Giants offense vs. Patriots defense

	GIANTS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	29
	Pass	22
	Tot. Yds.	27
	Scoring	17
	Int's allowed	20
	Sacks allowed	20
	PATRIOTS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	18
	vs. Pass	22
	Total yds. allowed	23
	Ints.	4
	Sacks	18
	Turnover differential	+3

The Giants offense has had monumental trouble establishing its running game. The inability to spread the field has directly affected the running room available for the Giants running backs and has forced the offensive line into situations where it is undermanned.

Sunday, however, the Giants have an opportunity to get the running game untracked against a Patriot defense that is weak up the middle. MLB Andy Katzenmoyer, the rookie out of Ohio State, has been battling a weak ankle and has had trouble stacking at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots have worked hard to scheme a way to protect Katzenmoyer, but DTs Chad Eaton and Henry Thomas in the first two games of the season have been unable to create any surge.

For the Giants, Sean Bennett was supposed to carry the rushing load with the loss of Gary Brown, but Bennet has gained just 69 yards in the first two games. He has averaged 4.1 yards per carry, but the Giants have aborted the run early in both contests, which has created all sorts of trouble for Kent Graham and the passing game.

The Giants' struggles offensively are directly related to the offense's inability to spread the field, which it did so well during the preseason. New York's receiving corps is deep and talented, and with the addition of TE Pete Mitchell this unit should be able to effectively distribute the ball and force defenses to back off the line of scrimmage.

The offensive line's inability thus far to pick up the blitz and give Graham time to throw has completely thrown the Giant passing game off rhythm and has prohibited Graham from being able to check off his primary receiver and look back side. Though not all the blame can be placed on rookie Luke Petigout, the Giants have had a tough time adjusting on the offensive line with his lack of experience at the position. C Brian Williams has been forced into too many double team situations on Petitgout's man, which has left the rest of the offensive linemen stranded on an island with their assignment.

When teams blitz up the middle is when the Giants have most of their problems. Williams is stuck helping out the rookie, which allows opposing middle linebackers to slip through the line and into the backfield. New England will look to attack the middle of the line, but the Pats will be compromising underneath coverage that the Giants can take advantage of if Mitchell can break free off the line.

New England also had enormous trouble down the seams in the secondary in the last two contests vs. the Jets and Colts. New York will again try to spread the field with three-receiver sets and utilize Mitchell's speed to break free down the seam. If Mitchell makes some catches early in the contest, New England will be forced to back the pressure off and use more nickel packages, which will subsequently open up running.

Patriots offense vs. Giants defense

	PATRIOTS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	22
	Pass	2
	Tot. Yds.	4
	Scoring	7
	Int's allowed	23
	Sacks allowed	23
	GIANTS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	21
	vs. Pass	13
	Total yds. allowed	13
	Ints.	8
	Sacks	24
	Turnover differential	+1

Now is the time to hand over the bulk of the running load to veteran Terry Allen. Allen's experience and running style best suits the New England attack and gives the Patriots the greatest chance to establish a run game.

What New England does best is spread the defense with its three-receiver sets and force opponents to play a lot of nickel packages. Ordinarily, teams are able to use the running lanes that open up as a result of a spread field to get big chunks of yardage in the run game (i.e. Minnesota). This has not been the case thus far for the Patriots, as the team has been lethargic in its run attack and has run too many off-tackle and downfield plays. New England needs to take advantage of the running lanes by implementing more counters and draws to catch defenses off guard and take advantage of the misdirection.

The Giants are in a compromising situation defensively because of their cornerback problems. In order to defend against the Patriots' wide-open passing attack, New York will have to use an extra defensive back on many first- and second-down situations. The play of the front seven is going to be crucial. The Giants were annihilated by a marginal Washington Redskin offensive line last week, allowing RB Stephen Davis to run for 124 yards on 23 carries. Robert Harris and Keith Hamilton will look to attack C Damien Woody and force the rookie into breaking down on his assignments.

MLB Corey Widmer was held to four tackles last week and needs to be more productive if the Giants are to stifle the Patriots run game. The Giants need the middle of their defense to plug gaps and force Allen and the other Patriots running backs to bounce the play wide, where the Giants are stacked defensively.

The Patriots are most potent when the offense aborts the run game and looks to attack opposing secondaries with its three-receiver sets. New England picked apart the Colts last Sunday in the second half when it spread the field, allowing Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson and Tony Simmons to get downfield and looking for big tight end Ben Coates underneath.

Because the New England offense has the ability to stretch the field horizontally as well as vertically, the Giants will be forced to back off, giving Bledsoe time to sit in the pocket and go down his checklist of receiving threats. The only way to throw the Patriots passing game off rhythm is to get a consistent pass rush out of the front four. The Giants are going to count on DEs Michael Strahan and Cedric Jones to get upfield and collapse the pocket with a four-man rush.

Even with the return of CB Jason Sehorn, the Giants are ill-prepared to cover the Patriots receiving tandem in man-to-man situations. CB Jeremy Lincoln has had to play in Sehorn's absence and has been a target of opponents passing games. Lincoln will now become the third cornerback and will matchup with Tony Simmons in the slot. Simmons has the ability to stretch the defense vertically, which will force the Giants to call for help from the safety positions.

If the Giants are unable to pressure Bledsoe with a four-man rush, the Patriots will be able to attack the New York secondary from several different angles and basically drive the length of the field with ease.

Special teams

	NFL RANK
	Category	NYG	NE
	Punt return avg.	17	8
	Kickoff return avg.	14	25
	Opp. punt return avg.	25	20
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	24	16
	Time of possession	25	20

The Giants' David Patten had a 45-yard kickoff return, and Tiki Barder added a 41-yarder. Brad Maynard had another good game punting, averaging 46.6 yards on five attempts, dropping two inside the 20. Brad Daliuso had touchbacks on two of his four kickoffs.

PK Adam Vinatieri does it again, kicking the game winning in the waning moments for New England. P Lee Johnson added an impressive day as well, averaging 49.2-yards per punt with a long of 57 and dropped one inside the Colts' 20-yard line. The return teams continue to struggle and have given the offense very little spark or room to work.

Key matchups