Film Notes: Can Giants turn it around?

After breaking down film, Scouts Inc. gives its take on what to watch in the NFL this weekend:

Can the struggling New York Giants be fixed?

They had a bye week to try to fix some of their problems, but the more film you watch, the more you realize that some of these problems may not be fixable. On defense, they have coverage problems on the back end, especially with their LBs and safeties in man coverages, which offenses try to dictate. To protect those guys the Giants blitz less, but when they do they are ill-timed blitzes that don't produce results. On offense, Eli Manning and his receivers are struggling because defenses are now playing tighter press coverages and the young receivers are not separating from defenders. Even the Giants' run game doesn't seem to have an identity. They need to give Brandon Jacobs more snaps and need to wear down defenses to set up play-action. Another alarming problem area on film is red zone production. They have been terrible on both sides of the ball, which is unusual for the usually disciplined Giants. Offensively, they lack a big and physical receiver (Plaxico Burress) who can go up and get the jump ball, but they do have two candidates, WR Ramses Barden and TE Kevin Boss, who are underused in that role. On defense, in the red zone, they are thin at the safety position because of injuries and they don't match up well versus tight ends and big receivers over the middle. This is still a good team, but some of those problems may continue for the rest of the season.

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