Okay, Okay, I’ll Write About Jeremy Lin

16 02 2012

So all week people have been asking me when I’m going to write about the man who has set the NBA on fire, the new savior of New York basketball, Jeremy Lin. (Nope, nobody has asked me that.)

Well, I’m finally breaking my silence on the phenomenon that is Linsanity. As you may or may not know, depending on how often you read this blog, I don’t write about the NBA too much. I’ve been a Knicks fan since I learned how to dribble a basketball (so, about 6 years old) and I love the Knicks. Maybe my love for them has been overshadowed by my love for the Giants during the past decade (winning will do that), but it’s always still been there.

Watching Jeremy Lin ignite Madison Square Garden during this seven-game winning streak has rivaled just about anything I’ve ever seen in my time as a Knicks fan, including their remarkable 1999 Finals run and the first few games of the Carmelo era last season.

But that’s such an unremarkable blanket statement that doesn’t really touch on why this has been so extraordinary. What makes it unlike anything else is where Jeremy Lin came from: nowhere. It’s almost like he literally materialized on the Knicks roster one day, and a week later NBA.com was sold out of his jerseys. WHAAAAAT?

Then the comparisons started. Is he the NBA version of Tim Tebow? WHAAAAT? I know football season has been over for almost two whole weeks now, but does anybody remember what it was like to watch Tim Tebow during about 85% of every game he played? He was pretty bad. The Tim Tebow craze was mostly about how we were surprised he was actually winning games. He looked so inept and remarkably unremarkable that his winning streak was almost like an inside joke that every sports fan was in on, except for Tebow.

On the contrary, Jeremy Lin is actually really good. I mean, he put up 38 points on Kobe and the Lakers last Friday night in front of a national television audience with just about everyone expecting him to fall back to Earth. Instead, he continued to rise, to almost meteoric heights. Watching that performance against Los Angeles, I don’t ever remember being that giddy during an NBA game. Every circus shot, every reverse layup, every lob pass for an alley-oop evoked the same reaction: Is this really happening? And if it is, HOW?

So yeah, enough with the Tim Tebow comparisons. Here’s a comparison that fits: Victor Cruz. How weird is it that in the span of a few months, two New York sports franchises had a breakout star that came onto the scene in almost identical scenarios? It’s uncanny. Victor Cruz, the No. 4 wide receiver on the New York Giants depth chart until Domenik Hixon went down in Week 2, steps in and ignites the Giants on a remarkable run to a Super Bowl title. Jeremy Lin, probably days away from being cut, living on his brother’s couch, sparks the dreadful 8-15 Knicks on a 7-game winning streak (and counting), possibly saving his coach’s job and his team’s season.

Oh, and how about the fact that they both came from colleges in Massachusetts? Eerie.

Above everything else, it’s been fun to watch, and isn’t that what being a sports fan is supposed to be all about anyway? The Giants provided a pretty good amount of fun this past season (in between the hundreds of mini heart attacks) and God knows I’m going to need something to inject a little excitement into my sports-watching life over the next few months because we all know the Mets aren’t going to be supplying any.

And for the people questioning whether or not Carmelo Anthony is going to “buy in” to this new and reinvigorated style of basketball when he returns from his injury? Complete and utter nonsense. Carmelo Anthony is not a selfish basketball player, he was simply forced to adjust his natural role as a pure scorer to adapt to an offense that was missing a true point guard. What that meant was a lot of isolation plays and a lot of Melo handling the ball — something he wouldn’t need to do with a point guard that can create the way Lin creates.

For Melo to “not buy in” to this would not only be counter-intuitive for him, but it would also not make much sense. Especially when you consider the fact that Melo was actually the one who told D’Antoni to play Lin.

That’s right, on The Boomer & Carton Show this morning, Lin explained that Carmelo was actually his staunchest advocate for playing time when he went down with his injury.

So to say that Carmelo won’t buy in to this new offensive scheme is not only ridiculous, but also misinformed. Either way, Lin’s ability to draw defenders away from their men should create a lot of open looks for Melo when he returns, just as it’s been providing the same open looks for Amar’e, Steve Novak and even Bill Walker. He makes everyone on the court better, even his buddy Landry Fields who is beginning to look like the Landry Fields of early last season and not the post-Melo-trade Landry Fields who sort of disappeared.

