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Giants face tough road to playoffs starting tonight vs. Saints

Giants Blog

 

By PAUL SCHWARTZ

 

Last Updated: 9:10 AM, November 28, 2011

 

Posted: 2:35 AM, November 28, 2011

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NEW ORLEANS — Kevin Boothe went to Cornell, so he has answers to many questions. The Giants offensive lineman does not understand why everyone is already adding another loss to the season and awaiting the worst to befall his team.

 

“If everything’s chalked up already, what are we doing here?’’ Boothe asked.

 

Yes indeed, the Giants made the trip here and tonight will try to keep pace with the scoring machine known as the Saints. Riding a two-game losing streak to drop a half game behind the first-place Cowboys in the NFC East, the Giants have given themselves little room for error. Confronting the Saints (7-3) inside the Superdome on Monday Night Football followed by a return home to face the undefeated Packers represents about as rough a stretch as the NFL has to offer.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

MANN’ UP: Eli Manning will have to come out firing in his return to the city his father starred in.

 

UPDATES FROM OUR GIANTS BLOG

 

“My feeling is you got to beat playoff-contending teams to get in the playoffs,’’ defensive end Dave Tollefson said. “You’re not just gonna back-door it by beating teams that you should beat. It’s a great position to be in, we got to beat the good teams.’’

 

There aren’t any much better than the Saints, who are 4-0 at home this season and flying high with Drew Brees throwing darts. The Giants, coming off a bit like a bunch of wimps in last week’s 17-10 loss to the Eagles, were disgusted with the way they were pushed around and come in with yet another injury, as left tackle Will Beatty is out following eye surgery, forcing David Diehl to return to the left tackle spot he manned for four years and Boothe to fill Diehl’s place at left guard.

 

“The games aren’t going to get canceled, we’re not going to get wins given to us because whoever isn’t playing,’’ Boothe said. “The Saints I’m sure aren’t feeling sorry for us right now.’’

 

No one is feeling sorry for the Giants, who put themselves into this mess and now have to find a way to extricate their way out of it.

 

A look inside the game:

 

BEST BATTLE

 

Saints WR Marques Colston vs. Giants CB Corey Webster: Colston, a tall target from Hofstra, has missed two games with a shoulder injury but still has 42 receptions for 589 yards and three touchdowns. He’s coming off his best game of the season — eight catches for 113 yards in Atlanta. Webster (four interceptions) is having one of his best seasons and usually fares well against bigger receivers.

 

A BREEZE FOR DREW

 

Drew Brees is the only quarterback in NFL history other than Dan Marino to throw for 5,000 yards in a season. Marino’s 5,084 yards in 1984 remains the league record, with Brees (5,069) falling just short in 2008. Brees leads the league this season with 3,326 yards and is on pace for 5,322 passing yards, which would shatter Marino’s mark.

 

“It doesn’t matter how we do it, as long as we do it,’’ Brees said. “We’re in an offense, we spread it out a lot, we throw it a lot, but we also have the ability to run it out of a lot of formations, a lot of different personnel groups with multiple running backs. I feel like we’re very diverse in what we do. In the end, it’s all about doing whatever it takes to win, if that means rushing it 50 times or throwing it 50 times, that’s what we’re going to do.’’

 

The last time Brees saw the Giants, he lit them up for four touchdown passes and 369 yards in a 48-27 rout in October of 2009.

 

GREAT SCOTT?

 

No one has had extreme difficulty running on the Saints. They allow 5.2 yards per attempt, but there is little reason to believe the Giants can exploit that weakness. The running game is going nowhere, coming off an embarrassing 29-yard stinker against the Eagles, with Brandon Jacobs and D.J. Ware — who will play despite suffering a concussion last week — showing no signs of busting loose. Perhaps it is time for Da’Rel Scott, the rookie with great speed and only three rushing attempts all season. The coaching staff is concerned with his ability to pick up the blitz and protect Eli Manning, but perhaps Scott can produce a big play, something Jacobs (long run of 15 yards) and Ware (long of 12) cannot.

 

FRONT SNORE

 

It is hard to believe the Giants were credited with only one quarterback hit in last week’s loss to the Eagles, which is an indictment of a defensive line that has 29 of the team’s 31 sacks. Anything less than ferocious pressure against Brees is going to be huge trouble for the Giants.

 

“The bottom line is we get paid to get after the quarterback and recently we haven’t done it to the level we expect ourselves to,’’ Dave Tollefson said.

 

“The front four is vitally important,’’ added defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. “We’ve said to them, ‘Hey, if we’re going to be successful in this ballgame, you have to come through for us.’ ’’

 

PAUL’S PREDICTION

 

The Giants specialize in tight games — they’ve scored 228 points this season and allowed the exact same amount — but they will have to be at their best to keep this one close. Weapons galore for Drew Brees, meaning Eli Manning can have a big night and still might not be enough.

 

SAINTS 34, GIANTS 17

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/giants/giants_know_road_fighting_tough_ohGb71MQjM5EfnIf1gOKTL#ixzz1f1MePDmf

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants defenseless against Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, can't muster any pass rush

Fewell tank looks empty as collapse gains steam

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Originally Published: Tuesday, November 29 2011, 1:44 AM

Updated: Tuesday, November 29 2011, 2:39 AM

 

NEW ORLEANS — The pressure will now be turned up on Eli Manning to continue to prove he’s “elite.” The heat will get turned up soon on Tom Coughlin to once again find a way to save his job.

 

But if this Giants’ collapse, now seemingly in full swing, becomes the “historical” disaster that Justin Tuck warned it could, don’t blame the quarterback and don’t blame the coach. This franchise used to be known for a strong defense and a devastating pass rush.

 

Now both have all but disappeared.

 

 

They were absolutely shredded Monday night by the New Orleans Saints in a 49-24 rout that was nearly “historical” and could’ve been much worse. Drew Brees, on his way to 363 yards, had so much time in the pocket he could’ve set up a lawn chair and thrown passes with a drink in his hands. He was never short of open receivers exploiting the gaps in the gap-filled Giants’ secondary.

 

By halftime, Brees had already thrown for 265 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints had 354 yards of offense by then, on their way to what Antrel Rolle said was an “unacceptable” total of 577.

 

It wasn’t just unacceptable, it was one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history — the second-most yards they’ve ever allowed in a game, the most being the 682 piled up by the Bears on Nov. 14, 1943, in a 56-7 romp.

 

Worse, the Giants didn’t seem to have any idea as to how or why it happened, which is another part of this increasingly disturbing defensive trend.

 

“We’ve got to look at the film and take a serious look at how they were able to basically do whatever they wanted,” said defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. “We didn’t play fast enough. We didn’t play hard enough.”

 

“Obviously we had a tough time stopping them,” added Coughlin. “They’re good. They’re talented. They did a good job of spreading the ball out. Their quarterback does a good job of getting the ball out of his hands fast.

 

“We just weren’t able to cover them.”

 

They haven’t been able to consistently cover anyone all season, so that wasn’t much of a surprise. The surprise has been the strange and sudden disappearance of a pass rush that was once among the most feared in the league. They entered the weekend with an NFL-leading 31 sacks and were stuck on that number after getting zero against Brees. They were credited with six quarterback hits, but even that seemed like a stretch considering the defense barely bothered the Saints quarterback at all.

 

“We were close a couple of times, but we weren’t effective enough in disrupting what they wanted to do,” said defensive tackle Chris Canty. “They kind of did what they wanted to do. We didn’t put enough consistent pressure to make them uncomfortable.”

 

That wouldn’t be so alarming if it wasn’t a trend. Since their five-sack performance in a win over the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 30, they’ve had just five sacks and 14 quarterback hits in the last four games. Perry Fewell, the Giants’ defensive coordinator, was asked last week where his pass rush has gone, and he said, “I can't put my finger on” the answer.

 

He better do it soon, though, because if Brees can slice through his defense like he did on Monday night, what is Aaron Rodgers going do when the undefeated Green Bay Packers come to the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon? The Packers are better and more explosive. Rodgers is more accurate and has more weapons.

 

If Rodgers gets the kind of time to sit back in the pocket that Brees had on Monday night, the reeling Giants (6-5) will have absolutely no chance to stop their three-game losing streak. And then they’ll have to travel to Dallas to face Tony Romo, another elusive quarterback, with their season on the line.

 

There are plenty of reasons for this unfathomable defensive meltdown. Tuck, thanks to injuries, is a shell of his old self and only has two sacks. Osi Umenyiora has slowed down considerably and now has an ankle injury that ended his game in the first quarter on Monday night. Jason Pierre-Paul (two sacks in the last four games) looks, as Fewell seemed to fear a few weeks ago, as if he’s overworked and slowing down.

 

The reasons almost don’t matter, though, because time is running out on the Giants’ once-promising season. Manning can’t do it alone, and it’s clear he won’t get any help from the Giants’ “pathetic” rushing attack. The secondary and young linebacking corps will be stretched thin in the next few weeks, too.

 

That puts the pressure on the men who are supposed to deliver it on defense. They’re the ones with the Giants’ season in their hands.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-defenseless-drew-brees-orleans-saints-t-muster-pass-rush-article-1.983824#ixzz1f6eTtglm

[jerseygiantfan]

Nov 30, 2011

Vote: Will latest second-half collapse doom Giants?

 

 

By Nate Davis, USA TODAY

Updated 10h 34m ago

 

It sure seems as if another Giant implosion is in the works.

 

After getting routed by the Saints on Monday night, the Giants have dropped three in a row, falling to 6-5 and out of a first-place tie with the Cowboys in the NFC East.

CAPTION

By William Perlman, The Star-Ledger via US Presswire

 

But the trend may be more worrisome than their immediate predicament. Since winning Super Bowl XLII (incidentally, the Giants' last postseason win), New York has gone 12-15 in the second half of the season since 2008 (its last playoff year) and 7-12 since 2009. By comparison, the G-Men are 24-8 in the first half since 2008 and 17-7 since 2009.

 

DE Justin Tuck admitted after the loss in New Orleans that it's "absolutely not possible" not to mull another meltdown while ceding, "I'm already thinking about it."

 

The Giants were sitting pretty at 6-2 after what seemed to be a momentum-building 24-20 win over the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., where New England hadn't lost since 2008.

 

But New York hasn't posted a win since and the running game and defense have gone in the tank. Injuries to LT Will Beatty, LB Michael Boley, RB Ahmad Bradshaw and WR Mario Manningham obviously haven't helped.

 

"It's tough, it is. Because we all know in the back of our head what everybody's gonna say now because of these three straight losses," said Tuck. "But for us, personally, we've got to just go into this next week and every other week like this is our playoffs because we gotta win these football games to get where we want to go."

 

But getting there sure won't be easy. The Giants host the undefeated Packers -- who essentially drummed New York out of the playoff picture last year with a 45-17 whupping in Week 16 -- before two meetings with the Cowboys and a "road" game "at" the Jets on Christmas Eve.

 

"We've got five games left, and these five are gonna be big. They're gonna determine our season right now," said QB Eli Manning.

 

"So we can't get down, we can't get frustrated right now."

[jerseygiantfan]

If NY Giants fail to make playoffs, Tom Coughlin must hit road

Giants coach has run out of karma from Super Bowl win

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Wednesday, November 30 2011, 11:21 PM

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin upset in the 1st half.

Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News

 

 

Tom Coughlin built up plenty of collateral by winning the Super Bowl four years ago, but his account is nearly empty as the Giants are in the midst of another late season free-fall. If Coughlin can’t stop the hemorrhaging and the Giants miss the playoffs again, then it’s time for him to go.

 

He might be the most underappreciated coach ever in New York - in any sport. He is one of only three coaches to win the Super Bowl for New York and was behind the second-greatest upset in NFL championship game history, behind the Jets. He is a good man who has done wonderful things with his charitable work off the field.

 

But just as that victory in Super Bowl XLII should eventually earn him a spot in the Giants Ring of Honor, it didn’t give him a lifetime appointment. The Giants’ struggles so far in the second half - they are 0-3 after their 6-2 start - are the continuation of a disturbing annual occurrence. It’s not an aberration.

 

If the Giants don’t make the playoffs, I don’t see how he can survive it this time - or how co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch can sell his return to the fans. The Giants are in the midst of their fourth straight second-half flop since winning the Super Bowl. Mara was infuriated by last year’s meltdown. The Giants haven’t made the playoffs the last two years and have not missed the playoffs three years in a row since 1994-96, the last three seasons with Dan Reeves.

 

Of course, the Giants don’t want to fire Coughlin. They like him. He’s part of the family.

 

If they don’t make the playoffs, maybe he should make it easy on them and gracefully walk away. He is the NFL’s oldest coach at 65. Or maybe the Giants will just put an asterisk next to this season because of the lockout and give Coughlin a do-over in 2012.

 

But what’s the point? So the Giants can start 6-2 next year and then be hounded by their past? If this collapse continues, it would be in the franchise’s best interests, and perhaps Coughlin’s, for the players to hear a new voice next year. What’s happening now may not be his fault, but this is a tough business where the coach must be held accountable.

 

Whether it’s injuries, bad luck, lack of effort, a difficult schedule, it’s always something.

 

Coughlin has been the constant as the rosters change about 30% every year. How many times does the same thing need to happen before the Giants shake things up at the top? How many collapses does Coughlin get to preside over?

 

The Giants had a two-game lead on Dallas in the NFC East at the halfway point. If the Cowboys beat the Cardinals on Sunday and the Giants lose to the undefeated Super Bowl champion Packers, then the Giants would face this situation in Dallas one week from Sunday night: If they lose, they will be eliminated from the NFC East race with three games remaining. That would be a five-game turnaround in five weeks.

 

In each of Coughlin’s eight seasons, the Giants have had a worse record over the last eight games than over the first eight games. In fact, they are 47-17 (73.4%) in the first half and just 24-35 (40.7%) in the second half. They have finished better than .500 in the second half only in 2008 and then lost their only playoff game.

