Big Blue are GIANTS...Again!!

New York comes from behind to shock New England for the second time in four years.

Giants - 21  Patriots - 17

The Giants were dominant at times. They were sloppy at times. At the end of the game, however, Eli Manning and the G-Men did what they have all season - they found a way to win it at the end.

The Giants dominated the first half, but a questionable holding call on New York guard Kevin Boothe turn the game around. Instead of potentially going up two scores at halftime the Giants were forced to punt and Tom Brady led New England on an epic 14 play, 96 yard touchdown drive to take a 10-9 lead at the intermission.

The Patriots continued to roll by scoring another touchdown to start the second half and extend its lead to 17-9. The TD reception by TE Aaron Hernandez would be the last points scored by New England for the rest of the season. The Giants offense moved the ball all game, but failed to put the ball in the endzone as the Patriots defense stiffened in the redzone. Sloppy play also hurt Big Blue offensively at times as Eli Manning had to burn turn timeouts early in the fourth quarter while fumbles by Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Ahmed Bradshaw were bailed out by a defensive penalty and recoveries by FB Henry Hynoski and OT Kareem McKenzie.

A missed opportunity by Brady and Wes Welker later, the Giants trailed 17 - 15 with 3:46 remaining in the game as Manning led his team on the field. On the first play of the drive from their own 12 yard line New York's franchise quarterback launched a picture perfect pass down the left sideline to receiver Mario Manningham who made a sensational play to catch the ball cleanly and keep his feet inbounds. As good as the athletic display by the Giants' wideout to come down with the ball the throw by the elite Eli was even better. At that point, it wasn't a matter of if the Giants would score and take the lead, but how much time would be left when they did.

Super Bowl XLVI was a microcosm of the Giants' 2011 season. Just when it looked like all hope was lost for Tom Coughlin and his team, Big Blue found themselves with one last chance - and Eli Manning proved yet again he knows what to do with it.

Was there ever any doubt? Game, set, match.

Bleeding Links: Super Bowl Edition

Super Bowl XLVI is less than 24 hours away. Stories upon stories on the Giants, Patriots, and Big Game have been feature this week leading up to tomorrow evening. Below are links to the some of the best content around web surrounding the NFL's signature event.

1. Giants.com gaffe prematurely crowns G-Men as Super Bowl XLVI champions

2. Patriots release WR Underwood on the eve of Super Bowl

3. Giants' ability to 'Finish' has them on cusp of Super season

4. Missy Modell music video for the 'The G-Men Are Back Again'

5. Not to be outdone, Pats fans exclaim 'I Wanna Gronk'

6. Eli letting his play change outside perceptions

7. Giants' DEs bring the pressure

8. The mysterious role of Belichick's right hand man, Ernie Adams 

9. WFAN's Mike Francesa interviews Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin

10. Super Bowl XLVI match-up unlike any other history

Super Bowl XLVI Countdown Begins

The highly anticipated NFL Pro Bowl was played tonight. For those who care, the AFC was victorious. Football fans now only have one game left on the schedule to look forward to. Hardcore fans who still want to see more football after tonight can look forward to some game called the "Super Bowl" that is now less than a week away.

Until then, everyone has the pleasure to enjoy an overabundance of mostly worthless media coverage that surrounds America's marque sporting event. Next Sunday can't come soon enough.

In the meantime, here is an excellent NFL Films highlight package from Showtime's Inside The NFL of the New York Giants victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

Giant Run Propels Big Blue Back to Super Bowl

The New York Football Giants went 9-7 during the 2012 regular season....and now the G-Men find themselves in the Super Bowl. The Giants struggled with consistency all season on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the team could never find a running game while defensively a propensity to give up big plays plagued them. Only the thing the Giants could rely on was the right arm of Eli Manning and his big play receivers coming from behind and pulling games out in the 4th quarter.

After a four game losing streak in November most observers expected the Giants to continue a seemingly yearly late season collapse and fade into oblivion. Instead, with Eli leading the charge the rest of his teammates finally caught up and put things together in the nick of time. The running game improved and defensively this unit looks like an entirely different squad than the one that showed up earlier in the season. The Giants entered the playoffs peaking at the right time. The end result has been another magical run that has resulted in second Super Bowl appearance in five seasons and a rematch with the Patriots.

More analysis to follow. In the meantime, checkout the highlights from the Giants' triumphs in Green Bay and San Fransisco.

Giants - 37, Packers - 20

Giants - 20, 49ers - 17

Giant Run Erases Talk of "Coughlin Collapse"

Bleeding Sports resident General Manager Be Nasty has been a long time critic of New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and his coaching staff. Mr. Nasty like to make reference to the annual "Coughlin Collapse" where the Giants usually start the season off fast only to fall apart during the second half of the schedule.

