2007 NY Giants Articles and Video

[jerseygiantfan]

Defenders vent frustration over poor start

Associated Press, Updated 15 hours ago

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The frustration of an 0-2 start that has seen the New York Giants give up 80 points got to Pro Bowl middle linebacker Antonio Pierce on Thursday.

 

Pierce didn't rant a couple of days before the Giants headed to Washington to play the Redskins (2-0). He just reverted to the "us-against-them" mentality that he employed a year ago when New York started 1-2.

 

There was sarcasm in his voice. He refused to talk about the defense much. Occasionally he pulled an air horn from under a towel and let out an annoying blast. And when pressed about the defense, he asked fans and the media to come up with solutions because the players and coaches haven't.

 

"We're asking the media and the fans, if you all know how, to help out the New York Giants' defense," Pierce said. "We would appreciate it. Send it to Giants.com."

 

The only time he sounded genuine was when he talked about giving up 80 points to Dallas and Green Bay, the franchise's worst combined opening two-game total since 1966.

 

"The fact is, we are 0-2, we have given up 80 points and we're 29th, I believe, in defense," Pierce said. "We are a bad team right now. That is a fact. But it is a long season. We have 14 games left. I have seen a lot of teams go 2-0 and not go to the Super Bowl. I have seen 0-2 teams bounce back."

 

Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan was just as chippy. He ripped a television report during last week's loss to Green Bay that said the defenders had no spark sitting on the bench.

 

"You can't think about yesterday's spoiled milk, you have to worry about the delivery today," Strahan said. "We are worried about what we are going to do on Sunday and that is our whole focus. You can't be upset. You can come out here and work harder, that is about the only thing you can do, and hopefully that will rectify what happened the last few weeks by getting a win on Sunday."

 

With the defense reeling, it wasn't surprising that Jessie Armstrong was in the locker room Thursday. The former Pro Bowler who played for both the Giants and Redskins probably had a few words for the defense, which is being guided by new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo this season.

 

Armstead recalled that in the late 1990s when current Carolina coach John Fox became the defensive coordinator under Jim Fassel the unit struggled for four games.

 

"They'll be all right," Armstead said.

 

Spagnuolo also remains optimistic.

 

"You can't let two games shake your confidence in a 16-game season," he said. "And you know, like anything that we all do, and you probably do the same thing, when you are in certain adverse situations, you rely back on prior experiences. In 2000 and I think it was '03 or '02, we (in Philadelphia) began 0-2. And we ended up in the NFC championship game. So it's not shaken me yet."

 

If there is one thing the Giants need, it would be for someone on the defense to step up and play a big game. The defensive line has only two sacks this season and almost no one is making game-changing plays. The linebackers are missing tackles and no one in the secondary is staying close to his man.

 

 

Strahan believes the defense can turn things around quickly.

 

"I think the only thing we are lacking is just the confidence part of it," he said. "Kind of like the chicken or the egg: what comes first, the confidence or the win?"

 

Second-year defensive tackle Barry Cofield seemed to have a better perspective. He said that for all the criticism the defense has taken in the media and from the fans, it's nothing compared to what the players are saying to themselves.

 

"When you're worst in defense, for us, this is a huge game," Cofield said. "It wouldn't matter if we were playing a high school team. We want to hold them to zero to make up for what already happened.

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants' LB Pierce taken to task for conduct with media

 

ESPN.com news services

 

Updated: September 22, 2007, 10:05 AM ET

 

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Antonio Pierce's unique method for avoiding questions about the poor play of the New York Giants' defense has found some critics.

 

Former Giants running back Tiki Barber and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe both used their shows on Sirius Satellite Radio to criticize the Giants linebacker for blowing an air horn in the locker room when posed questions about the team's defense over its first two games.

 

After the Giants' 35-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday, Pierce refused to address the media for four days. Then, on Thursday, whenever asked about the past play of the defense, which gave up 80 points in its first two games, he blew the air horn.

 

"Now that [the Giants] are struggling, first of all he runs away from it early in the week and now he's refusing to answer questions by being completely disrespectful to a group of people who are just trying to do their job," Barber said on his show, according to the media reports. "That's the job of media, ask the question. And you don't have to answer it. But don't be rude."

 

Sharpe, on his show, called the behavior "childish" and "totally uncalled for," according to the New York Daily News. "That's ridiculous. Are you 14? Or are you 28, 29, making millions of dollars to play a kid's game? And you act like this?"

 

Pierce was not amused when reporters relayed Barber and Sharpe's comments to him.

 

"Do any of them play for the New York Giants?" Pierce said. "Does [barber] play for us now?"

 

"[Maybe] if it was the 53 guys in this room that said something or if I came in here and the coaches or someone in the front office [said it]," Pierce said, according to the Daily News. "But anyone that was here knows what I was doing."

 

The Giants' front office, however, did say something to Pierce. In an e-mail to the Daily News, Pat Hanlon, the Giants' VP of communications, said coach Tom Coughlin and "others in the organization" spoke with Pierce about his behavior.

 

"In those conversations, Antonio made it clear that he understands that [Thursday's] conduct was inappropriate," Hanlon said in the e-mail, according to the Daily News.

 

Pierce said he was only having some fun with the media. "I'm sorry the horn scared everybody," he said.

[jerseygiantfan]

Thanks to defense, Giants rally for 24-17 victory

 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 6:50 PM

 

 

 

LANDOVER, Md. - After 10 quarters of going-nowhere football, the New York Giants finally rediscovered the secret to winning in the NFL: Play defense, take control of third down, make sure Plaxico Burress catches the ball, and make a harrowing goal line stand at the end of the game.

 

A Giants defense that had allowed 80 points in its first two games allowed only 83 yards after halftime, and stopped the Washington Redskins on four plays from first-and-goal at the 1 in the final minute to preserve a 24-17 victory Sunday.

 

New York scored the game's final 21 points and rallied from a two-touchdown deficit.

 

Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had five receptions for 86 yards in the second. The ankle injury that caused him to miss two practices last week didn't seem to affect him on the game-winning score - a 33-yard catch-and-run in which he received the ball in the left flat and put a move on Carlos Rogers before outrunning Sean Taylor to the end zone with 5:32 remaining.

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants find winning formula

associated Press, Updated 2 hours ago

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LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - First-and-goal at the 1. Fifty-eight seconds left in the game. A defense that had stunk up the NFL for two weeks was on the verge of blowing the game.

 

 

 

What was it like in the New York Giants defensive huddle?

 

"If I put you in that huddle, your ears might bleed," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "At that point, it's not about technique, it's not about the call, it's all about getting fired up and realizing what's at stake. We just came off the ball and did what we had to do."

 

Four plays later, the defense ran off the field celebrating a 24-17 victory over the Washington Redskins, a had-to-have win Sunday that kept the Giants from sinking into a deep hole in the NFC East.

 

"Amazing way to win a game," quarterback Eli Manning said. "Give a lot of credit to our defense for hanging in tough. To get a goal line stand to win a game, you can't beat that."

 

The Giants (1-2) trailed 17-3 at halftime, giving them 10 quarters in a row of going-nowhere football to start the season. In the second half, however, a defense that had allowed 80 points in the first two games shut out Washington and allowed only 81 total yards.

 

 

Meanwhile, the offense found a way to master third-and-long against a Redskins defense that had allowed only one touchdown all season. The Giants converted seven straight third downs - all but one of them was third-and-5 or longer - to put together three touchdown drives.

 

Plaxico Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had five receptions for 86 yards in the second. The ankle injury that caused him to miss two practices last week didn't seem to affect him on the game-winning score - a 33-yard catch-and-run in which he received the ball in the left flat and sidestepped Carlos Rogers before dashing to the end zone with 5:32 to play.

 

"I gave him one of those old backyard Virginia Beach moves, and he fell for it," Burress said. "I just had to keep fighting. I've never played like that in the first half. If we would have lost that game, I would have felt horrible."

 

The loss deflated the Redskins (2-1), whose two close wins against middling opposition had the team feeling primed for a surprise season as a playoff contender. Naturally, most of the talk in the locker room centered on the final sequence.

 

After a 20-yard pass to Antwaan Randle El, Jason Campbell spiked the ball on first-and-goal at the 1. Coach Joe Gibbs said he called for the spike because there were no timeouts remaining, and he wanted to get in the jumbo, goal-line package.

 

But on second down, the pass went in the flat to fullback Mike Sellers, who dropped the ball and probably wouldn't have scored anyway. With leading rusher Clinton Portis on the sideline, Ladell Betts was stopped on near-identical running plays on third and fourth downs.

 

Gibbs said he told Campbell the plays to run, indicating that Gibbs apparently had taken over the play-calling duties usually held by assistant coach Al Saunders. Later, Gibbs clarified his remarks, saying he was just reinforcing the plays called by Saunders to the young quarterback.

 

"We feel like either one of our backs are capable of being in there," Gibbs said. "And on that particular drive, it was Ladell who was in there."