 

Even in the Super Bowl season, they were just 4-4 after a 6-2 start and had to come back from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit in Buffalo in the 15th game to clinch a wild card.

 

Despite the mind-numbing hours Coughlin spends preparing and his obsessive attention to detail, he has not found the formula to prevent the Giants from falling apart in November and December.

 

After the euphoria of winning in New England last month to improve to 6-2 - the players hoisted Coughlin in a wild locker-room celebration - the Giants suffered losses to the 49ers and Eagles and were not competitive in the loss to the Saints. It’s going to be tough to stay close to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Sunday.

 

“We’ll bounce back,” Coughlin said Wednesday. “We’ll fight back.”

 

The Giants had a miserable August following the lockout, and the expectations were low when the season opened. When the Giants won six of their first eight, they were praised for turning tough personnel decisions into right decisions.

 

As quickly as this season turned bad, the arrow can be pointing up again if the Giants can somehow find a way to beat the Packers and go into Dallas with momentum. Even if they lose to the Packers, they can still win the NFC East by winning their last four games, which include two games against the Cowboys.

 

That’s strictly mathematical, but not very realistic.

 

Coughlin has been the Giants coach as long as Bill Parcells. Eight years is a long time. Parcells left on his own in May of 1991, a few months after winning his second Super Bowl. The Giants did not want him to leave.

 

The Giants don’t want Coughlin to leave, either. But he’s just about out of collateral.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-fail-playoffs-tom-coughlin-hit-road-article-1.984952#ixzz1fH7ZoQvq

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In pivotal game vs. Green Bay Packers, NY Giants go up against Tom Coughlin's bad December history, angry Big Blue fans and Aaron Rodgers

Standings show Giants are running out of games to prove they belong in playoffs

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Sunday, December 4 2011, 1:32 AM

Bill Haber/AP

 

The Giants don’t play for the NFC East on Sunday. They don’t. They can still win the East if they lose to the Packers and somehow win out from there against the Cowboys, Redskins, Jets on Christmas Eve, the Cowboys again. Maybe they can even win the division at 9-7. But in all the big ways, the Giants do play for their season at 4:15 at MetLife. They try to get up after getting knocked around and knocked down the way they were in New Orleans Monday night.

 

They try to look as if they haven’t quit their season even before it quits them.

 

The Giants gave up 577 yards on Monday night against the Saints. You know by now that no Tom Coughlin team in the NFL, Jacksonville or here, has ever given up that many yards. And only one team all season — the Dolphins, Week 1, against Tom Brady and the Patriots — has given up more total offense than that in 2011.

 

Add it all up and it was the worst defensive performance in all of Giants’ history. Perry Fewell, the defensive coordinator, had a lot to say this week about effort, or lack thereof. So would you if your defense looked as lost against the Saints as revelers wandering around Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. And Fewell had a lot to say about what his guys are going to do to Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.

 

We’ll see about that at MetLife. I have been writing and saying for the past couple of months that Rodgers isn’t just playing as well as any quarterback in the league right now, he is playing the position as well as it has ever been played. He has been a combination of talent and confidence and poise and leadership that has been thrilling to watch.

 

The Giants go up against that on Sunday, after the way they looked Monday night. They go up against all their bad December history under Tom Coughlin, with the obvious exception of the year they finally won it all. They go up against the notion from a vocal and angry fan base that their team gave up on national television, particularly on that play where Mark Ingram took a pitch from Drew Brees and ran around left end and could have moonwalked his way into the end zone.

 

I think they will show up, even though off the last three weeks I have absolutely nothing on which to base my faith in them. Maybe the coach doesn’t either. Or his defensive coordinator. They tried to get Coughlin to address the things Fewell said about his defense during the week. It went like this:

 

Q: Perry Fewell said…

 

A: I don’t have any comments on that. I didn’t read it. I’m not going to say it and what you say, I’m not going to respond to. What’s the big deal about what he said?

 

Q: I want to know what your opinion is of him saying, ‘We’re going to get after Rodgers’ ass.’ Do you like your coordinator taunting like that?

 

A: I don’t believe it was a taunt. I think it’s more because he’s upset with what has happened in the last couple of weeks and would like to see us play harder.

 

Of course you have to be forgiving with the Giants when it comes to injuries, even though they sure haven’t lost their quarterback the way the Bears and Texans did. The defense especially has taken too many punches, going all the way back to the preseason.

 

Sometimes in any sport it is like a prizefight, you take enough punches that finally you are just ready to go down and stay down when you get to the late rounds.

 

Still: The Giants were 6-2 a few weeks ago. And then they did not score the tying touchdown against the 49ers in San Francisco when it looked like they were going to take that one to overtime. And then the next week, they let Vince Young beat them even on a night when he threw three interceptions, in a league where you’re always supposed to lose if you throw three picks.

 

Then they went into New Orleans against an elite offense and gave up 577 yards and didn’t look as if they were competing in the end and now they get an undefeated Packers team that hasn’t lost a game since backup quarterback Matt Flynn started against the Patriots in Foxborough last December because Rodgers was still recovering from a concussion.

 

There is something here about athletic pride and athletic character showing itself with the home team. Showing its fans that the ’11 Giants are better than all the other teams that fell apart at the end, better than the team that fell apart last December against the Eagles the way the current team fell apart in the second half against the Saints on Monday night.

 

The standings don’t say the Giants play for their season today, or for the playoffs. They do. Not so long after Glendale, Ariz., they try to show their fans and the unbeaten Packers and the world that being late-season losers isn’t part of their football DNA now.

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/pivital-game-green-bay-packers-ny-giants-tom-coughlin-bad-december-history-angry-big-blue-fans-aaron-rodgers-article-1.986493#ixzz1fZCcFsi5

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New York, New York: Sounds different for Jets, Giants

By Gary Mihoces, and Tom Pedulla

Updated 8h 14m ago

 

Comments

 

The song New York, New York, performed by Frank Sinatra, is the city's unofficial anthem. The New York Jets and New York Giants won't wake up today feeling like "king of the hill."

 

 

But with the Jets coming off a vital win and the Giants coming oh, so close against the perfect Green Bay Packers, both teams still have a shot at the playoffs.

 

It came down to a field goal on the last play for Green Bay (12-0) in its 38-35 win at the Giants on Sunday. Game effort though it was, the Giants' fourth consecutive loss dropped them to 6-6. The good news for the Giants: The Dallas Cowboys lost in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals, so the Giants remained a game behind the first-place Cowboys (7-5) in the NFC East. The division figures to come down to the Giants' two remaining games with the Cowboys — the first next Sunday in Dallas and the last at home on the final weekend of the regular season.

 

 

"Every guy who took the field believed we could win, and those are the kind of emotional things that bind you together," said Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, whose team had tied the score on an Eli Manning touchdown pass with 58 seconds left.

 

"We have four big games to go. Every one of these games is critical to our future," added Coughlin, whose team was undone by an Aaron Rodgers-led drive to set up the winning 30-yarder by Mason Crosby.

 

Earlier in the day in Landover, Md., the Jets and quarterback Mark Sanchez lived on the edge for the second week in a row. They rallied with three touchdowns in the final five minutes to beat the 4-8 Washington Redskins 34-19. Jets coach Rex Ryan wasn't talking up a Super Bowl parade with his team at 7-5, though he didn't blink either when asked whether the win gave his team more confidence about making the playoffs.

 

"Hey, we know where we think we're going," Ryan said. "More confidence than 100%? I don't know about that."

 

Also looming, a Christmas Eve meeting between the Jets and Giants at the New Jersey stadium they share.

 

In some other cities around the NFL, the current situations of the Jets and Giants would be welcomed. But this is New York. So the Jets and Giants face heightened expectations and little margin for error in the weekends ahead. And anything less than "top of the heap" won't do.

 

"Two in a row is huge, but these are all for nothing if we can't win the next few," said Sanchez, whose 30-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 4:49 left erased a three-point Washington lead.

 

A week earlier, the Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 28-24 when Sanchez threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game with 1:01 to play.

 

"It tells us we got to do better, because sometimes you don't like it to come down to that," Ryan said. "But it also tells you about the character and guts of this football team."

 

Sanchez's Super guarantee

 

Ryan was talking about winning the Super Bowl going into each of the last two postseasons as the Jets lost twice in the AFC Championship Game. Just last February at the NFL scouting combine, he said, "I guarantee we'll win it this year."

 

But after a 4-2 start, they lost three in a row on the road at the Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. They now trail first-place New England (9-3) in the AFC East. With the schedule favoring a strong finish by the Patriots, it looks like the Jets again will be vying for a wild card.

 

Ryan extols "Ground & Pound Offense." But the Jets ranked 24th in the NFL in rushing going into Sunday's game, and Sanchez has been up and down in his third NFL season.

 

"We need a better sense of urgency and a better tempo, and that starts with the quarterback, so I need to get better with that," Sanchez said.

 

But that urgency was there late in the final quarter, and Sanchez again delivered. He has led 10 fourth-quarter comebacks in his pro career. "I'll take a guy that can roll up his sleeves and say, 'You know what, we're going to get it done,' " Ryan said.

 

The urgency was there on the defensive side after the go-ahead touchdown by Holmes. On the Washington series, linebacker Aaron Maybin knocked loose a fumble by Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman, and the Jets recovered at the Washington 9. That set up a touchdown run by Shonn Greene.

 

"Right before the play (the fumble), Coach Ryan came to me on the sidelines and said, 'Sacks in the fourth quarter win football games,' " Maybin said.

 

Next up for the Jets: a home game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

No Giants guarantees

 

Coughlin, in his eighth season as head coach of the Giants, isn't the type to make guarantees. Though his 2010 team went 10-6, it didn't make the playoffs. Going into this season, the Philadelphia "Dream Team" Eagles and the Cowboys were the buzz in the NFC East.

 

The Giants raised expectations after they rallied in the final minute for a 24-20 win at New England on Nov. 6, a victory that kept them in first place by two games in the division.

 

Now, they've dropped four in a row. They have two games against the Cowboys, next Sunday in Dallas and at home on New Year's Day.

 

But with the the job-saving exception of 2007, when New York scored a stunning last-minute 17-14 victory against New England in Super Bowl XLII, the Giants have a history of late-season flops under Coughlin.

 

While they have never been worse than 5-3 halfway through the schedule in any of his eight seasons, their second-half record is now 24-35. Apart from the magical 2007 season, they are winless in their other three playoff games since the hard-driving coach took over in 2004.

 

New York, despite its valiant effort, appears to be headed for a third consecutive season without a postseason berth.

 

The Giants finished 8-8 two years ago when they suffered lopsided defeats in each of their last two games.

 

Although the Giants closed at 10-6 last year, it was another season in which they failed to finish, with losses in crucial games to the Eagles and Packers.

 

The Giants battled the Packers to the finish Sunday.

 

"You can feel good about the effort, but we didn't win," said defensive end Dave Tollefson, whose team was coming off a 49-24 road loss to the New Orleans Saints. "That trumps everything."

 

Coming close doesn't cut in New York. But if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

 

Contributing: Mihoces reported from Landover, Md; Pedulla from East Rutherford, N.J.

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants need to defeat Dallas Cowboys Sunday night to have any realistic hope of reaching playoffs

Big Blue must channel hate and beat the 'Boys

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Originally Published: Saturday, December 10 2011, 2:20 PM

Updated: Saturday, December 10 2011, 7:17 PM

Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News

 

 

ARLINGTON, Tex . - The Cowboys are first on Justin Tuck’s list, ahead of the Eagles and the Redskins. There’s no team he hates more than America’s Team.

 

And now the Giants must beat the Cowboys to make something special of their season.

 

The Giants have put themselves in a now-or-never predicament by losing their last four games to turn a 6-2 start into a 6-6 collapse and a two-game lead on Dallas in the NFC East into a one-game deficit going into Sunday night’s game at Cowboys Stadium.

 

Big Blue vs. Big D. The loser is in Big Trouble.

 

The emotion and intensity could set a record for any NFL game this season. The Giants are playing for their season.

 

“We will approach it that way,” Tuck said. “We will come out and play it that way. We want to control our destiny. We don’t want to rely on somebody else to get us where we want to go. Obviously, if we lose this football game, that would be the case. We need to approach the game with that type of intensity, that it is a do-or-die game.”

 

If the Giants lose, they will trail the Cowboys by two games with three games remaining. They could be eliminated in the NFC East race before they play Dallas in the rematch on Jan. 1 if the Cowboys beat the Eagles at home on Dec. 24.

 

If the Giants win this game, they will be in control of the division going into the final three games. The easiest way for them to clinch is by doing no worse than splitting with the Redskins and Jets and then beating Dallas again.

 

The Bears, Falcons and Lions all have a one-game lead on the Giants for the two wild-card spots and all hold significant leads in the conference record tie-breaker.

 

Stick any label you want on it, but the Giants have virtually no margin for error and have to win this game at Jerry Jones’ stadium.

 

Tuck never has any trouble getting emotionally prepared to play Dallas. The silver and blue gets a lot of players worked up. As bitter as the rivalry is with the Eagles, there’s something about the Cowboys that gets Tuck even more fired up.

 

“It’s just the persona of America’s Team,” he said. “Even before I got here, I knew the history of the Cowboys and the Giants. Everybody in the country takes a side.”

 

The Cowboys started a trash-talking battle with the Giants after Mike Jenkins called Brandon Jacobs a bully and DeMarcus Ware said Tuck is jealous of the Cowboys and wants to play for them.

 

Jacobs is a bully on the field. But why would Tuck be jealous of the Cowboys? They have not gotten past the divisional round of the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl in 1995. The Giants won the Super Bowl four years ago.

 

Of course, Jacobs and Tuck fired back. The idea of 7-5 and 6-6 teams trash-talking each other is comical. Considering the Giants haven’t won in one month and the Cowboys gave away their game last week to the Cardinals, it’s not like either team has anything to brag about.

