Quick Hits: Saints 49, Giants 24

29 11 2011

They are who we thought they were. I’m talking about the Giants, of course. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which means it’s also beginning to look a lot like yet another Giants second-half swoon. There’s no way around this. This is an underachieving team, decimated by injuries and lacking talent in too many key positions. Do you want me to name just a few of the problems with this Giants team?

Let’s start with the linebackers. Our linebacking corps was already paper thin before we lost Michael Boley to an injury last week. Now, with the exception of Mathias Kiwanuka, we’re trotting out a bevy of inexperienced, overmatched linebackers that couldn’t cover furniture. I like Mark Herzlich, he’s got a lot of potential and a ton of heart — but the guy is getting torched in the middle of the field. We are not going to get the job done with Herzlich, Spencer Paysinger and Greg Jones. That trio is not winning us a title. Sure we miss Jonathan Goff right now, but I’m not even convinced that he would be making that big of a difference at this point. The bottom line is that we need to go out and get linebackers that can make some plays.

Moving on, there’s another 270-pound problem I can think of off the top of my head, and his name is Brandon Jacobs. I’ve seriously had enough of Brandon Jacobs as a running back for the New York Giants. Listen Brandon, I’ve cheered for you for 7 years, I was there in Giants Stadium when you trucked your first helpless safety and scored your first career touchdown back in 2005, and we’ve had some special times together. But it’s over. I can’t sit by and watch you tip-toe into a pile of bodies anymore and routinely turn in 46-yard outings like everything’s okay.

And that touchdown dance you did last night with the scoreboard reading SAINTS 21, GIANTS 9? That was embarrassing buddy. I was literally sitting there watching you on TV, getting red-in-the-face embarrassed for you. How you can perform so poorly week after week, constantly run your mouth about everything from the fans to the offensive game plan, and then have the audacity to dance after a touchdown in a game in which your team got its doors blown off, just baffles the mind.

As far as I’m concerned, Brandon Jacobs is dead to me as a football player.

What’s next? How about the fact that this team continues to follow the same script year in and year out? Here’s how it goes: We’re coming off of a disappointing and deflating loss, we talk about how we’re “fired up” and “just focused on preparing for next week” in the media all week, we vow to overcome the disappointment and rise to the occasion, and then we get blown to smithereens on Sunday. It happened in 2009: a heartbreaking loss at home to Philadelphia, followed by momentary signs of life the next week in Washington, and then a complete and utter implosion in back-to-back weeks to end the season, giving up 41 and 44 points to Carolina and Minnesota. It happened again last year: a heartbreaking loss at home to Philadelphia, followed by a 45-17 whacking at the hands of Green Bay. And it’s happening right now: a heartbreaking (and god-awful) loss at home to Philadelphia, followed by Drew Brees putting up 49 points and carving us up like he was playing the scout team defense.

This team has no heart. That’s really all there is to it. Howard Cross put it perfectly last night during the radio broadcast when he said that the Giants are weak right now, and teams are coming in to play them knowing that all they have to do is hit them in the mouth a few times and they’ll just lay down. They just don’t have any fight in them. Perry Fewell is running up and down the damn sidelines last night after the hit on Hakeem Nicks, just trying to get this team fired up and there’s no response. We’re letting Drew Brees run amok, dunking the ball through goal posts when the guy probably needs a ladder to decorate his Christmas tree.

Even last week, our quarterback is clearly hit well after the play on an interception return, a dirty hit that was an obvious attempt to take out our franchise quarterback, and the only response we get is a miffed Antrel Rolle saying after the game that he wished he could have done something to retaliate. Are you kidding me? There’s no heartbeat on this team aside from Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and probably JPP.

Eli’s completing 21 consecutive passes in the second half with two receivers out there (Jernigan and Devin Thomas) who were strictly special teams players a few weeks ago. He’s turned a nobody like Victor Cruz into one of the top receivers in the league this season and we’re all content to just stand around and watch him.

Listen, I don’t want this to sound like another retread of last week’s rant, but frankly nothing has changed from last week to now. And the fact of the matter is that everything is unfolding exactly like I said it would. So am I surprised? No, not really. But that doesn’t mean I still can’t be disappointed. I’m disappointed that a team with so much potential can be bullied all over the field for 60 straight minutes in back-to-back games. It’s only going to get worse too.

I don’t care too much for Russ Salzberg, but what he said on the Giants postgame show last night was perfect: the Giants coming off of three straight losses and having to face Aaron Rodgers and the undefeated Packers is going to be like getting your teeth drilled by an auto mechanic. I’m not even entirely sure what that’s supposed to mean, but it pretty much sums up this entire Giants season. And last season too, for that matter. Maybe even 2009.


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Here we go again…

21 11 2011

I don’t want to focus on one drive because the Giants’ play was so maddeningly uneven last night that it would be unfair to single out one specific series. But, this particular drive was so problematic, so typical of the Giants recent late-season struggles, that it really sort of embodies everything that is wrong with the 2011 New York Giants. And the 2010 New York Giants. Probably the 2009 New York Giants too.

At the 11:36 mark in the 4th quarter, after the Giants had just tied up the game at 10-10 on a 24-yard touchdown pass where Victor Cruz burned Nnamdi Asomugha for the second time in as many games this season, the Giants seemingly had the Eagles exactly where they wanted them. The 4th quarter hasn’t been kind to the Eagles this season, and after being in control for almost the entire game, one would imagine that this touchdown would have sent the Birds spiraling towards other blown 4th quarter lead. At least it seemed that way.

What happened next was an inexplicable 18-play drive that drained almost 9 minutes from the clock and was about as painful to watch as anything I’ve seen from the Giants since that afternoon at the Meadowlands 11 months ago. Out of the 18 plays on this Philadelphia drive, 6 of them were 3rd down plays. Of course, the Vince Young-led Eagles offense converted all 6 of these 3rd downs almost effortlessly, the last one being a 3rd and goal from the 8-yard-line, where Young found Riley Cooper in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Yes, the same Riley Cooper that had a grand total of 0 catches in the 2011 season coming into last night’s game.

That he ended up supplying the dagger in our hearts was not the most maddening part of that series though. The most frustrating thing about the 18-play march was the way in which the Eagles converted 3rd downs of 3, 10, 3, 1, 4 and 8 yards. On each of these 3rd down plays, the pass-rush was virtually non-existent.