 

Betts was tackled for a 2-yard loss on fourth down.

 

"It's probably going to be hard for me to go to sleep tonight when I think about it over and over," Betts said.

 

Manning completed 21 of 36 passes for 232 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Derrick Ward ran for 94 yards on 26 carries and had six catches for 26 yards. Reuben Droughns had a pair of 1-yard TD runs - New York's first rushing touchdowns of the season - and Mathias Kiwanuka's pair of sacks doubled the defense's output for the year.

 

The Redskins scored in the first half on Clinton Portis' 1-yard run and Chris Cooley's 8-yard touchdown catch. Washington lost despite getting three takeaways, one-fourth of their total from all of last season, but both offense and defense fell apart in the second half.

 

The Giants opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive in which they converted third-and-6, third-and-7 and third-and-8. Another TD drive had conversions on third-and-6 and third-and-5. The third-and-5 was a 6-yard run by Ward, who initially was ruled to have fumbled the ball before a replay challenge verified that his left elbow hit the ground before the ball came loose. New York's winning score was set up by a Redskins fumble, a bad exchanges on a handoff to Portis.

 

 

 

But the game wasn't over until the final fourth-and-1.

 

"Just the jubilation you feel when you're running off the field after making a big stop like that, in the division, on the road," Cofield said. "I'll never forget it."

Notes

Jeremy Shockey (five catches, 79 yards) set the Giants career record for catches by a tight end, moving ahead of Bob Tucker. ... Washington WR Santana Moss strained his groin in the fourth quarter. ... The attendance of 90,803 set a record for FedEx Field, the NFL's largest stadium. ... The Redskins looked more like the Green Bay Packers in their 1970-71 throwback uniforms, complete with bright yellow pants.

 

 

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns run wild for Giants

 

Monday, September 24th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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LANDOVER, Md. - All week long, Joe Gibbs and the Redskins talked about how the Giants had punished them last year on the ground.

 

Gibbs even joked that he would have contributed money to Tiki Barber's retirement fund after the former Giants star ran for 234 yards and three touchdowns here last season.

 

Yet even with Barber now in the television studio, the Washington defense couldn't contain the Giants' rushing attack yesterday.

 

Derrick Ward continued his impressive play in Brandon Jacobs' absence by churning out 94 hard-earned yards. And Reuben Droughns provided the goal-line power by scoring a pair of 1-yard touchdowns in the second half of the Giants' 24-17 come-from-behind victory.

 

Surprisingly, Ward and Droughns outgained Washington's two-pronged running attack of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, 97-69 in yards.

 

"(Ward) has been a big factor in our offense," Tom Coughlin said. "When Brandon went down, he got more opportunities to play and he has done well with it. He has done well with his opportunities."

 

Gibbs might've thought he was watching a poor man's version of the Giants' rushing attack from last season as Ward tried to do what Barber did with his speed and receiving, while Droughns provided the power goal-line running that Jacobs usually does.

 

While Ward did not come close to duplicating Barber's performance from last year's regular-season finale, he did inch closer to his first 100-yard outing.

 

After running for 89 yards against Dallas and 90 against Green Bay, Ward carried the ball a season-high 26 times as he helped the Giants move the ball when down and milk the clock when they were trying to hold on at the end.

 

Ward also led the team in receptions - a Barber specialty - with six for 26 yards.

 

Droughns then showed why the Giants were willing to give up Tim Carter to get him from Cleveland in the offseason. His second touchdown tied the game at 17 with 12:33 remaining.

 

The Giants hope to get Jacobs (sprained right MCL) back sometime in the next two weeks. Until then, Ward and Droughns are out to prove that they can handle the load.

 

"Derrick is one of those change of pace backs," Droughns said. "He is different than me and Brandon. He can make you miss. (But) we were trying to do (what Barber and Jacobs did last season)."-

 

Youngmisuk

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants' defense seals comeback win over Redskins

 

BY RALPH VACCHIANO

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Monday, September 24th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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LANDOVER, Md. - Maybe the air horn Antonio Pierce blew in the locker room last week was a wake-up call, after all.

 

Something certainly got the attention of the Giants' beleaguered defense, which was literally pushed to within a yard yesterday of possibly seeing the entire season slip away. With 58 seconds to go, the Washington Redskins had four chances to go one yard and tie the ballgame.

 

It was a yard the defense knew the Redskins were never going to get.

 

"We had already decided there was no way we were going to play that good in the first 58 minutes and let it slip away on the last drive," said defensive end Justin Tuck. "We said, 'No way are they going to score. If they get to the one-inch line they're not going to score.'"

 

The record shows that safety James Butler made the final tackle on Ladell Betts to preserve the Giants' come-from-behind, 24-17 victory, but it was Tuck who got his arm out just enough to stop him.

 

The real credit belonged to the entire unit anyway, especially after how they had become the butt of jokes in the first two weeks of the season. They played well the entire game, but they absolutely shut down the Redskins after halftime, allowing only 63 yards in the second half.

 

That gave a shaky offense enough time to get itself on track and score 21 unanswered points in the final two quarters. The final seven came with 5:32 remaining, when Plaxico Burress took a short pass from Eli Manning, made two defenders miss and turned it into a 33-yard, game-winning touchdown.

 

To say it was a must-win would be an understatement, since a loss by the Giants (1-2) would've left them three games behind the Redskins (2-1). "That probably would be the end of our season right there," Tuck said.

 

But despite their dire situation, the mood at halftime was oddly upbeat, even though the Giants trailed 17-3. They knew both Redskins' scores - a 1-yard run by Clinton Portis (14 carries, 60 yards) and an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jason Campbell (16-for-34, 190 yards) to tight end Chris Cooley - were the direct results of turnovers by Manning. He was having an off day thanks in part to drops from his receivers. He fumbled once and threw interceptions twice.

 

"We knew sooner or later they were going to get it going," said defensive end Osi Umenyiora. "We just had to keep doing what we were doing."

 

"We knew with one score it was a 17-10 game," said Tom Coughlin. "And we were right back in it."

 

Manning (21-for-36, 232 yards) did just that on the first drive of the first half, when he led the Giants to a 1-yard Reuben Droughns touchdown. Droughns would add another, tying the game with 12:33 left in the fourth quarter while the Giants' defense was in the process of forcing three straight three-and-outs.

 

Then came what should have been the play of the game - a fumbled handoff by Portis that was recovered by Pierce, who was unusually (and purposefully) quiet after the game. Four plays later, Manning and Burress (five catches, 86 yards, all in the second half) connected for the game-winning touchdown.

 

The defense, though, had a few more big plays to go.

 

First they stopped what seemed to be the Redskins' final drive at the Giants' 35 with 2:50 remaining. But a three-and-out by the Giants and a 27-yard punt return by Antwaan Randle El gave the Redskins the ball at the Giants' 35 again with 2:19 remaining. With the help of a 15-yard, fourth-and-8 pass from Campbell to Santana Moss, the Redskins eventually had a first-and-goal at the 1 with less than a minute to go.

 

The defense again had the game and the season in its hands.

 

"That's what we asked for at halftime," Pierce said. "It happened to come out that way."

 

On the first play, Campbell spiked the ball - an odd decision with 51 seconds remaining. On the second play, his short pass to fullback Mike Sellers was too low.

 

The next two plays were runs by Betts toward the left, away from Michael Strahan and right at Umenyiora and Tuck, who was in at defensive tackle.

 

"We enjoyed the fact that they're picking on us," Tuck said. "I guess they think we can't stop the run."

 

They were wrong. So was anyone who counted out this Giants defense.

 

"We needed it, man," Strahan said. "Thank God we played like we needed it and wanted it. For us, a stop like that, it was a lot of emotion, a lot of relief for this team."

 

"To win a game like this when we needed it, on the fourth-down play on our goal line," Tuck added, "you can't write a story any better than that."

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Burress has ankle checked by specialist

Associated Press, Updated 15 hours ago

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Plaxico Burress' sprained right ankle has become more of a concern for the New York Giants.

 

The receiver, whose five touchdown catches is tied with Randy Moss of New England for most in the NFL, traveled to Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday to have the ankle examined by noted orthopedist Dr. Robert Anderson.

 

"When he plays, it gets sore again and it has been a kind of a continuous nagging thing," Coughlin said of the injury that happened in training camp in August.

 

Burress, who missed all four preseason games, has played in the first three regular-season games, but has had little practice. Before last week's game with Washington he only practiced on Friday on a limited basis.

 

Coughlin refused to speculate on the status of the eight-year veteran for Sunday's home game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Like the Giants, they are 1-2 and two games behind Dallas in the NFC East.

 

 

"Hopefully (there will be) some further recommendation as to what can be done to relieve the issue," Coughlin said. "Plaxico actually the other day said to us that he has to practice. He has got to practice. He is not practicing and he is coming into the games. To his credit he knows his assignments, but obviously he is not as sharp as he could be."

