Giants Daily Blitz Blog

Inside the Locker Room: Heading to Dallas

DE Jason Pierre Paul
On containing Tony Romo…
“He’s an elusive quarterback, basically. He’s not like a Michael Vick, he’s not like an RGIII. He does have some elusive skills and you have to be careful when you’re rushing him.”

WR Victor Cruz
On Week One performance…
“I don’t really think about that game very much, I just want to continue playing the same way I’ve been playing these past couple of weeks. Put some positive things out there, so that’s what I’m focused on now not Game One.”

WR Hakeem Nicks
On recovery since Week One…
“I look at the San Fran game, then look at the Redskins game, I ran a whole lot better than I did that first game. Each week, I get a lot better.”

Tackle Will Beatty
On traveling to Dallas…
“We play against great teams every week, going down there and their home crowd, you got the noise advantage on their side but it’s still football.”

Cruz uses rear-view mirror on long TD

Justin Tuck’s grille received a lot of attention this year. But what about Victor Cruz’s rear-view mirror?

The wide receiver’s accessory takes up more space — 3,540 square feet to be exact – and there are four just like it at his disposal.

Perched in each corner inside MetLife Stadium is a 30-by-118 video board, showing what you’d normally expect to see at a professional sporting event. But during live action, there is a feed of the game playing on the massive screens. That comes in handy when you’re a player who has now broken five touchdowns of 65 yards or more in that stadium.

Cruz, just like he did on his 99-yard touchdown against the Jets last season, used the big boards again to his advantage on Sunday when he broke a 77-yard score late in the game to put the Giants ahead of the Redskins. Without having to physically turn his head, he was able to look at the board and survey the field for any objects closing in on him.

“In college I didn’t have a jumbotron like that,” Cruz, a UMass product, said Monday. “Now that I do, I use it because when you’re looking back, it slows you down. So if you can look up and you can kind of see how far the guy is behind you, it’s easier that way.”

Cruz was using the generic term, but the video displays were actually manufactured by Daktronics and placed inside the stadium before it opened in 2010.

That was the same season Cruz signed with the Giants as an undrafted rookie. And since then, he also used the boards against Seattle, when he posted a 68-yard touchdown, and Dallas, for a 74-yarder, during the 2011 campaign.

Inside the Locker Room: Prepping for the Redskins

DE Justin Tuck: 
On a difficult matchup…
“The game is going to come down to the wire, a game we’re going to have to play our best ball to have a chance to win and they’re going to be motivated too…”

Safety Antrel Rolle: 
On containing the Redskins’ offensive weapons…
“You know they’re a great football team. They beat us twice last year and they’ll be a better football team this year, so we definitely have our work cut out for those guys. They bring a lot of things to the offensive board…”

WR Victor Cruz: 
On being motivated after two losses last year… 
“It’s a new year and it’s a new team and you should be motivated to play any division foe so I think that in itself should be motivation for us”

DE Jason Pierre-Paul:
On preventing big plays… 
“We’re going to make the play calls that try and stop everything they’re doing and you know, it’s going to be a hard game, like I said last week, it’s going to be a hard game. Each game that we play is hard so we’re just going to go out there and play our best football.”

Giants take lead on Cruz TD

SECOND QUARTER

15:00 — Giants begin the second quarter with the ball on their own 28.

14:02 — Prince Amukamara INTERCEPTS Alex Smith’s deep pass intended for Walker. Giants take over on their own 33.

*The interception was Amukamara’s first of the season and second of his career. It was Smith’s second interception of 2012.

12:35 — Eli Manning goes deep on third-and-6 and hooks up with Domenik Hixon for a 39-yard gain.

10:08 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. Manning finds Victor Cruz in the end zone for a six-yard score. XP is GOOD. NEW YORK 7, SAN FRANCISCO 3 (Drive: 7 plays, 67 yards in 3:50)

8:10 — Jason Pierre-Paul stops the 49ers’ ensuing drive with a sack for a loss of nine yards on third down. He has 2.5 on the season.

6:53 – Back from injury, Hakeem Nicks hauls in his second catch of the game for a 16-yard gain.

3:04 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Lawrence Tynes makes a 34-yard attempt. NEW YORK 10, SAN FRANCISCO 3 (8 plays, 51 yards in 4:34)

1:47 — Deep pass intended for Mario Manningham falls incomplete. 49ers forced to punt and Giants take over on their own 21.

0:15 — Giants drive down to the 49ers’ 22, but Lawrence Tynes has his 40-yard field goal attempt blocked.