Vince Young was able to sit back in the pocket and calmly sling passes over the middle to a fully-exposed area of the field that was being continuously exploited due to the inexperience of the Giants rookie linebackers. Herzlich and Paysinger played well at times last night, but they seemed to spend most of the game getting caught in no man’s land and leaving the middle of the field wide open for the likes of Brent Celek, Riley Cooper and Jason Avant to sit down in coverage and make uncontested catches. And without so much as a hint of a pass rush all night, Young was able to easily make these plays when he had to.

Early on in the night Young looked rusty, which was no surprise. He hadn’t started a game in over a year and hadn’t even practiced with the team until this past week. But after realizing that the Giants weren’t even going to attempt to put pressure on him, he began to settle into a groove. When it comes down to it, Vince Young is still an NFL quarterback, and if you give any NFL quarterback time to throw with no pressure and a trio of rookie linebackers leaving the middle of the field as exposed as it was, he is going to make plays — and he did.

I had a lot of problems with the New York Giants last night, and honestly, that 18-play drive was only the tip of the iceberg. As frustrating as it was to finally win the momentum back by tying the game, only to watch the Eagles march right back up the field on a drive that we had the chance to stop six different times, there were so many other things that frustrated me about last night.

For starters, changes have to be made in the running game. Last night’s performance by Brandon Jacobs was absolutely embarrassing. After the game, Tom Coughlin was quoted as saying their run game was “as pathetic as it gets” and he couldn’t have been more right.

Gaining 21 yards on 12 carries is inexplicable, especially against a weak run defense like Philadelphia’s that has been exposed numerous times this season. As bad as that stat line is, it’s even more misleading than it looks: Jacobs’ long run of the night was a 9-yard carry, meaning that 9 of his 21 yards came on one play. That means that aside from that one run, he gained 12 yards on 11 carries. That’s not New York Giants football. In fact, that’s not even professional football. That’s laughable.

I’m aware that some of the blame for the failure of the running game must be placed on the offensive line. For the most part, the offensive line has done a pretty good job this year of protecting Eli and giving him enough time to throw. However, last night they failed. Eli was constantly under duress, even though the Eagles were sending only four down linemen for most of the night. The fact of the matter is that Jacobs no longer has the explosive I’m-going-to-run-you-over energy that he used to have. There are a lot of changes that need to be made with this team, and they have to start with the running game. If that means that Jacobs and Bradshaw have to go, then so be it. I hope to see more carries from D.J. Ware and Da’Rel Scott going forward, but you know that’s not going to happen.

What else frustrated me last night, besides the 18-play drive, the lack of a pass rush and the slow, painful death of our running game? How about the DeSean Jackson punt return late in the first half that gave every Giants fan watching the game Vietnam flashbacks of December 19, 2010. I’ll ask it again, because it seems like nobody in the Giants organization has an answer to this question: WHY DO WE KEEP PUNTING THE FOOTBALL TO DESEAN JACKSON? I mean, Steve Weatherford might have had the game of his life last night, but that still doesn’t excuse him from trying to pull a Matt Dodge and giving Jackson opportunities to make us look stupid. Why do it? Without that punt return, it’s unlikely that the touchdown pass to Steve Smith (really? Steve Smith?) even happens and it’s probably 3-3 at the half instead of 10-3. That was such an unnecessary, stupid, STUPID decision that I wasn’t even completely sure it was happening while it was happening.

I’m not done yet though. How about we discuss the Giants once again relying on Eli Manning’s late-game heroics to save them? Listen, I know that for five of our six wins this season we’ve come from behind in the 4th quarter and that Eli has proved that he can bring us back time after time, but we can’t keep putting everything on his shoulders. For the second straight week, we played inconsistent, incomplete games and when the 4th quarter rolled around, we put everything in Eli’s hands and basically said “you can take it from here.”

Like we saw against San Francisco and again last night, he’s not going to save us every week. He’s not immortal, and he’s not Tim Tebow. Watching him complete a beautiful 47-yard pass to Victor Cruz and then getting mauled from the blindside and fumbling the game away on the very next play is about as maddening as it gets — but it should have never even come down to that. It should have never even come down to that because the fact of the matter is that we should have gained more than 29 yards on the ground. We should have picked up more than 10 first downs. We should have played a complete 60 minutes of football instead of believing that Eli would clean up the mess for us in the 4th quarter again.

After 1,200 words, I’m finally going to get to the point of this article. Here it is: we’re not making the playoffs this season. In fact, I’d be surprised if we finished better than 8-8. My last column was a few weeks ago now, and I wrote it before the inspiring win in New England gave us all the confidence that maybe we had something special in this 2011 Giants team. In that column I questioned whether this Giants team had the heart to avoid yet another late-season collapse. After beating the Patriots, I thought we did. But after these last two weeks, I know that we don’t. This team is no different from the team that melted down the stretch in 2009 and they’re no different from the team that blew a 31-10 lead at the Meadowlands last December 19th. This team has no heart and no fire, and they are in dire need of a regime change.

I don’t care how much the players like playing for Tom Coughlin, the fact is that he no longer knows how to coach this football team and the countless stupid penalties and lack of preparation for big games is more than enough evidence. The fact that this team continually comes out flat against weaker opponents is a hallmark of poor coaching and poor preparation and that all has to be placed on Tom Coughlin. I love the guy, and I love all that he’s done for this franchise over the last 8 years, but he can’t coach this team anymore.

The same goes for Kevin Gilbride. His play-calling has been atrocious, not only last night, but all season. His unrelenting desire to continue running the football when we clearly have no running game is frustrating beyond all belief, and there are times when his play-calling is so head-scratchingly bad that I’m not sure he even knows what football is.

I hate to say it as a Giants fan, but this team is in the midst of yet another late-season swoon and these demons will not be exorcised until this entire coaching staff is gone and we can start from scratch. I know that the Giants are historically good at preparing for good teams and showing up to play against the best of the best, but the way this team looked last night I can’t realistically sit here and see them having a shot at beating New Orleans or Green Bay. Of course this statement means nothing coming from me because we all know how unpredictable this league tends to be, but it would not go against my better judgment to say that we will likely be 6-6 going into our Week 14 game against Dallas. With the Cowboys’ next two games coming against Miami and Arizona, it’s conceivable to think that we might be two games out of first place by the time we face them, on a Sunday night in Dallas on December 11th. At that point, a loss to Dallas would almost certainly end our season.

Will it happen exactly like that? Probably not. But the fact that the scenario I just outlined above is a real possibility is just as absurd, given the position we were in a few weeks ago, with a record of 6-2 and coming off of a huge win in Foxborough.