 

Nevertheless, Burress has become Eli Manning's money receiver. Five of his 15 catches have gone for touchdowns, including a winning 33-yard catch and run with 5:32 to play in the 24-17 win over the Redskins on Sunday.

 

Manning refused to discuss the injury, and he wasn't concerned that Burress missed another practice on Wednesday.

 

"I think with our timing everything will be fine," Manning said. "It's just about him getting back in the flow of things. With anybody who doesn't practice for a week or misses a few days, it takes a little bit to get back in the flow of things."

 

Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce was confident Burress would be on the field against the Eagles.

 

"Plax, we call him 'Game Day,"' Pierce said. "On game day he shows up regardless of what anyone wants to say about him during the week. The guy has been in the league long enough, eight years, and he knows how to take care of himself."

 

When told Burress was in North Carolina seeing a specialist, Pierce smiled.

 

"I know he will be here on Sunday," he said.

 

Burress has been the Giants' most productive receiver against the Eagles' pressure defense. In three games last season, he had 17 catches for 323 yards — a 19-yard average — and three touchdowns, including a winner in overtime in the second week of the season and two TDs in the wild-card playoff game. The 6-foot-5 speedster has 25 catches for 473 yards and four TDs in the five games against Philadelphia since he signed with New York in 2005.

 

 

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants defense grounds Donovan McNabb, Eagles

 

BY RALPH VACCHIANO

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Monday, October 1st 2007, 8:33 AM

 

 

 

There have been a lot of great defensive performances inside Giants Stadium - even a few by the players on the current Giants.

 

But none of them have ever seen anything like what they saw last night.

 

Right from the start, the Giants were all over Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb like a swarm of hungry bees, and when it was all over they had tied an NFL record with 12 sacks - including a team-record six from Osi Umenyiora. The barrage left the Philadelphia Eagles, who were coming off a 56-point explosion a week ago, dazed and confused after a 16-3 Giants win.

 

"I was amazed," said linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown to ice it in the third quarter. "It was definitely one to remember."

 

"I'm going all the way back to Pop Warner," added linebacker Antonio Pierce. "I've never seen anything like that."

 

Nobody saw this one coming, even after the Giants' impressive defensive effort one week earlier at Washington. This was the same unit that ranked 29th in the league after giving up 80 points in the first two weeks of the season. And even in the Redskins game they only had two sacks, giving them just four on the season.

 

Last night, they sacked McNabb five times in the first half.

 

"We have some of the best pass rushers in the league on this team," Umenyiora said. "We just hadn't put it all together yet."

 

Umenyiora led the way, abusing left tackle Winston Justice, a second-year player filling in for injured starter William Thomas. Justice gave up five of Umenyiora's six sacks. They got three more from much-maligned linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka. Justin Tuck, their best defensive player the first three weeks, chipped in with two. And Michael Strahan finally got the one that broke his tie with Lawrence Taylor atop the Giants' all-time list with 133-1/2 for his career.

 

Given little time to throw, and with running back Brian Westbrook out with an abdominal strain, McNabb looked lost, completing just 15 of 31 passes for 138 yards.

 

"That was the Giants defense in action," Tom Coughlin said.

 

Its timing couldn't have been better, for a variety of reasons. It was defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's first game against the team he worked for from 1999-2006, and he dazzled the Eagles with an array of blitzes. He confused them further by using Umenyiora and Tuck at linebacker, as well as Kiwanuka along the defensive line.

 

The performance also came in the presence of greatness. The famed "Crunch Bunch" - linebackers Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Brian Kelley and Brad Van Pelt - was introduced before the game. "To have a game like that in front of those guys is something to be proud of," Pierce said.

 

The Giants evened their record at 2-2, allowing them to keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys (4-0). The defense's performance came on a night when Eli Manning (14-for-26, 135 yards, one touchdown, one interception) was shaky and the offense was held to 212 total yards.

 

The only scoring the offense contributed was a 9-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress in the first half and a 29-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes in the third quarter. The other six points came on Mitchell's fumble return for a score.

 

That was more than enough for a defense that surrendered only a 53-yard field goal in the fourth quarter by David Akers that broke its shutout string at 77:09.

 

"It was an outstanding defensive effort," Coughlin said. "Just continuous pressure on the quarterback, a defensive touchdown - all the things you think about when you think about a great defensive game."

 

The star of the show was Umenyiora, who didn't have a sack in the first three games. He was so hungry for one that in the trainer's room before the game he came up with the Giants' new sack celebration - miming the motion of a spoon to their mouths, which goes with the new motto, "Let's eat."

 

On the sidelines, Umenyiora's teammates told him, "It's like a video game for you out there."

 

"Of course it wasn't," he said. "Tonight was just one of those nights."

 

"We call him 'The Great One,'" Pierce said. "Today he was 'The Great One.' He needed an IV at halftime he was rushing so hard. Really, he dominated the game by himself."

 

"I've never seen someone go from last in the league to probably leading the league in sacks in one game," Strahan added. "He deserved every one of them."

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Defense bails out shaky Eli Manning and offense

 

Monday, October 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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Lost in the excitement of another terrific defensive performance was a shaky outing by the Giants' offense. They had 212 total yards - just 22 more than the Eagles. Eli Manning was 14-for-26 for 135 yards.

 

"I just don't think we had many numbers on offense at all to stand up here and talk about," Tom Coughlin said after the game. "We just didn't help ourselves."

 

Another concern is kicker Lawrence Tynes, who missed a 34-yard field goal wide right and later hit the left upright on an extra point.

 

"I'm concerned about the misses, no doubt," Coughlin said. "We've got to do better than that."

 

RUSH JOB: RB Derrick Ward started despite a sprained ankle and rushed 19 times for 80 yards. ... Rookie CB Aaron Ross started for Corey Webster and had five tackles, two pass deflections and one quarterback hit. ... CB Sam Madison bruised his shoulder in the second half, but later returned. ... TE Michael Matthews dislocated his finger. ... RG Chris Snee left with a sore knee. ... The Giants' inactives were WR Steve Smith (shoulder), RB Brandon Jacobs (knee), S Craig Dahl, T Adam Koets, DT Manny Wright, and G Kevin Boothe. Jared Lorenzen was the inactive No. 3 QB. ... Eagles were missing RB Brian Westbrook (abdominal strain), S Brian Dawkins (neck), CB Lito Sheppard (knee), LT William Thomas (knee) and TE L.J. Smith (groin).

 

HORN OF PLENTY: LB Antonio Pierce has given himself a new nickname - Airhorn Pierce. "That's what they're calling me: 'Airhorn Pierce' or 'Disgruntled Pierce,'" he said. "But we're 2-0 since the airhorn."

 

50-SOMETHING: The last two times the Giants have faced a team coming off a 50-point performance they have held them to a combined three points. The last time it happened was two years ago when they shut out the Washington Redskins, 36-0, one week after the Redskins had scored 52.

[jerseygiantfan]

Defense bails out shaky Eli Manning and offense

 

Monday, October 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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Lost in the excitement of another terrific defensive performance was a shaky outing by the Giants' offense. They had 212 total yards - just 22 more than the Eagles. Eli Manning was 14-for-26 for 135 yards.

 

"I just don't think we had many numbers on offense at all to stand up here and talk about," Tom Coughlin said after the game. "We just didn't help ourselves."

 

Another concern is kicker Lawrence Tynes, who missed a 34-yard field goal wide right and later hit the left upright on an extra point.

 

"I'm concerned about the misses, no doubt," Coughlin said. "We've got to do better than that."

 

RUSH JOB: RB Derrick Ward started despite a sprained ankle and rushed 19 times for 80 yards. ... Rookie CB Aaron Ross started for Corey Webster and had five tackles, two pass deflections and one quarterback hit. ... CB Sam Madison bruised his shoulder in the second half, but later returned. ... TE Michael Matthews dislocated his finger. ... RG Chris Snee left with a sore knee. ... The Giants' inactives were WR Steve Smith (shoulder), RB Brandon Jacobs (knee), S Craig Dahl, T Adam Koets, DT Manny Wright, and G Kevin Boothe. Jared Lorenzen was the inactive No. 3 QB. ... Eagles were missing RB Brian Westbrook (abdominal strain), S Brian Dawkins (neck), CB Lito Sheppard (knee), LT William Thomas (knee) and TE L.J. Smith (groin).

 

HORN OF PLENTY: LB Antonio Pierce has given himself a new nickname - Airhorn Pierce. "That's what they're calling me: 'Airhorn Pierce' or 'Disgruntled Pierce,'" he said. "But we're 2-0 since the airhorn."

 

50-SOMETHING: The last two times the Giants have faced a team coming off a 50-point performance they have held them to a combined three points. The last time it happened was two years ago when they shut out the Washington Redskins, 36-0, one week after the Redskins had scored 52.

[jerseygiantfan]

Lawrence Taylor would sack Strahan's Giants record

 

BY OHM YOUNGMISUK

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Monday, October 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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Michael Strahan now owns the record for most sacks in Giants history.

