Post game chat with Cleft Crusty (Giants)

[Cleft Crusty]

Hi Folks,

Time to fire away. 'Ole clefty will give you the inside scoop on the game with insights that will fill a much needed void.

[Joemailman]

Hi Cleft,

Any early reports on how many people have been injured trying to jump back on the Favre bandwagon?

[Scott Campbell]

Hello Cliff, errrrrr.....Cleft. Do you wear a helmet when you ride your motorcycle?

And who do you think will get the most touches next week at RB?

[BallHawk]

Cleft,

What did you think of MM's play calling today?

[Brandon494]

Cleft,

How did A.J. Hawk look today, it seems he has been off to a slow start this season.

[BallHawk]

Cleft,

What does Nick Barnett take to get him so pumped up?

[Cleft Crusty]

Hi Cleft,

Any early reports on how many people have been injured trying to jump back on the Favre bandwagon?

Unsure. However, I did notice on these boards that there was a thread a while ago about which player was most indispensible. How people couldn't recognize that that player is Favre is beyond me. He's really the only great player on that offense, and he's a 38 (almost) year old guy.

[Cleft Crusty]

Hello Cliff, errrrrr.....Cleft. Do you wear a helmet when you ride your motorcycle?

And who do you think will get the most touches next week at RB?

I never wear a helmet. There's really nothing that I care to protect. I would ahve to think Wynn would get the most (effective) carries - since he can pass protect, he'll be in on passing downs and then can run the draws and screens. McCarthy seems determined to run left on every first down and gain zero yards behind a whiffing Colledge, so Brandon Jackson will likely get all those carries.

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleft,

What did you think of MM's play calling today?

I never question play calling. After all, what the hell do I, you, or any other fan know about the game planning. Were you in the prep room watching the giant's tendencies or looking at all the power point breakdowns of all the reams of stats accumulated over the past months by the front office. How could you know that running left on first down was a bad idea? Stick to what you know best and stop questioning the experts. It helps if you keep your eyes shut.

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleft,

How did A.J. Hawk look today, it seems he has been off to a slow start this season.

He was a little out of position in coverage, and was somewhat ineffective rushing the passer. I didn't see him do much in the run stopping department. Note that the Packers are asking Barnett to do more at this point. Still, the Packers D gave up one touchdown, and two FGs against an offense that seems pretty decent, so he must be doing something right. His hair looks terriffic too.

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleft,

What does Nick Barnett take to get him so pumped up?

Maybe it's some of that Romanowski 'Souper Soup?' All I know is that I wouldn't care to meet up with him in a dark alley or a nightclub, for example.

[the_idle_threat]

Good afternoon, Cleft!

Another exciting win by your favorite team and mine---the Green Bay Packers!

The Giants were c**k-punched by a devastating turnover on special teams at a crucial time late in the game, just like the Iggles experienced twice last week.

My question is---do you think this success will start to go the heads of our special teams guys---e.g. Jarret Bush, Tracy White, etc.? Are we gonna see a bunch of holdouts for more money, like with Javon Walker?

---THE LUNATIC FRIDGE

[DannoMac21]

Who would you take at QB? You, or an injured Jared Lorenzen?

[Cleft Crusty]

Good afternoon, Cleft!

Another exciting win by your favorite team and mine---the Green Bay Packers!

The Giants were c**k-punched by a devastating turnover on special teams at a crucial time late in the game, just like the Iggles experienced twice last week.

My question is---do you think this success will start to go the heads of our special teams guys---e.g. Jarret Bush, Tracy White, etc.? Are we gonna see a bunch of holdouts for more money, like with Javon Walker?

---THE LUNATIC FRIDGE

Sorry the Packers are not my 'favorite' team. I have no favorite as I am a dispassionate objective reporter who hates my job having to explain trivial facts of football to know-nothings.

If Jarret Bush holds out, he'll be gone in a New York minute, if you'll pardon the pun.

[Cleft Crusty]

Who would you take at QB? You, or an injured Jared Lorenzen?
Lorenzen is known as the 'Pillsbury Throwboy.' He's big, soft, immobile, and quite likely obese. I on the other hand can bench [press 275 pounds, and unlike my wuss of a son-in-law, I can handle full court basket ball (until 60 years of age, ona bad hip) and some really nasty spicy food. I wouldn't enjoy being sacked by Corey Williams, however.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Cleft,

I don't see much muscle in this O-line. They don't really move bodies out that much. They seem to have success on screens, draws, misdirection.