This entire team is absurd though, and I’ve come to realize this over the last few seasons, along with every other sane and rational member of Big Blue Nation. The good grace that Super Bowl XLII brought about expired the moment DeSean Jackson crossed that goal line last December, and now, on the verge of our fourth late-season collapse in as many years, we have to start wondering where we go from here. The script for the 2011 season has already been written several times — now we have to see if the Giants are going to follow it.


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Brace Yourselves, Giants Fans

31 10 2011

In the eight years that Tom Coughlin has been the head coach of the New York Giants since he arrived in 2004 along with Eli Manning, Giants fans have become pretty accustomed to the team’s quick starts. Of the eight seasons he has been at the helm, the Giants have started 5-2 in seven of them. The one season they didn’t start 5-2? It was 2008, and they started 6-1 instead.

But just as Giants fans have gotten used to fast starts in the Tom Coughlin Era, we have also grown just as accustomed to second-half collapses. In 2004, Coughlin’s first year on the job, the Giants jumped out to a 5-2 start behind veteran quarterback Kurt Warner. Midway through that season, Warner was replaced by Eli Manning (then just a rookie) and the Giants went 1-8 in their remaining nine games to finish 6-10. This collapse was excusable, mostly because we had just handed the keys to the offense over to our freshly minted rookie quarterback and growing pains were expected.

In 2005, a 5-2 record became an 11-5 finish and a first-round playoff game at home. The second half collapse was avoided. Then, in 2006, it returned again. This time, a 5-2 start was followed by a 3-6 second half and the Giants barely squeaked into the playoffs at 8-8.

A Super Bowl title in 2007 erased the memories of past late-season collapses, at least temporarily. The following season, an 11-1 start was negated when Plaxico Burress decided to tuck a gun into the waistband of his sweatpants in a NYC club. The Giants finished that season by losing four of their last five games, including an embarrassing home playoff loss to Philadelphia.

In 2009, the second half struggles continued. Another 5-2 start was tarnished by yet another 3-6 record in the remaining nine games, including two straight losses to end the season, in which the Giants were outscored 85-16. Last season, the Giants’ second half problems were less pronounced. They are typically attributed to the fourth quarter of the gut-wrenching Dec. 19th loss to Philadelphia, a game that served as a sort of poetic microcosm for all of the Giants’ late-season collapses of the past. Nevertheless, a 6-2 start gave way to a mostly mediocre 4-4 in the second half of the 2010 season and the Giants missed out on the postseason for the second straight year.

And that brings us to the present. On October 31st, the New York Giants sit at 5-2 for the third consecutive year and currently hold a two-game lead in the NFC East over the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins, who are all 3-4. If there was ever a time for the Giants to perpetuate their habit of folding in the second half of the season, it’s now. Big Blue faces arguably one of the most arduous nine-game stretches in recent memory and are fresh off of a less-than-inspiring 20-17 win over the 0-7 Miami Dolphins at home.

The last nine games of this season will tell you everything you need to know about the 2011 New York Giants, and it will likely tell you everything you need to know about the Tom Coughlin Era, which will either live or die with this stretch of games. Beginning next week in New England, the Giants will face five 2010 playoff teams (New England, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Green Bay, NY Jets) and will also have to deal with four crucial divisional games thrown in for good measure. Although Dallas and Washington may not scare too many teams right now (especially after Dallas’ performance in Philly last night), divisional games are always tough and the Giants have already lost to Washington once this season.

The Giants can easily fold up once again, like they’ve done before, and blame their shortcomings on the brutal schedule and bad luck. But they also have the opportunity to exorcise their second-half demons and rise to the occasion. They can choose to thrive on the adversity and Eli can continue his stellar play and the scary-when-healthy defensive foursome of Tuck, Osi, Pierre-Paul and Kiwanuka can terrorize the likes of Brady, Rodgers and Brees. The fact is, anything is in play right now, and with most of Giants nation expecting another late-season swoon, this is finally Big Blue’s chance to rise above the expectations and surprise us all.

For better or for worse though, at the end of this season, we will know what kind of team these Giants are — whether or not we’re ready for it.


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NFL Thoughts: Just the Usual Insanity

3 10 2011

???

I don’t have a clue what to make of this young NFL season. We’re four weeks in and, as usual, I’m stumped. But that’s how you know it’s good. When you wake up on a Monday morning a little confused and a little excited and also a little scared, that means that the National Football League is doing its damn job.

At the conclusion of Week 4 (save for tonight’s Indy-Tampa Bay game that I don’t think more than 6 people are actually going to watch), there are a handful of surprises and not-surprises. Since paragraphs are for the weak, I’m going to give you a run-down of my scattered and sometimes incomplete thoughts in bullet form because it’s 2011 and the American public has an extremely short attention span.

*The Detroit Lions are 4-0 and everybody claims to have seen this coming. I’m sorry, I don’t know where I was when the Lions bandwagon filled to capacity and pulled out of the station, but I wasn’t notified. For some reason, nobody seems to really be shocked that the Lions are 4-0 and that Calvin Johnson is grabbing touchdowns out of the air left and right with ease like he just crashed an 8-year-old’s birthday party. I mean, the man is on pace for 32 TOUCHDOWN CATCHES for God’s sake. I know that everybody is talking about them and that they’re the Cinderella team du jour, but everybody is talking about them like they knew this was coming. Listen, I’m not oblivious, I know the Lions have a very talented team, but I thought that at the end of the day, they’re still the Lions. They straight-up embarrassed the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Embarrassed them.

*Calvin Johnson. Again. He’s making NFL defenses look so stupid right now. I mean, how many teams can say that on a first-and-goal at the 2, they can just have their QB chuck a jump ball up into the back of the end zone and have a guaranteed touchdown 9 out of 10 times? Come on.

*Dallas Cowboys blowing late-game leads like it’s their job/Dream Team looking nightmarish. Tony Romo threw away a 24-10 4th quarter lead against the Jets in Week 1 and then threw away a 27-3 lead to the Lions yesterday. And when I saw “threw away” I literally mean that he threw the ball directly into the hands of the opposing team, multiple times. I mean that he literally threw two consecutive Pick 6′s yesterday. The Cowboys’ meltdown yesterday was matched only by the slow-motion train wreck that is the Philadelphia “Dream Team” Eagles. Not only did they blow a 23-3 lead to the San Francisco 32nds (that’s their NFL ranking for total offense) but they also managed to put a hex on the Philadelphia Phillies who went ahead and blew a 4-run lead of their own in Game 2 of the NLDS last night. Impressive! The Eagles are now 1-3, meaning that they now have a 14% chance of making the playoffs, according to the last 21 years of NFL history. Chalk this one up under the “Not Surprised” category though, thanks to the man standing on their sidelines wearing the headset and parachute pants.