 

But Lawrence Taylor wants to remind him there should be an asterisk next to his name. Strahan's second-quarter takedown of Donovan McNabb gave him 133-1/2 sacks for his career, surpassing Taylor's 132-1/2. However, the record only dates back to 1982, when sacks were first recorded.

 

"I want to congratulate Michael on setting the new official career sack record for the Giants," Taylor, who attended last night's 16-3 Giants sackfest over the Eagles, said in a statement. "And I want to remind him that I had 9-1/2 sacks before they even started counting them, so he has some work to do."

 

If anybody has work to do, it's the Eagles' offensive line, which was decimated by the Giants' pass rush. Strahan had one of 12 Giants sacks, which tied the NFL record for most in a game.

 

While Strahan has his record, he still left Giants Stadium a bit envious of Osi Umenyiora, who recorded six sacks to set a team mark for most in a game. With Brian Westbrook a late scratch, the Giants were able to blitz McNabb without having to worry about the Eagles' explosive running back leaking out for a dump-off pass.

 

"Osi is full now," Strahan said. "And I only had breakfast. I'm hungry now."

 

Strahan's record-setter came when he got to McNabb with 7:33 remaining in the second quarter on a first-and-10 at the Philadelphia 44.

 

Strahan celebrated with teammates, hugging and high-fiving his defensive mates in between downs.

 

It was all part of the reason he decided to come back after taking off the preseason to contemplate retirement. Strahan still has plenty of football left in his 35-year-old body. What is helping him feel even fresher after games is the fact the Giants are loaded with so many pass rushers like Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka.

 

"(The rotation) allows me to play a little faster in the fourth quarter," Strahan said. "After 13 to 14 years of playing every play, you get tired."

 

It was even sweeter for Strahan to set the record against his longtime rival, right tackle Jon Runyan. In fact, Strahan suggested McNabb should have used Runyan on the other side to help Winston Justice, a 6-6, 320-pounder drafted in the second round out of USC in 2006, who was filling in for the injured William Thomas (knee), guard against Umenyiora.

 

"Runyan is an All-Pro," Strahan said. "Go help that young kid (Justice). I felt in a lot of ways, you are going to ruin the guy. In Philadelphia, the poor kid goes out and orders some food, they might do something to him. I feel bad for the kid."

 

Runyan said he was not pleased to have been a part of Strahan's record. According to Taylor, Strahan doesn't have the mark just yet.

 

"Of course, you know LT told me that," Strahan said. "He told me that before the game but I love the guy. In my mind, there is never going to be another LT. I could have 500 sacks, but there just will never be another Lawrence Taylor. Best defensive player to ever play."

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Steve Spagnuolo's defense sacks it to Eagles

 

BY RALPH VACCHIANO

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Tuesday, October 2nd 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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The pressure was coming from everywhere. It seemed everyone was blitzing. The corners were hitting receivers right at the line, and sticking to them like glue as they ran down the field.

 

It was, in almost every respect, exactly the type of defense Tom Coughlin imagined when he hired Steve Spagnuolo as his defensive coordinator eight months ago.

 

"Yes," Coughlin said yesterday, one day after the Giants got an NFL record-tying 12 sacks in a 16-3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. "The aggressiveness, the playing with confidence, and I think we were very good in coverage as well."

 

The Giants (2-2) were outstanding in all those areas Sunday night as they finally unleashed the Spagnuolo scheme. When the former Eagles assistant was hired on Jan. 22 to replace the fired Tim Lewis, the Giants were hoping he'd bring the attacking defense they had seen so many years from Philadelphia. After studying the scheme this summer, his players were expecting it too.

 

But none of it was evident in the first two games, when the defense was ripped for a league-worst 80 points. With the players struggling to adjust, Spagnuolo had simplified things in an effort to get them to master the basics. The result was a defense that looked passive with just two sacks in the first two games. "That was still us, but we just weren't doing the little things right," linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. "These past couple of games, we're just executing the defense that Spags developed for us."

 

The turnaround began two weeks ago in Washington, when they registered two sacks, made Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell uncomfortable in the pocket, shut out the Skins in the second half and saved the game with a last-minute goal-line stand. That set the stage for Spagnuolo to unleash the full fury of his defense on his old team. The results were incredible. Osi Umenyiora, who overwhelmed Philly's backup left tackle, Winston Justice, set a team record with six sacks. Mathias Kiwanuka (three), Justin Tuck (two) and Michael Strahan (one) got in on the fun, too. Donovan McNabb dropped back to pass 43 times, and was hit on 25 of those plays.

 

Coughlin said a big reason for that success was "obviously the scheme was a little bit more advanced." There were more blitzes from the corners, particularly with rookie Aaron Ross. He continued to use Kiwanuka at both linebacker and on the defensive line, and this time Spagnuolo dropped Tuck and Umenyiora into the linebacker spot as well. Yesterday, Eagles coach Andy Reid admitted the sight of Umenyiora at linebacker caught his team off guard. "Yeah," he said. "That was different."

 

"We have Osi, Strah, Tuck and Kiwi that you can use in so many different ways," Mitchell said. "It was just utilizing the players that we have."

 

On Sunday night, it helped that the secondary coverage was better, too. The corners played better press coverage off the line and Ross, making his first NFL start, proved to be a huge upgrade over Corey Webster. They played "a lot more" of their preferred man-to-man defense, Ross said. "Of course it was a lot easier with the front four getting to McNabb."

 

It all seemed a lot easier when they played the defense the way Spagnuolo always intended.

 

"We have a long way to go, but I think hopefully people will recognize we're a good defense and we believe in ourselves," said Mitchell, who left Kansas City as a free agent to join the Giants. "When we're determined, that's the kind of game we can put together."

 

KICK AROUND: Coughlin again voiced his displeasure with kicker Lawrence Tynes, who missed a 34-yard field goal and an extra point. "I didn't think (the FG) was an especially difficult kick," Coughlin said. He said the snap and hold on both kicks were good enough. He would not rule out bringing in another kicker this week. ... G Chris Snee (knee) and CB Sam Madison (bruised shoulder) had MRIs yesterday. ... RB Brandon Jacobs (knee) should see his practice reps increase this week. ... Rookie WR Steve Smith (shoulder) is "in a holding pattern," Coughlin said, and has not yet been cleared to practice.

 

[jerseygiantfan]

 

NY Jets

at

NY Giants

Sun 1:00 PM ET Jets at Giants

The battle of New York takes place on Sunday with the teams headed in opposite directions. Jets head coach Eric Mangini must find a way to get his team back on track against a Giants team that has won two straight games. Expect Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to continue to rely on RB Thomas Jones to set up the short, controlled passing attack, but he must also find a way to attack vertically down the field against a Giants defense that is quickly improving, especially in the pass rush. Look for Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride to rely on the power running game to take pressure off QB Eli Manning, while Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton must find a way to stop the run and create pressure on Manning with unit that has underachieved all season.

• Complete advance scouting report

[jerseygiantfan]

Jacobs ready to return, but role uncertain

Associated Press, Updated 6 hours ago

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - A little less than a month after spraining his right knee in the season opener, Brandon Jacobs is ready to return to his job as the New York Giants' starting halfback.

 

There's a little problem, though. Derrick Ward has played so well filling in for him that coach Tom Coughlin has to decide how to split the work.

 

The unwritten rule in football is that a starter never loses his job because of an injury, and Jacobs was the successor to the retired Tiki Barber coming into this season.

 

Coughlin refused to say whether Jacobs would start against the Jets (1-3) on Sunday. He intends to wait until the end of the week before making a decision who starts and how much time each player gets.

 

"Obviously there are plays that they would run which would be the same, but there are different reasons for using them and you would like to be able to utilize their talent," Coughlin said.

 

 

Jacobs insisted he was ready to roll, even noting his days on the scout team are over.

 

"I am not Thomas Jones this week," Jacobs said, referring to the Jets' starting halfback. "I will be Brandon Jacobs from here on out. I hope so. I just have to get in and get myself back in that condition to where I am running and cutting and doing all kinds of different things. Today, I felt very good. I am just ready to get out and get it going."

 

While Jacobs wants to play, there is no way the Giants (2-2) can take Ward totally out of the lineup.

 

Ward has rushed for 353 yards on 73 carries, a 4.8-yard average, and he has caught 17 passes for 114 yards. He is tied for ninth in the NFL in rushing with Shaun Alexander of Seattle. His 467 yards from scrimmage are also tied for ninth in the league.

 

Ward is willing to share the load with Jacobs all season.

 

"What he is lacking, I have in my game, and (what) I am lacking, he has in his game," Ward said. "We'll be OK for the rest of the season."

 

When asked to define what each is lacking, Ward stated the obvious about the 6-foot-4, 264-pound Jacobs, who is 5 inches taller and 36 pounds heavier.