0:11 — Kaepernick completes a 36-yard pass to Manningham, setting up a field goal attempt before halftime.

0:02 — Akers misses his second field goal of the game, this time from 52 yards (wide left).

0:00 — GIANTS 10, 49ERS 3

Inside the Locker Room: Ready for a Tough Matchup

WR Victor Cruz
On Eli’s toughness in the NFC Championship game last year…
“It was inspirational for me, seeing him pick himself up off the ground time and time again and just being strong and going through the game and understanding that it’s going to be a knockdown fight and that we just have to keep pushing and keep going.”

DE Jason Pierre-Paul
On facing the 49ers again….
“You know, they’re motivated to beat us. I know, they’ve got a chip on their shoulders…after all we did beat them in the conference championship game and we’re going to go back there and they’re going to give us their all and we’re going to get ready for it and it’s going to be a fight. [They’re] probably the toughest team we’re going to play this year. It’s going to be a good game.”

Tackle Will Beatty
On being overlooked….
“It happens a lot with us, you see we have injuries, Giants are up and down and it’s like no one really sees it and then we go out there and it’s like we, we know what we got in this locker room and we’re just going out there and playing for each other.”

WR Domenik Hixon
On returning to San Francisco…
“It’s going to be a physical, four quarter game. There’s no doubt about it and we’re coming in with that mindset, that it’s going to be physical for four quarters.”

Vote Subway “Extra Effort” Player of the Game

Following the Giants’ 41-27 victory over the Browns, it’s time to vote for the Subway “Extra Effort” Player of the Game. Here are the nominees and their performances:

QB Eli Manning

25/37, 259 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT, 103.3 RTG

Manning is no stranger to comebacks; he just didn’t wait until the fourth quarter this time. Overcoming an early deficit, Manning guided the offense to a 20-point second quarter to take the lead and never looked back. Along with three passing touchdowns, Manning and the offense put together 30 first downs, including 6 of 11 on third down conversions. VOTE NOW

RB Ahmad Bradshaw

30 ATT, 200 YDS, 1 TD, 37 LG

On a mission to erase a fumble on the first play of the game, Ahmad Bradshaw did that and more with a career day. The sixth-year running back pounded away for 200 yards on 30 carries. Falling behind 14-0, the Giants worked back to tie it 17-17 in the second quarter with Bradshaw’s four-yard touchdown. He had a long of 37 yards midway through the third quarter. VOTE NOW

WR Victor Cruz

5 REC, 50 YDS (10.0 AVG), 3 TD, 28 LG

Cruz made the most of his five receptions, turning three of them into touchdowns. It was the first time in his career he found the end zone that many times, increasing his touchdown total to five on the year. VOTE NOW

Inside the Locker Room: Gearing up for the Browns

QB Eli Manning
On looking forward to Cleveland…
“Each game you learn from it, we did some good things, there’s things we need to clean up and we’re looking forward to having a home game and a One O’ Clock start and facing a good team. Their defense has done well, a lot of turnovers, a lot of sacks. They’ve played every game close so we got to make sure we have a great week at practice and go out there and play great football.”

WR Victor Cruz
On potentially overlooking an 0-4 team…
“No, I don’t think so, not for us. We understand that this is a must win for us. We got to come in, ready to play, prepared, and we got to have all our weapons handy and go in there and play a good game and win.”

WR Domenik Hixon
On the effect of injuries on the wide receiving corps…
“I think it’s a group effort, like I said Eli coaches up everybody. Coaches, they coach up everybody and we kind of have a thing where at any point in time you can be called on and you want to be ready and take advantage of the opportunity.”

Center David Baas
On botched snaps in Week 4…
“There are no excuses. Get better…and it’s getting better. That’s my job, I got to be able to snap it.”

Anatomy of a Play: Manning to Pascoe

In this week’s Anatomy of a Play, Giants.com takes a look at Eli Manning’s touchdown pass to Bear Pascoe in the fourth quarter of the Giants’ 19-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The quotes are from the tight end, who scored his first regular season touchdown on the play.

Down and Distance: 2nd and 6 at PHI 6

Time: 6:49, 4th QTR

Personnel: 2 TE, 2 WR, RB

Situation: Trailing 16-10, two timeouts left

The Play: (Shotgun) Eli Manning pass short middle to Bear Pascoe for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

How it was drawn up: “We were in a bunch formation and it was kind of a switch release between me and Martellus Bennett and kind of all three of us, including Victor Cruz. We were all kind of switching. Marty was going first, I was coming in, Cruz was running an outside route.”