 

“We’ve got to win. We’ve got to assert control of this division because we’ve kind of just been hanging,” defensive end Dave Tollefson said. “At some point, you’ve got to make a stand. So we’ve got to make our stand.”

 

The Giants are playing for their season and they also might be playing for Tom Coughlin’s job. If this latest collapse becomes complete and the Giants miss the playoffs for the third straight season, it’s going to put John Mara and Steve Tisch in an uncomfortable position: They are going to have to make a decision on the coach who won them a Super Bowl.

 

Coughlin can perhaps save the season and his job if the Giants can play with the same energy Sunday night as they displayed in road victories earlier in Philadelphia and New England and in the loss last week to Green Bay.

 

The Giants were encouraged with how they played against the Packers, but they came up empty in the final minute. After they got even with 58 seconds remaining, the defense immediately crumbled under the pressure of Aaron Rodgers and gave up the winning field goal on the final play of the game.

 

It’s been almost one month since the Giants lifted Coughlin up in a wild, winning locker room after the victory over the Patriots. They looked ready to establish themselves as one of the best teams in the league. Instead, they’ve lost four in a row, to the 49ers, Eagles, Saints and Packers.

 

They are lucky to be playing for first place Sunday night. They are lucky the Cowboys have been just as bad this season and the Eagles and Redskins have been worse.

 

“We know how fortunate we are,” Tuck said. “We know how this league is. Ask any team that has lost four in a row. Normally, at this point in the season, you are already making your plans for what you are going to do in February or what you are going to do in January. For us, we’ve been fortunate to stick around and still be in the position where we need to be. We still own our own destiny and know what we have to do to get where we want to go. Obviously the situation could be better if we didn’t lose four in a row,” Tuck said. “But it’s still in our hands and it all depends on how we play these next four.”

 

The Giants must beat the Cowboys, the team Tuck hates more than any other.

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giants-defeat-dallas-realistic-hope-reaching-playoffs-article-1.989733#ixzz1gEcksucl

[jerseygiantfan]

GIANTS AT COWBOYS,

at COWBOYS STADIUM, 8:20 p.m.

VITALS

 

LINE: Cowboys by 3 1/2

 

TV: Ch. 4 (Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth)

 

RADIO: WFAN-660 AM (Bob Papa, Carl Banks), Nationwide on Westwood One (Dave Sims, James Lofton)

INJURY IMPACT

 

The Giants will be without S Kenny Phillips (knee), which would move Deon Grant into the starting lineup and rookie Tyler Sash into the rotation. The Giants are also missing DE Osi Umenyora (ankle/knee), C David Baas (neck) and LB Mark Herzlich (ankle). They are hoping to get Mario Manningham back at WR. Cowboys WR Miles Austin (hamstring) returns from a four-game absence, eager to exploit the Giants’ secondary, and Tony Fiammetta returns at FB, where the Cowboys have missed his blocking skills. The Cowboys will probably be without their best special teams player, Danny McCray (ankle). Backup TE Martellus Bennett (rib) is doubtful. RT Tyron Smith will wear a cast on his right hand to protect a dislocated finger. LB Sean Lee (wrist) will wear a less restrictive cast Sunday.

KEY MATCHUP

 

WR Dez Bryant vs. CB Aaron Ross: The challenges don’t let up for a Giants secondary that has been under siege for two weeks. Bryant is playing his best football of the year and comes off an eight-catch day against the Cardinals. Ross has been victimized by Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo will test him. Bryant’s downfield speed, combined with the return of Austin, should take some attention away from TE Jason Witten, Romo’s favorite target, who has been facing a lot of bracket coverage lately.

SCOUT SAYS

 

“The key for the Giants will be to force Romo into third and long. The weak spot in the Cowboys’ pass protection has been LT Doug Free , and he’s going to have his hands full with Jason Pierre-Paul . That means the Cowboys are going to have to get their running game going again but I’d look for the Cowboys to take some shots down field. Look for (Dallas defensive coordinator) Rob Ryan to be very aggressive, maybe moreso than usual. He’s just not going to sit back and let Eli Manning pick them apart."

INTANGIBLES

 

Both teams have kind of bumbled their way into this showdown. The Giants are on a four-game losing streak, even though they feel they picked up confidence in that loss to Green Bay last week. The Cowboys have been losing games in the strangest ways. The teams may have an intense hate for each other but they also have one thing in common. They are maddeningly unpredictable. While both teams need the game desperately, a Cowboy win would probably be lethal to the Giants’ chances. Then again, you never know.

PREDICTION

 

GIANTS 30-27: Somehow, the Cowboys are going to screw this up.- Hank Gola

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giants-defeat-dallas-realistic-hope-reaching-playoffs-article-1.989733#ixzz1gEdbTXsQ

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants save season with win over Dallas Cowboys as Eli Manning puts together comeback, Jason Pierre-Paul blocks tying FG

 

 

BY Ralph Vacchiano

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Originally Published: Monday, December 12 2011, 12:04 AM

Updated: Monday, December 12 2011, 2:25 AM

Tom Pennington/ Getty Images

 

NY GIANTS 37, COWBOYS 34

 

ARLINGTON, Tex. — Eli Manning has been saving games for the Giants all year. This time he saved their season.

 

The Comeback Quarterback did it again when he led the Giants to their most important come-from-behind win of the season. Manning led the Giants to two touchdowns in three minutes, 14 seconds, including the go-ahead Brandon Jacobs TD run with 46 seconds remaining, to lift Big Blue over the Dallas Cowboys, 37-34.

 

It wasn’t over, though, until the final second when Manning got a huge assist from Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who rose up and blocked Dan Bailey’s second attempt at a game-tying, 47-yard field goal. Bailey’s first attempt was good, but it came after the Giants had called timeout.

 

 

When his retry failed, the Giants were officially back in first place in the NFC East.

 

“We’ve had some wild games here over the years — none probably wilder than this,” Manning said after the Giants snapped their four-game losing streak. “It was a great job by our guys not getting down, not getting frustrated and continuing to believe.”

 

They believed because, as Manning said, “We’ve been in these situations before.” This was the fifth time this season he’s led the Giants back from a fourth-quarter deficit to a win, and the 20th time he’s done it in his career. It also might have been his most important since Super Bowl XLII, because had the Giants (7-6) lost, their road to the playoffs would have been nearly impossible.

 

Instead, they return home tied with the Cowboys (7-6) atop the division, but holding a temporary tie-breaker advantage. They are also still in play in the NFC wild-card chase, if necessary, where they trail the Detroit Lions (8-5) and the Atlanta Falcons (8-5) by one game.

 

Most importantly, though, they headed home with a win — a feeling they hadn’t had since they won in New England on Nov. 6.

 

“We needed a locker-room celebration,” Tom Coughlin said. “We’ve been starving for that. I was so happy for our players that they won. It won’t be such a bad trip home.”

 

Like most of the Giants’ games this season, that wasn’t clear until the final moments despite another stellar effort by Manning (27-of-47 for 400 yards, two touchdowns and one interception). As he usually is against the Cowboys, he was locked in quite a duel with Tony Romo, who <NO1>threw<NO>passed for four touchdowns and 321 yards. For a long time, the Giants couldn’t stop him or Felix Jones, who replaced the injured DeMarco Murray (broken ankle) and rushed for 106 yards.

 

But the Giants — who played without Ahmad Bradshaw for the entire first half because Coughlin benched him for a “violation of team rules” - matched the Cowboys score for score and were even up 22-20 heading into the fourth quarter. But Romo broke it open, first with a 74-yard pass to Laurent Robinson that set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin, and then — after Manning was intercepted on a screen pass that was tipped at the Cowboys’ 21 - with a 50-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Dez Bryant.

 

At that point, Coughlin admitted “it didn’t look very good.” That “historical” collapse that Justin Tuck had warned about last month seemed to be on the horizon. But on the sidelines, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride simply turned to Manning and said, “Hey, we need two scores. Go do it.”

 

And Manning did, first with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ballard with 3:14 remaining to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive in 2:27. Then, after Romo overthrew a wide-open Austin on a third-down pass that would have sealed a Dallas win, Manning led a 58-yard drive that ended with Jacobs’ go-ahead touchdown and a two-point conversion run by D.J. Ware. There were still 46 seconds left on the clock, though, and the Cowboys moved quickly into Bailey’s field-goal range.

 

His first kick was good, but Coughlin had called timeout just before the ball was snapped. That forced a re-kick and allowed Pierre-Paul to change his strategy and rush over the center instead of the guard. This time, he got through, blocking the kick and sending the Giants into a frenzy, that included a primal scream of relief and joy from co-owner John Mara up in the press box.

 

“We needed a play,” said defensive tackle (and former Cowboy) Chris Canty. “And we had somebody rise up and make that play.”

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants know they can't continue ups and downs of past seasons in must-win vs. Washington Redskins

Big Blue rollercoaster continues Sunday

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Thursday, December 15 2011, 11:19 PM

 

 

They fought their way back from the brink of a collapse that could have been “historical.” That was the word Justin Tuck used last month, and he wasn’t kidding. The Giants had lost four straight, they were losing their grip on their season and maybe their coach’s job, too.

 

Now, just like that, with a magical comeback and a miracle field-goal block by Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants are back in first place.

 

But it doesn’t matter, and they know it. If they don’t follow up their big win in Dallas by beating the incredibly beatable, already eliminated Washington Redskins at home, then nothing they have done the last few weeks would matter. They would again put themselves on the brink.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think we need to remind guys of that,” said defensive tackle Chris Canty. “I think the guys have a good understanding of the position we’re in.”

 

They better, because as dead as the 4-9 Redskins are, they’re not going to come in and roll over for the Giants. That hardly ever happens in NFC East games. And the Redskins, remember, beat the Giants, 28-14, in Washington in Week 1. It would be a small triumph for their otherwise dismal season to go 2-for-2 vs. Big Blue.

 

The way the Giants played in that first meeting should frighten them, too. It was the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. They were emotional. They felt ready. And then they went out and gave a listless effort that a steamed Canty said was “unacceptable in every regard.”

 

Unfortunately it’s also too commonplace for the Giants, especially in games they absolutely should win, and especially when those games are at home. On Oct. 9 they faced a Seahawks team that had lost nine straight games in the Eastern time zone, that was quarterbacked by Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst, and they lost, 3 6-25. On Oct. 30 they let a winless Dolphins team push them to the edge before they pulled out a last-minute 20-17 victory. On Nov. 20, with a chance to finally bury the “Dream Team” Eagles, they gave their most listless performance of the season and lost, 17-10.

 

Yes, they won in New England. They nearly won in San Francisco. They pushed the unbeaten Packers to the final second. They pulled off a remarkable comeback in Dallas. The Giants (7-6) have proven they can play like champions against contenders.

 

But aren’t champions also supposed to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat?

 

They have said all the right things this week, of course. They usually do. They said the same things before they played the Eagles last month. And they said them before they fell flat against the Redskins in the opener.

 

“There is no way that’ll happen again,” Brandon Jacobs said. “With what we’re playing for, what’s at stake, there’s no way we can’t match their intensity like we didn’t do in Week 1. There’s no way we can’t want it as bad as them. I would think that’s impossible.”

 

Yeah, you would think it is, especially the way the Giants have played lately. Never mind their sieve-like defense. Their win over the Cowboys was a gut-check, and their near-miss against the Packers showed they are capable of playing with anyone. The most maddening part of this Giants season is that despite a remarkable series of injuries, despite a running game that has been stagnant and despite a matador-style defense, the rest of the NFL hasn’t pulled away.

 

The Redskins have faded away, though, in their own mess of injuries and turnovers. Sure, as defensive end Dave Tollefson said the Redskins “really haven’t caught a break” all season long. And as Tom Coughlin pointed out to his players on M onday morning, six of their nine losses – including last week against the Patriots – have been by eight points or fewer.

 

They get that the Redskins are a threat, that they have NFL’s 10th-ranked defense. Their running back, Roy Helu, has topped 100 yards in three straight games. And the Giants saw firsthand that Rex Grossman, when he’s on, is capable of lighting them up for 305 yards.

 

None of that should matter, though. This isn’t about the Redskins. It’s not about the destiny the Giants control or their multiple paths to the playoffs. This is about winning a game they’re supposed to win in front of the home fans. It’s about not playing down to the level of their opponent for a change.

 

It’s about not suffering the seemingly inevitable letdown that everyone is expecting, and that will ruin all the good they did for themselves in Dallas on Sunday night.

 

“We realize the opportunity we’re faced with,” Canty said. “We understand full well the situation we’re in.”

 

If they don’t, they may be right back on the edge of the abyss they were standing on before their miracle against the Cowboys. Only this time they could be a little closer to falling in.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-t-continue-ups-downs-seasons-sunday-washington-redskins-article-1.992416#ixzz1ggnVhaHf

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants QB Manning coming through in clutch

 

 

Last Updated: 9:50 AM, December 16, 2011

 

Posted: 4:14 AM, December 16, 2011

 

 

He has grown up, all the way up, right before our searing, judgmental eyes. The growing pains he endured would have broken lesser men in our town without pity. His crimes? He wasn’t his big brother. He wasn’t Peyton Manning, He showed no fire. He wasn’t Phil Simms.

 

And now? He is 30 years old, the franchise quarterback who has carried his franchise on his back in a way that no other Giants quarterback has carried his team, a yard at a time 4,105 times.

 

He is Old Eliable.

 

 

As his team has crumbled around him in the trainer’s room, to the point where the pass rush slowed to a crawl around Jason Pierre-Paul and the secondary has a Bud Abbott and Lou Costello look and feel to it and a reshuffled offensive line stands in front of him and Ahmad Bradshaw hasn’t been available enough to run with his customary anger behind him, Eli Manning has single-handedly held the fort.

 

He now means to the Giants what Peyton has meant to the Colts all these years.

 

He is Captain Clutch just as Derek Jeter has been Captain Clutch.

 

The Giants have nearly as much faith in him as Tim Tebow has in Him, or so it seems these days.