 

 

"I'm lacking how big he is," Ward said. "Just look at him. He's just a big boy. It's not fair. I tell everybody: 'It's not fair.' I call him my little big brother. Tiki is my big little brother."

 

The one thing that may make Coughlin's decision a little easier is that Ward has been bothered by a sore ankle the past week. It should clear the way for Jacobs to get some carries.

 

With his size, Jacobs might be a good fit against the Jets. They have a quick defense that is not overly big up front.

 

However, he is leaving the decision up to the coaching staff.

 

"We have no selfish people in our backfield, none whatsoever," Jacobs said. "I would love to get 40 carries and run to daylight every time. That's the way it goes. It's a long season and I hope to have a long career. To avoid having a short career and a short season, you need two backs in the backfield."

[BIGBLUE01]

Jacobs ready to return, but role uncertain

Associated Press, Updated 6 hours ago

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - A little less than a month after spraining his right knee in the season opener, Brandon Jacobs is ready to return to his job as the New York Giants' starting halfback.

 

There's a little problem, though. Derrick Ward has played so well filling in for him that coach Tom Coughlin has to decide how to split the work.

 

The unwritten rule in football is that a starter never loses his job because of an injury, and Jacobs was the successor to the retired Tiki Barber coming into this season.

 

Coughlin refused to say whether Jacobs would start against the Jets (1-3) on Sunday. He intends to wait until the end of the week before making a decision who starts and how much time each player gets.

 

"Obviously there are plays that they would run which would be the same, but there are different reasons for using them and you would like to be able to utilize their talent," Coughlin said.

Jacobs insisted he was ready to roll, even noting his days on the scout team are over.

 

"I am not Thomas Jones this week," Jacobs said, referring to the Jets' starting halfback. "I will be Brandon Jacobs from here on out. I hope so. I just have to get in and get myself back in that condition to where I am running and cutting and doing all kinds of different things. Today, I felt very good. I am just ready to get out and get it going."

 

While Jacobs wants to play, there is no way the Giants (2-2) can take Ward totally out of the lineup.

 

Ward has rushed for 353 yards on 73 carries, a 4.8-yard average, and he has caught 17 passes for 114 yards. He is tied for ninth in the NFL in rushing with Shaun Alexander of Seattle. His 467 yards from scrimmage are also tied for ninth in the league.

 

Ward is willing to share the load with Jacobs all season.

 

"What he is lacking, I have in my game, and (what) I am lacking, he has in his game," Ward said. "We'll be OK for the rest of the season."

 

When asked to define what each is lacking, Ward stated the obvious about the 6-foot-4, 264-pound Jacobs, who is 5 inches taller and 36 pounds heavier.

 

 

"I'm lacking how big he is," Ward said. "Just look at him. He's just a big boy. It's not fair. I tell everybody: 'It's not fair.' I call him my little big brother. Tiki is my big little brother."

 

The one thing that may make Coughlin's decision a little easier is that Ward has been bothered by a sore ankle the past week. It should clear the way for Jacobs to get some carries.

 

With his size, Jacobs might be a good fit against the Jets. They have a quick defense that is not overly big up front.

 

However, he is leaving the decision up to the coaching staff.

 

"We have no selfish people in our backfield, none whatsoever," Jacobs said. "I would love to get 40 carries and run to daylight every time. That's the way it goes. It's a long season and I hope to have a long career. To avoid having a short career and a short season, you need two backs in the backfield."

 

 

Ahhh.....gone, but not forgotten.

[jerseygiantfan]

After sacking Eagles, hungry Giants have appetite for Jets

 

Thursday, October 4th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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Justin Tuck wasn't issuing any warnings or threats to Chad Pennington, but after what the Giants did to Donovan McNabb, it sure sounded ominous.

 

"We are going to try and get after him like we got after McNabb," Tuck said yesterday.

 

The Giants sacked McNabb 12 times Sunday night, tying an NFL record. Osi Umenyiora picked up six of them, one short of the record. Mathias Kiwanuka had three, Tuck two and Michael Strahan one. "We put up great numbers," linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "For us to do that again would be a miracle."

 

All of a sudden, a defense that was inept for the first two games has become a sack machine that can't be scored upon. In the first 10 quarters of the season, the Giants gave up 97 points. In the last six quarters, they've given up three.

 

Now it's Pennington's turn to dodge the rush in the Battle of New York on Sunday. He doesn't have the wheels under ideal circumstances to run away from Umenyiora and Co. And he was still limping around yesterday after severely spraining his ankle in the season opener, which further limits his mobility. The Giants just took advantage of McNabb, who is coming off ACL surgery and doesn't get around nearly as well as he did earlier in his career.

 

Pennington returned home from Buffalo in time Sunday night to turn on the Giants game. After watching a little bit, he said, "I got the gist of what was going on," and hit the remote.

 

"Yes," Tuck said. "He's thinking about us."

 

How could he not?

 

The Jets will certainly adjust their protection to make sure Pennington doesn't get McNabbed. "Osi got a couple of texts (messages) from Thomas Jones saying he is going to get chipped a lot this week," Tuck said. "We know guys are going to do a lot more to keep us off of Pennington this week and every other quarterback."

 

Does Pennington's style make him a sitting duck, Tuck was asked.

 

"Kind of. I guess you could say that," he said. "It's probably the reason why he is so good in this system. He's a pocket quarterback. He has a 105 quarterback rating. He has it for a reason. He's getting the ball out of his hands. He knows exactly where to throw the ball when he sees blitz. That is invaluable as a quarterback. It doesn't give you much time to get back there to him. In a way, he's a sitting duck. But in this scheme, it kind of benefits him."

 

Pennington does get rid of the ball in a hurry. The Jets rarely throw downfield, which is the weakness of the Giants' defense. The quick throws can help nullify the pass rush, but they also require long drives to get into the end zone.

 

The Giants are no longer shooting jump shots after sacks. Now the sacker stands there as if he has a spoon in his hand and feeds himself. "We're hungry," Pierce said.

 

How did this explosion happen Sunday night against Philly?

 

Eagles left tackle William Thomas was out with a knee injury and Winston Justice was getting his first start. Justice gave up four of the sacks to Umenyiora as Eagles coach Andy Reid stubbornly refused to give him any help. The Eagles were without Brian Westbrook. And the fact McNabb doesn't run very much anymore made him easy pickings for the Giants defense.

 

And when Tuck, normally a defensive end, and Kiwanuka, a defensive end switched to linebacker this year, move inside to defensive tackle on passing downs, joining Umenyiora and Strahan in what is the new Sack Exchange, the Giants can really get after the quarterback.

 

Strahan is still getting so much respect with double teams that Umenyiora is the beneficiary. Jets left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a much better player than Justice, but Strahan might be able to take advantage of right tackle Anthony Clement. When the Giants go to their Fearsome Foursome pass rushers, they will surely aim their pressure up the middle at left guard Adrien Clarke, the weakest link in the Jets' offensive line.

 

Ferguson has no interest in watching Umenyiora run by him like he did against the Eagles. "You definitely see that and say, 'I don't want that to happen to me or this organization,'" he said. "It is real important to watch the tape and develop a game plan. We are doing that."

 

The Jets may be helped because they played the Giants a little over one month ago in the preseason. But teams rarely unveil much in practice games, especially when they will play again during the season. So, other than the experience of going against Umenyiora for a couple of quarters, it's debatable how much Ferguson was able to go to school that night.

 

In four games, Pennington has been sacked only six times. But in the first three games, McNabb had been sacked five times. The downside of using the four defensive ends together is the Giants are vulnerable against the run. If the Jets can establish Jones, it will slow down the Giants' pass rush.

 

The Jets need to keep Pennington on his feet. The Giants want to turn him into McNabb.

[jerseygiantfan]

New York Showdown

On Sunday, Coughlin will face the Jets for the first time in the regular season as the Giants head coach.

By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

 

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October 5, 2007

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – A familiar dance is followed whenever the Giants and Jets play one of their infrequent regular season games. Members of the media spend the week prior to the game trying to goad the players into making inflammatory comments about the regional rivalry. The players try their best to debunk that concept while pointing out that games against division foes are most important. Then the game is played and afterward, everyone admits that, yeah, it was something special.

 

This will be QB Eli Manning's first game against the Jets during the regular season

 

It certainly was in 1988. The teams met in the regular season finale with the Giants needing to beat a Jets team that had won just seven games to make the playoffs. The Jets scored a touchdown in the final minute to win, 27-21, and the Giants took their 10-6 record home for the winter.

 

“That was really disappointing to everybody in the organization,” said Tom Coughlin, then in his first season as a Giants assistant coach.

 

On Sunday, Coughlin will face the Jets for the first time in the regular season as the Giants head coach. And though no postseason berth is on the line, the stakes are high for two teams that started this season 0-2.