*Rules don’t apply to Victor Cruz because Victor Cruz makes the rules. Couldn’t have been more baffled by the Victor Cruz non-fumble call last night, but also couldn’t have been more ecstatic about it either. Once you actually read the rule that the officials were referring to, it makes a little more sense, but I still couldn’t help but get flashbacks of Eli diving crumpling to the ground untouched against the Eagles last year and losing the ball. Anyway, we’re 3-1 and how do you like that Jets fans?

*Oh by the way, Eli Manning is only quietly having one of the best 4-week stretches of his career. No big deal. Remember when the season started and everyone was all like “I know he threw for 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns last year and has a Super Bowl MVP to his name, but he totally sucks the big one!” Then the Giants stunk up the joint in Week 1 and everybody was all like “I told you!” And then what does Easy do? Just rolls off three straight wins, with two of them being come-from-behind wins on the road where the Giants trailed in the 4th quarter. No biggie. He only completes 32-of-40 passes for 415 yards, 4 TDs and no INTs in the second half of the last three games. Ho hum. Only third in the NFL in QB rating behind those other bums Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. You go do your thing, Easy. Let the haters hate.

*A little confused about the Cam Newton pants-wetting ceremony. For the fourth straight week, Cam Newton has every NFL analyst in America wearing diapers, and that’s completely justifiable because after all he’s led the Panthers to a shocking….1-3 record? But he throws for so many yards though! I don’t get it.

*The New York Jets are what we thought they were. Completely overrated and offensively inept. Mark Sanchez just keeps flinging the ball around like it’s covered in spiders and he’s afraid to hold it, and Jets fans are alright with blaming it all on the fact that Nick Mangold is out of the lineup because he’s the reason that two of their top three wide receivers are a combined 117 years old.

*Meanwhile, the Vikings can’t beat anybody, not even a team that can’t beat anybody. Going into this one, I was completely convinced that the Kansas City Chiefs were far and away the worst team in the National Football League. Now, I’m completely convinced that the title has to go to the Vikings. Just horrendous football. I can’t believe I actually wrote this column about Donovan McNabb a few years ago. I can’t even defend the guy anymore. Hang it up Donovan, please.

*Wes Welker is living the dream. Do you realize the kinds of numbers that Wes Welker is putting up right now? A 5’9″ white guy hasn’t cleaned up like this since Scott Baio and Tony Danza dominated the primetime sitcom game. 40 receptions and 616 yards and it’s only Week 4. This guy is on pace to rack up 160 catches, almost 2,500 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns. Unheard of. He probably won’t end up with numbers that outrageous, but if he does they should not only give him the MVP, they should rename it The Wes.

*Chris Johnson. It’s nice of you to stop impersonating an old wooden bench and resume your job as an NFL running back, but let’s try to maybe get into the end zone next week. How about it?

Overrated list: Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins (I know, they shouldn’t count), New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys

Uh Oh List: Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers

Underrated List: Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans

Jury is still out on these teams: Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, Chicago Bears

They are as good as we thought: Green Bay Packers

Nauseatingly bad: Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams

 

 


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Bored To Tears

13 09 2011

It’s okay, you can stop caring about the 2011 New York Giants season if you want. I won’t blame you. I mean, did you watch the game on Sunday? Did you see how effortlessly Rex Grossman — yes, you read that right, Rex Grossman — handled the Giants defense? Did you see the offense convert only one of its 10 third downs? I did.

Embarrassing. That’s what Chris Canty called it. He’s right though, it was embarrassing. Watching the Giants offense operate for much of the second half was painful. There is really no other way to describe it. I’m not sure what time warp Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is stuck in, but the offensive game plan that the Giants have been rolling out for the past few seasons is tired and simply unimaginative. There is nothing in the current offensive game plan that even attempts to utilize the few weapons that the Giants have on offense, and it creates an offense that seems like it’s stuck in the stone age.

Giants fans are left to wonder why, during the preseason, we can watch an endless number of drawn-up screen passes to speedy backs like Da’Rel Scott, D.J. Ware and Ahmad Bradshaw go for big gains, only to see them completely disappear once the regular season begins.

No, instead we get the same boring, and mostly unsuccessful, hand-offs to Bradshaw and Jacobs that see them both run directly into the line for gains of 3 and 4 yards.

With an offensive line that lacks continuity, missing two longstanding anchors from years past, O’Hara and Seubert, there was a lot of pressure on Eli throughout much of Sunday’s game. With not as much time to make decisions downfield, there were countless opportunities for him to check off underneath to a back like Scott or Ware.

What happened instead? Most of the time, Eli whipped a frantic pass towards the sidelines that fell six yards in front of Nicks or Manningham, or just took a sack.

Just to be fair, I’m not lumping all of the blame on Gilbride though. I’m passing it around to Manning and to the offensive line and to the special teams, which continues to haunt us in the most inopportune times possible.

This is a team-wide problem, and there has to be a little more urgency to solve it. The magical season of 2007 is beginning to grow smaller and smaller in our rear view mirror and this team is going to have to start showing some kind of life beyond the lethargic play-calling that now dominates every single game.

Third-and-shorts aren’t being converted on offense, while opposing wide receivers are seemingly left wide open on third and long situations. In one specific instance on Sunday, the secondary gave Santana Moss a six-yard cushion — on a 4th and 5.

Mistakes like that need to disappear, and disappear quickly. What instead needs to happen are more plays like that exciting 68-yard completion to Hakeem Nicks that led to the Giants first score. The Giants need to open up their offense a little bit more and stop being so conservative and so stuck in this offensive rut where it takes forever to get the team out of the huddle and the play clock grinds down to 1 on every single play before Eli takes the snap.

They need to execute more drives like the one we saw in the second quarter that featured a healthy mix of run and pass and in which Manning marched us down the field to take a 14-7 lead. Those offensive bright spots are now too few and far between.

What we’re left with is a stagnant offense with no imagination, and that is not exciting football. Perhaps more importantly, that’s not winning football.


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Where Is Plaxico Going to Play?

8 06 2011

As of Monday, Plaxico Burress is a free man. Much like most criminals freshly-released from a state correctional facility, there is some debate over who is going to pay him his next multi-million dollar contract. Because of the current lockout, teams are forbidden from contacting Plaxico, but for the time being, we can have fun with a little guessing game.

Of course, if the lockout isn’t lifted in time for the coming 2011 NFL season, he will most likely be employed at a North Jersey Toyota dealership, but let’s just assume that the lockout is lifted soon and Plaxico is being vigorously pursued for his talents, charisma and ability to safely carry a firearm in the waistband of his sweatpants.