Anyway, we don’t know how long this ride is going to last, but you can bet that us Knicks fans are going to enjoy every last twist and turn. It’s not every day that you get to see an undrafted Harvard grad become the biggest story in the NBA and it’s also not every day that you can witness an entire nation of basketball fans get away with unwittingly making thinly veiled and slightly racist puns that nobody gets upset about!

Jeremy Lin: Bridging races and fan bases, all at the same time.

And when a guy that changed his named to Metta World Peace is running around the Los Angeles Lakers locker room screaming “LINSANITY!” at the top of his lungs, even though you just harpooned his team a few nights before, you know that you’ve officially arrived.


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Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots Position-By-Position Breakdown

30 01 2012

There are about 155 hours left until the kickoff of Super Bowl XLVI, or three viewings of The Tree of Life if you want a rough comparison. The Patriots have already landed in Indianapolis and the Giants are due to arrive today, so in celebration of the official beginning of Super Bowl Week, I’m going to do a position-by-position breakdown of the big game. But before you read all the way through to the bottom expecting to find my prediction, I want to warn you that you’re not going to find it. If you think I’m going to be pressured into giving a prediction that I’ll regret all week, then you must be outside of your mind. It’s not happening.

Quarterback: Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady

If this breakdown was comparing how Eli Manning and Tom Brady played last week, then the outcome might be a little different. If it was comparing which quarterback was hottest at this very moment, then the outcome would definitely be different. But if we’re just comparing Eli Manning and Tom Brady straight-up, with no stipulations, then it’s hard not to tip the scales in Brady’s favor. I know Eli has won his last two games against Tom and I know he’s probably playing the best football of his life right now, but the fact is that Tom Brady is still Tom Brady, official UGG’s spokesman, until further notice. The fact that this is even as close as it is speaks volumes to how well Eli Manning is playing right now. I’ll leave it at that.

Slight Edge: Pats

Running Backs: Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw vs. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead

If this category was “Which running back tandem has the best names” then I’d have to give it to the Patriots. BenJarvus Green-Ellis almost has half as many names as he had rushing touchdowns during the regular season and Danny Woodhead sounds like a comic book character. But if we’re comparing them based on which tandem is more likely to swing the momentum of the game, it’s going to have to be Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw is the heart of the Giants offense, even if his numbers may not always show it. He didn’t play the last time the Giants and Pats met back in Week 9 and the Giants still came out on top, so having him around this time should be a big plus for Big Blue. And if Brandon Jacobs can break a few big runs, the Patriots defense will have major problems.

Edge: Giants

Wide Receivers: Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham vs. Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Chad Ochocinco

Right now, the Giants have the best wide receiving corps in the NFL and it isn’t even close. Each and every one of those three have had a significant impact on the Giants’ postseason run and they are a major reason why the Giants are going to be playing for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night. Nicks had enormous games against Atlanta and Green Bay, and when he was locked down against San Francisco, it was Victor Cruz that stepped up with 10 catches for 142 yards. And what about Mario Manningham? Well, he has only quietly scored 3 touchdowns this postseason, one in each game so far. His 3rd-and-15 catch against San Fran to put the Giants up 17-14 was one of the biggest plays of the season.

As for the Patriots receivers, we all know that Welker has had a monster season. Although the New England receivers are the exact polar opposite of the Giants’ squad in that they are more prone to controlling the middle of the field and not known for their big-play tendencies the way Nicks, Cruz and Manningham are, they are still dangerous and equally hard to cover in the 10-20 yard range. Plus, Ochocinco just bought a pair of Beats by Dre headphones for every single player on the Patriots which is probably the most important thing he’s contributed all year.

Edge: Giants

Offensive Line: Chris Snee, David Diehl, Kareem McKenzie, David Baas vs. Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Nate Solder

These two units are going to play an extremely important role in Sunday’s game. If the Patriots offensive line can protect Brady and make sure he isn’t running scared and throwing darts into the ground like Alex Smith during the 4th quarter last week, then the Pats should be in good shape. We all know what can happen if the Giants get pressure on Brady. We saw it in Super Bowl XLII and we saw it in Week 9. This is no secret. For the Giants, their line was simply abused by the 49ers defensive front last week. Manning was hit so many times he could have legally changed his name to Tina Turner. Luckily for the Giants’ line, the Patriots pass rush isn’t nearly as ferocious as San Francisco’s. For now though, and since the play of the Patriots’ line is much more closely connected to their success than the Giants’ line is, I’m going to give the edge to New England.