 

The Giants will try to win their third straight game and thrust themselves into the thick of the NFC playoff race. The 1-3 Jets will try to win their second game and avoid falling too far behind New England in the AFC East race. And added to that importance will be the spectacle that is a Giants-Jets game. Fans of both teams will be in full throat. The players, many of whom know each other, will compete fiercely. The head coaches, who have shared a table at a wedding, will try to outsmart each other.

 

“Without a doubt, there is a feeling,” Coughlin said of the rivalry. “It starts when you play each other in preseason, which we do. It is an intense game even though it is a preseason game. People get after it, it is an important game, and naturally we are both New York teams, so that is important as well.”

 

The Giants have talked all week about beginning the second segment of their season, and, with Coughlin leading the way, the need to improve in all phases of the game. The focus is how they play, not who they play.

 

“You treat it like another game,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “It is going to be a tough battle. They are a good team. We played them in preseason (a 20-12 Jets victory), we know what they are like from a physical standpoint, so we have to go out there and play top quality football if we expect to win.”

 

“They’re a great team,” tight end Jeremy Shockey said. “Their record could be the complete opposite of what it is right now if things had gone their way. We’re 2-2. We can do a lot better. I don’t think anybody is satisfied. Everybody is working to get better.”

 

But in the back of everyone’s mind is the fact that the team on the other sideline is the Jets. No one wants to lose to the neighbors, because it will set them back on the field and put them in an uncomfortable position when they see their adversaries at joint community and charitable events.

 

“It’s a big game and obviously it’s a big rivalry,” center Shaun O’Hara said. “It’s the New York Jets and the New York Giants. That’s enough said. You don’t really have to explain it.”

 

“The Jets are a good football team, we see them all the time,” said running back Brandon Jacobs, who will return to action after missing the previous three games with a knee injury. “We have to go in there and play hard. You don’t want to be humiliated every time you see them, so you have to go in and play hard and try to get that win.”

 

The Giants come in as the hotter team, having defeated NFC East foes Washington and Philadelphia in their previous two games. The Jets earned their first victory two weeks against Miami, but lost last week at Buffalo.

 

Against the Eagles, the Giants defense tied an NFL record with 12 sacks. The Jets have three sacks all season. But don’t try to present that or other statistics to the Giants as evidence that they enter this game at an advantage.

 

“I don’t believe in the word 'struggling,'” O’Hara said. “Two weeks ago they were calling us a struggling team. It’s a short walk from the outhouse to the penthouse. It’s a big game for us, because it’s an opportunity for us to win our third game in a row.”

 

“It may be that they don’t have a lot of big plays but their consistency, their completion percentage, their quarterback rating, those are extremely high,” Coughlin said. “That hits you right off the bat. They do have playmakers and they do have guys that are capable of obviously putting the ball in the end zone. You have to take all these things into consideration.”

 

Also not to be ignored about the Jets is the fact that they harbor the same goals of hometown superiority as the Giants. At the same time, the Giants want to demonstrate that the home they share is more than Giants Stadium in name only. That will certainly add some fuel to the fire for Sunday’s game.

 

“The onus is on us,” O’Hara said. “The fans are only going to cheer when we play well. We have to come out and play well and give them something to cheer about. As long as we’re playing well, they’ll be cheering. Every game is a fun game. We have an opportunity to try to win three in a row. That’s really our focus, whether it’s the Jets or a division opponent.”

 

“We know this is our stadium,” said running back Derrick Ward, who was a Jets draft choice in 2004. “Our name is on the stadium. We just want to show them that we are the best team in New York. We are playing real well right now on defense and special teams. On offense we need to buckle it down a little bit more, start finishing up some of the long gains that we get in yardage. We haven’t been able to capitalize on touchdowns yet, but I feel that we will get it back together on Sunday.”

 

With the Giants setting some lofty goals and the Jets on the other side of the field, that would be a great time to break out.

 

*Wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) and defensive end Osi Umenyiora (knee) did not practice today and are listed as questionable. Burress is out of practice on a long-term basis while the Giants manage his injury. He has continued to play. Umenyiora, who had a team-record six sacks last week, is feeling soreness in the knee he hurt in the season opener in Dallas. He said he expects to play Sunday.

 

“There are always medical people involved and they are going to make whatever decision has to be made,” Coughlin said. “Right now, I think he has made good progress, he is better than he was yesterday. So we are very hopeful.”

 

The Giants listed five players as probable: Running backs Brandon Jacobs (knee) and Derrick Ward (ankle), defensive end Michael Strahan (knee), guard Chris Snee (knee) and safety Gibril Wilson (hip). Strahan and Ward were limited in practice, the other three players practiced fully.

 

*Coughlin was pleased with the practice week of kicker Lawrence Tynes, who missed an extra point and a 34-yard field goal attempt last week.

 

“He has had a good week of practice. I am hoping that carries over,” Coughlin said. “He has gone back and reviewed and analyzed everything and put himself through the mechanics of the whole situation. We have come up with a couple of little things that have helped him. We normally do it almost three days a week where at some point in practice he kicks field goals and he has done well every day."

 

*The Giants signed wide receiver Anthony Mix to their practice squad. Mix was waived on Wednesday when the Giants were awarded Domenik Hixon via waivers. Mix caught three passes in the Green Bay game. He spent the entire 2006 season on the Giants’ practice squad. To make room for Mix, the Giants terminated the practice squad contract of wide receiver of Todd Lowber.

 

*Jessie Armstead, who played in five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1997-2001, will be the Giants’ honorary captain on Sunday. Armstead was a volunteer linebackers coach in training camp.

 

*Sunday marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Volunteers will be on hand to accept donations from fans and sell caps, T-shirts and wrist bands in the parking lots and inside each Giants Stadium gate.

 

Last year, the Giants raised more than $50,000 and donated $15,000 of that to Zeta Tau Alpha and Susan G. Koman foundations. The Giants are also working with the Breast Cancer Task Force this year and are attempting to raise $70,000 for them. That money will translate into $1 million in breast cancer health care for uninsured women and men.

 

During pre-game ceremonies, the Giants will host 25 breast cancer survivors who will be wearing pink T-shirts. Survivors will also be part of the volunteer corps.

 

Marianne Vogt, a breast cancer survivor and a long-time Giants employee, will be one of the honorary captains for the coin toss. She will represent cancer survivors.

 

Linebacker Gerris Wilkinson will be producing a public service announcement in memory of his mother, who died of cancer when he was a senior at Georgia Tech. Wilkinson will represent those who have lost loved ones to cancer.

 

Melissa Jiminez, a representative from the Breast Treatment Task Force, will sing the National Anthem.

[jerseygiantfan]

Umenyiora (sore knee) misses practice

Associated Press, Updated 18 hours ago

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed his second straight practice Friday because of a sore left knee.

 

Umenyiora, the NFC's defensive player of the week after he sacked Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb a team-record six times and forced two fumbles Sunday night, has said he still expects to play against the New York Jets on Sunday.

 

He initially injured the knee in the Giants opening game at Dallas on Sept. 9.

 

"Right now, I think he has made good progress, he is better than he was yesterday," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Friday. "So we are very hopeful."

 

Umenyiora and wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) were both listed as questionable for Sunday.

 

Burress sprained his right ankle in early August in training camp and re-injured it against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 16. He has been kept out of practice but has played in all four Giants games.

[jerseygiantfan]

Jeremy Shockey hopes he'll catch fire for Giants

 

BY RALPH VACCHIANO

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Saturday, October 6th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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After three years of barely veiled frustration with his role in the Giants' offense, this finally was supposed to be the year when Jeremy Shockey realized his full potential. He felt relatively healthy and a new offensive coordinator promised to find ways to get him more involved.

 

Yet four games into the season, Shockey is still looking for his first touchdown catch, and he's coming off a game in which he had just one grab for 17 yards. As the offense has grown stagnant, his lack of impact has become startling.

 

And he knows it. There's just not a lot he can do.

 

"Obviously, I want to catch the ball more," Shockey said. "I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't. But when I'm asked to block I'll do the best that I can. Obviously I'd love not to block ever, just catch balls. But that's not going to happen."

 

It's been a long time since the 27-year-old Shockey had a truly big game as a receiver. It certainly hasn't happened this season, in which he's had just 16 catches for 197 yards, including a high of five catches for 79 yards against the Redskins two weeks ago. He had only two games with more than six catches last season, and hasn't had a 10-catch game since Dec.11, 2005.

 

That game in Philadelphia also was the last time he had more than 100 receiving yards (107).

 

Given the struggles the Giants have had in the passing game the last three weeks, they could use a big game from Shockey tomorrow against the Jets, whose smallish secondary figures to have enough problems covering the Giants' big receivers, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer. It could be a nightmare for them if the 6-5 Shockey is on his game, too.

 

"We try." Tom Coughlin said. "We have Jeremy involved in the offense every week. It's an objective of ours, obviously, to make sure that the guys that can be in position to make the difference in the game have that opportunity. Sometimes it doesn't work out as planned."