Of all the teams that might give the former Pro Bowl receiver a shot, the New York Giants seem like the most sensible spot for him to wind up (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Giants fan, trust me). First of all, he knows the system already. Since Burress departed at the end of the 2008 season, leaving the then-10-1 team in shambles and most likely shattering the Giants’ dreams of repeating as Super Bowl champions, the true structure of the team has not changed too dramatically. Of course, the addition of wide receivers such as Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham and the emergence of Steve Smith as a offensive threat, has helped to fill the hole at the wideout position, but no one has truly been able to replace the intangibles that Burress provided to the Giants offense while he was there.

For the most part, the offensive gameplan and the coaching staff has remained the same since 2008 and there would not be a lot of readjustment needed on the part of Burress should he return to the Meadowlands. This factor is extremely vital given the fact that the lockout has prevented teams from beginning their normal summer workout schedule and just might eliminate training camp altogether, depending on how long it lasts. This means that teams with new players will not have enough time to get their new additions properly adjusted to the team’s offensive schemes by the time the season begins. If Burress were to return to the Giants, he wouldn’t need as much time to adjust, given his familiarity with the Giants’ system.

Add this to the fact that Burress is already familiar with, and widely liked by, a majority of the Giants players, and returning to New York would be a sensible option for Burress. That is, of course, if the Giants even want him back.

Judging by the hat Burress was donning upon his release (a Philadelphia Phillies cap), another possible option for Burress, and one that Giants fans are certainly dreading, is the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Burress’ relationship with quarterback Michael Vick and their obvious similarities (Vick’s re-emergence as a star following his prison sentence and the fact that he is also from Virginia) might make it easier for Burress to readjust to life in the NFL with a companion in Vick that he can both relate to and trust. Plus, we already know that Burress has been known for shredding the Eagles’ secondary in his time with the Giants, so Philadelphia may be thinking, “if we can’t beat him, we might as well sign him.”

Of course, Burress joining the Eagles would be the worst possible scenario for Giants fans because having to go up against him and DeSean Jackson twice a year is something I’m looking forward to about as much as a root canal. Giants fans like myself are hoping this does not happen. Because of this, it probably will.

So what about some other possible teams? How about the Dallas Cowboys? We already know that owner Jerry Jones has an affinity for jaded wide receivers who have been beaten down by the media and are looking for redemption (see: Terrell Owens, Roy Williams, Dez Bryant). Will Plaxico Burress be the latest Cowboys salvage project that is destined to fail? Hopefully not, not because I like the Cowboys, but because I like Plaxico Burress and I wouldn’t want to openly root for his inevitable failure.

This brings us to our next possibility — the New York Jets. Rex Ryan LOVES stealing headlines from the New York Giants, and what better way to do that than to steal the player that helped secure them a Super Bowl ring in 2008? The Jets have already been rumored to have an interest in signing Randy Moss, and Plaxico Burress is a wide receiver with very similar athletic attributes to Randy Moss. The signing also would gain a fairly large amount of press for the Jets, something we all know Rex Ryan loves just as much as the seeing the words “free” and “buffet” in the same sentence.

How about the Pittsburgh Steelers? Burress left the Steelers in a less-than-amicable fashion before joining New York and there was rumored to be some animosity between him and Steelers owner Dan Rooney for some on- and off-the-field troubles during his last few seasons in the Steel City. But…Pittsburgh can use the help at the wide receiver position. They fell just short of securing their 7th Super Bowl title back in February, and one can only wonder if they would have been able to out-perform Green Bay’s explosive offensive attack if they had just a few more offensive weapons. They already have a weapon in speedster Mike Wallace, but other than that, they are fairly thin. Hines Ward is getting up there in years, and might not be effective for too much longer. Honestly, I don’t see Burress returning to Pittsburgh, but we all know that in the NFL, anything is possible, even Ben Roethlisberger turning into Seth Rogen and serving as his body double for The Green Hornet sequel.

At the end of the day, there is no way of knowing where Plaxico Burress will choose to go, or even which teams will pursue him, and with Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, there’s no way of even knowing if he’ll end up giving a press conference in his driveway while he does sit-ups without a shirt on. What we do know, however, is that Plaxico will end up having an impact wherever he does end up, let’s just hope that it’s in 2011 and not next year.


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A Year Without the NFL

24 05 2011

It’s a bleak future that nobody wants to envision. Kickoff Weekend arrives in early September without the usual fanfare, because there’s not a single NFL game to be found. Stadiums around the country lay barren and desolate, like empty cathedrals. Fans wander aimlessly through the streets wearing old, tattered NFL jerseys, walking memorials of their favorite stars.

It’s a bleak future, but it’s also one that is very likely to happen if the lockout is not lifted by the end of this summer. We don’t want to imagine what life would be like without the NFL on the field and in our homes every Sunday, so we go on with our lives, half-wishing and half-expecting that one day soon we will hear the news of the lockout being lifted and everything returning to normal.

But what if it doesn’t?

The following is a look at how my life, and the life of many other diehard NFL fans, might look on Sundays in the fall, if the NFL does not return to play in 2011. I should warn you that the next few paragraphs might contain some disturbing images that might not be suitable for some, and reader discretion is advised.

September

September arrives and the lockout has not yet been lifted. Fantasy football leagues all around the country go ahead and hold their drafts anyway, still filled with the wide-eyed optimism of a young child, hoping that the season will return and the $11 they just spent on their NFL Fantasy Prospectus 2011 magazine will not have been in vain. However, most drafts take a somber turn when halfway through, the league members are reduced to sobbing wrecks, taking turns loudly sharing their favorite memories of the NFL like mothers whose children have just gone off to college.

Some NFL fans, like myself, decide that in the absence of professional football, they will just invest twice as much energy into their favorite college football team, in the hopes of filling the deep void left in their souls. I choose to pour all the anticipation I had built up for a new Giants season, into the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Even so, the games are played on Saturdays and Sundays only serve as a stark reminder of better times.

October

Rutgers takes their first loss of the season, dropping them to 4-1. I quickly realize that the season is pretty much over, because college football is stupid. Now, the harsh reality begins to hit me and I feel lost and scared. I still put on my Giants jersey every Sunday, sitting on the couch in front of a blank TV, quietly mumbling things like, “Nice pass Eli, you should try always throwing off your back foot into triple coverage,” and “OH ANOTHER MISSED TACKLE!” My friends and family become increasingly worried about my erratic behavior. On Sunday nights, I can be found alone in my room making fun of a nonexistent Cris Collinsworth.