Edge: Pats

Tight Ends: Jake Ballard, Travis Beckum vs. Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez

Much like the wide receiver match-up, this one isn’t even close. Only instead of being in the Giants’ favor, this one clearly goes to New England. Jake Ballard can hold his own with just about anyone in the league and has had a great season filling the shoes of the departed Kevin Boss, but he’s leagues away from Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Gronkowski shattered tight end records left and right this season and even on a bad ankle, he’s the player that the Giants defense needs to make its number one priority going into Sunday night. His high ankle sprain is going to be the big story leading up to the game and it’s not likely that Gronk will be 100%, but Rob Gronkowski at 75% is still more dangerous than 90% of the tight ends in the league playing at full health. Plus, Aaron Hernandez plays like a wide receiver and the Pats have even started using him as a running back too because apparently their offense is run by a 12-year-old playing Madden.

Edge: Pats

Defensive Line: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul, Chris Canty, Linval Joseph vs. Shaun Ellis, Vince Wilfork, Mark Anderson

This unit is the Giants’ bread and butter. They will set the tone of this game and it’s up to the Patriots offensive line to keep them at bay, which will be easier said than done considering no offensive line has been able to successfully do that in over a month and a half. The Giants’ defensive line is a very close-knit group and they have big game experience too. Tuck and Umenyiora both played huge roles in the Super Bowl XLII victory and Tuck sacked Brady twice in that game. In fact, if it wasn’t for Eli Manning’s late game heroics, an argument could have been made to give Tuck the MVP of that game. Simply put, this game will be determined by how much pressure the Giants’ front four can put on Brady.

As for the Patriots, Wilfork had an enormous game against Baltimore last week, and it will be up to the Giants’ offensive line to keep him at bay on Sunday. If it was legal for defensive tackles to eat their way through the offensive line though, Wilfork would be absolutely unstoppable.

Edge: Giants

Linebackers: Michael Boley, Mathias Kiwanuka, Jacquian Williams, Chase Blackburn vs. Brandon Spikes, Rob Ninkovich, Tracy White

This is a tough category to call because the Giants linebackers have been really hit-or-miss all season. Only in the last five weeks have they begun to really gel and play some quality football. Jacquian Williams is finally making plays, Boley and Kiwanuka are finally both 100% healthy and Chase Blackburn went from eating Cheetos on his couch two months ago to playing a major role in another Giants Super Bowl run. It’s weird how football works. The linebackers are going to really be tested on Sunday with Gronk and Hernandez roaming the middle of the field. If they can cover and not let either tight end go all Vernon Davis on them, then they will severely limit the Patriots’ offensive options.

Slight Edge: Giants

Secondary: Kenny Phillips, Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Deon Grant, Antrel Rolle vs. Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Pat Chung, James Ihedigbo, Sterling Moore

I have to give the edge to the Giants here on principle. The Patriots owned the league’s worst passing defense all season, and even though they’ve looked a little better during the playoffs, you need to remember who they went up against the last two weeks: Tim Tebow and Joe Flacco. Two quarterbacks who aren’t exactly known for lighting it up. The most dangerous receiver they’ve had to cover was probably Demaryius Thomas. Let’s get real here for a second. They haven’t had to face a receiving corps like the one the Giants have since the last time they played the Giants. Plus, if they throw Julian Edelman out there on Cruz or Manningham it’s going to be a blood bath. The one thing the Patriots’ secondary has in its favor is that it’s opportunistic. They get a lot of takeaways, so as long as Eli can play mistake-free football and be careful with his throws like he was last week in San Francisco, then the Giants can avoid playing to the Patriots’ strengths.

Edge: Giants

Special Teams: Lawrence Tynes, Steve Weatherford, Will Blackmon, Devin Thomas vs. Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker

The Giants special teams play is probably what won the game for them against the 49ers. Weatherford punted the hell out of the ball all night, Thomas’s two fumble recoveries were responsible for 10 points and he might have singlehandedly put the Giants in the Super Bowl and of course Lawrence Tynes was the one who won it with his kick. But the truth is that Big Blue’s special teams have been shaky all season. Another game like last week’s is probably asking too much, but all they really need to do is play smart, mistake-free football. On the Pats’ side, Gostkowski is a model of efficiency and Edelman and Welker are always dangerous in the return game. We’ll call this one even.