 

As the Giants continue to fight for their playoff lives Sunday against the Redskins, their best chance is Old Eliable with the ball in his hands in the fourth quarter.

 

“I think fourth quarter play is a lot of times about being calm and being confident ... being knowledgeable,” Archie Manning said yesterday. “Those are attributes a quarterback needs in the fourth quarter.”

 

It is a gift few have. It can be defined this way: The bigger the moment, the better you play. At a time when the game is speeding up for everyone else, it is slowing down for you. Where others see chaos, you see order.

 

“He’s a completely different animal right now,” ex-teammate and Redskins defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “If he would’ve played that well last year, we may have [given] Green Bay a run for their money.”

 

Archie and wife Olivia watched Old Eliable’s latest miracle finish against the Cowboys on television.

 

“We jump around, and change seats for superstition. ... I get up and walk around and sometimes scream,” Archie said. “It was crazy. We’ve had a lot of those.”

 

Old Eliable stands as a reminder that you do not tell a book by its cover. Remember the slumped shoulders whenever adversity would strike? The hangdog look? Remember the coaches and fans and media imploring him to show more emotion, be more vocal? Remember Tiki Barber dubbling his attempts at leadership “comical?”

 

Old Eliable never stopped doing it his way anyway. Never tried to be Peyton. Never tried to be Simms.

 

“I don’t know for sure — I didn’t play there, and it’s not to say you have to have a certain personality to play in New York — Eli absolutely loves playing in New York, and he absolutely loves being quarterback of the Giants,” Archie said. “I don’t think there’s been one day since spring of ’04 he hasn’t felt that.”

 

And here’s what else we have learned about Old Eliable: He is much tougher than he looks. Old Eliable never misses a game. Remember when he shrugged off plantar fasciitis? Remember when he was that shoulder injury was supposed to sideline him? You simply cannot put an intrinsic value on what that means to a franchise.

 

But it is Old Eliable’s mental toughness that separates him as well. Do not lose sight of the fact that he wasn’t scared off by the challenge of following in the Ole Miss footsteps of his legendary father. The New York professional sports graveyard is littered with those who let the great expectations and pressures bury them alive. Remember when we wondered whether he was too meek for this market? It turns out Easy E has the perfect temperament for Euphoria-Disaster New York. Simms wasn’t any Broadway Joe. Neither is Hoboken Eli. Just give him his team and teammates, his playbook, his family and his karaoke, and he’s good to go.

 

And a football in his hands with the game on the line. A league-leading 117 QB rating in the fourth quarter. Six fourth-quarter comeback victories. Asked if Manning should be mentioned among the elite quarterbacks, Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said: “I think Eli should probably be up there with those guys the way he’s playing right now. I think in the long run he’ll be mentioned with those guys all the time.”

 

Old Eliable.

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/giants/it_ole_eli_able_aR9qjQKEnQCbY3XxEdVqjJ#ixzz1giSDAM8b

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants fall to Washington Redskins at home, 23-10; Eli Manning intercepted three times

Redskins 23, Giants 10

 

BY Ralph Vacchiano

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Originally Published: Sunday, December 18 2011, 4:05 PM

Updated: Monday, December 19 2011, 12:20 AM

 

Kevin Hagen for New York Daily News

 

 

 

 

There was a simple reason why the Giants fell flat on their faces in such a critical game and again pushed themselves to the brink of elimination. It came down to one thing, according to Antrel Rolle.

 

And for emphasis, he pointed straight to his chest.

 

“If you don’t got it in the heart, I don’t know,” Rolle said. “Washington, they’re not a bad team at all. But we are 10 times better than what we showed out there on the field today.”

 

 

Maybe the Giants are better, but it doesn’t matter after their heartless, 23-10 loss to the already-eliminated Redskins at the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon. It was a “hurtful loss,” said Rolle, who also ripped into some of his teammates for sitting out practices during the week with minor injuries. Justin Tuck added that the loss left him “a little bit embarrassed.”

 

It also left the Giants (7-7) facing the possibility that they could be eliminated from playoff contention on Christmas Eve.

 

The Giants still control their destiny — if they win their final two games they are the NFC East champs — but after the stinker of an effort they gave against Washington (5-9) that hardly seems encouraging. Their offense self-destructed for its worst performance of the season. Eli Manning, who has been red-hot all year, threw three interceptions.

 

And while the Giants did pick off two Rex Grossman passes, they gave up 123 rushing yards and let the Redskins hold the ball for 35 minutes. They felt they came out playing with fire and intensity, but by the time the Redskins took a 10-0 lead on a 20-yard pass from Grossman to Santana Moss early in the second quarter, they could sense it all slipping away.

 

“I’m very disappointed in how we played,” said Tom Coughlin. “I told the players that I just expected to see more. I expected to see quality, quality execution and really, quite frankly, we didn’t get much of that. We didn’t look like the team that played (in Dallas last) Sunday night.”

 

Added Tuck, “I’ve got a big knot in my stomach right now with how we just played.”

 

Corey Webster picked off Grossman on his flea-flicker pass on the first play of the game, but the Giants’ offense couldn’t get started. Manning (23-of-40, 257 yards) opened with a career-worst 0-for-6 start. Hakeem Nicks’ first of three dropped passes would’ve been a 54-yard touchdown (he said he lost the ball in the sun).

 

The Redskins’ 10-0 lead became 17-0 midway through the second quarter when fullback Darrel Young had a virtually uncontested 6-yard touchdown run up the middle. The Giants closed to within 17-3 at the half, but threw their momentum away when Manning was picked off by DeAngelo Hall on his first pass of the third quarter.

 

“We thought we could hit a few big plays,” Manning said. “That’s what it was going to take — a few big plays, some long touchdowns to spark our offense. They were there. We just didn’t capitalize on those.”

 

Even the Giants’ last-ditch effort at another fantastic finish turned into something of a dark comedy. Trailing 23-3, Manning was picked off in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Then the Giants got the ball back and got to the Redskins’ 3 with 91/2 minutes remaining, only to have Nicks drop another touchdown pass, have an apparent D.J. Ware touchdown overturned on replay and a Nicks touchdown catch wiped out by a holding penalty on left tackle David Diehl.

 

Not that it mattered. Even the few fans who remained at the Meadowlands to stare at the carnage knew the Giants didn’t have the energy or intensity to work their fourth-quarter magic.

 

“I don’t feel like we had enough ‘fighting mode’ to come back in this game,” Rolle said.

 

That’s mind-boggling, considering what was at stake for the Giants. Now, instead of being tied for first and having a chance to lock up the NFC East on Saturday afternoon, they will be eliminated if they lose to the Jets and then the Cowboys beat the Eagles on Saturday night. The Giants can still win the division by winning out. There’s even a scenario where they can lose to the Jets and still win the division. They are out of contention in the wild-card race.

 

“Sometimes we go out there and we play like we’re coming to play football (and) sometimes we go out there and just take the field,” Rolle said. “It’s not good enough. Of course we have (heart). It’s been proven that we have it. Honestly, I don’t know why we don’t just go out there and play with it every game.”

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-fall-washington-redskins-home-23-10-loss-ny-jets-christmas-eve-eliminate-blue-playoffs-article-1.993371#ixzz1gyTRYzjo

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants turn in another terrible performance and NY Jets can help end their season Christmas Eve

Big Blue blows it vs. 'Skins, somehow still control playoff fate

 

 

Originally Published: Sunday, December 18 2011, 11:54 PM

Updated: Monday, December 19 2011, 2:15 AM

 

Ron Antonelli/ New York Daily News

 

 

It was another disgraceful performance with so much at stake, which has been standard for Tom Coughlin’s Giants in December these last few years. They followed last week’s exhilarating victory in Dallas by not showing up Sunday against the Redskins, who had won just one game in the last two months.

 

If it’s not humiliating enough losing to Rex Grossman twice in one season, the Giants now face the ultimate indignity: The Jets can destroy what’s left of their season.

 

 

If the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets beat them in the 1 p.m. game Saturday at MetLife Stadium — the Giants are the road team — and the Cowboys beat the Eagles in the 4:15 p.m. game in Arlington, then the Giants are eliminated from the NFC East race. They already have been eliminated from the wild-card race, so this would make it three straight years with no playoffs, which should cost Coughlin his job.

 

Even with that dismal possibility, there is some good news for Big Blue: They still control their own destiny, not that they deserve it.

 

If they beat the Jets and then the Cowboys at home in the final game, they win the NFC East. Last year, the Giants didn’t make it as a wild card at 10-6. Now, after falling to 7-7 following the 23-10 loss to the Redskins, they can win the division at 9-7.

 

This battle of New York has turned into a game of survival after the Jets were crushed by the Eagles in Philadelphia. If the Jets lose to the Giants, it will put them in a precarious spot, but they would still be alive going into the final week.

 

PHOTOS: JETS BLOWN OUT IN PHILLY

 

The bad feelings between the Giants and Jets have intensified since their owners split the bill on the $1.7 billion stadium. The players have been fighting for two years over who really owns the stadium, with Rex Ryan bragging that this is now a Jets town.

 

But each team comes staggering into Saturday’s highly anticipated game.

 

“Our backs are definitely against the wall now,” Justin Tuck said. “There’s going to be a lot of intensity because both teams are playing for a playoff spot and as far as who owns New York. There’s going to be a lot of emotions flying in that game.”

 

The worst nightmare all season for the Giants is that the Jets would be in position to knock them out of the playoffs. It happened in 1988, when Al Toon’s touchdown catch with 37 seconds remaining in the final game beat the Giants and then the Rams’ victory over the 49ers that night knocked the Giants out of the playoffs.

 

“Obviously, I know them well,” Tuck said. “They will come in here and definitely want nothing more than a knockout to end our season. If we clinched a playoff bye, they are going to want to come in and beat us. And vice versa. I don’t know if it really matters that the two teams are playing for playoff spots or this is our season.”

 

The Giants have a lot of problems. How can they play so poorly after such an emotional victory in Dallas? At this time of the year, there are no trap games, no letdowns allowed. But the Giants had no intensity or energy against the Redskins and now they have a controversy.

 

After the game, Antrel Rolle didn’t name names, but implored his teammates who have been skipping practice to get back on the field during the week. “If you’re injured, so be it, you’re injured,” he said. “We understand that. But nicks and bruises, everyone needs to be on the field.”

 

Rolle praised the way Tuck played and said, “I’m not calling anyone out.” But by not saying who he was referring to, it left it open to interpretation. Tuck has missed a lot of practice time lately.

 

“I always tell guys it’s easy to be tough when you are dealing with somebody else’s body,” Tuck said.

 

Rolle speaks his mind. It would be a lot more productive for the Giants if he made a few plays. In 30 games as the starting free safety, he has two interceptions. That hasn’t stopped him from becoming a team spokesman.

 

The Giants had nothing Sunday. That was evident when Eli Manning’s perfect pass to Hakeem Nicks that would have been a 54-yard touchdown on the Giants’ second possession bounced off Nicks’ facemask and then his hands.

 

“I didn’t see it,” Nicks said. “I lost it in the sun. I’ve got to do a better job at looking through the sun and tracking it down.”

 

Fourth quarter has become Manning Time. When the Giants were down 23-3 early in the fourth, they had a first down at the Redskins’ 13. Manning threw a fade route into the left corner of the end zone to Mario Manningham. But with cornerback Josh Wilson running ahead of him, Manningham stopped short. He and Manning didn’t read the play the same way and Wilson had an easy interception. Manning threw his arms up.

 

Manning played his poorest game of the season – three INTs and a season-low 45.5 quarterback rating. The Giants are not good enough to overcome a bad game by him.

 

“I am very disappointed in how we played and the responsibility always comes right back to me and I accept it,” Coughlin said. “I told the players I expected to see more. We didn’t look like the team that played (in Dallas) Sunday night.”

 

And with this Giants team, who knows what they will look like when they play the Jets.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-turn-terrible-december-performance-ny-jets-season-christmas-eve-article-1.993734#ixzz1gyUSmGCt

 

 

 

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[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants, Eli Manning can beat Dallas Cowboys again by following Daily News seven-point game plan

For Giants to win NFC East, follow these 7 keys to victory

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Tuesday, December 27 2011, 10:47 PM

 

It took a miracle for the Giants to beat the Cowboys three weeks ago. It took Eli Manning’s wildest fourth-quarter comeback of the season. It took the outstretched hand of Jason Pierre-Paul to block what could’ve been a game-tying field goal.

 

Not that it was much different from the rest of the Giants’ season, in which 10 of their games have come down to the final two minutes (and it nearly became 11 against the Jets). Their pattern all season has been to rope-a-dope their opponents until Manning provides a final flurry and hopefully knock them out.

 

As the Giants (8-7) prepare for a showdown with the Cowboys (8-7) on Sunday night with the NFC East title and a playoff berth at stake, the wait-for-a-Manning-miracle plan may not be the best strategy.

 

It’s easy to remember what nearly went so wrong for the Giants in Dallas on Dec. 11, when they had to furiously rally for a 37-34 win that kept their season alive. They had 510 yards of offense, but nearly 40% of it (196 yards) came in the final 13 minutes. They were also forced to move 138 yards in less than four minutes after the Cowboys took a 12-point lead with 5:41 to play.

 

As a result, the Giants got a great example of what to do and what not to do on Sunday night in the most important game this rivalry has seen since the 2007 division playoffs. The keys to a Giants victory should be fresh in their mind, and abundantly clear:

 

1. Will the real Eli Manning and Hakeem Nicks please stand up?

It’s been lost in other issues the last two weeks, but Manning has suddenly hit the slump that so many of his critics expected him to have. He was playing like an MVP, and his 400-yard game in Dallas was his second in three weeks. The last two weeks he completed just 47.8% of his passes (32 of 67) for 482 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions. That’s a passer rating of just 51.9.

