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Friday, January 16, 2009

Michael Johnson plays great against Eagles



January 12, 2009

By Eval


Kudos to ...

There's plenty of crummy stuff to talk about. Let's start with some of the good things, though.

• Terrell Thomas: A brilliant special teams play to down a ball inside the 5-yard line, and a couple of quarterback pressues while blitzing. It appears that GM Jerry Reese struck gold with Thomas, his second-round pick in 2008.

• Run defense: Gotta give it up for what the Giants did in this department, basically making Brian Westbrook (18 carries, 36 yards) a non-factor. I didn't think that was possible, but the Giants did it. I also didn't think it was possible to do that and still lose, but the Giants did that, too. Michael Johnson and Antonio Pierce, in particular, had excellent games defending the run. It was a total team effort, though.

• Brandon Jacobs: Gained 92 yards on 19 carries, and should have had a huge day. The only problem Jacobs had is the Giants simply did not give him the ball nearly enough. The big fella ran really well. Now, the Giants need to pay the free-agent to-be and lock him up for the next few seasons.

• Ahmad Bradshaw: A game-opening 65-yard kickoff return, and some nice efforts on a couple of other run backs. Only one question, Ahmad. Where has that been? That was the Bradshaw we expected to see all season -- and that we need to see next season.

• Justin Tuck: The All-Pro defensive end gave everything he had, creating a safety and making five tackles while playing on one healthy leg. Tuck needs more help next season, which he should get with the return of Osi Umenyiora.

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