The Winners and Losers of Super Bowl XLV

7 02 2011

Yesterday, while you were stuffing your faces with wings, pizza and nachos and talking about “that really funny commercial where the guy uses Doritos to bring old people back from the dead,” there was an actual football game being played. The Super Bowl. The championship of the National Football League.

In this Super Bowl game (and what a great game it was), one team played much better than the other. The Green Bay Packers being the former; the Pittsburgh Steelers, the latter.

While I can go on and on for several paragraphs about how I predicted the score of the game to be Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 24, 11 HOURS BEFORE THE GAME, I will spare you the incessant bragging that my friends and family will be subject to for the next few days (read: weeks).

(By the way, in case you get internet access under that huge rock, the final score of last night’s game was Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25. Yeah, I was off by one point. ONE POINT.)

I can also go on and on about the fact that the numbers I (and 15 other people) had in our Super Bowl pool were 5 and 5 and 1 and 4, meaning that Mike Tomlin’s decision to go for a now meaningless two-point conversion after Pittsburgh’s final touchdown not only prevented me from going Nostradamus on the final score, but it ALSO prevented me from raking in some cash (fake money, of course). Of course, Green Bay’s failure to score one last touchdown and make the final score 35-25 also provided the same fate.

Since, I already lied to you and rambled for multiple paragraphs about what bets I lost and how I almost predicted the final score, I’ll get to the main point of this: my official Winners and Losers of Super Bowl XLV.

Winners:

  • The Green Bay Packers. While this is obvious, it needs to be said. Yesterday, they became only the second sixth-seed to win a Super Bowl in NFL history, and they did it the hard way, going through Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago, all on the road, before reaching North Texas. Yesterday, they silenced the doubters and did what no other team has been able to do thus far—they beat Ben Roethlisberger in the Super Bowl.
  • Aaron Rodgers. He finally got the monkey (that monkey is Brett Favre, by the way) off of his back and picked up a Super Bowl MVP in the process—something that Brett Favre never did.
  • Jordy Nelson. Talk about a big-time performance on the game’s biggest stage. Nine catches for 140 yards and one touchdown. Somewhere, Wes Welker is shaking his fists at the television, in danger of losing his throne as the Most Relevant White Wide Receiver.
  • Doritos and Pepsi. They had arguably the funniest commercials of the night. If you missed any of them, that’s what YouTube is for.
  • The 400 people who were kicked out of the Super Bowl because there weren’t enough seats. In case you didn’t hear this story, the Fire Marshall ended up removing a large number of temporary seats before kick-off. Most of the fans with these tickets were relocated to seats that were comparable or better than their original seats, however 400 fans could not be accommodated and were forced to leave the stadium and watch the game from outside. So you might be asking, “Well how exactly are these people winners? They paid for Super Bowl tickets and then got kicked out of the stadium.” Well, it’s because after the game had ended, NFL officials, fearing massive PR backlash, granted the 400 displaced fans on-field access for the post-game ceremony, gave them free food, drinks and merchandise, reimbursed them for TRIPLE the amount of money that their tickets were worth (around $2,400) AND gave them free tickets for next year’s Super Bowl. Is that a fair trade? Yeah, I’d say so.
  • James Starks. He wasn’t called upon a whole lot yesterday (the Packers only ran the ball 11 times all game) but when he was, he came up big and did enough to open the passing lanes for Aaron Rodgers. Most importantly, he has made a name for himself since the postseason began, and may become legitimate competition for Ryan Grant and the starting job once Grant returns from injury next season (assuming there is a next season).

 

Losers:

  • Jerry Jones’s hopes of ever hosting another Super Bowl in Dallas. Between the whole fiasco of not having enough seats to accommodate fans who payed thousands of dollars for their tickets, and the winter storm that plowed through Dallas last week, making travel difficult and putting a damper on the Super Bowl week festivities, you can be rest assured that the NFL is a little more than fed up with Dallas. The stadium is nice though! Oh and by the way, who else is going to have fun at the 2014 Super Bowl at New Meadowlands Stadium with a wind chill of eight degrees? I WILL!
  • Humanity. I don’t know how many of you caught this last night, but there was a Chevy Cruze commercial that advertised live, real-time Facebook newsfeed updates that could be streamed directly to your car. So you can check your Facebook while you’re driving! I have never been more embarrassed for my generation than I was at the moment I saw that commercial. This is the beginning of the end.
  • Anyone who watched the halftime show. As my brother said about halfway through the first song, “I don’t even think the Black Eyed Peas like the Black Eyed Peas.” That about sums it up. It was painful to watch, and having to listen to Fergie do her best Axl Rose impression and take a crack at a cover of “Sweet Child of Mine” with Slash, was the cherry on top. Next year, can we go back to having geriatric rock bands who make good music and don’t dress like Buzz Lightyear?
  • Brett Favre. Wow, what a rough year for Brett. It began last January, when he was picked off in overtime of the NFC Championship Game against New Orleans, costing Minnesota a trip to the Super Bowl. Then it all began to snowball. He was dragged back to Minneapolis by Brad Childress for one last season, then the Vikings fell flat out of the gate, Childress was fired, Brett flushed his reputation completely down the toilet with the Jenn Sterger saga, his streak ended, his hand turned purple and then, as if that all wasn’t bad enough, he had to watch as the guy who took his place in Green Bay won a Super Bowl title and a Super Bowl MVP. That’s a pretty bad year, by anyone’s standards.

 

Well, that’s all I can think of for right now. If you have any other winners and losers from last night’s game that I didn’t mention, feel free to leave a comment below.

Good article Sean. I just had a few changes to make. Mainly, I fixed a few typos and grammatical errors and removed some serial commas and other excess commas. I reworded a few sentences to eliminate some excess verbiage and clean up the text a little and I also inserted some em-dashes in places where they were missing. All in all, I think you did a great job.

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Not Quite Yet (and Week 6 Picks)

16 10 2010

Not yet. I’ve been repeating that over and over again. Every time I start to come up with an opening bit for this week’s column, I find myself getting a little too high on last week’s 34-10 win over Houston. That’s exactly what I don’t want to do, especially in Week 6 with the toughest part of our schedule still lingering on the horizon.

Make no mistake, last Sunday’s win at Reliant Stadium was pretty damn impressive. Coming on the heels of the defensive juggernaut that rolled over Chicago in Week 4, we all wondered if the much-maligned Giants defense had finally come back and come back for good. Last Sunday, it happened again.

We shut down Arian Foster, the number one running back in the league going into the game holding him to a measly 26 yards on 12 carries. Obviously it helped that our offense was able to mount an early 21-0 lead and force the Texans to abandon their running game, but we also succeeded in shutting down Schaub and just like that we have a convincing 34-10 win on the road and a three-way tie for first in the NFC East with Washington and Philadelphia.

Now, with 13 points allowed in the last two weeks, our defense has to do it again tomorrow against a Lions team that is somehow averaging like 72 points a game, even though I’m pretty sure their offensive game plan consists of having Shaun Hill/Matthew Stafford close his eyes and heave the ball in the air Brett Favre-style hoping that when he opens them again Calvin Johnson is sprinting towards the end zone. Surprisingly, this works more often than it should. Our defense needs to do it tomorrow, and then hopefully the week after that and then the week after that, and so on, you get the picture. Let’s take it one week at a time though. I’m excited, but I won’t let myself get too excited. Not quite yet.

One more thing before I get into this week’s picks: I want to give a quick shout-out to James Dolan and the wonderful people over at Cablevision. Tomorrow will be the first time this season that I won’t be in attendance for a Giants home game, and I won’t even have the luxury of watching it on my own television at home. So thanks for that, guys.

Home teams in caps:

San Diego (-8.5) over ST. LOUIS

How many times have the Chargers started 2-3 in the past five seasons? I feel like this happens every year, before they make a November-December run or the Broncos just collapse.

Kansas City (+4.5) over HOUSTON

Despite the fact that they lost 19-9 in Indianapolis last week, I’m still not putting down my Solo cup filled with Chiefs Kool-Aid yet. Give me another week.