 

Maybe more of a mystery is what has happened to Nicks, who had eight catches for 163 yards against the Cowboys, but has caught just six passes for 73 yards the last two games and has had almost as many drops, including two against Washington, that would’ve been touchdowns. Even Tom Coughlin said that “with him, drops are really shocking. He has incredible hands and big hands. He just snatches the ball out of the air.”

 

Whatever their issues, Manning and Nicks came up big against the Cowboys, and history says this game will likely be a shootout. If Manning is off his game, Tony Romo (who had 321 yards and four touchdowns against the Giants three weeks ago) has the arm and the weapons to beat him. If Nicks keeps dropping passes, Manning’s job might be impossible.

2. The third option is the charm

 

With Nicks relegated to being a non-factor against the Jets ( one catch, 20 yards), the Giants were bailed out by Victor Cruz’s 99-yard touchdown, which was really a 12-yard pass that featured three missed tackles. That boosted Cruz to a three-catch, 164-yard day.

 

It also exposed something the Cowboys could take advantage of — the Giants have a 1-2 punch, but they didn’t have a third option. With Mario Manningham (knee) and tight end Jake Ballard (knee) out, nobody else stepped up. Receivers Ramses Barden and Devin Thomas had one catch each, but they weren’t consistently open and no tight end got involved. The options were so limited that Manning once threw to rookie Jerrel Jernigan, who doesn’t have an NFL catch — and Darrelle Revis was covering him at the time.

 

Maybe Manningham or Ballard will be back this week, and that will help. If not, somebody needs to provide a consistent third target, otherwise the Cowboys can take Nicks out of the game and the Giants’ passing attack could struggle worse than it did against the Jets.

 

3. Never lose sight of DeMarcus Ware

 

With all due respect to Jason Pierre-Paul, DeMarcus Ware wins the title of “Most dangerous defensive player on the field” in this game, based on his lengthy resume and 18 sacks, including three in the last two games.

 

He was a non-factor in Week 14 against the Giants, possibly due to a neck injury. He’s also had only eight sacks in seven career games against Giants LT David Diehl, dating back to 2007 (that includes a three-sack game in 2008). But like Pierre-Paul, he can be a one-man wrecking crew if he gets loose. Diehl needs to contain him, and so does RT Kareem McKenzie when Ware flips sides.

 

The Giants’ biggest key to this game will be giving Manning time to throw, and Ware, who ranks second in the NFL in sacks (a half-sack behind Minnesota’s Jared Allen) is the man who can knock the Giants quarterback off his game.

4. Put the “cover” back in “coverage”

 

The lingering image from the Giants’ 37-34 win was of S Antrel Rolle being “barbecued” (as NBC’s Cris Collinsworth so eloquently put it) on a 50-yard touchdown catch by Dez Bryant. Actually, the more telling image was of Rolle, Corey Webster and Deon Grant talking after the play trying to figure out what went wrong.

 

Sadly, that’s an image we’ve seen much of this season. They fixed that problem against the Jets, but a lot of that had to do with the Giants’ revived pass rush and Mark Sanchez’s inability to exploit the secondary. It won’t be as easy against the Cowboys, who not only have a top quarterback, but a speedy WR trio in Bryant, Laurent Robinson and Miles Austin, plus tight end Jason Witten.

 

The Giants need to simplify their coverage schemes and make sure they play them right. It’s not just about switching from zone to man-to-man, it’s about knowing their assignments and making correct reads. If they don’t, or can’t, the Cowboys are going to do a lot of barbecuing at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night.

 

5. Is anyone down with JPP?

 

Justin Tuck played on the same level as Jason Pierre-Paul against the Jets, and that was nice to see considering how badly he has struggled all season. Three weeks ago, however, against the Cowboys, nobody was there to help Pierre-Paul, who gave what even some of his teammates agreed was a Lawrence Taylor-like performance.

 

His eight tackles, two sacks, two tackles for losses, one forced fumble and one blocked game-tying field goal were huge. The problem is, the Giants can’t count on that all the time — even from him. There should be no doubt that the Cowboys will give him a lot of extra attention the second time around, which means someone else will need to step up and keep the heat on Romo.

 

Tuck is the obvious candidate, especially with DE Osi Umenyiora (ankle) likely out. Tuck played the game of his season against the Jets. He needs to top that against the team he most loves to “hate”.

 

6. Felix the cat can’t have nine lives

 

The Giants struggled trying to stop the Cowboys rushing attack right from the start, giving up 25 yards on five carries to DeMarco Murray before he hurt his ankle in the first quarter. When he left, Felix Jones came in, ran up the middle for 26 yards and seemed to just keep on running for the rest of the first half.

 

Jones had 16 carries for 106 yards, which looks great until you see that eight of those carries for 81 yards came in the first half. In the second, he had eight carries for 25 yards. As a result, the Cowboys had little chance to slow down the clock or sit on their lead.

Romo hasn’t thrown an interception in December. In fact, he hasn’t thrown an interception in seven of his last eight games. The best way to put him in position to throw one is to make his offense one-dimensional by taking Jones out of the equation.

 

7. Home can’t be where the heartless are

 

The Giants have lost three straight at home and are 3-4 there overall, but their performance in front of their home fans goes far beyond the numbers. They looked pathetic in losing to the Redskins two weeks ago, which was matched only by how pathetic they looked in losses to the Eagles (Nov. 20) and Seahawks (Oct. 9).

 

“I don’t see no way possible that we don’t show up for this game,” Cruz said. “You’ve got to understand how far we’ve come, having a four-game skid and still having a chance to win the division. It’s just an amazing opportunity.”

 

Nice words, but they’ve said them before. With the exception of their narrow loss to the then-undefeated Packers, the Giants haven’t had a strong, emotional performance at home all year. The fans deserve to see one. The players need to have one.

 

Otherwise their season will be over.

 

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[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants can make year, playoffs with victory Sunday against Dallas Cowboys

 

Rivalry intensifies Sunday when Giants play biggest game since Super Bowl XLII

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, December 31 2011, 7:53 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the Giants walk from the players’ parking lot and pass the paintings on the wall of the three Super Bowl trophies right outside their locker room, the passion will start to build. By the time they see the famed blue metallic star on the Cowboys helmet for the first time Sunday night, the intensity will be off the charts.

What more could you ask for in the final game of the season? The Giants vs. the Cowboys in a winner-take-all for the NFC East championship. Eli Manning vs. Tony Romo. Tom Coughlin vs. Jerry Jones, oops, Jason Garrett. The Giants’ three Super Bowl trophies vs. the Cowboys’ five Lombardis. New York strip steak and pizza vs. chicken fried steak and nachos.

This is the Giants’ biggest game since Super Bowl XLII.

“This is a playoff game for us. Hopefully we get another playoff game after this one,” Justin Tuck said. “I’m excited about it. I know this entire team is. Considering the adversity we have had to climb out of this year, I think we are poised to make a run.”

The winner earns a home playoff game next weekend against either the Lions or Falcons. The loser goes home. If that’s the Giants, then Coughlin’s future becomes an issue.

It hardly matters now that the Giants and Cowboys have struggled to get to 8-7 and that this will be the first NFC East champion not to win at least 10 games.

All that matters is it’s Big Blue vs. the ’Boys with enough history and venom — Tuck just hates the ’Boys and says so every time they play — to make this a classic game.

“It’s going to be rocking in the locker room and on the field,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said. “Exciting, electric and the epitome of the NFL. We still have all of our goals right ahead of us. We can do it. Everybody feels the same way. Our goal is very much within our grasp and all we got to do is go take it.”

The Giants have often appeared complacent at home this season as they’ve lost four of their seven games at MetLife Stadium, but they desperately need to make the $1.7 billion building a nightmare for Dallas. The Cowboys opened the season at MetLife losing to the Jets by blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Now the Giants want to make sure the Cowboys season ends here, too.

I like the Giants 31-27 in a game that will go down to the final minutes.

It’s a matter of trust and Manning has it over Romo in a big game. He beat him in the 2007 playoffs at Texas Stadium when Dallas was the No. 1 seed and he beat him at Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 11 by leading the Giants to two touchdowns in the final 3:14 to overcome a 12-point deficit.

It’s going to be another slugfest Sunday night. In the game three weeks ago, the Giants and Cowboys combined for 954 yards of offense, Manning threw for 400 yards and two TDs, Romo had 321 yards and four TDs and there were enough points to just about short out Jones’ gorgeous video boards. Jason Pierre-Paul was unblockable: He sacked Romo for a safety, forced a fumble and blocked the potential game-tying field goal with one second left.

 

Romo bruised his throwing hand last Saturday on the helmet of Eagles defensive end Jason Babin, and it swelled up like a grapefruit. He practiced during the week, but until he drops back with Pierre-Paul in his face and tries to muscle a ball into Jason Witten, his accuracy and ability to grip and control the ball will be the game’s biggest unknown.

Tuck didn’t spend the week monitoring Romo’s status. “I don’t really care,” he said. “They could bring back everybody on that Ring of Honor for them. You got to play them. In games like this, pain doesn’t hurt as much. I never played quarterback, so I don’t know where it will effect him.”

It’s nearly four years since the Giants had the greatest victory in their long history when they beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. The confetti coming down, hugs all around, Manning raising the trophy to the sky.

But since that night in the desert in Arizona, it’s been all heartache and aggravation. The Giants haven’t won a playoff game since the Super Bowl. They missed the playoffs the last two years and did it with disturbing late-season collapses.

But the Giants have the chance Sunday night to create a nice bridge from 2007 right to 2011, slipping over the years in between. But if they lose, it will mean they went 6-2 in the first half and 2-6 in the second half and collapsed once again.

The Giants and Cowboys were 11-4 and playing for the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed when they met in the final game of the season at Giants Stadium in 1993. Dallas won in overtime and went on to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

This year, the Giants and Cowboys are not good enough to win the Super Bowl. One of them will be good enough to win the NFC East.

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailyne...1#ixzz1iDAeBo9U

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants mantra: No time for losers Sunday night against NFC East foe Dallas Cowboys

 

Big Blue back themselves into a must-win situation vs. 'Boys

 

BY Ralph Vacchiano

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, December 31 2011, 7:36 PM

 

 

 

 

 

Ronald Martinez/Getty

Giants' Brandon Jacobs lives and dies for Sunday's opportunity to leap over the Cowboys en route to the NFL playoffs.

 

 

This always seemed inevitable, right from the moment the NFL released the schedule in April. When they put the Giants and the Cowboys together on the final day of the regular season, somehow, some way, it was destined to come down to this.

“I had a feeling that’s what they were preparing for,” said Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka. “To be able to play at home, last game of the regular season against a divisional opponent and have everything on the line and it’s not just that one team could possibly knock off the other. It’s us or them.

“That’s one of the biggest stages for the regular season that you can have. This is the big one.”

Indeed it is. The final regular-season game of the 2011 season is the biggest regular-season game in franchise history. When the Giants take on the Cowboys Sunday night, it will be a playoff-like atmosphere. The winner takes the NFC East title and a home playoff game in the first round.

The loser gets a long winter possibly one filled with radical changes to ponder what went wrong.

“You just have to win,” Tom Coughlin said. “There’s no margin for error in something like this.”

“This is what you live and die for if you’re a football player,” savbraid running back Brandon Jacobs, “to be in a situation like this.”

The fact that the Giants are in this situation is remarkable. Their impressive 6-2 start evaporated into a near disaster with just two wins in their next seven games. That included a four-game losing streak that started their second-half collapse. The Giants then had to bail themselves out on Dec. 11 in Dallas, when they mounted a furious rally to beat the Cowboys, 37-34.

That win saved their season. Then two weeks later they had to save it again, with a 29-14 triumph against the Jets on Christmas Eve. Had the Giants lost that game they could have already been eliminated from contention.

Instead they are staring at another opportunity, desperate not to it throw away.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” said safety Antrel Rolle. “I think we definitely could’ve made things a little easier on ourselves. But everyone says the Giants fight hard when their backs are against the wall. You can’t get any more back there than we are right now.

“May the best man win. Lose, go home. No one remembers second place.”

 

Actually, the loser could slip all the way to third place behind the once-lauded “Dream Team” if the Eagles beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon. But the point is still the same. The loser will fade into an offseason of despair the jobs of both Coughlin and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, in fact, could be in jeopardy if they lose while the winner will have a chance to put together an unlikely Super Bowl run.

It’s been a long time since the Giants had that chance a fact which could weigh heavily on Giants’ ownership if they’re forced to decide Coughlin’s fate after a loss. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2008 when they lost their postseason opener at home despite being the NFC’s top seed.

The drought “seems like a lot longer than it actually has been,” said defensive end Justin Tuck. It’s felt like ages to a franchise whose last playoff win came in Super Bowl XLII. After winning two of their last three games, though, and getting a boost from the return of a few injured players most notably defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who should see at least limited action on Sunday night they don’t feel like a team clinging to an unlikely playoff berth.

They feel like a team that has earned the right to be in control of their fate.

“The last couple of weeks some things are starting to turn our way,” Tuck said. “We’re getting a little bit healthier, we’re focusing better, and it just seems like we’re playing as one. At this time of the year those are some key attributes.

“Considering the adversity we have had to climb out of this year, I think we’re poised to make a run.”

For the Giants to do that, they’ll have to reverse a defensive performance that cornerback Aaron Ross admitted was “really embarrassing” in their last meeting with the Cowboys. They allowed Dallas quarterback Tony Romo to throw for 321 yards and four touchdowns something that might be a little more difficult on Sunday night with his injured right hand. They were much better in the win over the Jets, though, boosting their confidence to the point that Kiwanuka said “If we play a complete game from beginning to end, we’ll pitch a shutout.”

It’s a lofty goal against the NFL’s ninth-ranked offense and a quarterback who hasn’t thrown an interception in seven of his last eight games.

“We’re extremely confident,” Rolle said. “I think we’ve proven ourselves last week what kind of defense we can be if we put our minds together.”

To win the East, they’ll need to put together more than just their minds. A game like this goes beyond strategy and toughness and physical skills.