Edge: Even

Head Coach: Coughlin vs. Belichick

For the second time in four years, Tom Coughlin has coached himself off of the hot seat and into the Super Bowl. He’s done a fantastic job of getting the team motivated and prepared down the stretch this season and especially in the playoffs and he’s converted guys like Antrel Rolle and Michael Boley and made them believers. In fact, he might be doing the best coaching job of his career right now. But so is Belichick. He’s taken a team with the 31st ranked defense in the league and brought them within one win of a Super Bowl title, which is amazing given the fact that he has based his entire career up until now on his defensive superiority. Basically this comes down to the fact that Belichick is Belichick — the slight edge here goes to the Pats, even though, much like the Manning-Brady comparison, this is much closer than it would have been a few years ago.

Slight Edge: Pats

 

Prediction: No way.


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This All Seems a Little Familiar

24 01 2012

As the minutes leading up to Sunday night’s NFC Championship tilt agonizingly dripped away, I ran through the usual and familiar gamut of pregame anxiety symptoms: the nervous tapping of my right foot, the fingers fidgeting away, the stomach churning in anticipation. What wasn’t usual and familiar, however, was where I would be watching the game. I wouldn’t be on my living room couch at home, leaning forward anxiously like I was getting ready to bolt out of the house any second. I wouldn’t be watching it at friend’s house or a bar either, surrounded by fellow Giants fans masking their anxiety with copious amounts of alcohol.

Nope, none of those places.

Instead, I was sitting on a beach towel with my feet in the sand. In front of me was the Caribbean sea, and directly behind me was the runway of the only international airport on the island of St. Maarten. Off to the left, where I was faced, was a large movie-theater sized projection screen on top of a beachside bar showing the Giants-49ers game. Thankfully, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were drowned out by the Sunset Bar DJ flowing effortlessly from Drake to Usher to Rick Ross, and occasionally he was drowned out by an incoming Airbus A320 that skimmed the tops of our heads.

How did I end up here watching my team try to fight its way into the Super Bowl? Well, it’s funny you should ask. When our trip was booked, back in the beginning of December, the New York Giants were 6-6 and not exactly looking like they were primed to make a Super Bowl run. When we originally planned the dates, January 15-22 seemed sensible — that is until I realized that our flight home at 5:00 p.m. on the 22nd would put me in the air during the NFC Championship game. Although this shouldn’t have been a concern at that time, my first thought was, “What if the Giants are playing? What would happen? How could I live with myself?”

While the thought seemed crazy at the time, changes were made, dates were altered and I decided that if the Giants, by some crazy, improbable turn of events, actually did make the NFC Championship game, watching it in St. Maarten would be better than not watching it at all.

As fate would have it, those same 6-6 Giants did make the NFC Championship game. They made it by dismantling the Jets, then the Cowboys, then the Falcons and astonishingly, the Packers too. And so on Sunday night, I watched the New York Giants win the NFC title in a decidedly unusual place.

What I had hoped for all week was a game similar to the 2001 NFC title game, a simple, easy thrashing that I could enjoy peacefully while buying many rounds of drinks and ideally not fighting back the urge to throw up during an overtime coin toss. As you all know by now, that is not what I got. Instead, what I got was a four-hour heavyweight bout between two fighters who refused to go down. What I got was possibly the most nerve-wracking second half I can ever remember watching.

The game, in and of itself, was almost like a microcosm of the entire season. It was an emotional roller coaster, filled with ups and downs and just about every frustrating aspect of a football game you can imagine: dumb, drive-extending penalties by the defense, Alex Smith eluding sacks and scrambling for big first downs, Eli getting repeatedly battered and abused by the Niner defense, long touchdown passes to tight ends, stalled drives and long-winded Ed Hochuli explanations. But somehow, despite all of this, the Giants were the ones putting on their championship t-shirts and hats after the game.