NEW ENGLAND (-2.5) over Baltimore

Despite the fact that I really like Baltimore this season and I’m compelled to pick them, I feel like this is another one of those games where the Pats jump out to a 28-7 lead in the first half before anyone realizes what’s going on. Anytime your quarterback gets dissed by Justin Bieber in a rap song, you know that he’s coming out at full throttle the next time you take the field. A lot to play for here.

New Orleans (-4.5) over TAMPA BAY

Bill Simmons seems to think that “JOSH FREEMAN WINS FOOTBALL GAMES” and that might be so, but I’m not completely sold yet. Beat the Saints and take over first place in the NFC South and I might be sold, but right now I’m not buying anything yet. By the way, I’m liking my choice of picking Aaron Rodgers over Drew Brees for my fantasy team with every passing week, even though Aaron Rodgers might not know exactly where he is right now. He’ll be back next week though, no worries.

Atlanta (+2.5) over PHILADELPHIA

The Falcons might be the best team in the NFC right now, although that’s like saying Erin Andrews is the hottest women on the sidelines of a college football game; not too much competition.

Detroit (+10) over NY GIANTS

I hate picking the Giants for fear of The Jinx, and I really hate picking the Giants when they’re double digit favorites. However, if Calvin Johnson doesn’t play….

CHICAGO (-6) over Seattle

Because Aaron Rodgers is currently concussed, I’m starting Jay Cutler (formerly concussed) in fantasy tomorrow. Luckily, the Seahawks happen to have one of the worst passing defenses in the league, although that probably won’t matter tomorrow because fantasy football hates me. I should have picked up Caleb Hanie off of waivers.

GREEN BAY (-3) over Miami

Don’t ask me why the Packers are 3-point favorites on the road with half of their team on injured reserve (seriously, have you looked at their injury list? It’s like a shorter version of their opening day roster) and Matt Flynn starting at QB. The Packers need a win though. I mean, they really NEED a win.

PITTSBURGH (-14) over Cleveland

Big Ben is back tomorrow, which I’m excited about because it gives me the opportunity to look forward to 10 full weeks of inappropriate Ben Roethlisberger jokes.

DENVER (+3.5) over NY Jets

Thanks, but I’ll pass on this one.

SAN FRANCISCO (-7) over Oakland

The 49ers might be the best 0-5 team in NFL history. Either that, or they were just tremendously overrated going into this season, which is also highly possible. Anyway, it can’t be good for Alex Smith to hear 60,000 people chanting for David Carr. Still, I keep picking the Niners every week anyway just waiting for them to finally arrive. This is why I’m 12 games under .500 in picks this season.

MINNESOTA (-1.5) over Dallas

You don’t even know how much I would love to head into our Week 7 Monday night clash with the Cowboys at 1-4 and their season slowly circling the drain while Wade Phillips stands like a wax figure on the sidelines staring unblinkingly into space.

Indianapolis (-3) over WASHINGTON

Peyton Manning, night games, you know the deal.

Tennessee (-3) over JACKSONVILLE

The Titans are quietly a lot better than a lot of people realize yet.

Last Week: 7-7

Season Totals: 32-44


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The 2010 Schedule Is Here!

21 04 2010
NCAA Lacrosse: BIG CITY Classic - North Carolina vs Virginia APR 10

Hey look, it's the "New" Meadowlands Stadium.

Last night, the NFL (that’s the National Football League for those of you out of the loop) finally released the 2010 regular schedule in preparation for Thursday night’s draft. Earlier in the day, Roger Goodell leaked the season-opening Thursday night match-up in an online chat. That game, a much anticipated rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Saints will hopefully kick off the 2010-2011 season with a lot of excitement and a lot less Black Eyed Peas (Please NFL, I beg of you, can we just stop the pregame “concert” that usually goes with this event? I guarantee you that a good 80% of NFL fans couldn’t care less about Fergie or Rihanna. And if I even so much as catch a whiff of Justin Bieber at any NFL-sanctioned event this season, I swear that we will be having a serious talk).

Anyway, I have for you, right here in this column, an exclusive look at the Giants 2010-2011 regular season schedule. I use the word “exclusive” rather lightly here, because I’m sure that every single major sports news outlet and blog on the internet has the information already. Take it from me though, very few sports blogs care about a random arrangement of opponents, dates, and times more than I do, for every April I patiently await the release of the new NFL schedule like Christmas Day. That would make today the day after Christmas, where I swear that I will not eat anything until after New Year’s and that I will not watch A Christmas Story again for another 364 days.

Week 1

September 12th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Carolina Panthers

It’s only fitting that the team we closed out the old Giants Stadium with is the team we’ll be playing to open up the New Meadowlands Stadium, although I’ve tried as hard as I could to keep that last game against the Panthers deeply repressed beneath memories of Dave Brown and that snowball game against San Diego. By the way, is there a worse name for a stadium than the one we have now? I mean, we know it’s new, right? Why don’t we just call it “Meadowlands Stadium” then? Why do we need the “New”? Besides, are they going to change it after a few seasons to “Lightly-Used, But Still Smells Like It’s New Meadowlands Stadium”? I’m all for keeping the name out of the hands of a corporate sponsor, but if we’re going to do that, let’s think of something a little more creative then.

Week 2

September 19th, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants at Indianapolis Colts

Manning Bowl II! I absolutely cannot wait for this game, much like I couldn’t wait for the first Manning Bowl. I was at that game back in 2006 when we opened the season against Peyton and the Colts (who would ultimately go on to win the Super Bowl) and I remember thinking about how much more confident Peyton was in running the offense than Eli was. Even though little brother held his own in that game and we only lost 26-21, I remember thinking how great it would be if Eli became even half as good as his big brother one day. Then the next year we ended up winning the Super Bowl and it was Eli hoisting that Lombardi Trophy just like Peyton. I guess that wish came true.

Week 3

September 26th, 1 p.m. CBS

Giants vs. Tennessee Titans

The last time we faced Vince Young and the Titans was a total nightmare. I’m sure everyone remembers that game back in 2006. I believe it was November 26th. We jumped out to a 21-0 lead and everything was right with the world…until the defense completely collapsed, Vince Young started playing like Randall Cunningham from the early 90′s and then Rob Bironas kicked our hearts out with 2 seconds left in regulation to give Tennessee a 24-21 victory. That one still stings. The last time we hosted the Titans? Almost as bad. We squandered a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter and lost in OT to the late Steve McNair 32-29 on December 1, 2003.

Week 4

October 3rd, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants vs. Chicago Bears

So, this will be our second primetime game in a three-week span. Giants fans know that we either look incredible or absolutely awful in primetime games. Take last season’s stinker against Denver on Thanksgiving night and then the game we played on Monday Night against Washington later in the season. It was like day and night. I hate to keep bringing up bad memories, but the last time we played Chicago on Sunday night was November 12, 2006 and we got annihilated by the Bears. How do I remember that date so vividly? Because I had gotten back from seeing Dane Cook at the Garden and I was watching the game at a bar around the corner and when Devin Hester returned that missed field goal 107 yards for a touchdown before the half I almost threw up on everyone that I was with. However that Bears team eventually played the Colts in the Super Bowl that season, so I guess we get a pass for that one.

Week 5

October 10th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Houston Texans

Funny story (or not, it depends). My friends and I have a running joke we use at Giants games when an opposing quarterback is having too easy of a day and we’re not getting enough pressure on him. Usually we’ll yell “SOMEBODY TOUCH (insert quarterback’s name)!” at least once every time that team is on offense. This started back in 2006 at the last Giants-Texans game when the Houston quarterback at the time, David Carr, was running all over our defense. The guy sitting in front of us would stand up after almost every play and yell at the top of his lungs, “SOMEBODY TOUCH DAVID CARR!” Sometimes he would switch it up, depending on the situation and add, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEBODY TOUCH DAVID @#$%&@ CARR!” Anyway, we thought this was hysterical. Maybe you had to be there.