Earlier in the season, the Bleeding Sports GM provided the below analysis to support his incessant clamoring for the franchise to making a coaching change.

NY Giants record under Coughlin - First half of season vs. second half:

2004 - Final record: 6-10
1st Half:  5-3
2nd Half: 1-7
* No playoffs

2005 - 11-5
6-2
5-3
* Lost to Panthers at home in Wild Card round of playoffs

2006 - 8-8
6-2
2-6
* Lost at Eagles in Wild Card game

2007 - 10-6
6-2
4-4
* Spags wins them the Super Bowl  
(Notice no credit given to Coughlin)

2008 - 12-4
7-1
5-3
* Lost 3 out of last 4
* Lost to Eagles at home in Divisional round

2009 - 8-8
5-3
3-5
* Started 5-0 then lost 4 straight
* Pathetic losses to Saints, Chargers, Broncos, Panthers, and Vikings
* Charger game was a Coughlin time management blunder as usual
* No playoffs

2010 - 10-6
6-2
4-4
"You can kiss my a$$!" ~ Coughlin Collapse
* No playoffs

This season the after another strong start (6-2), the #NYG didn't fair much better going 3-5 in their last 8 contest. The difference this year is the Giants won the games they had to have down the stretch. New York won three of their last four games including the two wins against Dallas to overtake the Cowboys as NFC East champions. There were certainly reasons to once again doubt the passion of Coughlin's squad after a horrible home loss to Washington. For all their faults, however, the Giants were able to rediscover its vaunted pass rush led by monster Jason Pierre Paul and develop a component running game to complement Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and company on offense just in the nick of time.

Mr. Nasty makes some valid points, but fails to give Coughlin credit for leading the Giants to a Super Bowl championship against in '07 and division titles in 2005, 2008, and this season. The Super Bowl victory against the previously unbeaten, "greatest team ever" New England Patriots was historic and capped off the most remarkable playoff run in NFL history. Even the most passionate Coughlin haters would be hard pressed to label that season as a collapse and while the defense led the way it was a team effort led by its head coach.

As for the 2011 season, while not pretty, the Giants made the playoffs a division champions. Coach Coughlin has emphasized that its all about getting into the tournament and giving yourself a chance to win a championship. The Giants are playing their best football at the right time and how the team played two months ago is irrelevant. Right now the Giants have won 3 must-win games in a row and coming off their most complete performance of the season. There is no reason to believe the Giants can’t win come Sunday in Green Bay. If Tom Coughlin and his team can win its fourth straight game nobody will remember the Giants finished the regular season at 9-7. All the media and fans will be concerned with is how Big Blue would be just one game away from its second Super Bowl appearance of the Coughlin era.

Bang for the Buck in NFL Free Agency

As the NFL off-season continues to roll along, free agency has generated vast buzz and fanfare. While Major League Baseball franchises - not named the Yankees - have pulled in the spending reins due to these trying economic conditions, NFL teams have been more than willing to spend in record amounts. Just another reason why baseball needs a salary cap. There have been some surprises like Terrell Owens being exiled from Dallas and winding in Buffalo of all places. There have also been some head scratching behavior like Arizona allowing franchise savior Kurt Warner to hit free agency before coming to their senses.

Then there are some things that never change or surprise like the Washington Redskins' drunken spending. The Redskins and owner Daniel Snyder have become notorious with overspending on veteran players. Does anyone remember Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, or the purging of the New York Jets roster a few years ago? Well, looks like the 'Skins have somehow worked their way back under the cap, but certainly did not learn from their mistakes.

The Redskins wasted no time breaking the bank by shelling out $100 million to former Titans' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth has proved to be a dominate force on defense, but tossing that much money at a interior linemen is a risky proposition. The only position franchises should be throwing that type of money at is quarterback. Albert Haynesworth isn't carrying his team to victory week in and week out like Peyton Manning.

If Washington's spending had stopped there then maybe the decision to acquire one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL could have been rationalized. Not surprisingly, however, the Redskins were only getting started following up the Haynesworth signing by handing CB DeAngelo Hall $55 million over six years. The Redskins obviously saw something in Hall during his short stint in Washington last season that the rest of the NFL had missed because no other NFL team was going to pay Hall that kind of money. Over the past two seasons, Hall has looked like a player on the decline rather than one worthy of another huge contract after proving to be a bust last season in Oakland.