“You have to play this game with extreme emotion, extreme passion,” said defensive tackle Chris Canty. “The Xs and Os are important, but you’ve got to play from the heart. This time of year you’ve got to play from the heart.”

The Cowboys and Giants usually do when they get together. And that’s probably exactly what the schedule-makers had in mind.

 

 

 

 

GIANTS VS. COWBOYS,

at METLIFE STADIUM, 8:20 p.m.

 

 

 

VITALS

 

LINE: GIANTS by 3

TV: Ch. 4 (Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth).

RADIO: WFAN-660 AM (Bob Papa, Carl Banks), Nationwide on Sports USA (Dave Sims, James Lofton).

FORECAST: Low 40s with 7-10 mph winds and a chance of rain.

KEY MATCHUP

 

WR Laurent Robinson vs. CB Prince Amukamara and the Giants' zone coverage: Amukamara was targeted every time he took the field in the first meeting, and while the Giants have supposedly simplified the communications process that led to many of the breakdowns, the rookie is going to have to play better. Robinson has turned into one of the best No. 3 receivers in the league. He runs great routes and Tony Romo probably trusts him more than Dez Bryant or Miles Austin, who has a favorable matchup of his own against Aaron Ross.

INJURY IMPACT

 

QB Tony Romo will play with a bruised hand that swelled to grapefruit size after Saturday's game and that he's nursed through the week of practice. Can it stand pounding? Derrick Dockery will start at LG for Montrae Holland, who was placed on IR this week. LB Sean Lee has been ill. RB Felix Jones (hamstring) says he'll play. Giants receivers Hakeem Nicks (hamstring) and Mario Manningham (knee) are on track to play, but TE Jake Ballard (knee) has been ruled out. Sorely missed DE Osi Umenyiora (ankle) is trying hard to get on the field.

SCOUT SAYS

 

"The Giants rolled their safeties up against the Jets, who don't threaten you downfield. With Romo's hand injury, they could be tempted to do it again, making it easier to shut off the run. That's a dangerous game, however, given the speed the Cowboys have at the receiver spots and their ability to get behind the defense. I'd expect Eli (Manning) to get back to his comfort level, as long as his receivers stop dropping passes. He's going to have the entire field to attack. Rob Ryan has to do a better job of freeing up his blitzers and taking the Giants' attention away from DeMarcus Ware. I think the Cowboys are going to have to manufacture a turnover or two to win this one."

INTANGIBLES

 

The Cowboys (who have lost six straight on Sunday nights) have had such a history of coming up short in big spots (remember the loss at Philly) that even their fans are expecting them to fold. While the Giants have been battling through a tough stretch and came up big in must-win games against the Cowboys and Jets, Dallas should have had this thing wrapped up by now. Almost everyone has been giving the Giants the edge in mental toughness. There is a flip side to all of this. The Giants haven't played well in front of their home fans and their recent history in big games since the Super Bowl hasn't been all that good.

PREDICTION

 

GIANTS 34-30: They win the honor of losing in the first round.- Hank Gola

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailyne...4#ixzz1iDBx5rFi

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants Justin Tuck calls offensive line of NFC wild card playoff opponent Atlanta Falcons ‘dirtbags’

 

Giants defensive end not exactly pleased with play of Falcons OL

 

BY Ralph Vacchiano

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, January 2 2012, 7:41 PM

 

 

 

 

 

Corey Sipkin/New York Daily NewsNew York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck (91) New York Giants media availability at the Timex Center.

 

 

 

 

 

Justin Tuck may not hate the Atlanta Falcons the way he hates the Dallas Cowboys, but he already has a strong dislike for their offensive line.

 

Tuck fired the first shot of wild-card week on Monday when he called the Falcons’ linemen “dirtbags” and acknowledged their well-earned reputation for dirty play. Twice this season opponents have ripped into the Atlanta line for “cheap” and dangerous tactics.

 

And Tuck said the Giants’ defensive linemen will be watching out for that during their playoff game at the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon.

 

PHOTOS: RELIVE THE GIANTS NFC EAST TITLE WIN OVER THE COWBOYS

 

“Yeah we’ve seen it. We know they have that quote-unquote ‘reputation,’" Tuck told reporters, one day after the Giants clinched the NFC East championship with a 31-14 win over the Cowboys. “Most people, you would call them dirtbags.

 

“But it is what it is. We’ve got to make sure we do our job and if we are doing our job well. Then they will be upset and they will be trying to do things to get us off our game, and we’ve got to take that as a compliment.”

 

Not many others have taken the Falcons’ allegedly unnecessary cut-blocking tactics and after-the-whistle cheap shots as a compliment this season. Green Bay Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji was furious with them after the Packers beat the Falcons 25-14 in Atlanta on Oct. 9. He reportedly told a Green Bay TV station that the Falcons do that because “that’s how they’re coached” and because of “lack of ability.

 

“They just want to get you fired up and get you to retaliate and draw a cheap penalty,” he said. “But it’s tough to ignore it, but you have a chance to get them back and have to take advantage of it.”

 

Two weeks later, after the Detroit Lions lost to the Falcons 23-16, several Lions defenders accused the Falcons’ line of the same thing.

 

“You watch film of Atlanta’s O-line and they’re 20, 30 yards down the field cutting guys,” said Lions defensive end Cliff Avril. “You’re running toward the pile and they’re trying to clean you up.”

 

Added Lions bad-boy tackle Ndamukong Suh, after he and Avril taunted Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan after he injured his ankle: “To me it’s karma, for all the bad stuff they’ve done in the past.”

 

If the Falcons really are as dirty as everyone seems to think, that could be a problem for the Giants’ banged-up defensive line. Tuck is already dealing with numerous injuries — from a strained groin, to neck issues, to a banged-up toe. Osi Umenyiora’s sprained ankle is also a bit of an issue, since Tuck said on WFAN on Monday that his teammate “had a little setback” on Sunday, his first game in more than a month.

 

“In the same sense you’ve got to protect yourself,” Tuck said. “Hopefully the referees have 20-20 vision this week.”

 

The Falcons’ offensive linemen aren’t the first to get the “dirtbag” label from Tuck. He famously hurled that at then-Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams in 2009, whom he also called a “coward” for shoving him from behind during a 31-24 Giants win. Tuck and Adams already had history. Earlier that year Adams tripped Tuck, who fell and tore the labrum in his shoulder and wasn’t fully healthy the rest of that year.

 

Tuck has no history with the Falcons’ line. The Giants and Falcons have only faced each other three times in Tuck’s seven-year career. The Giants have 15 sacks in those three games, though seven came in one game in 2006.

 

As for the rest of the Falcons, Tuck seemed to respect them, though he did say later on WFAN that “they’re a balanced attack where they do a lot of things pretty good, (but) I wouldn’t say they’re great at anything.”

 

He clearly won’t say anything “great” about their “dirtbag” line.

 

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-justin-tuck-calls-offensive-line-nfc-wild-card-playoff-opponent-atlanta-falcons-dirtbags-article-1.1000036

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants will rely on Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, to get running game going against Atlanta Falcons

 

Plan on using ground game to burn Atlanta

Comments

By Ebenezer Samuel / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Thursday, January 5 2012, 11:35 PM

 

 

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

 

 

 

Ahmad Bradshaw will try to spark the Giants running game Sunday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Giants finished dead last in the NFL in rushing yards, averaging just 89.2 per game, their worst performance in 12 years. They averaged an unsightly 3.5 yards per carry. And not once this season did they top 125 yards on the ground.

Brandon Jacobs knows these stats well, yet the numbers have hardly shaken his confidence. No, he said Thursday, the Giants’ once-vaunted rushing attack has not been “up to par the whole season.” But in Sunday’s NFC wild-card game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Giants can forget all those struggles.

 

The playoffs are “another season,” Jacobs said, and the ground game will get one final chance to awaken.

 

“I don’t see why we can’t run the ball in the postseason,” Jacobs said.

 

Jacobs and fellow tailback Ahmad Bradshaw believe that the Giants rediscovered their ground attack in December, just in time to take pressure off the Eli Manning-led passing game. At times this season, it seemed as if Manning was practically willing the Giants (9-7) to their improbable NFC East title, in spite of a ground game that offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said was “poor” at the start of the season.

 

But a motivated Jacobs keyed a resurgent unit that averaged 104.4 rushing yards in December. While temperatures cooled and Manning endured a few late-season hiccups – he threw six interceptions in December – Jacobs seemed revitalized, rushing for 251 yards in the season’s final five games.

 

“We need to run like that now,” Bradshaw said. “You know, it gets to this point in the year when it gets cold, the run game is important. People don’t even like to tackle.

 

“It’s really important now, man,” he added. “We need that to win. The running game is what we depend on, and it’s what we strive every week to get better at.”

 

Gilbride agrees. No, these Giants won’t revert to the days of blue-collar, ground-dominated attacks; this is truly Manning’s team. But the coordinator needs his tailbacks to give the offense balance.

 

“If we are averaging about four yards per carry, that keeps us in a down and distance that makes it much easier to call plays,” Gilbride said. “It makes them much more balanced on offense, because you can run or pass. It is very helpful when you can do that. . . . We are not satisfied, but we feel like we are progressing.”

 

Indeed, the Giants topped 100 yards in just four of their first 11 games, but they’ve surpassed that figure in four of their last five outings. Jacobs said he now senses that the offensive line has jelled and that “we just needed time to figure that out.”

 

And Gilbride points to the Dec. 4 loss to the Green Bay Packers as the turning point. Before that game, he said, the Giants committed to “run the ball a little more effectively” and “see if that would help us control their pass rushers.”

 

“We had some success,” Gilbride said. “It carried over to (the Dec. 11 win in) Dallas, and it has been something that we have been building ever since.”

 

It’s something the Giants hope will continue into the playoffs.

 

“We hung in there and we were able to just make it better,” Jacobs said. “Now, it’s when it can help us a lot.”

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailyne...3#ixzz1iffPP0tH

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning can erase doubts by outplaying Aaron Rodgers and beating Green Bay Packers in playoffs

 

Manning quietly becomes one of NFL's best

 

 

 

Updated: Tuesday, January 10 2012, 2:34 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Sabo/ New York Daily News

 

 

 

Giants QB Eli Manning doesn't say much to incite opposing defenses, but he chucks TDs against them (below).

 

 

 

 

Robert Sabo/ New York Daily News

 

 

You ask Eli Manning if he ever guaranteed a victory in his life, and he looks at you as if he’s being asked to run a quarterback draw against the Ravens, up 20 points with a minute left.

“No, I don’t think so,” Manning said Monday. Next question.

Unlike several of his teammates – Jason Pierre-Paul being the latest – Manning is one of the Giants who hasn’t opened his mouth wide lately and sounded a lot like a Jet. But it wasn’t that long ago, the start of this meandering season, when Manning went on the radio to announce that he did, in fact, consider himself right up there with Tom Brady as an elite quarterback. The reverberations from that bit of self-assurance are yet to subside.

Manning isn’t facing Brady on Sunday in Green Bay. Instead, he goes against somebody whose numbers are even gaudier, a quarterback whose commercial endorsements and Hall of Fame credentials are quickly gaining momentum.

Aaron Rodgers threw for 4,643 yards this season, completing 68.3% of his passes for 45 touchdowns and an average of 9.2 yards. He was intercepted just six times, and practically lapped his peers with a 122.5 quarterback rating. The defending champion Packers, not coincidentally, lost only one game.

Those are jaw-dropping, historically significant stats from Rodgers. There is no arguing the Green Bay star had a superb year, better than Manning’s. And though he enjoyed an embarrassment of riches at the receiver positions, a cornucopia of targets, Rodgers had no real running game to keep defenses honest.

Kudos all around. Anybody would pick Rodgers, 28, over Eli Manning, 31, if there were a draft right now. And yet, if Manning outplays Rodgers at Lambeau Field this Sunday, if the Giants pull off this upset, then none of that matters and Manning becomes the most valuable quarterback in the NFC, right up there with Brady in the other conference.

It is impossible to imagine the Giants without Manning right now, even harder than it is to envision a Rodgers-less Pack. Manning has invented so many plays this season, many under substantial duress, several of them late-game winners. He was at it again on Sunday, throwing for three touchdowns against the Falcons after scrambling for a huge 13-yard gain and a first down earlier to kick-start the offense.

Manning wouldn’t let the game unravel, the same way he held together the Giant season whenever it threatened to tear apart.

“We never lost faith we’re gonna make the playoffs,” Manning said. “Eventually, we turned things around.”

Manning insists good health was as important to the Giants as his own good flings.

“Getting some guys back healthy, having our weapons back,” he said. “We got the running game going. We’re not trying to force it to a couple of guys. We know we can make some big plays.”

He heads to Green Bay next, where temperatures will be cold and the greeting colder. Manning will tell you it’s not about him versus Rodgers, but there is little doubt he relishes this duel, this whole setting.

“You like playing against good teams,” Manning said. “You’re playing a team that had a great season. It’s Lambeau, it’s a great environment. It’s gonna be in the 20s – that’ll be hot, 40 degrees warmer than last time (in 2008).”

There is still a lingering opinion, particularly outside of New York, that Manning somehow lucked into that Super Bowl ring in 2008 and all the late drives ever since.

If you Google “overrated quarterback Eli Manning,” you get 1.55 million results. Over the years, he consistently draws votes on that subject from fellow NFL players in magazine surveys.

 

This is his chance, another chance if he really needed it, for Manning to show a large national audience he is as good as his New York press clips, that he is even more valuable than Rodgers. Manning can beat the Packers. He just needs considerable help.

“We played a good game, played ’em tough,” Manning said about the 38-35 loss at MetLife Stadium. “We got a great shot.”

Not quite a guarantee. Not quite trash talk.

Just a modest opinion, from the elite Giant quarterback.