Week 6

October 17th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Detroit Lions

Weirdly enough, I don’t have any interesting anecdotes or stories involving any past Giants-Lions games. I guess it’s because most games against Detroit end up being mind-numbingly boring or we end up losing and I purposely have a way of forgetting about every game that we’ve lost to the Detroit Lions, for obvious reasons. Anyway, this is a nice afternoon game in mid-October when the weather isn’t really cold yet, but it isn’t hot anymore and nobody knows whether to bring a jacket to the game or not. Usually if you bring a jacket, you end up sitting in the sun the entire game and losing eight pounds of your weight in sweat. Or the weather can throw a giant wrench at your head and it can be 35 degrees with 40 mph wind gusts. I don’t know what this has to do with the Giants and the Lions, but I’m just warning you about mid-October games at the Meadowlands.

Week 7

October 25th, 8:30 p.m. ESPN Monday Night Football

Giants at Dallas Cowboys

This year will mark the latest into the season that we’ve gone without playing a division opponent since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. That’s six weeks without any games against NFC East teams. We kick off divisional play on October 25th at JerryWorld on Monday Night Football. By this point in the season, we’ll either both be going in opposite directions or we’ll both be neck and neck and this game will be an early test of fortitude. I can definitely see both teams being 4-2 going into this game and ESPN hyping it up for a full week and a half.

Week 8

BYE

The good thing about bye weeks is that we never lose.

Week 9

November 7th, 4:05 p.m. FOX

Giants at Seattle Seahawks

I’ve brought back enough bad memories in this column to give you all nightmares and flashbacks for weeks, so I’m going to leave this one alone. I could dig out a handful of bad games we’ve had in Seattle since the 90′s and every one of them would give me the chills and the cold sweats. Like the 5 false start penalties in a row? How about Jay Feely missing three straight game-winning field goals? Falling behind 42-3 in the first half? Brad Daluiso shanking a potential game-winner in the Kingdome? I’m sorry, I just said I wouldn’t do this. Needless to say, Seattle is never nice to us.

Week 10

November 14th, 4:15 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys

We return home for the first time in almost a month and who do we find waiting for us there? Oh, it’s the Dallas Cowboys again. Twice in three games So before we play the Eagles or Redskins even once, we have to face the Cowboys twice? Tell me how that makes any sense? At least we get them out of the way early in the season, because those games tend to give me the most frequent heartburn and eye twitches.

Week 11

November 21st, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Speak of the devil! Here are our friends, the Philadelphia Eagles. The team who outscored us 85-55 last season. Good news though Giants fans: Donovan McNabb is gone! The wicked witch is dead! Wait, what was that….you mean he’s still in the division? We still have to play him twice a year? Oh….

Week 12

November 28th, 1 p.m. CBS

Giants vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

This here is the quintessential late-November trap game. It’s a winnable game against a weak opponent in the middle of a bunch of tough divisional games that we are supposed to win by a wide margin, yet we usually find ourselves trailing by a touchdown in the 4th quarter until we finally realize, “Hey, this is the Jacksonville Jaguars, we’re supposed to win this game!” and we squeak by in the last 5 minutes.

Week 13

December 5th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Washington Redskins

The good news: we don’t have to see Donovan McNabb until December. The bad news: I can see us going into this game at 7-5 and really needing a win to stay in the NFC East hunt and the playoff hunt. And facing Donovan McNabb with our season on the line is something that always makes me a little uneasy. (See 2009; 2008)

Week 14

December 12th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Minnesota Vikings

For the 96th season in a row, we have to travel to the Metrodome to play the Minnesota Vikings in December/January. We’ve lost the last two games in Minnesota, however neither game mattered. In 2008 we had already clinched home-field advantage and last year we had already been eliminated from the playoffs the previous week. This season the game will hopefully be a little more important. Plus, we’re still in that stage of the year where we don’t know whether or not Brett Favre will be returning or retiring! Always a fun time. I like to call this period, usually from April to August, “Favre Limbo”.

Week 15

December 19th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles again. How will the first year of the Kevin Kolb Era turn out for Philly? I’m guessing that by this point in the season we should have a pretty good idea of whether or not the Eagles made a monumental mistake in ditching Donovan.

Week 16

December 26th, 4:15 p.m. FOX

Giants at Green Bay Packers

Eli vs. Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau on the day after Christmas. I’m anxiously anticipating this game. I think it has a lot of potential to be a great game and hopefully by Week 16 it will actually mean something. Although I won’t be complaining if we already have a playoff spot locked up by then. Even so, the match-up between Manning and Rodgers, two talented young quarterbacks, should be intriguing enough on its own.

Week 17

January 2nd, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Washington Redskins

We will end the 2010-2011 regular season on second day of 2011 against the Washington Redskins. What will this game mean? I’m not about to start projecting in April, it’s still way too early in my opinion. For all I know, we could be 11-4 at this point, we could be 8-7 or we could be 6-9, I have no clue. All I know is that if there is a playoff spot on the line and Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb are standing in our way, this could be another classic, old-fashioned NFC East slugfest.

On Thursday night, I should be rolling out a live running diary for the first 10-15 picks of the NFL Draft, so stay tuned for that.


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The Donovan McNabb Saga

29 03 2010

The relationship between Donovan McNabb and Philadelphia Eagles fans has always been an intriguing one. Which is to say that unless you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you’re not likely to ever fully understand it. Ever since Day One, I have witnessed what has perhaps become the most tumultuous relationship that a hugely popular “franchise player” has ever had with his franchise and his fan-base. From the day he was taken by the Eagles with the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, up until the day he will inevitably be traded to the Raiders or the Vikings or the Bills, the plight of Donovan McNabb will likely remain an enigma to most.

When the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb out of Syracuse in the 1999 NFL Draft, he was booed heavily. The first thing Donovan McNabb heard when he stood next to Paul Tagliabue and held up a Philadelphia Eagles jersey for the first time, was a barrage of boo’s from the Philly faithful. How nice of them to welcome him so warmly. Although the Eagles were mired in a period in which they went through numerous second-rate starting quarterbacks, including but not limited to the likes of Bobby Hoying and Ty Detmer, Eagles fans still believed that drafting Ricky Williams was the direction that the franchise needed to take. In hindsight, was taking McNabb over Williams the right choice? Yes, of course it was. However, this doesn’t change the way most Philly fans feel about their franchise quarterback. Needless to say, the 1999 NFL Draft would be a harbinger of things to come over the next decade.

If nothing else, Donovan McNabb is certainly a polarizing figure in Philadelphia. Over the last 10 years, he has alternated between hero, villain and complete enigma more times than John Locke in the last 6 seasons of LOST and sometimes those transformations can take place over the course of a few weeks, a few days or even one quarter of a game. For someone who is been the star player and undisputable leader of a winning football team over the course of an entire decade, he has to lead the league for the most times his team has threatened to cut him, trade him or bench him.

It’s no surprise that he and Head Coach Andy Reid have clashed over the years, and while we can watch countless puff pieces on FOX pregame shows that portray the two as being best buddies, we all know the truth: Andy Reid doesn’t trust Donovan McNabb. Benching him in the second half of a regular-season game against Baltimore a few seasons ago was a heavily criticized move at the time, but it served to light a fire under McNabb, as he eventually led the Eagles to the NFC Championship later that season where they would lose to the Arizona Cardinals.

Which brings me to my next point: Donovan McNabb knows how to win. Now, here is where the gallery chimes in, in unison, with a resounding, “What has he won?” And the answer is: nothing substantial — yet. No, he hasn’t won a Super Bowl yet, but he’s been to one. Stats are stats, and this one clearly speaks for itself: since McNabb was drafted in 1999, he has led the Eagles to the playoffs 8 times. In that same time span, only one team (and one quarterback) has been to the playoffs more than McNabb and Philadelphia. That team? The Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning has one Super Bowl ring, and he’s made two appearances, but it took him 8 years to even make his first Super Bowl, while McNabb reached the big game in his 6th season. Am I comparing Donovan McNabb to Peyton Manning? No, all I’m saying is that over the last decade, not many quarterbacks have been as consistent as Donovan McNabb. His 9 wins in the playoffs are the third best among active quarterbacks behind only Tom Brady and Brett Favre.