November

Things start to take a turn for the worst after baseball season ends and there are no longer any professional sports to watch (the NBA is locked out too). I go weeks without shaving and begin reciting the Giants roster in numerical order, over and over again, sometimes in my sleep. I replace all the songs on my iPod with the voice of Giants’ radio play-by-play man Bob Papa. Every Sunday I order two dozen buffalo wings and, instead of eating them, I stack them in the corner of my room, “saving them for when football comes back.” I don’t respond to my name anymore, choosing only to answer to “Prince Amukamara” and alienate all those close to me.

December

Sundays, and pretty much every other day of the week, are filled with repeated viewings of the Giants 2007-08 Super Bowl DVD. By the middle of December, I have watched all three 2008 playoff games a total of 2,100 times, and Super Bowl XLII plays on a constant loop on a second TV I bought for the sole purpose of playing Super Bowl XLII on a constant loop.

Once a week, usually on Sundays (at this point I will have lost track of the days) I can be found sitting in my car in the parking lot of the New Meadowlands Stadium, waiting for a game that will never start. On the final Sunday of December, my car is towed from the parking lot while I am still inside of it. I refuse to leave.

January

The lockout is finally lifted in the first week of 2012. The NFL plays a shortened one-week season and the Giants finish 1-0, making the Super Bowl and defeating the New York Jets 45-0. Everything returns to normal.


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The Nightmare Before Christmas

20 12 2010

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 19: DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles runs in the game winning touchdown on a punt return against the New York Giants at New Meadowlands Stadium on December 19, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The reality of it all started to come crashing down sometime after DeSean Jackson dropped the line-drive punt that fluttered off the foot of Matt Dodge, and a few seconds before he cut sharply to his left and streaked straight across a suddenly wide-open middle of the field. The feeling of “Oh s— this isn’t really happening, is it?” collided with the sudden realization that “Oh s— this really IS happening right now” and before the 85,000 bewildered Giants fans even had a chance to fully process what naturally occurs when these two things collide with one another, DeSean Jackson was crossing the goal line with the ball held high in his right hand and the game clock showed 00:00.

Then it was quiet. Empty plastic bottles of Coors Light whizzed by, zipping through the air like bullets, tiny droplets of beer being flung in every direction. There was a pile of Eagles in the corner of the end zone so big you would have thought they just won the World Series. Photographers ran on the field, apparently unaware that an extra point still had to be kicked, players pushed and shoved one another, Tom Coughlin chewed out a dumbfounded Matt Dodge who looked like….well, exactly how someone should look in that situation. And there I was. All around me there was confusion. Not the kind of confusion where nobody knows what’s going on. No, everybody knew exactly what had just happened. It was the kind of confusion where nobody knew how something like that could have happened. The kind of confusion where the look on our faces told the whole story all at once: “Did I really see what I think I just saw?” The answer was clear, and it was sobering.

Eagles 38, Giants 31. There I was, standing in a building with 85,000 other people who had no clue how to react to what they just saw. So I looked around me for something to throw. Then after deciding against hurling projectiles, I went ahead and threw the only thing I had on me: words. Very, very bad words, and a lot of them. I yelled obscenities that would make a sailor blush. I yelled until spit flew from my almost-numb lips, pointing my finger at the field as if anyone down there could hear me. I didn’t care though.

Eagles 38, Giants 31. Anyone who left the game early, right after Eli Manning’s 4th touchdown pass of the afternoon found Kevin Boss in the back of the end zone, might not understand how that score ended up the way it did. Even I don’t fully understand, and I was sitting there watching the whole thing unfold. After all, it was Giants 31, Eagles 10 with no more than 8 minutes left in the game, right? The game was all but over, the fat lady was warming up her voice, everyone in the stands were dancing to Kris Kross’s “Jump” and my brother was slumped so far down in his seat that I thought he was trying to hide in his own jacket. We had this game wrapped up. First place in the NFC East, maybe a #2 seed in the NFC if we could win out, we were going to steam roll our way into the playoffs and it was all going to start with the beating we gave Michael Vick yesterday. We shut him down. We intercepted him, we sacked him, we hit him, we beat the Eagles’ morale into submission. It was over. Giants 31, Eagles 10.

Then it was Vick to Celek. A freak play that should have never happened like it did. Justin Tuck was 40 yards deep in coverage for some reason and Kenny Phillips dove at the ball and missed when he should have been trying to tackle Celek and suddenly it was 31-17. It was alright though, there were only 7 minutes left, all we had to do was run the ball, run the clock, pick up a few first downs and we were good.

Then the onside kick. Apparently no one on the Giants coaching staff had ever heard of such a thing. “Onside kick, what’s that?” Oops. The Eagles had the ball again, and now I’m starting to wonder. This is when the fear begins to creep in. Exactly two minutes later, with the clock reading 5:28 and the scoreboard reading Giants 31, Eagles 17, Vick scampers through a gaping hole off left tackle and into the end zone. Way too easy. Giants 31, Eagles 24. Uh oh.

Now there’s no more dancing in the stands. There’s no more “EA-GLES SUCK!” chants, no more of anything. Now there’s just that sinking feeling. Now there’s just a lot of people turning to the person next to them and not having to say a word because they both know exactly what the other is thinking. And even though we both knew, I said it anyway. I turned to the guy next to me, wearing a Giants construction helmet and Giants earmuffs and I said, “Oh s—, they’re gonna lose this game, aren’t they?”

But we still had the ball. We needed to run some clock. Actually, we needed to score again. So it’s Manning to Manningham for 12. First down. Then it’s Bradshaw for 7. Bradshaw for 2. Bradshaw for 2. Another first down. Bradshaw for 4. Now we’re at the Eagles 38-yard line. The Eagles have called all of their timeouts. None left. There is 3:56 to go. Ten more yards and we’re at least in field goal range. Ten more yards and we can push our lead back to two scores. Ten more yards and we can breathe easy again. Then a penalty. False start. We march back to the 43-yard line. On 2nd and 11, Bradshaw goes for 3. Third down. Now we’re passing. The Eagles know we’re passing, but who cares, they haven’t stopped it all day. Manning to Hagan: incomplete. And we punt.

Three minutes to go. The Eagles have the ball on their own 12. They need to go 88 yards. That’s a long way, at least that’s what everyone in the building is telling themselves. Plus, they have no timeouts. All we need is for our defense to make one play. One big play, that’s it. They’ve been doing it all day, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve batted down four passes at the line, we’ve sacked Vick three times, we can do it again.