And here's my question: I guess i don't have a question.

OK, here's a question: do you agree that the Oline is not powerful? Can they scheme around it?

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleft,

I don't see much muscle in this O-line. They don't really move bodies out that much. They seem to have success on screens, draws, misdirection.

And here's my question: I guess i don't have a question.

OK, here's a question: do you agree that the Oline is not powerful? Can they scheme around it?

I think they wish they had another Junius Coston to put in there for Colledge. he was awful wasn't he? There were multiple plays were he either just wiffed and/or got spun around. Coston is no great linemen at this point, but he's the best guard they have. With ZBS misfits Tauscher and Clifton coupled with ineffective guards and an average center, the Packer O-line looks like a mess. And McCarthy seemingly did them no favors - at the start of the second half, he essentially called the same running play on 5 consecutive first downs. After Favre passed the Packers to a 15 point lead, McCarthy returned to the run game and netted next to nothing. He's going to have to rely more on Favre and draws. The difficult thing for the Packers is that Jackson is a poor pass blocker, so they almost are forced to have Winn in on passing downs to pass protect. That's why Winn picked up good yardage in draws on third downs. So the answer is yes, the Packers will have to scheme around the sub-par O-line.

[swede]

Cleft,

It seemed as if the Giants were out to stop the run against a team that doesn't run the ball very well, and early in the game they accomplished that mission.

Were they actually daring Favre to beat them with the pass?

Which brings us to next week--the strategy of defend the run first didn't work out over the course of the game for the giants, but it may be what Green Bay will have to do against San Diego in order to have a chance at 3-0.

Will Green Bay run blitz and/or commit Bigby to the run defense next week?

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleft,

It seemed as if the Giants were out to stop the run against a team that doesn't run the ball very well, and early in the game they accomplished that mission.

Were they actually daring Favre to beat them with the pass?

Which brings us to next week--the strategy of defend the run first didn't work out over the course of the game for the giants, but it may be what Green Bay will have to do against San Diego in order to have a chance at 3-0.

Will Green Bay run blitz and/or commit Bigby to the run defense next week?

IT seems to me the Chargers are a bit too dynamic an offense to try to take something away and dare them to beat you elsewhere. If Tomlinson doesn't run, he'll receive. If Bigby overcommits to the run, Gates will run free throught the secondary. There were some occassions today where Collins and Bigby were confused as to who was covering whom. That should be more difficult next week.

And, no I don't think the Giants tried to take the run away - they just used common sense and plyed the run when McCarthy telegraphed what he was doing, running again and again behind Colledge, especially for long stretched on first down and using a TE in the backfield to block. IT's not hard to keep 9 guys on the defense near the line of scrimmage when the offense puts three guys (halfback, fullback and TE) in the offensive backfield to help run block. That formation wasn't very effective.

[Deputy Nutz]

Cliff I love your optimism a about life. the other day I was called a hack reporter/writer. Apparently my material was good enough to copy, paste, and edit for the good of another Packer website, but yet it is still considered filth by the thief that failed to own up to taking the material.

My question to you is, who stole your soul, wife, and penis? Will they give it back, or do they think they have a natural right to it since you put all three on the internet with your toy poodle?

[Cleft Crusty]

Cliff I love your optimism a about life. the other day I was called a hack reporter/writer. Apparently my material was good enough to copy, paste, and edit for the good of another Packer website, but yet it is still considered filth by the thief that failed to own up to taking the material.

My question to you is, who stole your soul, wife, and penis? Will they give it back, or do they think they have a natural right to it since you put all three on the internet with your toy poodle?

Dear Mr. Nutz,

It can be a frustrating thing for columnists to provide content-free material on the web, only to see it hijacked by others, or worse, criticized as though we should be the second coming of Damon Runyan (It could be worse, we could be the second coming of John Runyan and then we couldn't find a decent bed to sleep in). In the web era, plagarism has become rampant, but at the same time is easily uncovered with such tools as 'Google search.' Finally, if you clean up the gutter language and I'm guessing you will get invited to more parties. My soul, wife and dog are free game, but nobody better smack talk about my member. That's why we have a crack legal team (one 2nd year law student from Marquette) over at the JS.