DATE: 11/24/2006 05:37:00 PM ----- BODY:

The New York Giants return to the field this weekend at Tennessee. The Titans are an opponent that, all of a sudden, like Jacksonville, poses an interesting matchup. Tennessee is coming off a win at Philadelphia. They have also beaten the Redskins this year. They now have a chance to vanquish yet another NFC East opponent when the Giants arrive in Nashville at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday in a must-win situation. Tennessee's defense has been lit up this year. However, they showed flashes of brilliance against the high-powered Indianapolis Colts. Vince Young and the Titans have also shown that if they limit their mistakes, they can be a thorn in their opponents' side. But this week is more about the Giants finding out what caliber team they really are. Some people have said that they should open up the game in a no-huddle situation. I say, no. The Giants need to get back to basics. A no-huddle offense puts even more strain on the and already banged-up Giants defense. However, I often say, if you're going to be strong, be strong up the middle. And the core of the Giants defense in the middle of the field remains in tact. Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield are still the defensive tackles, defensive MVP Antonio Pierce patrols the field at middle linebacker, and Will Demps and Gibril Wilson are the hard-hitting safeties. But anytime you get into a run-and-gun situation with your offense, you run the risk of not allowing your defense to get enough rest by constantly having them on the field. The Giants need to keep their defense off the field for as long as possible. They need to be proficient on the ground with both Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs in short yardage situations. Jacobs adds a much-need physical element to the Giants' ground attack. Focusing on pounding their opponents early with the run should greatly benefit Eli Manning and the passing attack as well as the Giants defense, proving them some down time. Instead of putting more pressure on Eli Manning by implementing a no-huddle offense, having him throw pass after pass followed by the occasional draw play, the Giants must be physical early with the running game. Eli Manning does function well in a no-huddle situation. Therefore, there are times in the game where the no-huddle can and should be utilized in order to compliment the Giants' physical ground game. The Giants need to find a way to get their players to perform at a peak level. They also need to find a way to restore confidence to Eli Manning. The best thing they can do is to get the ball early to Jeremy Shockey. The likes of 6'6" playmaker Plaxico Burress and little-used slot receiver Tim Carter must also actually catch the passes that are thrown in their direction. Carter must not invisible throughout Sunday's contest. These are the ways in which you get your quarterback into a rhythm. Eli Manning isn't going to hit his receivers between the numbers on every pass attempt. All quarterbacks have to back-pedal, side-step, and continuously run from pressure at times. So not every ball is going to be thrown perfectly. going to be between the numbers. But no one can tell me that the two passes that Eli Manning threw to Plaxico Burress could be thrown any better. And that's how you lose confidence offensively. When you lose the opportunity to put a defense back on its heels by dropping sure catches, you give your opponents confidence. The Giant receivers dropped those passes last week and with that, they gave the Jacksonville Jaguars confidence. And because the Jaguars were so confident that they could take Eli Manning's abilities out of the game, the Giants failed to generate many points. The Giants need to make the plays when they present themselves. And they must do that against a struggling Tennessee team, who although they have played better, still have a record of 3-7. The Giants have no one else to blame but themselves for their recent struggles. In Week 11 in the National Football League, everyone has injuries. As I told you in the beginning of the year, if the Giants had a chance at 6-4 to go to Tennessee and play against a rookie quarterback in Vince Young, most fans would say, where do I sign up? Now the Giants need to go out there and prove that they're a first place team. SURPASSING THE LEVEL OF MEDIOCRITY As far as the Jets are concerned, the task is much different. They have to play against a team that on paper, hasn't been successful. But this Houston team has beaten Jacksonville twice. The Jets were kicked around by the Jaguars, 41-0. If anything gets the attention of this Jets football team, it would be that one fact. This Texans team is capable of playing physical and matching the intensity of a very determined opponent. That's something that the Jets have to prove that they can do. The Jets have already had two opportunities to do so. One came at Jacksonville, and the other at home against Chicago. In most situations during both of those games, the Jets were bullied. The Bears put an awful lot of pressure on Chad Pennington last week. As a result, Chad was picked off quite a bit. Chad needs to get back to being what he's been throughout his career. And that's a very efficient, heady quarterback that commits very few turnovers in the red zone. The Jets don't generate many opportunities to score with their offense. However, when they do get those opportunities, they need to cash in. Chad Pennington is one of the smarter quarterbacks in the NFL. There's no excuse when he repeatedly turns it over. The physical nature of the Chicago Bears and the continuous pressure that they put on Chad Pennington forced him to get rid of the ball about a half second sooner than he would have liked. And interceptions followed soon after. But this week against Houston poses an interesting matchup in the trenches. It's D'Brickishaw Ferguson vs. Mario Williams, a matchup between two top draft picks that comes along with much hype. Fortunately for both players, neither is where they will be potentially in their careers. And although these two won't see each other on every play, it should be fun to watch these two rookies battle. This Houston team can hang around if their opponents allow them to. As long as the Texans don't shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers, the Jets could be staring a fourth quarter deficit. Especially if the Jets fail to limit turnovers of their own. The Jets have found a way to give team after team an opportunity to run the ball. And that's what Houston needs. They need to establish Wali Lundy against this Jets defense. If they can do that, they will no longer be one-dimensional. Andre Johnson will run wild in the Jets secondary if he only draws man coverage. That is a situation that the Jets don't want to be in. They can blitz David Carr who has been a turnover waiting to happen. But if the Jets don't stop the run, and David Carr is allowed to operate in and out of the pocket, it'll be a long day for Eric Mangini and company. Let's see if the Jets are better than that 5-5 record, or if they're just a team that's very average right now.

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