 

There are plenty of theories about why Shockey isn't as involved as he would like. He clearly believes it's because he's asked to block more often than other tight ends in the league. But he's also had several key drops this season.

 

And then there are the injuries that have plagued him over the years - ankles, toes, fingers ... even a fractured chest bone. The injuries have taken a toll on his body over the last six seasons.

 

"This is a young man's game," he said. "Obviously I'm not 21 anymore. A bunch of things have changed, a bunch of elements, a bunch of pieces to the puzzle have gone elsewhere. It's just not the same."

 

OSI STALLED: DE Osi Umenyiora (knee) did not practice for the second consecutive day. Coughlin said "he's made good progress," but he's still questionable for the game. ... Burress (ankle) did not practice all week, but is expected to play. ... RB Brandon Jacobs (knee) said he's ready to go after a full week of practice.

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Rookie Aaron Ross' two interceptions lead Giants over Jets

 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Sunday, October 7th 2007, 9:01 PM

 

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Last week, it was a sack extravaganza. This time, the New York Giants' defense did it with interceptions.

 

Rookie Aaron Ross returned the second of his first two NFL interceptions 43 yards for a touchdown with just over 3 minutes remaining to seal a 35-24 victory over the Jets on Sunday in the latest Battle of New York.

 

A week after getting 12 sacks against Philadelphia, the Giants only had one - by Osi Umenyiora with less than 3 minutes left - but intercepted Chad Pennington three times. The last was the most costly as the Jets were driving for a potential go-ahead score.

 

Pennington, who had good protection by the offensive line all game, threw a pass to Jerricho Cotchery but Ross stepped in front of it and took off down the left sideline and into the end zone with the partisan Giants fans on their feet screaming. After trailing by 10 at halftime, the Giants (3-2) took over in the second half and beat the Jets (1-4) for the seventh time in 11 meetings.

 

Eli Manning recovered from a miserable opening half to finish 13-of-25 for 186 yards with touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey and one interception. Brandon Jacobs had 100 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in his first game since spraining a knee in the season opener.

 

Pennington finished 21-of-36 for 229 yards and a touchdown to Brad Smith, but the three interceptions sunk the Jets.

 

After Ross' first pick, the Giants drove 98 yards and took their first, 28-24, on Burress' 53-yard touchdown reception with 7:52 left. Two plays after David Harris was called for a personal foul after horsecollaring Derrick Ward, Manning found Burress down the left sideline. Burress stiffarmed cornerback Andre Dyson, high-stepped out of a tackle and streaked down the sideline into the end zone.

 

The Giants got within 24-21 with an efficient drive that was capped by a 13-yard touchdown catch by Shockey with 33 seconds left in the third quarter. The drive was prolonged when linebacker Jonathan Vilma was called offsides on a third-and-4 play.

 

Kerry Rhodes returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown to give the Jets a 7-0 lead with 8:36 left in the first quarter. The playmaking safety ripped the ball out of the left arm of Jacobs. The ball bounced to the right sideline and Rhodes picked it up and ran into the end zone untouched.

 

After Mike Nugent was wide left on a 42-yard attempt, the Giants marched down the field and tied it on Ward's 8-yard run up the middle 4:06 into the second quarter.

 

The Jets went ahead 14-7 just before the half on Smith's first NFL touchdown, a 16-yard catch over Kevin Dockery in the right corner of the end zone.

 

On the Giants' first play of their next possession, the Jets took advantage of another turnover as Manning was intercepted by Vilma.

 

After Leon Washington lost 2 yards on a run, the Jets ran the clock down to 4 seconds and Nugent made up for his earlier miss by kicking a 47-yarder.

 

Manning went 3-of-10 for 22 yards, 20 on a pass to Shockey, and the interception in the opening half.

 

The Giants came out inspired for the second half, making it 17-14 on a 19-yard rumble by Jacobs.

 

Washington then erased any momentum the Giants might have gotten by taking the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, his second this season. Washington took the ball from the 2, scooted up the middle, shed a few tackle attempts, the last by the kicker Lawrence Tynes, and scooted into the end zone to make it 24-14.

 

Washington, who replaced the injured Justin Miller as the Jets' primary kick returner, also had a 98-yard return against Miami in Week 3.

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants want to play from ahead

 

BY RALPH VACCHIANO

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Tuesday, October 9th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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Being labeled the Comeback Kid isn't so bad for Eli Manning. He would just prefer the Giants didn't have to keep coming back all the time.

 

Despite the excitement of three straight wins, Manning knows the Giants (3-2) are playing a dangerous game since two of those victories came after they trailed in the fourth quarter. That's good, since it means they have been at their best when it matters most.

 

But it also means they've gotten off to maddeningly slow starts in each of those games, especially on offense. They just wish they could somehow get things started earlier in their games.

 

"No, you don't want to be known as (a slow-starting team)," Manning said yesterday, one day after he engineered a come-from-behind 35-24 win over the Jets. "But I think it's also good to be known as a team that in the fourth quarter they're playing at their best. Usually that's where you're going to win games."

 

That's exactly what the Giants weren't doing during their 0-2 start, when they were outscored in the fourth quarter 35-16. In the three games since, they've won the fourth quarters 28-3.

 

And that's nothing new to Manning and the Giants. Since he took over as the team's starting quarterback midway through the 2004 season, he has overcome fourth-quarter deficits to tie the game or take the lead in 10 of his 44 starts. That would be an impressive total, except that the Giants won only six of those 10 games.

 

"We don't want to have to rely on (coming back) all the time," Manning said. "You'd like to go out there and build a lead to where you can run the ball and control the clock. We've got to work on coming out there and being sharp and playing better in the first half."

 

"We shouldn't have to play that way to win a football game in the fourth quarter," added Plaxico Burress. "We should have that attitude from the opening kickoff and not have to go in at halftime and make adjustments. We should start the game fast, the way we ended it. If we could start games the way we ended it, who knows how good we can be?"

 

That question nagged at them in the aftermath of the victory over the Jets, considering they trailed 17-7 at the half and 24-21 in the fourth quarter. One big reason for the slow start was that Burress admitted to being "real ginger" on his sprained right ankle in a first half in which he had no catches and Manning was just 3-for-10 for 22 yards.

 

In the second half, Burress said, "Screw it. I'm just going to go out and play and see what happens." He finished with five catches for 123 yards and that highlight-reel, 53-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter on which he stiff-armed Jets cornerback Andre Dyson just six yards into the play.

 

His ability to bounce back from a shaky start was impressive. Tom Coughlin felt the same way about his entire team.

 

"There is great confidence that comes out of that," Coughlin said. "But as I told them at the end of the game, we certainly don't need to spot the other guy a 17-7 (lead)."

 

"I think we'd like to come out and get a better start and find a way to be more in sync in the first half," Manning said. "But we're fighting. We're not getting frustrated. We're not getting down, and that's good to see."

 

"When we have to go out and play, we go out and play," Burress added. "When we need to go out and do something, we do it. But it shouldn't have to be that way all the time."

 

[jerseygiantfan]

 

Michael Strahan finds marital blitz in new book

 

Wednesday, October 10th 2007, 1:23 PM

 

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Over 15 years as a defensive end with the New York Giants, Michael Strahan has built a highly lucrative reputation for bursting through opposing offensive lines, powering into their backfields and mashing quarterbacks' faces into the dirt.

 

But in his new autobiography, "Inside the Helmet" (Gotham Books), which hit bookstores yesterday, Strahan takes a different tack toward ex-wife Jean, with whom he recently went through a singularly nasty divorce.

 

He accuses her of cleaning more than $3.3 million out of their bank account, getting him arrested without cause and keeping reporters "on speed dial" to feed them unsubstantiated allegations about his life and character.

 

In the end, he says, she cost him millions and tarnished his reputation, not to mention tying him up with endless financial paperwork.

 

So "Inside the Helmet" would seem to be the perfect vehicle through which he could strike back, or at least set his side of the record straight.

 

But after he discusses Jean for less than two pages of a 297-page book, he suddenly stops, and the reader can almost see a smile spreading across his face.

 

"She tried to smear my name, hoping I would cry mercy and offer to settle," he writes.

 

"What she didn't realize was how happy I was with her out of my day-to-day life. It was as if the sun had been set for years but overnight it shined again.

 

"As badly as she tried to kill me in the press, I was too happy to really care."

 

And with that, he's off on another trail, explaining the impact of salary comparisons on the inner dynamics of a football team.

 

As for Jean, he never gets back to her. That's that.

 

It's a classic tack lifted directly from the Westerns and gangster films that are blood brethren to the macho world of pro football. The good guy corners his tormenter, cocks his gun and, just as the tormenter is reduced to a pile of pleading, whimpering Jell-O, he puts the gun back in his pocket and sneers, "Get outta here! You ain't worth the bullet."

 

In Wild West culture, it was much more humiliating to be judged insignificant than to be shot to pieces, and that's clearly Michael Strahan's goal here.