Now I can throw stats around all day, but they don’t really do much. Almost every off-season for the last five or six years, Donovan McNabb’s name has been floated through the rumor mills and it’s almost become expected to hear writers and analysts wonder whether he’ll lose his starting job after a bad game in Week 5. With my brother being a diehard Eagles fan, and having watched McNabb and the Eagles almost every Sunday for as long as I can remember, this is something I’m typically used to.

Not to this degree though. This time, it seems like the Eagles organization is going out of their way to dangle McNabb out there in the open, leaving him available for any team that shows interest or makes an offer. This year, they’re opening themselves up to the possibility that no team makes a trade for McNabb and he returns to the field in September as the starting quarterback knowing that his entire organization doesn’t really want him to the be the starting quarterback. Is that any way to treat your franchise quarterback? Maybe it was the Eagles early exit from the playoffs this season, or maybe it’s McNabb’s frequent injuries that make the front office unsure if they can leave the team in his hands, but whatever it is, I’m sure there are better ways to go about this.

McNabb is still only 33 years old. He has played 11 seasons in the National Football League already and has suffered his fair share of bad injuries, but 33 isn’t that old, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. Peyton Manning turned 33 last month, and no one is going to argue that he’s even remotely close to being washed up. Both Kurt Warner and Brett Favre won playoff games last season at the ages of 38 and 40 respectively. In fact, Brett Favre came within one bad pass of playing in the Super Bowl.

Donovan McNabb still has a lot left in his tank as a quarterback in the NFL, whether or not he starts the 2010 season with the Philadelphia Eagles. If they ship him away for a draft pick in the next month, I will assure you that whatever team he does end up with will be competitive. Maybe not immediately, but he will have a noticeable impact, even if he ends up in Oakland. Yes, you read that right, I believe that Donovan McNabb can turn the Oakland Raiders into a playoff team.

As a Giants fan and someone who has been tortured by Donovan McNabb year in and year out, I’ll be honest and say that I won’t miss him if he leaves the NFC East. I would much rather face Kevin Kolb’s Eagles twice a year than Donovan McNabb’s Eagles (although in Kolb’s defense, we haven’t really seen much of him yet). Will the Giants-Eagles rivalry be a little different without No. 5? Of course it will, because even though I hate him twice a year, I look forward to Giants-Eagles games because of him, because I respect him just as much as I dislike him. And, if he can get the respect of a New York Giants fan, he certainly deserves the respect of his organization and his fans.


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The Final Four

21 01 2010

 

New York Jets v Indianapolis Colts

You can’t say that I didn’t warn you.

Last week, I told you that this league was hard to figure out. Did you listen to me? Probably not, I didn’t even take my own advice. I went ahead and picked the Chargers to beat the Jets when I had a sneaking suspicion that something fishy would happen in San Diego on Sunday. Actually, it wasn’t even a sneaking suspicion. The suspicion was walking around banging pots and pans and blowing a whistle. It wasn’t sneaking anywhere.

So why did I ignore this and pick the Chargers anyway? Half of the reason is because I’m an idiot, and the other half is because there’s no way I could have foreseen Nate Kaeding jumping into a DeLorean and reliving the 2004 NFL Playoffs over again.

However, I could have foreseen Norv Turner blowing yet another big decision in a critical moment by opting to go with an onside kick with over 2 minutes to play. Instead of putting the pressure on Mark Sanchez to pick up a big first down and hope that your defense can make one stop, why risk giving the Jets a short field? Sanchez had thrown for barely 100 yards at that point in the game and the Jets offense had been unable to get much of anything going for most of the game until Jim Leonhard’s late pick of Philip Rivers set the Jets up at the Chargers’ 27 yard line.

I’m having an extremely difficult time with trying to understand how and why the New York Jets are going to be playing the Indianapolis Colts this coming Sunday afternoon for a trip to Super Bowl XLIV. I’m having a hard time for a number of reasons and surprisingly, none of them have anything to do with my hatred of the New York Jets. Believe it or not, they impressed the hell out of me in San Diego and for at least the next 4 or 5 days, they have earned my respect. Relish this, because it will probably be the first and last time I ever say those words.

In all honesty though, I can’t figure out the enigma that is the 2009 New York Jets. Forget about the enigma of the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE for just a second and consider the fact that a team that was 4-6 through the first 11 weeks and went 2-4 in their division is now one win away from playing in the Super Bowl. This is a team that had it’s own coach remark in a press conference that his team had no chance to make the playoffs. This is a team who is led by a quarterback that finished the regular season with 12 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 63. 

Hopefully you can see why I’m so baffled. What compounds this confusion is the fact that I live smack-dab in the middle of the three-ring circus that is the New York sports media. For this reason, I am constantly witnessing the Jets getting raked over the coals for their latest embarrassment against Buffalo or their failure to stop David Garrard on a game-winning drive on their home field. Despite all of that, I now see a team that was declared clinically dead by an entire city of critics and sports writers only a month ago, march confidently into Lucas Oil Stadium with an NFL title in their sights. They have seduced an entire nation with their swagger and their cocksureness and judging from all the Daily News back pages these last few weeks, you would think that the Colts were the underdogs on Sunday.

Does America always love a good underdog story? Of course, and that is partly why the Jets have become America’s Darlings du jour. A team that nobody thought had a shot, suddenly has turned the tables with a rookie quarterback and a rookie coach who knows his way around a quote. And I’ll admit that any coach that uses the movie 300 to motivate his team obviously knows what he’s doing.

Do the 2009 Jets remind me a lot of the 2007 Giants? Yes. I find a lot of similarities in both the teams themselves and the paths that they took to get to this point. A young inexperienced quarterback, a relentless, blitz-happy defense that gives opposing quarterbacks nightmares and a steady, exhausting running game. And that is all I have to say about the magical allure of this strange and unpredictable Jets team.

Now, on to my picks for Championship Sunday. I was 2-for-2 last weekend, so at least we’re getting somewhere. I think.

New Orleans Saints 28, Minnesota Vikings 24

Last weekend the Vikings defense absolutely overwhelmed the Cowboys offense. Dallas rolled into the playoffs on the arm of Tony Romo and the suddenly breakout play of Felix Jones, and then rolled over Philadelphia in the first round. The Minnesota pass rush was too much for Romo though, and they were exploited in every conceivable way. Not turning the football over was one of the main foundations that held the Cowboys up during their run to the playoffs and that pillar came crumbling down on Sunday when they turned the ball over three times.

Can the Vikings replicate this gameplan this Sunday against the Saints and disrupt the rhythm of Drew Brees and the New Orleans offense? Probably not. First of all, they’ll be at odds in the Superdome which is possibly the hardest place to play on the road in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. Second, the Saints don’t need a huge game from Brees to win. Of course they would like one on Sunday, but it’s not a necessity. There have been numerous times this season when Brees played very un-Brees-like and the Saints still managed to get the job done. Then again, those wins didn’t come against the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre.

Nobody can deny that Brett Favre has been having one magical season and his 37 touchdowns and 7 interceptions look like numbers that the quarterback of Oklahoma or USC would put up. Could this be his season of destiny? His last hurrah? His final showdown? Sure. Will it be though? Probably not. I think that the Saints and more importantly, the Superdome, will prove to be too much for the Vikes. The Saints will get their first ever Super Bowl appearance.

Indianapolis Colts 21, New York Jets 16

To be perfectly honest with you, I think that the New York Jets match up better with the Colts than any other team in the AFC. The only thing that can derail the Colts offense is a blitzing defense that puts constant pressure on Peyton Manning and forces him to check off on his receivers a little quicker than he is accustomed to doing. It’s no secret that Peyton Manning is a little less Peyton Manning-like when he has to worry about  linebackers coming up the middle or cornerbacks coming from the blind side. If the Jets defense can harass Peyton Manning like they harassed Philip Rivers last week, they will have a very, very good shot at winning the AFC title.