Despite the fact that Eli might have spent more time on the ground Sunday night than he did standing up, he brushed off every single hit like it never happened and continue to make the plays that needed to be made. The best thing about his performance on Sunday night was the fact that none of it surprised me. In 2007, I would have been in awe of that 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham on 3rd and 15 that put the Giants up 17-14. On Sunday night, I expected it, and number 10 did not disappoint.

With the game tied at 17 and heading into overtime, and with the eerie feeling of deja vu that came with yet another overtime NFC Championship game (only this time with shiny new rules), the sky above us on the beach opened up and it began to rain. At the time, I thought this to be a bad omen. We headed under an awning to watch overtime on a much smaller TV screen, with around 10-15 other people that remained at the bar. By the time Jacquian Williams forced the fumble on Kyle Williams and Devin Thomas put his superhero cape on for the second time that night, I was pacing nervously back and forth chain-smoking and hoping that Trey Junkin was far, far away from Candlestick Park that night.

Although I had hoped that Bradshaw would gallop into the endzone and end it swiftly and painlessly, he got us close enough and when Lawrence Tynes trotted out onto the field to kick the Giants into the Super Bowl for the second time in four years, I thought that I could literally taste my heart in the back of my throat. The camera panned to Bradshaw on the sidelines with his helmet off and his eyes closed. His face titled towards the sky, it appeared as if he was repeatedly whispering “Please make this kick” although I couldn’t quite make it out. But it didn’t matter because that’s what I was whispering, and that’s exactly what Lawrence Tynes did.

In the end, it was the image of Steve Weatherford trying desperately to pull his helmet off and begin celebrating that stuck with me on the drive home. It was the image of Victor Cruz, with wide-eyed wonder, looking like one of those kids in the commercials who’s parents just told him they were going to Disney World.

And now, we have two weeks to prepare for a game we had no business being in as little as a month ago. We have two weeks to prepare for a rematch of what might have been the most exciting Super Bowl ever played. Only this time, we are the team that won the regular season meeting, and it’s the Patriots that will be playing with a chip on their shoulders, looking for redemption, looking for revenge.

Although two weeks is a long time to wait, it will give Giants fans just enough time to savor the joy of being back in the Super Bowl when just about everyone thought it would be impossible. After all, wasn’t it supposed to be the other New York team playing in February? Wasn’t GM Jerry Reese openly criticized back in August for failing to make any substantial offseason moves and saying that he was satisfied with the team he had?

Well, I guess that team that Reese was satisfied with back in August was pretty damn good after all. Now, he is one win away from getting to have the ultimate last laugh while the “Dream Team” and Gang Green watch in envy.

Obviously, everyone is going to compare this Giants team with the 2007-08 team, but we’ll have to wait two weeks to see just how accurate that comparison will be.


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Back to Lambeau

9 01 2012

I’ll be honest and admit that it crossed my mind for the briefest of seconds during yesterday’s game. With a little over 9 minutes left in the 4th and the Giants holding onto the ball and a 24-2 lead over the Falcons in an NFC Wild Card Playoff game, I did some quick math in the my head. The lead was 22 points, just one more point than the 21 point lead we held over the Eagles with 8:17 to play in that game last year.

And then, just as quickly as the thought came, it then vanished. And with every time Jacobs and Bradshaw barreled through the exhausted Falcons defensive line to pick up another first down and with every second that dripped off of the game clock, the thought grew more and more distant until it was replaced with something entirely different: that this was not the same football team that let the season slip away on that December afternoon against Philadelphia. Hell, this was not even the same team that showed up and let Rex Grossman slap them around the field just a few weeks ago.

The Giants team that has showed up for the last three weeks now seems like a brand new Giants team, but at the same time they look awfully familiar. Familiar because we’ve seen this Giants team before. They might have had a few different faces back then, but I’ll be damned if they don’t possess that same kind of intensity, the same kind of “nobody believes in us” mentality that propelled them to a Super Bowl title just four years ago.

Last time, we had Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith carrying the load for us. They’ve both since moved on to greener pastures (greener, as in the color they both now wear, but not necessarily better — both the Jets and Eagles missed this year’s tournament) but we have two new faces that have more than replaced them: Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

Last week, it was Victor Cruz supplying the shot of adrenaline via the electrifying 74-yard touchdown. Yesterday, the Falcons secondary made a concerted effort to minimize Cruz’s involvement, and they succeeded. But they forgot about Hakeem Nicks, and Nicks made them pay with a 72-yard touchdown catch of his own, turning on the burners in the secondary and leaving the Falcons in a trail of smoke behind him on the way to a 17-2 lead.

