New Year, New Hope
It’s time to come to the realization that the Philadelphia Eagles are indeed Super Bowl Champions. And like us, they did it the hard way by knocking off the New England Patriots. By doing so, the NFC East becomes the first division in NFL history to have each team boast at least one Lombardi Trophy. It’s actually incredulous when you think about it. It took 52 Super Bowls to have teams from the same division to notch at least one championship. And let’s face it, as hard as it is to fathom, the Eagles’ momentous turnaround actually gives Big Blue some hope.
The Eagles went 13-3 after back-to-back 7-9 campaigns. The Giants did the reverse, going 3-13 after an 11-5 playoff appearance in 2016. The Cowboys went 9-7 in 2017 after winning the division with a 13-3 record the previous year. Only the Redskins have been consistently mediocre, sporting 9-7, 8-7- 1, and 9-7 records the past 3 seasons. With mostly consistent inconsistency in the NFC East, any of the four teams could rise and win the division in 2018. Sure, The Giants have a lot of work to do but it’s an era with a new GM, a new coach, and probably a new QB of the future.
Shurmur-izing the Situation
So what do we know about the Giants new head coach Pat Shurmur? Throw out his two-year stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Sure, he went a paltry 9-23 with the Dawgs, but coaching that hapless franchise should be graded on a curve. One of the main reasons Shurmur got this gig was because he agreed with new GM Dave Gettleman that Eli Manning was not done as a starting QB. Whatever the secret plan is for Manning, Shurmur wants 2018 to begin with number 10 behind center.
It’s not surprising that Shurmur brought in veteran coach Mike Shula as the offensive coordinator. As OC for the Carolina Panthers the past five seasons, Shula was instrumental in building an offense around QB Cam Newton’s special talents. It also doesn’t hurt that Gettleman knows the younger Shula and vouched for him.
Shula isn’t here so much to help Manning as he is to help develop sophomore Davis Webb (if they keep him) and whomever they likely draft with the second pick. And even though the new head coach is considered a QB guru, as evidenced with his work last season with Case Keenum, Shurmur has too many responsibilities to focus solely on QB development.
Defensively, Shurmur brought in Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher to solidify and add some swagger to a lackluster unit that gave up 24.25 points per game last season (28th most). Bettcher will run a 3-4 defense, which means the Giants will need to stock up on linebackers. That’s a tall order considering B.J. Goodson may be the onl...
It’s time to come to the realization that the Philadelphia Eagles are indeed Super Bowl Champions. And like us, they did it the hard way by knocking off the New England Patriots. By doing so, the NFC East becomes the first division in NFL history to have each team boast at least one Lombardi Trophy. It’s actually incredulous when you think about it. It took 52 Super Bowls to have teams from the same division to notch at least one championship. And let’s face it, as hard as it is to fathom, the Eagles’ momentous turnaround actually gives Big Blue some hope.
The Eagles went 13-3 after back-to-back 7-9 campaigns. The Giants did the reverse, going 3-13 after an 11-5 playoff appearance in 2016. The Cowboys went 9-7 in 2017 after winning the division with a 13-3 record the previous year. Only the Redskins have been consistently mediocre, sporting 9-7, 8-7- 1, and 9-7 records the past 3 seasons. With mostly consistent inconsistency in the NFC East, any of the four teams could rise and win the division in 2018. Sure, The Giants have a lot of work to do but it’s an era with a new GM, a new coach, and probably a new QB of the future.
Shurmur-izing the Situation
So what do we know about the Giants new head coach Pat Shurmur? Throw out his two-year stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Sure, he went a paltry 9-23 with the Dawgs, but coaching that hapless franchise should be graded on a curve. One of the main reasons Shurmur got this gig was because he agreed with new GM Dave Gettleman that Eli Manning was not done as a starting QB. Whatever the secret plan is for Manning, Shurmur wants 2018 to begin with number 10 behind center.
It’s not surprising that Shurmur brought in veteran coach Mike Shula as the offensive coordinator. As OC for the Carolina Panthers the past five seasons, Shula was instrumental in building an offense around QB Cam Newton’s special talents. It also doesn’t hurt that Gettleman knows the younger Shula and vouched for him.
Shula isn’t here so much to help Manning as he is to help develop sophomore Davis Webb (if they keep him) and whomever they likely draft with the second pick. And even though the new head coach is considered a QB guru, as evidenced with his work last season with Case Keenum, Shurmur has too many responsibilities to focus solely on QB development.
Defensively, Shurmur brought in Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher to solidify and add some swagger to a lackluster unit that gave up 24.25 points per game last season (28th most). Bettcher will run a 3-4 defense, which means the Giants will need to stock up on linebackers. That’s a tall order considering B.J. Goodson may be the onl...
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The Giant Insider (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2018