New York Jets v Indianapolis Colts

There is just too much at stake in this game for the Colts though. Whether or not the Colts fans or the Indianapolis media will admit to it, Jim Caldwell has taken a lot of heat for his decision to pull Manning in the second half of the Week 16 game against the Jets. Even if they don’t necessarily disagree with the decision, every one has talked about it, and it is on everyone’s mind. Lose again to the Jets and there is going to be a lot of questioning going on and a lot of  criticism thrown in the direction of the Colts organization, particulary Jim Caldwell. There is simply too much at stake here for the Colts, and Peyton Manning for that matter, to throw anything less than the kitchen sink at this game. Peyton Manning absolutely lives for games like this. He thrives on it. Mark Sanchez? As good as he’s been so far this postseason, I don’t think he’s ready for this stage yet. And maybe that’s all it comes down to in the end.

I will tell you one thing though, it will be one heck of an AFC Championship Game.


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You Would Think I Don’t Even Watch Football

14 01 2010
Cincinnati Bengals v New York Jets

The NFL is an enigma. It’s not completely beyond comprehension, but it’s a lot harder to understand than baseball or even the NBA. Parity is one of the reason for this, but most of it stems from the fact that there are hundreds of mitigating factors that are in play every time two teams step on the field to do battle. Home field, momentum, teams with a chip on their shoulder, injuries, mistakes, rookie quarterbacks playing on the road, and coaches that don’t know how to properly manage the clock. These are only a few of the things that go into what ultimately decides every game in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, especially playoff games. The playoffs amplify everything by 100 and put every single flaw that a team may have under a microscope.

I’m not making excuses for myself. I went 0-for-4 in my picks last weekend. If you go back and read those picks after the fact you might even go as far as to assume that I don’t watch any football. Being completely an utterly wrong about each and every one of the Wild Card playoff games is not going to convince anyone that I actually watch 10+ hours of football every Sunday during the regular season. A person that watches 10+ hours of football every Sunday doesn’t go 0-for-4 in the first round of the playoffs.

But…this is the NFL, and in the NFL things like this happen in the first round of the playoffs:

1) A rookie quarterback, who looked like he was having a Chernobyl-like nuclear meltdown a few weeks ago, can win a road playoff game. By the way, this rookie quarterback is Mark Sanchez. Nevermind the fact that he’s now drawing eerie comparisons to Eli Manning’s breakout 2007 season in the New York media, this is the same Mark Sanchez who couldn’t muster more than 7 points at home against an Atlanta Falcons pass defense that was next to last in passing yards per game allowed.

2) The second-ranked overall defense will show up in Arizona and get torched for 51 points. Yes, 51 points. Even more ridiculous: the Cardinals scored 51 points and still needed overtime to beat the Packers.

3) Joe Flacco 33, Tom Brady 14. In Foxborough. To be honest with you, that’s a little misleading though, because Joe Flacco only threw for 36 yards on Sunday. That’s all. The Ravens beat the Pats 33-14, on the road, and their starting quarterback had 36 yards passing. How? Ray Rice, that’s how.

So, knowing that I not only embarrassed myself last week by going 0-for-4, but also lost my Super Bowl pick after the first round, I will put a unique twist on my picks of the Divisional Playoffs. I will pick the opposite of whatever my instinct tells me this week. That means that whatever I say in the next few paragraphs is the complete and total opposite of what my obviously flawed football intuition is telling me. This is a win/win situation, because if I go 0-for-4 again, it would mean my original instincts were correct. Try to stay with me here.

Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

Saints 33, Cardinals 27

There is no way that Kurt Warner has another game in him like the one he played against Green Bay last week. There is also no way that New Orleans is feeling a little out of sync after losing the last three games of the regular season. It doesn’t matter at all that their last convincing win came against the Patriots all the way back on November 30th. We’ve seen this happen year after year, number one seeds that sputter out towards the end of the regular season, but then rebound once the playoffs start. They are not in any danger of a hot team like the Cardinals coming in and stealing the game from them with an early ambush. Nope. Not in the NFL.

Saturday, 8:00 p.m.

Ravens 24, Colts 20

I forgot what the rule was — always bet against Peyton Manning in primetime games, right? I’m pretty sure that was it. Also, does anyone remember what happened to the Colts in the playoffs last year? They lost to the 8-8 Chargers who snuck into the playoffs by stealing the AFC West right out from under a reeling Broncos team (the Broncos are getting awfully good at tanking the second half of the season). So this is actually a no-brainer. The Ravens are coming off of a big win, Jim Caldwell is taking a ton of heat for pulling Manning against the Jets and Lucas Oil Stadium is not a difficult place for a young quarterback like Joe Flacco to win a road playoff game.

Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

Cowboys 41, Vikings 10

This game has stumped NFL analysts and ESPN’s talking heads all week. Nobody really knows how to pick this game. I do though. I know exactly who to pick. The Cowboys look like one of the hottest teams in the league right now and the Vikings don’t. Is it that simple? Apparently. Are you really going to make the mistake of backing Brett Favre in the playoffs at 40 years old? I dare you.

Sunday, 4:00 p.m.

Jets 27, Chargers 24  OT

You have to be a moron not to back Mark Sanchez on the road in the biggest game of his career against a team that’s won 11 games in a row. Seriously. Anyone who watches football, in fact anyone who even knows the definition of the word “football”, knows that the Jets will march in to Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday and their top-ranked defense will stifle the hottest team in football. I swear, sometimes this league is so easy to figure out.


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Ready or Not, It’s Time for the Playoffs (And Why I Think The Packers Will Win It All)

5 01 2010
Green Bay Packers v Arizona Cardinals

Aside from the NCAA Tournament in March, the NFL Playoffs are probably my favorite postseason event in sports, even when the Giants aren’t playing. Do you want to know why I love the NFL Playoffs? If you don’t, just skip the next few sentences, because I’m going to tell you anyway. I love the NFL Playoffs because you get one chance, and that’s it. There are no best-of-5 series, there are no brutally long best-of-7 series that drag out for a week and a half. There is one game and one game only. If you’re unprepared, it will show. Typically in best-of-7 series, the team that is supposed to win, will win. In the NFL Playoffs, anything can happen. Often enough, anything does happen. That’s why I love the NFL Playoffs, because you can have a team like the 2008 Arizona Cardinals get hammered in Week 16 against the Patriots and lose by 40 points but then suddenly get hot at the right time and be in the Super Bowl a month later. I love the NFL Playoffs because a 10-6 wild-card team that everybody wrote off two months before can beat the number 1 and 2 seeds in the NFC in back-to-back weeks on the road and then stun an undefeated team to win the Super Bowl. Do I need to explain myself anymore?

If you’re getting deja vu from looking at the games slated for this weekend’s Wild Card playoff round, that’s because three out of the four match-ups are repeats from last week, and two of them are even being played on the same field. If I was the Elias Sports Bureau I would probably be able to tell you if that has ever happened before, but I don’t have those kinds of statistics in front of me, so for now I’m going to have to go out on a limb and guess that it is a pretty rare occurrence. Both the Packers and Eagles will return to the scene of the crime from Week 17 for a playoff rematch. The Packers easily handed the Cardinals a 33-7 loss in Glendale on Sunday, and will hope for a repeat performance this weekend. Meanwhile, the Eagles are hoping to actually show up in Arlington this Saturday night, because from what I saw they sure as hell didn’t show up on Sunday, losing 24-0 to the Cowboys and also losing out on a chance for the #2 seed in the NFC. In doing so, they dropped from the #3 seed all the way down to the #6 seed, ensuring that they will not have a home game in the playoffs. Going from possibly having a first-round bye and a home game in the Divisional round to being the #6 seed in the span of a few hours was probably just as disheartening for Eagles fans as remembering that they’ve lost 4 NFC title games in the last 7 years.

As for the Cardinals, I think we’ve all learned our lesson about writing off teams that look like a bunch of ghosts with uniforms on in Week 17. Last year’s Cardinals team taught us that lesson, and maybe they’re trying to reteach it again this year. All I know is that Sunday’s Packers-Cardinals game will certainly be a lot closer than 33-7.