But it was something else that brought back those feelings of ’07 and ’08 yesterday that seemed to be missing for most of this season. It was the defensive intensity, the feeling that we could stop literally anyone when we needed to. Gone and forgotten were those memories of Rex Grossman and Charlie Whitehurst effortlessly converting 3rd and 14 plays as our winded secondary chased fruitlessly.

Yesterday, it was our swarming and unrelenting defensive line that stuffed Matt Ryan on not one, but two 4th and 1 plays that single-handedly changed the complexion of the game. It was that same stellar defense that held Turner “the Burner” to only 41 yards on 15 carries and the same defense that made big-play threats Roddy White and Julio Jones non-factors all day. And it was the same defense that pitched a shut-out against an Atlanta Falcons team that scored 45 points last week in a rout of Tampa Bay.

It seems cliche to invoke the spirits of the past when talking about the present, because we all know that football doesn’t follow any patterns and has a very short memory, but sitting in MetLife Stadium yesterday among 85,000 other towel-waving fans who suddenly believe, it was impossible not to think of the team that brought us to the promised land four years ago, and impossible not to see the similarities that exist within team we watched completely dismantle a confused and overwhelmed Falcons team yesterday.

Although the offense got off to a slow start, it was Eli Manning, the one who has galvanized this team all year and brought us back from the dead countless times, that put the spark into the team with a 14-yard scamper on a huge 3rd and 2 play that was about as beautiful as it was awkward. But he put the team on his back, like he has so many times this season, and carried it for a first down.

From that point on, the New York Giants would never look back.

And now, it’s back to Lambeau we go, with the hopes of rewriting a story that has already been written once before.


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Win and In

28 12 2011

As you can probably guess, I had a pretty good Christmas. If you have read this blog at all in the past few years, then you can imagine how satisfying Saturday’s win was, not only for the Giants, but for me and the rest of the Giants fans fed up with hearing Rex Ryan’s overinflated ego parading around in the local media since he arrived here in 2009.

It was a sweet, sweet victory that was made even sweeter by the fact that the Giants were the “road” team in MetLife Stadium on Saturday and had the pleasure of quieting a sea of Jets fans and fire helmet-wearing cheerleaders. Although things got a little harrowing towards the end, the defense came up huge when it needed to and the safety on Mark Sanchez that aborted the Jets’ final chance at a comeback drive before it ever really started was the play that sealed the deal for Big Blue. Seconds later, when Bradshaw pranced across the goal line to make it 29-14, it was pure ecstasy for Giants fans everywhere.

But as we went to sleep on Christmas Eve with visions of Victor Cruz’s electrifying 99-yard touchdown catch dancing in our heads, there was another thought that was struggling to push its way to the front of our conscious: the Dallas Cowboys.

Now, there is one game to go and there is only one team that stands between the New York Giants and their first playoff berth since the 2008 season. For all intents and purposes though, the playoffs began last week for the Giants. The motivation and fire and intensity that was nowhere to be found against Washington two weeks ago, was definitely present against the Jets, thanks in part to Rex Ryan’s week of unabashed trash-talking. Now, it’s the second round of the Giants’ playoffs and Big Blue needs to make like 2007 and dispose of the Cowboys and the battered Tony Romo if they hope to fight another week.

Easier said than done.

It all comes down to one game, a de facto NFC East championship game. The winner will host a playoff game in round one in their building, and the loser will have to deal with an 8-8 record and a once-promising season that ended in bitter disappointment.

On December 11th, the Giants traveled to Dallas and completed a wild and improbable comeback to steal the NFC East throne from the Cowboys, albeit temporarily. With their backs against the wall and down by 12 with five minutes remaining, Eli Manning brought the Giants back from the dead and kept their playoff hopes alive.

On Sunday night, the Giants and Cowboys will have 60 minutes to battle it out on the field for the NFC East title. So while the rest of the world is making plans for New Year’s Eve, Giants fans are hoping that the real celebration comes around midnight on January 2nd, not midnight on January 1st.


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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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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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