Burress May Best Serve Giants as a Decoy

Former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi brought wide receiver Plaxico Burress to New York three years ago to give quarterback Eli Manning a legitimate deep threat and red-zone target. Now, after one of the most productive regular seasons of his eight-year career, and a masterful performance in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers, Burress may take on a different role in the Super Bowl: decoy.Patriots head coach Bill Belichick knows that Burress is the team’s primary downfield threat — tight end Jeremy Shockey was lost to injured reserve after breaking his leg in Week 15, and wideout Amani Toomer has struggled with dropped passes all season — and will game plan to force Manning to throw the ball to his other, less dangerous options. Which means Toomer, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss will be critical components in the Giants’ passing offense on Sunday.The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Burress with the eighth-overall pick of the 2000 draft. But the 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound wide receiver’s productivity never matched the overwhelming expectations of a region obsessed with football. He had a solid five-year career in Pittsburgh, highlighted by 78-catch, 1,325-yard, seven-touchdown effort in 2002. But with Hines Ward firmly entrenched as the no. 1 receiver, and the Steelers’ run-first offensive philosophy, Burress’s potential was never fully realized. Part of it was scheme, certainly, but part of it was that Burress needed to mature.In March 2005, after the Steelers didn’t make an effort to re-sign him, the Giants inked Burress to a six-year, $25-million deal. New York was looking for a big-play wide receiver after Ike Hilliard and Toomer failed to catch a touchdown pass in 2004. In Burress’s three seasons in New York, he has missed just one game (despite playing on an injured ankle for all of 2007), averaged 70 receptions, 1,075 yards, and 10 touchdowns. These numbers far surpass his output in Pittsburgh, even when just considering Burress’s three best seasons there.After a quiet start to the postseason — he managed five catches for 43 yards in the first two games — Burress dominated cornerback Al Harris and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Conference finals, hauling in 11 catches for 151 yards, nine of which went for first downs.One of the reasons Manning-to-Burress is so successful is because of the Giants’ running game. The bruising, straight-ahead approach of Brandon Jacobs coupled with Ahmad Bradshaw’s shifty style creates problems for defensive linemen and linebackers. Often, a safety is positioned closer to the line of scrimmage to provide run support.Such defensive alignments are vulnerable to the play-action pass, often leaving Burress in single coverage. During the Week 17 meeting against the Patriots, the second play from scrimmage was a Manning play-action fake that left Burress one-on-one with New England cornerback Ellis Hobbs. The play resulted in a 52-yard gain, and five plays later, the Giants took an early 7–0 lead.In the Super Bowl, the Patriots will try to take Burress out of the game. Manning, as he’s done over the last month, will have to be resolute in the pocket, avoid forcing throws downfield into coverage, and must rely on an improbable trio in the passing game: Toomer, Smith, and Boss.Toomer, a 12-year veteran who struggled with consistency for much of the regular season, has re-emerged as a playmaker during the playoffs. His 196 receiving yards and three touchdowns lead the team, and his 15 receptions are second only to Burress.Smith, a rookie second-round pick out of USC, was seldom used for most of the season, missing 11 games with a hamstring injury. In the postseason, he had nine catches for 102 yards, five going for first downs.If Smith was rarely used because of injuries, Boss was invisible because of who was in front of him on the depth chart. Also a rookie, Boss didn’t make his first NFL start until Week 16 and ended the regular season with just nine catches. But four came against the Patriots, including a three-yard touchdown grab late in the second quarter that temporarily gave the Giants a 21–16 lead.Boss has only four catches in the postseason, but that could change if New England uses a safety to provide over-the-top coverage on Burress. According to Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average ratings (DVOA) (which break down each play of the season and compare it to the NFL average based on situation and opponent), the Patriots ranked 23rd in defending tight ends.The Giants had some success against the Patriots in the season finale because the offensive line protected Manning, and the running game helped set up the play-action pass. In the Super Bowl, New England will try to mitigate Burress’s effectiveness, thus forcing Manning to rely on his second, third, and fourth passing options. For New York to have a chance, Manning must continue to be decisive and avoid turnovers, and some unlikely players — an aging veteran and two rookies — have to have big outings on the game’s biggest stage.Mr. Wilson is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.

Burress May Best Serve Giants as a Decoy

Burress May Best Serve Giants as a Decoy

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