So two exact, carbon-copy rematches from Week 17 in the first-round of the playoffs for the first time ever (yes, I’ve actually done the research now, so I can say that with confidence), and that’s just the NFC. What about the AFC? Well, there’s the remarkable story of the New York Jets. Even Rex Ryan wrote this team off a few weeks ago, but now they’re suddenly the toast of the town. How did this happen? I have no clue. I can take a shot in the dark though and attribute their sudden and inexplicable success to a few things:

1) Their cream puff of a schedule. The Jets won 9 games this year against Houston, New England, Tennessee, Oakland, Carolina, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis*, Cincinnati*. Three of those wins came against playoff teams, including Indy and Cincy in the last two weeks, but I’ll explain the asterisks in my next point.

2) They beat Indy and Cincy teams that were pretty much only on the field to collect a paycheck the last two weeks. Peyton Manning was out of the game by halftime in Week 16 allowing the Jets opportunistic defense to take advantage of a terrified Curtis Painter to the point where I was about to call DYFS on Jim Caldwell. And then on Sunday night, they trampled a Cincinnati team that clearly didn’t have any incentive to put on a show. I mean, Carson Palmer was 1/11 for 0 yards before being replaced by J.T. O’Sulli-beard. If those stats don’t scream, “The Football Felt Like a Frozen Brick, Somebody Give Me Coffee and Get Me Out of This Game Before Kimo Von Oelfhoffen Comes Out of Nowhere and Dives At My Knees”, then I don’t know what does.

3) Every single thing that the Jets needed to happen in the last two weeks in order to make the playoffs, happened.

But hey, I’m not bitter! So let’s move on to the next AFC Wild Card match-up featuring the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens. Ironically, the Patriots, one of the only teams that I have been able to consistently figure out for the past 4 or 5 years is turning out to be the only team that I really don’t understand this season. Are they good? Are they a shell of their former selves? I can’t even tell anymore. However, if Wes Welker’s injury is as bad as they say it is (and they say it’s pretty bad, trust me), then I fear for New England. And if Tom Brady really has been playing with broken ribs for the last month like Bill Simmons says he has, then I fear for New England. I can see this game going either way though, it’s like the Tila Tequila of playoff games.

So, with all of that said, here are my Wild Card playoff predictions:

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

Bengals 27, Jets 17

I didn’t watch all of Sunday night’s game, I’ll be honest. Most of what I got out of the game, I got from glancing over my shoulder at the TV while I sat at a blackjack table at Showboat. What I saw was this: J.T. O’Sullivan’s beard, Mark Sanchez not throwing many passes, really cold fans, Brad Smith, J.T. O’Sullivan’s beard, Mark Sanchez looking confused. Somehow it was 37-0. It’s going to be a whole different sequel in Cincinnati on Saturday with the Bengals hosting a playoff game in front of their home crowd for the first time since the 2006 playoffs when Kimo Von Oelhoffen simultaneously ended Carson Palmer’s season and the Bengals’ season on the second play from scrimmage.

Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST

Eagles 31, Cowboys 23

You can’t say the same about the Eagles Week 17 performance as you could about the Bengals. The Eagles had a lot to play for, probably just as much as anyone else playing last week. They just didn’t show up, simply enough. Now, they have to avoid the dubious distinction of losing to the same team three times in one season, and twice in consecutive weeks. JerryWorld is going to be packed to the gills for it’s first playoff game and it’s going to be up to Donovan McNabb and DeSean Jackson to quiet the crowd and get the Eagles on the board early. If the Cowboys build an early lead like they did last week, it’s going to be Blitz City for the Dallas D and the Eagles injury-depleted offensive line.

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. EST

Patriots 20, Ravens 17

This game is going to be about how well the Patriots defense can calm down the Ravens potent two-headed beast at running back of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee and it’s also about how many times Randy Moss can get open against the Baltimore secondary. If Randy Moss has a big day, then so too will New England. I think that the Patriots should be able to get it done against the Ravens on Sunday, but with Welker gone and Brady not 100%, they’re going to have trouble after that, especially against San Diego and Indy, should it come to that.

Sunday, 4:00 p.m. EST

Packers 36, Cardinals 33

I like Aaron Rodgers and I like this Packers team just about as much as any other team in this year’s postseason. I have a good feeling about Green Bay and I think they’re one of the hottest teams in the league right now, and I love Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and this Packers team is my playoff team for 2009. They seem to me like the most complete team in the NFC, and yes, even more so than the Saints. Their defense, the new 3-4 system implemented by Dom Capers this season, as proven to be effect as it’s one of the best in the league. Their balanced offense is a perfect fit for the gunslinging Aaron Rodgers, and I finally think that it’s time for a coming of age for A-Rod. Beating Brett Favre in the playoffs for a ticket to the NFC Championship is probably the sweetest justice he can have. As you can probably tell, I like the 2009 Green Bay Packers. I like them to beat Arizona on Sunday and then I like them to beat Brett Favre and the Vikings next week and then it’s on to DALLAS, OR PHILADELPHIA, OR NEW ORLEANS! THE PACKERS ARE GOING TO TAKE THEM ALL DOWN!

Since I’m already all worked up I just wanted to add one more paragraph about something that happened yesterday in the Giants organization that excited me more than anything else having to do with the Giants since Week 15: Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan was fired. As I watched the latest 44-7 embarrassment this past Sunday in Minnesota, I hoped that Sheridan would be out no later than Monday, and I (along with most of Giants Nation, I would imagine) got my wish yesterday afternoon. So thank you, John Mara, for standing up for your fans and for being an owner with guts, and for doing what the Wilpons will probably never do: FIRE PEOPLE THAT CAN’T DO THEIR JOB (*cough* Omar Minaya *cough*).


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One For the Ages

30 12 2009
Carolina Panthers v New York Giants

Last week was a busy week for two reasons: Christmas. Shopping. For those reasons, I couldn’t turn out a column after last Monday night’s 45-12 throttling of the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. Had I written something, I likely would have gushed about how good the offense and the defense looked and how I could see this season turning around. I may have even written about how I thought this team might make a pretty surprising run in the playoffs and how I thought that there were a lot of similarities to the 2007 team that won the Super Bowl. I probably would have written all of those things, and a lot more. Then, after Sunday’s game, I would have looked back at last week’s column and been very embarrassed. I would have been almost as embarrassed as the Giants were by the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon in the last game they will ever play at Giants Stadium, their home for the last 34 years and 283 games.

A few weeks ago, after the wild Sunday night shootout against the Eagles, I wrote that I would not be disappointed if that was the last game I would ever watch in Giants Stadium. Then I got greedy. I knew I just had to be there on Sunday, I had to be there for the last hurrah, when the curtain came down on the place that I have grown to love over the last 15 years. Now, my final memory of Giants Stadium is going to be the Giants getting spanked by a team that had absolutely nothing to play for, on a day that we had everything to play for. It’s going to be a memory of our defense getting torched for 206 yards by a second-string running back (mind you, I know Stewart can be a starter on just about any other team in the league) and for 3 touchdowns by a second-string quarterback. It’s going to be a memory of Brandon Jacobs getting mercilessly booed as he walked off the field and towards the locker room with about 8 minutes to go and the Giants down 41-9. Were the boo’s warranted? Certainly. Jacobs racked up a whopping 1 yard on 6 carries. The workhorse who helped carry the Giants to a Super Bowl title 2 years ago, now looks like he has suddenly aged a decade. His explosiveness has all but disappeared, he no longer puts his shoulder down and runs over defenders and for the most part, he looks like he is running with ankle weights on. He has not crossed the 100-yard mark once all season, he only has 5 touchdowns (one-third of his total from last season) and unless he has a monster game against Minnesota next week, he will fall short of 1,000 yards for the first time since 2006, when he was Tiki Barber’s backup.