One minute and forty-five seconds. That’s all it takes for Vick to lead the Eagles up the field and into the end zone. Runs of 33 yards and 22 yards by Vick make it look like the defense is moving in slow motion and he has switched it into a higher gear. That’s how easy it looks. The touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin looks even easier. Giants 31, Eagles 31.

Here’s the good news, Giants fans: we have the ball again. 1:16 to go, and the game is in Eli’s hands. We only need about 30 yards to be in a comfortable range for Lawrence Tynes. How many times have we seen Eli come through for us in this situation? A lot. That’s what I tell myself. At the very least, we can run out the clock and play for overtime where we can hit the reset button and start over. But it didn’t happen that way. Instead, it went like this: incomplete, incomplete, sack. Then a punt. The punt.

It all happened so fast. It all looked so easy. In fact, it was just so perfect that it seemed fixed. I half-expected the Undertaker to roll out of the tunnel behind the end zone on a motorcycle and smack Matt Dodge with a steel chair as he tried to make a game-saving tackle on DeSean Jackson. At least then it would have made some sense. But alas, we Giants fans are left behind in the debris of this latest disaster, still trying to make sense of it all. Trying to understand how, or why. Don’t expect any answers. Don’t expect me to try and glean any positives from this either; there simply aren’t any.


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The Eagles Are Coming! The Eagles Are Coming!

14 12 2010

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed last night’s 21-3 thumping of the Minnesota Vikings as much as the next Giants fan. I enjoyed the 200+ yards we gained on the ground against a typically stingy Vikings run defense and I enjoyed seeing Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks and David Diehl back on the field and making plays again. However, there was one thing that kept me distracted throughout — one thing that kept me looking over my shoulder like I was a kid sneaking a Snickers bar past curfew at fat camp — the Philadelphia Eagles are coming to town on Sunday.

I’m worried about the Eagles not because they are 9-4, not because of I’m afraid of Michael Vick, but because they’ve beaten us the last 5 times we’ve faced each other dating back to the 2008 season. It was November 9, 2008 to be exact. Going into Sunday’s battle for NFC East supremacy at the Stadium With No Name, it will be 2 years, 1 month and 10 days since the last time we have beaten the Philadelphia Eagles. Are we due for a victory over our turnpike rivals? Maybe. But maybe they will come into our building for the second straight December and shove us out of the way as they reach for the division title, kind of like Tony Siragusa shoving his way through a buffet line.

I will be there on Sunday afternoon for what will be (for all intents and purposes) the biggest game of the season thus far in the NFC, at least until the Falcons host the Saints in Week 16 for a game that might decide the NFC South division title as well as the NFC’s number one seed. I will be there with my hopes high and my seats even higher, trying to will the Giants to 10-4 and a legitimate shot at locking up the NFC East and a first-round bye.

Before that happens though, there are things that need to be addressed. First and foremost, can Eli Manning play an entire game without throwing a pass that makes me want to fling all of my personal belongings off the upper deck? Can he stop trying to be his brother for one game and shed this stupid interception bug that’s been plaguing him all year? Can we try maybe sticking with Jacobs and Bradshaw to start the game, hoping that running the football can open up the passing lanes and take some pressure off of Eli so he’s not trying to force passes into tight coverage and turning the ball over? Can we try to get constant pressure on Vick and prevent him from extending plays with his legs? These are all things that we need to do successfully on Sunday in order to win the game. It might be asking for a lot, but I think they’ll be able to manage.

At 9-4, we control our own destiny right now. A win over the Eagles on Sunday gives us sole possession of first place in the NFC East going into a Christmas weekend game at Lambeau against a slightly struggling Packers team with a quarterback that may or may not know what day it is. If we manage to win out and beat Green Bay and then Washington in the finale, we could be in very good shape. One thing is for sure though, and that is the fact that there will be a 10-6 team that misses the playoffs in the NFC. We need to win at least two of our last three games. Even then, 11-5 might only be good enough for a wild card spot if we lose to Philadelphia. That means that Sunday’s game is enormous — but it’s not like you didn’t know that already.

On Sunday morning at 9 a.m. sharp, I’ll be in the car on my way to the Stadium With No Name wearing my lucky Eli Manning jersey, my lucky Sunday Giants t-shirt, my lucky white Giants sweatshirt that I wore to the Wild Card playoff game in Tampa and ignoring whatever curveballs the weather tries to throw at us, to be as loud as possible and hope that the Giants can play well enough to prevent my Eagles fan brother from standing on his seat and goading Giants fans into chanting words that end with “hole” like he did last December. Basically, I will be doing my part to help the Giants win. Now, all that’s left is for the Giants to do their part.


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Interview With David Diehl

1 12 2010

For some reason, I was hand-picked for a very special opportunity to interview New York Giants Pro Bowl offensive lineman David Diehl last Tuesday. Of course, upon hearing about this opportunity, I was incredibly ecstatic, both as a diehard Giants fan as well as a budding amateur sports journalist. To get to speak to a Pro Bowl player from my favorite team and ask him whatever questions I wanted was a dream come true and something I’ve always dreamed of doing ever since I knew what a football was and certainly well before I discovered my love for writing about sports.

What this also means is that I can now post this interview to my blog and hope that someone reads it. So here you go.

Me: Hi, David. Well, first off, I want to start by saying that despite all the injuries and adversity that the offensive line has faced so far this season, I think that you guys are doing an incredible job of protecting Eli and allowing the running game to really thrive.

David: Thanks very much. Thank you. We’re a blue collar group, and we’re a group that’s going to go out there each and every Sunday and do whatever it takes to give our team the best opportunity to win.

Me: As a unit, how do you guys go about preparing from week to week when you have guys playing a position that they might not normally be accustomed to? Like for example, Rich Seubert filling in for Shaun O’Hara at center right now.

David: I think one of the things as an offensive lineman, especially in our group, is that you get not only good veterans that we have and good veteran leadership, but you also get a lot of guys with versatility. Even though Rich hasn’t played center in a bunch of games, he’s played center in practice and gotten reps there. I’ve been able to play both guards and tackle. Shawn Andrews can play guard and tackle. Kevin Boothe can play center and both guards. That’s the thing is that you’ve got to be versatile to play in the offensive line. And more importantly, I think the best thing that we do is our study and our preparation. Yeah, it’s one thing physically to be able to bounce around from one place to another, but more importantly, mentally. You’ve got to know what you’re doing, where you’re at technique-wise and everything like that, because it’s important for all five of us to be on the same page and to know what the guy next to you is doing and what type of technique he’s going to do, so you can go out there and block to the best of your advantage and be successful.