Read more: http://www.nydailyne...5#ixzz1j36iYNRt

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning is not only in Tom Brady's 'elite' class, he is a superior player this season

 

Head to head, it's NY Giant QB who comes up big against Patriots great

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Monday, January 23 2012, 11:24 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julie Jacobson/AP

 

 

 

Even under pressure, Eli Manning stands in the pocket and delivers the Giants to a Super Bowl berth.

 

 

 

 

 

David J. Phillip/AP

 

 

 

Manning (r.) holds the George Halas trophy in front of Giants chair Steve Tisch.

 

This is no longer about who’s an elite quarterback, who’s not, we have talked that one to death all season. This is about more than that, something more important: Who the best quarterback is right now.

 

For my money it is Eli Manning.

 

He is the quiet younger brother to Peyton Manning, who all of a sudden has turned himself into a rock star. Or maybe rocked star, just because of the way he kept getting rocked in Candlestick Park Sunday night, getting knocked down, getting back up, helping win his team another big game.

Eli Manning is playing better than anybody going into this Super Bowl, and that includes the guy he goes up against in Indy, old friend Tom Brady. Eli did not have his best stats on Sunday against the 49ers, and was on the ground a lot, and did not own the fourth quarter and overtime the way he has a lot this season.

 

He still came away with two touchdown passes, more than 300 passing yards, so many third-down conversions you lost count, this guy who sometimes makes third-and-long look so easy.

 

And even though he came close to turning the ball over to the 49ers, he did not. Did not throw the kinds of interceptions that Brady threw in Foxboro against Baltimore, including one in the end zone when the Patriots had a chance to put the Ravens away.

 

It was supposed to be this huge upset when Manning was the better quarterback in the end, eventually the MVP of the game, the last time the two teams met in the Super Bowl. Not anymore. Maybe the surprise this time will be if Eli doesn’t win the fourth quarter the way he did in Glendale, Ariz., four years ago, the way he won the fourth quarter from the Patriots, in Foxboro, earlier this season.

 

Brady has three Super Bowls to Eli’s one, Brady has had one of the great careers, feels like a whole wing of the Hall of Fame already. And had the bigger numbers this season. But Eli has thrown 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes, a record for pro football and for all time. Eli has now gone on the road and beaten the two best records in his conference, same as he did four years ago before he beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

 

Peyton’s little brother as rock star. Or rocked star. Take your pick. Put him on the ground, he gets back up. Bounce him out of the pocket, he gets loose and completes another pass, sometimes one of his back-foot specials like he threw down the sideline to Ahmad Bradshaw at Candlestick Sunday night.

 

Nobody better than him right now, not Brady or anybody else. Patriots fans I know are already talking about how lucky the Giants were to win Sunday, because of the misadventures of poor Kyle Williams returning punts. But, what, the Patriots weren’t lucky with a snipe-hook field goal and the dropped touchdown pass that would have put the Ravens in Indy?

 

The Giants finally won in San Francisco because they had the better defense even on a day when the 49ers defense gave Eli Manning all he wanted. But they also had the better quarterback, by a ton. Quarterback who gets up and keeps coming and never misses a game no matter how hard you hit him.

 

And when you ask him, the way you ask them all, how this has happened for the Giants, Eli says:

 

“I kept believing in our team, that we hadn’t played our best football yet.”

 

“Look at what this guy does,” Tom Coughlin says after it is 20-17 for the Giants on Sunday night. “Look at how many times he got back up the way he did tonight after getting hit the way they were hitting him.”

 

In so many ways, Eli has become the star of everything and the face of everything for the Giants the way Derek Jeter was for the Yankees when he was younger. He is not just the Giants’ star, he is clearly their leader, and that starts with the way the other players take their lead from him.

 

Say it again: The coach calls Eli a grinder. But it is a team of grinders now.

 

We talk all the time about Peyton and Eli, Eli and Peyton. But maybe that is not the comparison to make. Maybe the better comparison to make is the one between Eli and his father, Archie, one of the toughest quarterbacks who ever lived, one who had as much heart as any quarterback who ever played.

 

Archie never played on teams as good as the ones his sons have played on. Was stuck on bad, dead-end teams in New Orleans before he went to the Vikings way too late in his career. It is such a huge reason why Eli’s dad was afraid Eli might get stuck on that kind of team in San Diego and wanted him traded to the Giants.

 

But no matter how much Archie Manning got hit and got put on his back, he got up and kept coming. You look at some of the hits Eli took Sunday, the way he got away one time with his helmet sideways and shoulder pads showing and somehow got the ball over to Bradshaw in the flat.

 

Now he goes back to another Super Bowl, becomes the first Giants quarterback to ever start two Super Bowls. Eli against Brady again in the big game. Nobody asking him about being in Brady’s class anymore because we can see it now.

 

Four years later, going into what feels like the biggest Super Bowl of them all, the Giants wouldn’t trade their quarterback for anybody, including the one they face in Indy.

[jerseygiantfan]

Most Giants fans denied Super Bowl tix

 

 

Share This Story

 

 

 

 

Updated Jan 23, 2012 9:48 PM ET

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)

 

Less than an hour after advancing to the Super Bowl, the New York Giants started delivering the bad news to many of their non-club season ticket holders.

 

 

 

 

The Giants and Patriots will kick off Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. Want more info?

While the Giants were going to Indianapolis to face the New England Patriots on Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, most of the non-club season tickets holders weren't.

The Giants sent out emails roughly 50 minutes after their 20-17 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers announcing the results of a random computer selection that was based on seniority. Most emails included the word ''unfortunately.''

''Talk about a downer,'' season ticket holder Bob Gray of West Caldwell said of getting the email while he was still celebrating. ''At least they could have waited until the next day.'

Nazo Haroutunian of Hillside in Bergen County was one of the fortunate lottery winners, even though he has been a season ticket holder for only two years.

The 38-year-old was still awake around 11:30 p.m,, waiting for his game-induced palpitations to subside and explaining to his wife how the Super Bowl ticket lottery worked.

''No sooner than I finished telling her, by some act of God, I got three emails from the Giants,'' he said.

The first was a congratulatory note on making the Super Bowl, the second involved buying team merchandise and the third was word that he could buy Super Bowl tickets, at $900 a pop.

 

 

 

''The palpitations started again,'' Haroutunian said, adding that he immediately went online and started looking for airfares and hotel rooms.

When asked if he was going, he replied, ''The short answer is yes! I got very, very lucky.''

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the stadium in Indianapolis has a seating capacity of 68,000, with 12,500 tickets coming off the top for various other needs. The Giants get a 17 1/2 percent share of the remaining 55,500,or roughly 9,700.

Giants players, coaches and officials get a share of that total. Team spokesman Pat Hanlon did not immediately know how many were set aside for fans.

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants' path to Super Bowl glory always starts and ends with defense

 

From Banks to Tuck, Big Blue's 'D' is a Super tradition

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Thursday, January 26, 2012, 12:41 AM

 

 

Doug Pensigner/Getty

 

 

 

For the NY Giants, Jason Pierre-Paul and the Big Blue defense will be the difference in Super Bowl XLVI.

 

 

 

 

 

It was right before the Giants-Packers game in Green Bay when Carl Banks, who helped win Super Bowls once for the Giants on defense, called his old coach and asked him if defense still wins championships in the NFL, because you sure couldn’t tell from the regular season. Bill Parcells laughed and told him, “Jam their tight end today and find out.”

The Giants did a bit more than that at Lambeau. Now it was a week later, at Candlestick Park, and Banks, who does such a terrific job on the Giants radio broadcasts with Bob Papa, was sitting outside the Giants locker room, smiling, because this Giants team, on this night of oldtime football, had answered his question.

“It turns out defense does still win championships in this league,” Carl Banks said.

It won the NFC Championship for the Giants Sunday night, nearly did the same for the 49ers. And as much as we still talk about what Eli Manning did the last time the Giants won it all, as much as Eli earned his Super Bowl MVP, you know the biggest reason the Giants won that game, and why the Patriots didn’t end up 19-0 that year:

It was Michael Strahan, and Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora. And Jay Alford had big hits that night in Glendale, Ariz. The Giants won the game because they won the fight against Tom Brady and what had been one of the great offenses in NFL history.

“They hit Brady hard from the first series,” Ernie Accorsi said last week, “and when that happens, you’re looking around the rest of the game.”

Tuck, who had the game of his life in Glendale, is still here, so is Osi. Mathias Kiwanuka, who missed that Super Bowl with an injury, is healthy now. Chris Canty is the player the Giants thought they were getting. Jason Pierre-Paul? He has become an ascendant star of his sport.

Now the guys up front try to do it to Brady again in Indianapolis. Believe they can do it to Brady again, have believed since the start of the playoffs they are playing defense better than anybody. And kept proving it Sunday when their season was on the line in the fourth quarter and overtime, when the whole thing already felt like sudden death at Candlestick Park.

It really started when the 49ers, trailing 17-14, had a second-and-goal on the Giants’ 10-yard line, around six minutes left in the game. If the 49ers had gotten a touchdown there, maybe they are the ones going to Indy. But they didn’t. And didn’t come close to scoring a touchdown the rest of the day.

The 49ers ran 14 plays starting with that second down, not counting punts and the field goal David Akers was about to kick. And the only time they really gained yards down the field was the last play of regulation from their own 38, four seconds left on the clock. The Giants dropped all the way back and let Alex Smith complete a pass to Delanie Walker for 29 yards, and as soon as Walker was on the ground, it was overtime at Candlestick.

 

Take away those 29 yards, what was essentially a garbage-time throw, and it turns out the 49ers gained a total of seven yards on the other 13 plays they ran after that second down at the 10 with six minutes left. Here are the plays:

Incomplete pass to Kyle Williams. Three-yard completion to Michael Crabtree (before Akers kicked the field goal to make it 17-17). Next series: Incomplete to Crabtree, 3-yard run for Frank Gore, Osi and Kiwanuka sack Smith for a 10-yard loss.

Next series, with the game still at 17-all, with the Super Bowl right there for the 49ers? Three straight incompletions. That last series before overtime, Gore gained another three, Smith got sacked for a 1-yard loss, then came the 29-yard pass to Walker.

In the overtime the 49ers got the ball once, again with a chance to drive the ball and go to the Super Bowl. Incompletion to Williams, 2-yard loss for Gore, an 11-yard completion to Davis on a play when the 49ers needed one yard more than that for a first down.

This was the defense that Parcells and Bill Belichick got when the Giants won Super Bowls. What Tom Coughlin got four years ago against Brady and them. Of course the Giants won’t be facing Alex Smith in Indy, they will be getting their rematch with Brady, one of the truly gifted players of all time.

But if the Giants are going to do it to the Patriots again, they have to come for Brady again. They have to put him down and make him move, because as great as he is — and if he wins his fourth Super Bowl to tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, you can absolutely have a conversation about him being the best quarterback of them all — he is not as great when he has to move, you saw it Sunday against Ray Lewis and the Ravens.

“Even when (the Giants’) defense struggled this season, when it wasn’t healthy, it didn’t fall apart, nobody jumped ship,” Banks said Monday night.

Banks said, “Tuck getting healthy was the single biggest elixir for what ailed them. Him and Osi. But I’ll tell you about another guy people don’t talk nearly enough about on this defense: Antrel Rolle. People might not always like him, but he’s accountable, and he never comes off the field. And I mean never.”

Is this Giants defense better than the one from four years ago, even without Michael Strahan? We won’t know that until the first Sunday night in February, Lucas Oil Stadium, a football rematch that feels like another Ali-Frazier fight, when the big guys on the Giants go after Tom Brady again.

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-path-super-bowl-glory-starts-ends-defense-article-1.1012130#ixzz1kaRkGjqE

[jerseygiantfan]

NY Giants Brandon Jacobs willing to take another paycut to stay Big Blue

 

Running back is due $4.9 million for 2012

Comments (3)

By Ralph Vacchiano / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Monday, February 13, 2012, 10:25 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al Bello/Getty Images

 

 

 

 

Brandon Jacobs was forced to swallow his pride and take a sizeable pay cut last summer just to get one more season with the Giants.

Now he’s prepared to do it again.

That’s what the big running back told the Daily News on Monday, that he’s willing to take less money to return to help the Giants defend their Super Bowl XLVI championship. So far, he said, there have been no talks with the team, but the 29-year-old said the prospect of another big salary hit hasn’t scared him off.

“Like I said the last time: As long as it’s fair,” Jacobs said from Orlando, where he was ready to step into the ring for Spike TV’s “TNA Impact Wrestling.” “There’s something that can be done. I do put a lot of hard work and dedication into what I do as well. But as long as it’s fair, things can happen.”

There’s almost no way anything could happen without a sizeable cut, since Jacobs is due $4.9 million in 2012 and is coming off a disappointing 571-yard season. He’s due $500,000 of that on March 17 — just four days after the free-agent market opens — and he’ll likely be cut by that date if he hasn’t agreed to a restructured deal.

Jacobs had his 2011 salary slashed by $1.75 million last August — from $4.65 million to $2.9 million — before the Giants agreed not to cut him. But while he’s “absolutely” willing to negotiate again now, he’s not sure if the Giants are. So far, a week after the Super Bowl and with only a month before free agency opens, he said neither he nor his agent has heard a word from the team.

DIEHL WITH IT

LT David Diehl had surgery to repair a broken left hand that he played through during the final two months of the season. He even tweeted his X-ray to show six screws had been inserted into one of his fingers. . . . Jacobs, while thrilled with the Giants’ win in Super Bowl XLVI, thinks it should’ve been an easier game. “Our offense played terribly, if you ask me,” he said. “We should’ve put up more than 21 points on New England.” . . . The Giants signed three players to reserve/future contracts: DE Craig Marshall, TE Ryan Purvis and OL Chris White.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-giants-brandon-jacobs-paycut-stay-article-1.1022100#ixzz1mMNNELSy

[jerseygiantfan]

Free-agency primer: New York Giants

 

Big Blue might stick with 2011 blueprint: Spend wisely, keep your own players

 

 

Updated: March 12, 2012, 2:17 AM ETBy Ohm Youngmisuk | ESPNNewYork.com

 

The Super Bowl celebration is over. Now, the New York Giants begin the process of defending their championship with the start of free agency on Tuesday and then the NFL draft in April.