Needless to say, the lackluster running game has been the root of several of the Giants problems this season, but not all of them. Not in the least. It certainly hasn’t affected the passing game. Manning has had no problems finding the open receiver this season (you know, when they actually decide to catch the ball) and he is having, by far, the best statistical season of his career. His 27 touchdown passes are a career high and he will likely pass the 4,000 yard mark next week, making him only the third Giants quarterback to do so in franchise history. He needs a little over 200 yards to set the Giants all-time single season mark currently held by Kerry Collins who set it in 2002.

What the lack of a run game has done to the Giants this season is fail to establish a rhythm that has been so vital to our offense in the past few seasons. Being able to balance a successful passing game with a steady running game is the key to success in the National Football League, and the Giants just couldn’t find that balance for most of this season. Not enough big runs from Jacobs and Bradshaw to jump start a scoring drive and not enough big plays to galvanize the team and give the offense some momentum when the team sorely needs it.

I’m not going to say much about Sunday’s game, mostly because there really isn’t anything to say about it. It was the epitome of all that has gone wrong for the Giants this season. The defense failed to make big plays when they needed to. It seemed like last week’s defensive game plan, which worked so well against Jason Campbell and the Redskins, was not replicated on Sunday, as the Giants only sacked Matt Moore once, on the Panthers first offensive play from scrimmage. If you take a few steps back, Sunday’s game was quite simple to understand, mostly because it happened so quickly. The Giants opening drive, which ate up almost 8 minutes of the clock, looked almost exactly like their opening drive in Washington last week. When Manningham fumbled on the Carolina 17 yard line after converting a huge 3rd down, the momentum that the Giants had seemingly tried to build up with that march slipped away, and from that point on it looked as if the Giants were going through the motions. One of the amazing things about football is that entire outcome of a single game can be changed by a single play. It is often the littlest things that can swing the momentum and which can either bury a team or give them a second life. On Sunday, the Giants were buried early. Perhaps even before the fans knew it, and certainly before the players knew it, proving that anything is possible on any given Sunday.

Carolina Panthers v New York Giants

Was it tough to head out to Giants Stadium for one final Sunday, hoping for a heroic, season-saving effort from the Giants and a final push for the playoffs, only to see one of the worst performances in the stadium’s history? Yes, it was admittedly difficult. However, there was a sort of poetic beauty in being able to witness Sunday’s game. Everything served as a type of closure, from the boo’s, to the guy over in section 319 who threw all of his food at the field when the Giants fell behind 24-0 at halftime. I’ll be the first to admit that with all the games I’ve seen at Giants Stadium over the years, I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve seen a lot of good games, and even a handful of great games, but I haven’t witnessed to many stinkers like the one I saw on Sunday. Actually, it’s safe to say that Sunday’s game was the worst I have ever attended at Giants Stadium, or anywhere else for that matter. So bad that I probably will have to amend the column that I wrote a few months ago detailing the top 5 worst games of the Eli Manning Era to include it. When you look at it that way, it even begins to make some kind of sense. Maybe not fully, and not yet, but in time I’m sure I’ll see it for what it is.

On Sunday, Big Blue will travel to Minnesota to take on Brett Favre and the Vikings. The Vikes have already clinched a playoff spot, which is lucky for them considering the nosedive they’ve been locked in since the beginning of the month. They’ve dropped 3 of their last 4 games, including a gut-wrenching 36-30 overtime loss to the Bears on Monday night. The 11-4 Vikings suddenly have something to play for, as a loss by them and an Eagles win over Dallas would drop Minnesota down to the 3rd seed in the NFC, giving the Eagles the coveted first-round bye. As for the Giants, it’s a much different story. By Week 5, many Giants fans looked at this game on the schedule anticipating that it wouldn’t mean anything, much like last year’s Week 17 matchup against the Vikings. After all, we were 5-0, and most of us thought that we would have our playoff position readily secured by now. Well, it turns out that we were half-right, as Heatmiser would say. The game means about as much as an exhibition game to the Giants, but not for reasons that we had anticipated back when we were 5-0. The Giants will miss the playoffs this year for the first time since I was a senior in high school and I still believed that prom would be just like American Pie, only in real life. Instead, we will try to play spoiler and help out the Eagles, because after all,  they’ve helped us out so much this season (outscoring us 85-55 in two games). It’s the least we could do. To be perfectly honest with you, I’d much rather see the Eagles win the NFC than the Cowboys, a team we beat twice. It would hurt much less to know that the team that caused us the most torment this season turned out to be the second best team in the NFC.

With The Minnesota game being played on January 3rd, this past Sunday’s game against Carolina served not only as the last game at Giants Stadium, but also the last game of the decade. Although the decade ended on a bitter note for Big Blue, nobody can deny that it was one hell of a decade to be a Giants fan. With two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl title, 3 division titles and 6 playoff appearances, it was arguably one of the most successful decades in Giants history, and I’m proud to have been a part of it. As we say goodbye to another decade and welcome in 2010 in just a few days, here’s to hoping that 2010-2019 will be even better for the New York Football Giants. Who knows, maybe it will even start with a win on Sunday.


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Remembering the Beginning of the Eli Manning Era (and Week 11 Picks)

20 11 2009

On Sunday I’ll be making my third trip up to Giants Stadium this season to see a Giants-Falcons game that at the beginning of the season looked like it would be a late-November battle for NFC supremacy. After all, both the Giants and Atlanta were coming off playoff berths last season and looked poised to get even better. Now this game, while still important, is important for an entirely different reason. Both the Giants and Falcons are 5-4 and locked in a downward spiral. On Sunday, one team will win and improve to 6-4, possibly providing the momentum necessary to save the season and turn things around. On Sunday, one team will lose and drop to 5-5, making it very difficult to make a late-season playoff push. You can call it a do-or-die game, or a building block to bigger things or a hundred other euphemisms, the fact still remains: the Giants absolutely need to win this game. There’s no way around it. Coughlin called the Giants’ last game against San Diego a “one-game playoff”;  if that were true, the Giants have been knocked out already. But then something happened last week. With the Giants resting up on their bye week, both the Eagles and Cowboys, the two teams ahead of Big Blue in the NFC East, both lost. And suddenly this thing is far from over.

Sunday’s game also has me thinking about something else. It has me thinking about the last time the Falcons visited the Meadowlands, 5 years ago tomorrow. On November 21, 2004, I sat in Section 121 and watched Eli Manning, our prized number one draft pick make the first start of his NFL career. Even though I had absolutely no part in Eli Manning’s conception or subsequent birth, part of me felt like I was watching my son take the field for his first pop warner game, or something along those lines. I was still in high school at the time though, and these were still the days where Michael Vick was only 45% hype and 55% talent, as opposed to 95% hype and 5% talent like he has been post-prison stint. Unfortunately, the 55% of talent prevailed on that day and Vick rushed for something like 900 yards against us, in route to a 14-10 win. We did have a chance to win the game, but our last gasp drive was stalled when Eli was picked off by Keith Brooking. On that day in 2004, Eli was hesitant, he was a little unsure, and the impossibly high expectations that he carried with him from Oxford, Mississippi for the rest of that season, and the season after that and the season after that, made it extremely difficult for anyone to see past his shortcomings.

Did that all change when his playoff heroics helped us win the Super Bowl two years ago? I wish I could say it did, but in New York, there is no such thing as a championship grace period, as relentless and unforgiving as that may sound. Now, 5 years after that game against Atlanta, there is no question that Eli has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league. On Sunday, I’d like to see that Eli. The Eli that’s a leader and a cool assassin in the clutch, and not the Eli from 2004 who looked like his lunch was on the way up after every bad pass he threw. I would like to win another Super Bowl (honestly, who wouldn’t?) and I think this team has about as good a shot as any other Giants team I’ve ever watched, even last year’s team. So it starts on Sunday, at home against Atlanta. Back to where it all began.

On to this week’s quick picks, sponsored by nobody. Home teams in all caps.

DETROIT (-3.5) over Cleveland

Mangini wasn’t the first coach to be fired this season? I guess cameos in The Sopranos do go a long way. You should have thought about that before you turned down the part, Dick Jauron.

Buffalo (+9) over JACKSONVILLE

And the countdown to T.O.’s first sideline temper tantrum begins….(checking watch)….NOW!