So I think, one, it’s a credit to our line, the way that we work, the way that we approach things, and the way that we prepare. We’re going to work as hard as we can and do whatever it takes, whether it’s extra time on the field, extra time watching film with the guy who’s playing next to you, communicating out there, doing whatever it takes so that when it comes game time, you’re ready to go regardless of who’s next to you. And also, I think our offensive line coach, Coach Pat Flaherty, he’s a tremendous coach who doesn’t get tons of credit, and I think he does a great job of managing our line and making sure all of our guys, regardless of what the situation is, they’re ready to go on Sundays.

Me: The offense has, for the most part this season, been extremely productive. It seems like you guys are able to score a touchdown almost every time you step on the field. However, the one major blemish I think with the offense, on the offensive side of the ball this season, has been the turnovers. How is the offense working on cutting down on these turnovers going into next week’s game against Jacksonville? (Editor’s Note: They succeeded. The Giants didn’t turn the ball over once in a 24-20 win over the Jaguars.) And what is Coach Coughlin stressing in the locker room about ball security?

David: It’s very important, as you can see in this past game (5 turnovers in the 27-17 loss to Philadelphia in Week 11). Turnovers do a lot of things, not only to the momentum, but it’s very crucial towards the difference of winning and losing football games. When you get so close, and you’re fighting your way back, and you get back into a game, and you turn a ball over, that momentum completely switches. And I know Coach Coughlin is a guy that stresses carrying the ball high and tight, protecting the ball. And I know that we’re going to do whatever it takes this week to make sure we make those corrections, because we’ve got a lot of confidence in one another. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys playing out there and the guys who run and carry the ball. The most important thing is to make sure that you’re keeping yourself and keeping that momentum on your side and not doing anything to shoot yourself in the foot and give it away. Like I said, we firmly believe that we’re a great offense as long as we take care of the ball and stick together.

Me: You mentioned that confidence is very important, especially now that you’ve lost the last two games, you’re a game behind Philadelphia now in the division. Of course the media is going to start looking for similarities between this year’s fast start and what happened last year down the stretch. So in your opinion, what ways do you think this team is better than last year’s team? And what ways you can build off of last year’s experience to try to push for the playoffs at the end of this year?

David: I think one of the things that we’ve done, since we started our off-season program in March preparing for this year, is we used last year as motivation for us. We felt that we were a better football team than what we showed out there on the football field, and the only way that you can do things to change it is what you do and the way that you perform out there on the football field. I remember when we were 1-2 earlier this season. People were saying the same thing: “Oh, this is a slump. This team is going to break down just like last year. They should fire the coach. Coach Coughlin lost the team.”

And sure enough, here we come, we rattle off and win five straight and, “This is the best team in the NFC. This could be
one of the best teams in the NFL.” And then you go to losing two games to two tough division rivals. And then it’s back to, “Oh, here we go again. It’s back to last year. Here comes the second half rattle.” And that’s understandable. But I know our team, and I know the way that we approach things, and the way that we prepare. And like I said, we’ve all experienced what last year’s second half was like, and we’ve got a lot of leadership and a lot of veterans around, I being one of them, that’s going to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make sure that we don’t have that type of second half of the season.

Me: I know you’re doing a campaign for Prilosec OTC. I also happen to suffer from chronic heartburn myself. How you deal with it on a day to day basis?

David: Obviously, as an athlete, just like in everyday life, you want to feel at your best. You want to make sure that you’re not having any issues. You want to make sure that you can go out there and you can focus on your job and focus on playing and making sure I’m doing my best to protect Eli and open up holes for our running backs. The last thing I want to do is worry about getting acid reflux and having that feeling. You’re not going to feel at your best, and it takes your attention away from what you’re doing. And for me, I want the same type of protection from heartburn, just like Eli expects the same protection out of us. And I know when I take my Prilosec OTC pill, I know for the rest of the day that I’m not going to have to worry about having heartburn issues or dealing with it, because I took care of it.

Me: Now this is a little bit off topic, but I’ve been dying to ask. February 3rd, 2008. The clock hits zero. Giants 17, Patriots 14. Describe that moment for me. How are feeling in that moment?

David: It’s one of the best feelings of my life. From the time that you play football as a kid out on the streets to the time that you play it in high school, to the NFL, you have a dream of one day holding that Lombardi trophy and being part of something very special. And when you do that and you hold that trophy and you accomplish what we’re all in this to do, to win the championship, when you have that feeling, one, it lets you feel that all of those things that you did — the lifting, the running — has all paid off. And two, as a competitor, I know myself, I’m not done. I’m not retired. I’m still playing. I barely ever wear my old Super Bowl ring, because I want another one. I want to do whatever I can to get back there. I want to do whatever we can to get back there and win another one, because it’s a feeling unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. And when you have that feeling, you want to do whatever you can to get back to it, because it’s such a special thing.

Me: I like to hear that. Well hopefully we can get you another one this year.

David: Thank you very much, my man.

Me: Aside from the Super Bowl, what has been your most memorable moment?

David: Besides the Super Bowl, you mean athletic-wise or just in my life?

Me: Anything. Anything that stands out in your mind.

David: I think the birth of my daughter was a huge thing. My daughter will be four in December. My daughter’s name is Addison. When you have a child, one, when she was born, it’s just instant love. And two, I think you re-prioritize everything in your life, because it’s not about me. It’s about my daughter and making sure I’m going out and doing everything I can to be as successful as I can, not only professionally, but as a person, so I’m a good example for her, and that I’m giving her the best opportunities possible to be successful in life, and give her opportunities that I didn’t have.

Me: I know you’re still recovering from that hamstring injury. How is your recovery coming along, and do you think
you’ll be back on the field this week?

David: I’m hoping. I’m making a lot of progress. Everybody’s happy with the way that I’m progressing. They said I’m ahead of schedule. I’m hoping. I’m not having fun sitting around watching these games. It’s something I’m not used to, and it’s something that I’ll never get used to. I’m a team guy. I’m an accountable guy, and when you play so many games with those guys and you’re out there fighting, I mean we’re like brothers out there. And when you’re on the outside looking in, you feel helpless. I’m going to meetings. I’m helping them break down film, I’m doing as much as I can, but there’s nothing like being out there and playing with your guys.

Me: It must be tough, not being able to be out there. I’m looking forward to seeing you get back on the field. I
really enjoyed talking to you. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer my questions, and I wish you a speedy recovery.

David: Thanks a lot, Rob.

Me: Thank you, and best of luck to you guys the rest of the season.

David: Thanks, take care buddy.


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