Last year, it felt as if the Giants did more subtracting than adding in free agency, but Jerry Reese seemed to make all the right moves.

It wouldn't be surprising to see the Giants make few splashy moves in free agency while trying to re-sign some of their own again. ESPNNewYork.com explores a few questions facing the Giants as free agency begins:

 

1. Bringing unsexy back?

Last summer, Reese absorbed a huge amount of heat and criticism from fans and media for not making any sexy, splashy moves like the Eagles did. Instead, the Giants let veterans like Rich Seubert and Shaun O'Hara go while watching Kevin Boss and Steve Smith leave in free agency for bigger pay days. The Giants brought back a few of their key free agents, like Mathias Kiwanuka and Ahmad Bradshaw, and their most expensive free-agent signing was center David Baas.

 

 

Don't be shocked if Reese takes a similar approach this free-agency period. The Giants have cleared nearly $12 million in cap space by restructuring Eli Manning's contract and releasing Brandon Jacobs. But they were $9 million over the cap recently, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.

So the expectation is the Giants will try to re-sign a few of their own free agents but not do a ton of spending, while being fiscally responsible since they have to pay their own young stars down the road.

2. Can the Giants re-sign their key free agents?

The Giants have 19 unrestricted free agents after re-signing Domenik Hixon and franchising Steve Weatherford. They want to re-sign cornerback Terrell Thomas and middle linebacker Jonathan Goff.

Head coach Tom Coughlin says Thomas and Goff -- both are coming off ACL injuries -- are a part of his plan this season. Thomas expressed confidence that he will be back, but then again not many thought Boss and Smith would leave last year, either.

The Giants will lose some of their key free agents. Wide receiver Mario Manningham, cornerback Aaron Ross and defensive end Dave Tollefson are among those who could depart. Right tackle Kareem McKenzie also is expected to be moving on.

3. What will happen with Super Mario?

Manningham says he wants to return, but the odds are he will be joining a new team. The wide receiver wants to capitalize on his big postseason and he surely would like a bigger role than being the third receiver with the Giants.

Considering that the Giants will have to pay Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz down the road, Reese likely will not pay big bucks for a third receiver. The Giants could replace Manningham internally with Jerrel Jernigan, Ramses Barden or Hixon. Or they could sign a free agent.

4. Could Steve Smith return?

One free agent the Giants could sign is Smith, who is open for a reunion, something Schefter reported last fall.

If Smith is healthy, he could come in and easily slide into the third receiver spot in the slot, and probably would not need long to get on the same page with Manning.

Plaxico Burress is another free agent receiver and he mentioned the Giants as a possibility recently. But Smith seems a likelier possibility.

5. What will the Giants do at tight end?

The Giants lost Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum to torn ACLs in the Super Bowl and are down to two healthy tight ends on the roster (Bear Pascoe and Christian Hopkins). Considering how they were able to replace Boss last season with the undrafted, second-year Ballard, the Giants might not opt to invest a ton in a tight end, whether it be in free agency or the draft.

 

 

 

The best tight ends available in free agency appear to include the likes of Visanthe Shiancoe, Martellus Bennett, Dallas Clark, John Carlson and Jeremy Shockey, among others. The Giants could pick up a cheap veteran or use a late draft pick on a tight end.

6. What will the Giants do without Jacobs?

The Giants now need a veteran backup running back after releasing Jacobs. They currently have D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown behind Bradshaw.

Last year, when Bradshaw was a free agent, Ronnie Brown's name was mentioned as a possibility for the Giants. Coughlin has mentioned that he likes sticking with the formula of having a big back to go with Bradshaw. They could also use a draft pick on a running back as well.

Free agents like Michael Bush, Mike Tolbert and Peyton Hillis are all strong, big running backs but also are expected to come with expensive price tags and are likely looking for starting gigs as well.

7. What will the Giants do at right tackle?

With McKenzie expected to leave in free agency, the Giants have to figure out what to do on their offensive line. Will Beatty has been cleared again and he could return at left tackle. The Giants could move David Diehl, who started at left tackle after Beatty needed eye surgery, to left guard or perhaps right tackle. Last year's fourth-round pick, James Brewer, could also be a candidate at right tackle.

And perhaps the Giants could look for another offensive lineman in free agency or the draft.

8. What will happen with Osi?

Osi Umenyiora will likely have to wait for his contract situation to be addressed after free agency. The defensive end still wants a raise as he enters the last year of his deal worth just under $4 million.

The Giants have to figure out their cap situation and re-sign some of their own free agents before dealing with Umenyiora, whose situation could heat up near draft time.

TOP UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

 

 

 

 

 

Mario Manningham, WR, 6-0, 185, 4 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: He provides Manning with a third terrific receiving weapon and is capable of making big catches, as evidenced by his postseason performance.

Potential snag: Manningham wants a lucrative contract and a bigger role -- and the Giants can't offer either.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Manningham is a luxury and the Giants eventually have to pay Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz. Manning has also shown that he can develop receivers.

Possible replacement: Jernigan, Barden, Hixon and Smith.

Terrell Thomas, CB, 6-0, 191, 4 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: He was the Giants' most productive cornerback in 2010, leading the team in tackles and interceptions before tearing his ACL last preseason. The team felt he was going to have a Pro Bowl-type season last year before the injury.

Potential snag: Another team offers Thomas more than the Giants are willing to give.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Only his knee and money would be reasons not to bring Thomas back. But Coughlin has said Thomas is expected to be recovered by the season opener.

Possible replacement: Prince Amukamara.

Jonathan Goff, MLB, 6-2, 241, 4 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Goff knows the defense and many teammates felt he was on the verge of having his best season before he tore his ACL prior to the season opener.

Potential snag: Goff finds another suitor willing to give more than the Giants.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Goff's knee isn't ready, but Coughlin has said Goff is expected to be ready for the season.

Possible replacements: Greg Jones, Mark Herzlich.

Aaron Ross, CB, 6-0, 190, 5 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Ross started every game in 2011 and played better as the season progressed.

Potential snag: Ross could receive a bigger contract than the Giants are willing to pay.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: The Giants probably prefer Ross as a third cornerback and can't afford to pay him like a starter, which is something Ross is likely looking for.

Possible replacement: Thomas, Amukamara.

 

 

Choosing the 50 Greatest Giants was a big challenge. ESPNNewYork.com rose to the occasion. Top 50 Rank 'Em »

Dave Tollefson, DE, 6-4, 266, 5 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Tollefson provides valuable depth on the defensive line, leadership and can contribute on special teams.

Potential snag: Giants' cap situation.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Tollefson is a luxury with Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Umenyiora at defensive end, and Kiwanuka also playing end as well. Also, Tollefson could receive more money than the Giants are willing to pay.

Possible replacement: Justin Trattou.

Kareem McKenzie, RT, 6-6, 330, 11 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Has been the starting right tackle since 2005 and helped the Giants win two Super Bowls.

Potential snag: Giants have told McKenzie to shop in free agency.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Giants need to get younger and Kevin Boothe's emergence at LG could allow the Giants to move Diehl possibly to RT.

Possible replacement: Diehl, Brewer.

Deon Grant, S, 6-2, 215, 12 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Was the Giants' third safety and brings valuable veteran leadership.

Potential snag: Giants' cap situation and other priorities.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Tyler Sash waits for his chance.

Possible replacement: Sash.

Chase Blackburn, LB, 6-3, 247, 7 years

Most compelling reason to re-sign him: Was a huge addition late in the season and provided defense with stability and leadership at linebacker.

Potential snag: Giants likely have limited cap space and have other priorities.

Most compelling reason not to re-sign him: Giants have several young linebackers to develop.

Possible replacement: Jones, Herzlich.

ON THE RADAR

Steve Smith, WR, 5-11, 195, 5 years (Eagles): He never wanted to leave, knows Manning as well as anybody and Kevin Gilbride's offense, too.

Ronnie Brown, RB, 6-0, 230, 7 years (Eagles): His name was linked to the Giants last year when Ahmad Bradshaw was a free agent. And now the Giants need a backup veteran back to replace Jacobs.

Visanthe Shiancoe, TE, 6-4, 250, 9 years (Vikings): Giants need a tight end and Shiancoe spent his first four seasons with the Giants. How much will he cost, though?

Martellus Bennett, 6-6, 270, 4 years (Cowboys): Tantalizing size and potential but the former second-round pick could be looking for more than the Giants have to offer.

Ryan Grant, RB, 6-1, 222, 5 years (Packers): He's a former Giant who is expected to hit the free-agent market. Grant could help replace Jacobs but he could end up back with the Packers.

Plaxico Burress, WR, 6-5, 232, 10 years (Jets): He says the Giants are on his radar but his top team is Philadelphia. The Giants did sit down and meet with Burress last summer before he joined the Jets.

 

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/7675259/new-york-giants-2012-free-agency-primer

[jerseygiantfan]

With Tim Tebow's NY Jets introductory press conference on the way, Super Bowl champion NY Giants take some shots at Tebowmania

 

John Mara jokes that Big Blue will hold press conference for David Carr

 

Comments (8)

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Published: Monday, March 26, 2012, 12:07 AM

 

Updated: Monday, March 26, 2012, 1:50 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jack Dempsey/AP

 

 

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Giants are the New York football team that wins Super Bowls and the Jets are the New York football team that wins the offseason. Only one of them comes with a trophy and a ring, yet the Jets’ trade for Tim Tebow guaranteed them another coveted offseason championship, so much so that he’s even on the brain of the reigning Super Bowl champs.

 

REX: TEBOW WILL BE MORE THAN A BACKUP

 

Yes, Tebowmania has found its way to the championship side of town, all the way into the owners’ box.

“My feelings are that I may attend a Jets game,” Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was saying Sunday as he walked through the lobby at the NFL owners meetings.

 

PHOTOS: TEBOW ARRIVES IN NEW YORK, HITS BROADWAY

 

This should be the Giants’ moment to bask in another title, but it’s the Jets who have been dominating the headlines. Eli Manning may be a two-time Super Bowl MVP, but does anybody really care what Broadway show he might take in? When Tebow checked out “Wicked” on Saturday night, the first Tebow sighting around Manhattan since he arrived in New Jersey on Thursday, the cameras were clicking and the fans a-tweeting.

 

The Giants are amused by the breathless reports about Tebowmania, which includes a news conference Monday for the Jets’ new backup quarterback in Jersey but they’re paying attention. So is the NFL. So are potential PSL customers.

 

That’s what the Jets want, of course. Despite Woody Johnson, Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan insisting Tebow was brought in for football purposes only, they need him to remove the stench of last season, transform the locker room from dysfunctional to functional and get them their own trophy and ring set.

 

Is that a lot to ask? Hey, he’s Tebow.

 

His inability to throw the ball might even get Santonio Holmes to like Mark Sanchez again, which would surely make it all worthwhile. The Giants are not flinching, but they also took some not-so-subtle jabs at their crosstown rivals. Giants co-owner John Mara was asked if New York is big enough for the Giants and Tebow.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But the David Carr press conference will be tomorrow afternoon, too.”

 

Carr is back for another season as Manning’s backup. Last season, he didn’t throw a pass. Ryan’s reaction to Mara taking a shot at the unique idea of holding a news conference for a backup quarterback?

“When you win a Super Bowl, you can say anything you want because they are the world champions,” he said. “That’s all fine and dandy. To the young man, he’s not going out there trying to get the attention. The attention follows him.”

 

Maybe Tebow will help the Jets start to fight back against the Giants. Last year, Ryan claimed the Jets were the “big brother” in the Giants-Jets relationship.

“Clearly, the statement wasn’t very good,” Ryan said. “We’re looking up to them as is every other team in the NFL right now. They accomplished what I wanted to, being the best team in New York, being the best team in the NFL. The Giants accomplished that last year. We’ll take a swing at them.”

 

The last time the Giants won the Super Bowl, the Jets traded for Brett Favre, one of the all-time greats. It was working until Favre blew out his arm. The Tebow move makes little football sense but it makes a whole lot of marketing sense. He’s the most popular player in the NFL, even though he has limited quarterback skills. He may be more helpful selling jerseys than he is winning games.

 

I asked Tisch if he thought signing Tebow was an attempt by the Jets to steal attention from the Giants.

 

“Well, they are getting a lot of attention, so if that was one of their goals, I think they have been successful,” he said.

 

A marketing ploy for the Jets to gain traction in the marketplace?

“I can’t answer that,” Mara said. “I don’t know. The guy is a good football player and brings a lot to the table. So I can’t say that. You have to ask them.”

 

This was a Jets town going into the 2011 season. They were coming off back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship Game while the Giants missed the playoffs two years in a row.

Ryan angered Giants players last year by claiming the Jets were the better team and it would stay that way for 10 years. He was off by quite a bit. When the Giants beat the Jets in the crucial Christmas Eve game that set the Giants up to win the NFC East and helped eliminate the Jets, the order of the sibling rivalry was restored. And when the Giants turned a 9-7 season into their fourth Super Bowl title, it made Ryan’s bragging seem incredibly foolish, even to himself.

 

He insisted Sunday that even if the Jets had won the Super Bowl, they still would have traded for Tebow. That’s hard to imagine. But with the Giants winning another Super Bowl, the Jets needed to take some drastic steps. They found one.

“My highest compliment to the Giants. They pulled it off,” Johnson said. “I’m proud to share a building with them.”

 

I thought this was supposed to be Jets Stadium. Now Johnson is happy for the Jets to be known as the team that shares a stadium with the Super Bowl champs. It looks like the Jets are Tebowing right in front of the Giants’ Super Bowl trophy.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/super-bowl-champion-ny-giants-not-so-subtle-jabs-tebowmania-ny-jets-ready-hold-presser-backup-quarterback-tim-tebow-article-1.1050799#ixzz1qDt3OQd0