Pittsburgh (-10) over KANSAS CITY

Nothing allows you to heal the wounds of getting swept by the Bengals quite like a game against the Chiefs.

Indianapolis (-1) over BALTIMORE

This game has “37-3 Colts” written all over it.

NY GIANTS (-6.5) over Atlanta

I don’t know why I’m doing this. Please, someone tell me why I’m doing this. Oops, too late.

GREEN BAY (-6.5) over San Francisco

Brett Favre against Steve Young, should be a great game (2000).

MINNESOTA (-11) over Seattle

Brett Favre against Matt Hasselbeck, should be a boring game (2009).

Washington (+11) over DALLAS

Only because I know there’s no way that three different teams are going to cover 11+ point spreads this week.

New Orleans (-11.5) over TAMPA BAY

10-0 is when the people start talking. Can you handle that, Saints? Although the Pats 16-0 regular season a few years ago has taken some of that edge off.

Arizona (-9) over ST. LOUIS

Just a few more wins for the Cardinals before they go back to looking like they don’t really care. Just in time for the playoffs! Hey, it worked for them last year.

NY Jets (+10.5) over NEW ENGLAND

No I will not take the Patriots! Rex Ryan cried during a team meeting this week. HE CRIED. Do you know what that means?

Cincinnati (-9.5) over OAKLAND

Part of me is hoping for this game to be close so that a few people will vacate the Bengals bandwagon. I’m in Standing Room Only right now. My legs are getting tired and I’d like to have a seat.

San Diego (-3) over DENVER

Broncos should have stuck with wearing their mustard and brown Denver Omelettes uniforms. Ugly uniforms help teams win, just ask the Jets and Bucs.

Philadelphia (-3) over CHICAGO

-3 is the spread, and also what Jay Cutler fantasy owners see every time he throws another INT. I’m just kidding, I know that there aren’t any Jay Cutler fantasy owners….right?

Tennessee (+4.5) over HOUSTON

VINCE YOUNG WINS FOOTBALL GAMES.

Last Week: 7-8

Season Total: 81-63


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Week 7: Where Super Bowl Dreams Go To Die

23 10 2009

I was 7-7 again last week. And when I say that I barely salvaged a .500 record, I do mean barely. To say that I’ve hit a dry spell would be an understatement. Picking NFL games is like playing darts with your eyes closed, you just hope that it lands somewhere on the board and not lodged in the cornea of the person standing next to you. Last week, I would have blinded everyone at the bar.

Week 7 picks, home teams in all CAPS.

San Diego (-5) over KANSAS CITY

I warned you about the Chargers last week. Maybe in a normal, pre-Kyle Orton world the Chargers could get by with a 2-3 record after 6 weeks and not have to sweat about running down the division title with a late-season surge, but this is a new world now. It’s a world where Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback of a 6-0 team and a world where Josh McDaniels is looking like the smartest coach in the league. It’s also a world where Norv Turner still exists and as long as he’s pacing the sidelines with a play sheet and a headset on, we’re going to have to keep hearing stories about how underrated Phillip Rivers is and how the Chargers are underachievers.

Indianapolis (-13.5) over ST. LOUIS

It’s been exactly one year and four days since the Rams last won a regular season game. Since then we’ve elected a new President to office, Kurt Warner took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl, the stock market tanked, Michael Jackson died and we bombed the moon. The bad news? The Colts will most likely add another week to their suffering. Right now the state of Missouri is about as useful to the NFL as Canada.

Chicago (+1) over CINCINNATI

The Bengals tricked me into picking them last week. Their strangely soothing tiger-striped helmets lured me into picking them when I knew that Houston would rip them apart. I’ll go with the Bears this week so that the Bengals can spite me again. Also, I’m glad that I had Matt Forte on my fantasy team last year, before NFL defenses had a chance to figure him out.

Green Bay (-8.5) over CLEVELAND

I thought it was clever how the Browns used an outbreak of the swine flu to disguise the fact that they’ve really just quit on Mangini and don’t even want to show up for practice anymore. I think that in addition to catching on as an epidemic, the swine flu will also catch on as a convenient excuse to say “I’d rather not show up on Sunday and embarrass myself in front of 70,000 fans with paper bags over their heads”.

Minnesota (+5.5) over PITTSBURGH

Brett Favre, also better known as “ESPN”s Wet Dream” looks a lot different than he did last season. I would know, after all I watched him week in and week out with the Jets, cashing in his leftover supply of Brett Favre Dumb Luck cards in between heaving interceptions and forcing balls into triple coverage. I don’t see the same Brett this season as I saw last year with New York. He’s only thrown two picks so far over 6 games and looks a hell of a lot more confident in the Vikings offense. I wouldn’t bet against him at this point because he honestly looks like Liam Neeson in Taken right now. Like he has a score to settle and he’s going to demolish everything in his path. Or else I’m most likely wrong and the Vikings will end up 9-7. Beats me.

New England (-15) over Tampa Bay (London)

I know that the NFL didn’t know just how bad the Bucs would be this season when they scheduled this game, but they should at least send a letter of apology to the entire country of Great Britain for dumping this huge pile of garbage on Wembley Stadium. After this game Goodell will probably get an email from the British prime minister saying “Sorry, we’re all booked for next year, so thanks anyway. You can keep your football over there for now, I’ll give you a call if anything opens up in the next 20 years. I’m going to go watch the Manchester United game now and down a bottle of Scotch. P.S. Thanks for ruining The Office.“

San Francisco (+3) over HOUSTON

Since this league is completely unpredictable, I’m going to stick with the only thing I know, which is that the Texans will usually always follow up a good game with an equally bad one. So here’s to you, Houston, for providing some sense of stability in this world of chaos.

NY Jets (-6) over OAKLAND

Richard Seymour: “You can mark it down, the Raiders will be in the playoffs in 2009.” Ummmm……you know, if he didn’t specifically mention the Raiders I would be convinced that he wasn’t even aware that he was traded. But he did, and now I’m mad at myself for actually weighing the possibility of Oakland making the playoffs.

Buffalo (+7) over CAROLINA

CAROLINA (-7) over Buffalo

I changed my pick when I realized that Ryan Fitzpatrick, from the football powerhouse of Harvard University, will likely be making the start. A more interesting side-story surrounding the Bills this season is the disappearing act of Terrell Owens. I had a feeling that this Buffalo stint wasn’t going to work out for him, but I didn’t realize how much he would be phased out. It’s not that the Bills don’t want to get him the ball, it’s that they just can’t. I’ll give it three weeks before he starts doing interviews in the third person, changes his number to 00 and stops running routes.

New Orleans (-6.5) over MIAMI

I know the Saints fans are excited about what they saw against the Giants last week, but I’ve been directed by my agent and publicist not to make any more comments about that game, so all I’ll say is this: no comment.

Atlanta (+4) over DALLAS

The Cowboys have a lot to prove this week, but so do half the teams in this league. I hate when guys on ESPN or some other NFL show say that about a team because they have nothing else good to say about them. “They have a lot to prove.” Having something to prove doesn’t make you special or unique. It certainly doesn’t make you good. It’s all about execution and whether or not Tony Romo will look like a deer in the headlights in the fourth quarter.

NY GIANTS (-7) over Arizona

I would say 7 points is a bit much until you take into consideration that this is a Sunday night game, at home and the Cardinals don’t do east coast games very well. I want to say that last week’s game was this season’s version of the Cleveland game from last year for the Giants and that they will rebound this week. Plus, THEY HAVE A LOT TO PROVE.

Philadelphia (-7) over WASHINGTON

I’ll give the Eagles one more shot this week, on the road in Washington, even though I’m aware that the Eagles are about 0-53 in Monday night games against the Redskins. But back to back losses to the Raiders and Redskins will bring about something that every Philly fan knew would come but is secretly fearing deep down: chants for Michael Vick at the next home game. You know it will happen if they lose on Monday night. YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF PHILADELPHIA, YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

Last Week: 7-7

Season Total: 54-36



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