 

Unless, of course, he's just plain tired of revisiting a marriage best summarized by the fact it ended with a tag sale at a multimillion-dollar mansion.

 

"We fought much more than we loved," he writes, a confession that may seem to contradict the upbeat, friendly, playful image Strahan has always projected in his very public football life.

 

Perhaps to reaffirm that better image, then, he spends much of "Inside the Helmet" talking about the childish pleasures of playing a game for a living.

 

Hundreds of pages before he gets to Jean, Strahan recounts in detail dozens of practical jokes he has seen or initiated in locker rooms.

 

These include giving an unnamed player phony legal papers saying that a recent one-night stand was suing him for half his net worth and ordering that he show up in family court with a lawyer and a list of his assets.

 

That's the sophisticated end of the jokes. At the other end, Strahan relates how center Shaun O'Hara once cut a hole in the crotch of his pants so that when young quarterback Eli Manning put his hands down for the ball, he ended up instead with - well, as Strahan writes, "Now that's nasty!"

 

Strahan calls O'Hara "a sick, deranged, psychotic, yet unbelievably clever human being."

 

That's a compliment in a world where a grinding routine of training sessions and game preparation is made more bearable by moments like the first day that rookie tight end Jeremy Shockey came to training camp.

 

A ritual of camp is that rookies must, on command, stand up during a meal and shout out their school, draft round and signing bonus.

 

When Shockey was ordered by Brandon Short to do so, he took his time and ended with the sarcastic crack, "Is that loud enough for you, B-Short?"

 

To which Short responded by sprinting across the room and blasting right into Shockey, crashing a table to the floor and sending food flying everywhere.

 

Best fight ever, says Strahan, who savors the memory so much that he probably would have been happy to spend the whole book reconstructing it.

 

Now in what's expected to be the final year of his career, Strahan seems to have mostly shrugged off the day-to-day frustrations of football life: the cheap shots, a few dopey teammates, even the fact he claims he remembers nothing of the Super Bowl game in which he played.

 

He does acknowledge a shadow, however, which is the physical toll from constantly slamming into other football players.

 

"I don't think the human body was made for football," he muses, explaining that the currency for playing every Sunday is drugs, mostly large quantities of painkillers and anti-inflammatories.

 

Steroids aren't a big deal in pro football, he suggests, but without Lidocaine, some clubs might find it hard on any given Sunday to field a full team.

 

The main problem, he says, is that Lidocaine numbs pain so effectively that if you have a cracked rib, you might not notice if someone broke it, or poked it into your lung.

 

The "great hypocrisy" of the NFL, he says, is that "you want to beat a guy's a- if he's using the wrong stuff, like street drugs, but you [also] want to beat his a- if he's not willing to take the legal stuff to get himself out there with us."

 

Pervasive? If Strahan is an example, yes.

 

"During the season, I live on these pills," he writes. "Every single day of my life I have to wake up to a checklist of what's working and what's not."

 

As for potential long-term consequences, there are those, too: "Ten years from now, my wounds won't be honorable. They will just suck."

 

But for right now, says "Inside the Helmet," he's too happy just being alive and free and Michael Strahan to dwell on anything that's not worth a bullet.

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

That is always what cracks me up about a lot of players who played in the 70's and 80's when they claim how tough they were/are compared to the sissies of today. Listen back then guys were getting cortisone injections on the sidelines in between plays....and look at them now...most are physical wreaks.

[jerseygiantfan]

Tom Coughlin to Brandon Jacobs: Get a grip!

 

BY HANK GOLA

 

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Friday, October 12th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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The Falcons do a pretty good job of stripping the football and Tom Coughlin is emphasizing that to Brandon Jacobs, whose straight-up running style can leave the ball exposed.

 

"He is up a lot because he is a powerful man and the power is moving," Coughlin said yesterday. "Whenever that occurs, you obviously give the opposition a chance to get more people in grabbing for the ball and stripping for the ball, which is something that will happen this week."

 

Jacobs was stripped by the Jets' Kerry Rhodes on Sunday in a one-on-one situation. Coughlin says he speaks to Jacobs about ball security "endlessly." Jacobs blamed rust. "I was out three weeks and I hadn't carried the ball in three weeks," Jacobs said yesterday.

 

CATCHING ON: Steve Smith returned to practice in pads for the first time since he fractured his shoulder blade against the Packers in Week 2 but the Giants' rookie wide receiver still looks another week away.

 

DE Osi Umenyiora rested a knee while Burress continued to nurse his ankle, as usual.

 

RETURN FAVOR: Coughlin's other concern is the kick coverage team, which allowed the Jets' Leon Washington to bring one back for a TD and was saved from it happening again by one ankle tackle. The Giants are 31st in the league and last in the NFC in opponents' average starting field position.

 

"A lot of it is getting off the individual blocks, particularly our case from the back side," he said.

 

Atlanta's Jerious Norwood has returned three kicks for 144 yards, including a 76-yard jaunt in Tennessee last week. ... In his only career start against the Giants, a 28-13 win with the Lions in 2004, Joey Harrington completed 18 of 22 passes for 230 yards with two TDs and no interceptions

 

IN MEMORIAM: Former Giants tackle Dewitt (Tex) Coulter died in Austin after a lengthy illness. He was 83. An All-American on Army's 1945 national championship team, Coulter played left tackle for the Giants from 1946-1952. He made the All-Pro team in 1948 and 1949. - Gola

 

[jerseygiantfan]

Giants' pass rushers may feast on Falcons

 

BY HANK GOLA

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Friday, October 12th 2007, 4:00 AM

 

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* Click here to play GIANTS Pick'em

* Read Ralph Vacchiano's The Blue Screen

 

 

When the Giants racked up 12 sacks against Donovan McNabb two Sundays ago, Osi Umenyiora, responsible for half of them, said it was a once in a lifetime thing.

 

How about twice in three weeks?

 

Everything is in place for another field day on Monday night now that the Falcons have lost both of their starting tackles in the same week and replaced them with two guys making their first starts at the position.

 

It's enough to even make Giants offensive tackle Kareem McKenzie cringe.

 

"It's quite a tragedy. That's tough, to lose the two bookends of your offensive line. Man, I've never heard of that, ever," McKenzie said. "But you know what? If you've prepared them well, it shouldn't be that difficult. It's just like changing a spare tire."

 

Tell that to embattled first-year coach Bobby Petrino. To him, it's not a spare tire, it's the pits. Having lost left tackle Wayne Gandy for the season and right tackle Todd Weiner for two to three weeks, Petrino must plug in free agent rookie Renardo Foster at left tackle against Umenyiora. Tyson Clabo, a second-year pro who started 10 games at guard last year, will play right tackle against Michael Strahan.

 

"They are looking forward to the challenge," Petrino said, bravely. Of course, he doesn't have to block, although he does have to come up with a game plan.

 

What to do? Ugh. First of all, his starting quarterback is Joey Harrington, who tends to come apart under any kind of pass rush. His backup is the immobile Byron Leftwich. If the Falcons can't run the ball (they have averaged under 100 yards so far), they'll have to come up with some sort of protection scheme that will work better than last year's, when the Giants sacked the elusive Michael Vick seven times.

 

Unfortunately for the Falcons, they can't slide the protection both ways and that has to have the Giants' pass rushers licking their chops, even if it's in silence.

 

As tackle Barry Cofield said, "Whenever you get younger guys in there, guys who lack experience, you're excited to see what they're going to do under pressure. They'll be tested on Monday."

 

Neither Strahan nor Umenyiora was available for comment yesterday and the company line, begun by backup defensive end Justin Tuck, is that these replacements are NFL players who get paid. Tuck even suggested the Giants may be at a disadvantage not knowing much about these guys.

 

Once he regained his senses, however, Tuck put it into perspective:

 

"We can expect to see a lot of double tight ends, backs that chip, sliding both ways," he said. "But I mean, lucky for us, it's pick your poison. You've got Strahan and Kiwi (linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka) on one end, me and Osi on the other."

 

On a conference call with Atlanta writers two days ago, Umenyiora was careful. But he did manage to say, "We are going to try to bring the heat every single time. If things fall into place like they have been the last couple of weeks, I think we'll be OK."

 

For their part, Foster and Clabo are also saying the right things.

 

"They're obviously top tier as far as their front goes," said Clabo, hoping to "compete" after his move outside.

 

"It's a huge challenge," he continued. "We're going to rise and hit it head on."

 

Meanwhile, center Todd McClure, the veteran of the group, has been offering his support,

 

"They are great players," he said of Strahan and Umenyiora. "But they are not Supermen."

 

Maybe not. But two weeks ago, they were speeding bullets, Umenyiora in particular.

 

"I was talking to Strahan and in 15 years in the league, he's never been involved in something like that," said Tuck. "It was one of those days when we couldn't do anything wrong."

 

The perfect storm, Tuck was asked?

 

"Kind of ... definitely," he said.

 

Can lightning strike twice?

 

Said Tuck, "I hope so."