Giants Daily Blitz Blog

Week 7 Fantasy Football Grades

The views expressed in this article are not of the New York Football Giants but those of an independent Fantasy Expert.

Andrew Luck: 198 total yards, 2 Touchdowns, fumble

Luck’s performance on Sunday was not his best of the year. But he did manage to rush for two of his touchdowns, which was huge and made up for an otherwise average passing day.  The rookie quarterback has shown the threat of running as well as throwing.

(Arrow Up)

Felix Jones: 74 total yards

Jones wasn’t anything spectacular as most anticipated because he had to leave the game before the half was even over. Still he didn’t by any means have a bad week with five catches for 30 yards and 44 yard rushing before being diagnosed with bruised knee and not returning to action.

(Arrow Up)

Stephen Hill: 4 catches, 55 yards, 7 targets

Hill had a productive day with the most targets he has received all season.  Though he only had 55 yards, Sanchez looked his way seven times, which was good enough for second behind Kerley’s 11. It is clear that Hill has the talent. Now we just need to see the productivity when the game is on the line, where he was unable to do vs. New England.

(Arrow Neutral)

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Power Rankings Roundup

With their 27-23 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday, the Giants improved to 5-2 and maintained sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

Here’s a look at what outlets across the nation are saying about the Giants and how they stack up in our weekly power rankings roundup.

NFL.COM POWER POLL

NYG: 3
Previous: 2
Comments: One first-place vote. Voters include Gil Brandt, Bucky Brooks, Charley Casserly, Heath Evans, Daniel Jeremiah, Michael Lombardi, Willie McGinest, Shaun O’Hara, Gregg Rosenthal, Darren Sharper, Kurt Warner, Brian Webber, Steve Wyche.
NFC East: No. 13 Eagles (previously 11), No. 14 Cowboys (17), No. 15 Redskins (16)

CBSSPORTS.COM

NYG: 4
Previous: 5
Comments: “They have to get out of the habit of playing down to the competition, especially at home. That defense still has some major problems.” (Pete Prisco)
NFC East: No. 13 Eagles (14), No. 15 Cowboys (19), No. 21 Redskins (20)

ESPN

NYG: 2
Previous: 3
Comments: “Befuddled most of the day by RG3 and the Redskins, the Giants still somehow managed to win. It’s what they do.” (Dan Graziano)
NFC East: No. 13 Eagles (13), No. 15 Cowboys (18), No. 18 Redskins (15)

FOX SPORTS

NYG: 4
Previous: 5
Comments: “Eli Manning’s 23rd fourth-quarter comeback came on a 77-yard catch-and-run to Victor Cruz. To put that into perspective, Tom Brady has 25 fourth-quarter comebacks.” (Brian Billick)
NFC East: No. 13 Cowboys (10), No. 14 Redskins (11), No. 17 Eagles (15)

AP PRO 32

NYG: 2
Previous: 2
Comments: Two first-place votes. Who voted? A national panel of 12 voters was created by The Associated Press from the 50 sports writers and broadcasters who choose the NFL’s individual awards at the end of the season.
NFC East: No. 13 Redskins (13), No. 14 Eagles (12), No. 15 Cowboys (19)

Top 10 Tuesday: Interceptors

In this edition, Giants.com takes a look at the Top 10 Interceptors in franchise history.

CLICK TO VIEW PHOTO GALLERY OF TOP 10 INTERCEPTION LEADERS

Daily Blitz: Inside the two-minute drill

Eli Manning didn’t need to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ to learn what makes a live audience tick. He picked that up from football.

If you do something good, the fans clap. If you do something remarkable, they stand up and cheer. That’s what he had to rely on Sunday as he was decked to the turf in MetLife Stadium on the 77-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz.

“You can kind of hear it as you throw it,” Manning told Mike Francesa during his weekly spot on WFAN. “And then you’re kind of getting hit and you hear the crowd kind of stand up. That’s when they see, hey, he’s throwing it deep and Vic’s open. And then you’re hearing them cheering and then the cheering gets really, really loud. That’s when you know, hey, he might be running this thing. I got up in time to see him running into the end zone and obviously we hit a big play.”

He added: “I guess it’s pretty unique to think about that when you throw a pass, everybody gets to see the catch. Everybody watching the game gets to see the throw, sees the catch, except the one person that throws the ball.”

The long touchdown led to Manning’s 21^st regular-season comeback victory in which the Giants rallied from a deficit or tie in the fourth quarter. Along the way, he and the coaches found out how to best prepare for those situations during the week.

“We have a meeting,” Manning said. “One of our meetings is, hey, in a two-minute this is what we’re going to run, these are the plays that we’ll call on the line of scrimmage, these are the plays that we can huddle up and call that might be a little bit different formation or guys in different spots. And then these are the coverages that they play, what they do on third down, and so you study those circumstances.

“So the plays that we ran, a lot of them in the two-minute drill are your base plays. It’s plays you run all the time. It might be plays you run on third down a lot or first down that everybody knows what to do. They should be playing fast. It’s not like a brand new play that all of a sudden if they play a different coverage, guys might not react real quickly. You want guys just seeing and reacting quickly, not having to think and the plays you feel very comfortable with.”

QUICK HITS

» Upon Further Review: Redskins Game

» Coach Tom Coughlin and Giants players speak to the media a day after their win against the Washington Redskins

» Key plays from Giants vs. Redskins

» Cruz uses rear-view mirror on long TD

» WATCH: Giants News Flash – 10/22