What Pascoe saw lining up: “We thought they were going to play quarters over the front with that box look, but there was the possibility that, like earlier in the game, the Mike linebacker was really flying to the curl, flying to Victor, trying to double him. And so kind of during the week we weren’t really expecting the Mike linebacker to do that. So me and Eli had talked through the week, ‘Hey, if he does fly out of there like that, get your head around quick because I’ll hit you right as you’re passing them.’”

The execution: “I came down with the sense as I started my route I was going to try to get the linebacker’s attention so it would open up Marty over the top or open up Victor. And Eli looked right at me and the ball just flew out of there. As soon as I crossed his path, I tried to get my head around. I knew Eli would see that and the ball would be on the way. I just wanted to make sure I secured the catch and I tripped my way into the end zone.”

The preparation: “We go through that every week – ‘On certain plays, if this happens, this is what we’ll do. If that happens, this is what we’ll do.’ So as soon as the linebacker flew back and I came underneath him, I had my head around looking for it.”

Outcome: Pascoe’s first career regular-season touchdown gave the Giants their first lead of the night, but it wasn’t enough as the Giants fell to the Eagles 19-17. Pascoe’s only other touchdown came last postseason in the NFC Championship against San Francisco and was a similar six-yard catch over the middle.

“It was real similar. I was coming from the other side in San Francisco. Both times I was expecting to get hit. That’s why on this last touchdown, as I caught it, I kind of got low because I was expecting that safety to be coming and laying a hit. He wasn’t there, and I just fell on my face. Hey, I fell on my face in the end zone so it wasn’t too bad.”

Giants at Eagles Live Blog: 3rd QTR

15:00 — The Giants kickoff to begin second half.

12:17 – After being held to 2 yards on 6 attempts in the first half, LeSean McCoy breaks runs of 34 and 22 yards on consecutive carries.

10:12 — Michael Boley stops McCoy for a loss of 1 yard on third-and-1. McCoy fumbles out of bounds.

9:57 — FIELD GOAL EAGLES. Alex Henery makes 20-yard attempt (drive: 9 plays, 1 penalty, 78 yards in 5:05). EAGLES 10, GIANTS 3

*David Wilson returns ensuing kickoff 45 yards to the Giants 43. The rookie is helping the field position battle with a 34.7-yard average on three returns tonight.

5:28 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. Eli Manning 14-yard pass to Victor Cruz (Drive: 8 plays, 57 yards in 4:27). GIANTS 10, EAGLES 10

4:00 — Vick scrambles for 18 yards into Giants territory.

2:12 — FIELD GOAL EAGLES. Henery makes 48-yard attempt (Drive: 8 plays, 50 yards in 3:21). EAGLES 13, GIANTS 10

*Wilson with another long return, this time 53 yards.

0:14 — Giants go for it on fourth-and-inches at the Eagles 40. Manning takes a low snap, but completes a short pass to Cruz, who takes it down to the the 10 for a 30-yard pickup.

Giants back to normal routine

While much has been made about the Giants’ early schedule, it may not be as bad as it seems.

But don’t tell the coaches that.

The defending champs began with the first Wednesday game in 64 years (of the 93-year-old NFL), followed by an 11-day layoff for a Sunday afternoon game in Week 2. Then it was a quick turnaround and road trip to Carolina this past Thursday night. Now they pack up again and play in Philadelphia on Sunday night.

Rough for coaches. But there’s an upside for players.

“It’s actually been pretty nice, to say the least,” Cruz said. “We had a couple of weekends off to get our legs back and we’ve been playing well. That’s always a good sign.  In the irony of it, it’s been pretty nice.”

That’s a testament to Tom Coughlin and his staff, which is driven by routine. Coughlin went as far to thank his coaches in his locker room speech following the 36-7 victory over the Panthers.

To their credit, both coaches and players have been thrown out of whack in the first quarter of the season but adjusted accordingly. The Giants currently sit at 2-1 and return to nothing but Sunday games, except for Monday Night Football against Washington in early December.

“It’s a little different,” Manning said. “Two of the first three weekends, we’ve had off. That’s a little different. I think everybody’s glad that we’re finally back to our normal routine for the next few weeks. We have a normal schedule. I’ve enjoyed the time off, we’ve had good work, and I’m excited to be back at practice, and getting ready to play Philadelphia.”