So for those keeping track, Washington has committed $155 million to two defensive players. For good measure, Mr. Snyder and company decided to pay Bills castoff G Derrick Dockery $26.5 million over 5 years. The grand total for the three free agent signings - roughly a cool $182 million. Meanwhile, division rival and NFC East champions, the New York Giants were able to find value in free agency to help boost the team's defensive front seven. The Giants bolster their already strong defensive line with the signing of former Dallas DE Chris Canty and Seattle DT Rock Bernard. Canty received $42 million and Bernard $16 million while Atlanta free agent OLB Michael Boley signed for $25 million.

In total, the Giants committed $83 million to three key defensive additions, which is $20 million less than Washington gave Haynesworth alone and about half of what the Redskins spent on Haynesworth and Hall combined. This is just an example of how these division rivals couldn't be any different in how they build their respective teams. The Redskins tendency to spend has consistently made headlines, but hasn't translated to victories on the field. The Giants, on the other hand, have been able to find value in free agency and develop talent through the draft that helped them win the Super Bowl last year. The way things stand right now, the money is on the New York, not Washington, to be in Miami at the end of next season.

The Perfect Britt?

The Super Bowl has yet to be played, but beside the Cardinals and Steelers the rest of the NFL is already looking toward next year. With the college football season ending and underclassman having declared for the draft, wannabe GMs have begun to rant about the prospects they want for their franchise. Those silly mock drafts that every sports outlet loves to release are all ready available to rile fans with a false sense of excitement.

One of the most intriguing positions entering this year's draft is wide receiver. Texas Tech man beast Michael Crabtree has garnered most of the attention and with good reason. Crabtree has been a force on the college level and will almost certainly be a top 10 pick. The reality is that most teams drafting in the first round won't have a shot at Mr. Crabtree and after him is a deep pool of talented players. Some of the names that have been thrown out there as potential first round picks are Jeremy Macklin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Each of them are nice players, but there seems to one standout wide receiver being left out of the mix despite being arguably more physically gifted than anyone of others mentioned including Crabtree.

The most intriguing prospect at the wide receiver position in 2009 is Rutger's Kenny Britt. At 6 foot 4 and 220 pounds Britt possess excellent size and physicality at the position to go along with game breaking speed. He average nearly 20 yards a catch during his breakout sophomore season in 2007. Britt also comes from a pro-style, run oriented offense at Rutgers and was still able to put up fantastic numbers.

While Crabtree is a dominant player, he lacks top end speed while Macklin and Harvin possess great speed, but lack the size of a top flight NFL receiver. These players also benefited from playing in spread offenses in college and history shows that putting up big numbers in the spread does not translate to success at the next level. As for Nicks and Heyward-Bey both have had much less success at the college level, are smaller, and are not vertical threats like Kenny Britt. Britt has number one receiver written all over him while the same can't be said for any of the other prospects mentioned other than Crabtree. If your team is able to grab Britt at the end of the first round or early in the second, jump for joy because you will have a draft steal.

Come to think of it, there is an NFL franchise who plays in New Jersey and needs to replace their big, fast, physical number one receiver. Britt is also from New Jersey and stayed home to play his college ball. Wonder how he looks in Blue?

Kevin Gilbride needs to go... he is the Tim Lewis of offensive coordinators!

By GM Be Nasty
Special to Bleeding Sports

The main reason why the Giants have pre-maturely exited the 2008 playoffs is because of the pathetic play calling of Kevin Gilbride. Here is a man who has watched Eli Manning for years and still doesn't understand the man CANNOT throw the ball into the wind. Gilbride refuses to acknowledge this fact and instead of utilizing the run he goes to the passing game time and time again. Just look at the Sunday night game against the Redskins last year when Eli threw the ball 52 times and the Giants lost to a team that was quarterbacked by Todd Collins.

You would think Gilbride would learn after he was thoroughly lambasted for that game plan, but unfortunately for Giants fans he didn't learn his lesson. In that same year he wanted to throw the ball all over the field in the rain, wind, and snow at Buffalo until he was bailed out by two long runs by Jacobs and Bradshaw. And then this year against the Eagles not once but twice Gilbride tried to get cute with his play calling. In week 14 against the Eagles he pulls the Mario Manningham reverse out of his hat to stall a drive in plus territory and continuely called for long passes from his quarterback.

Now on to yesterday's debacle:

Eli's first pass should have showed his bone headed coach that he was not able to control the ball on long passes especially to the outside. But no, he refused to pay attention AGAIN. Backed up on their own 13 yard line up by 3 Gilbride calls a play action two person passing route that calls for his immobile quarterback to roll out and throw a deep out to Hixon in the teeth of the wind that resulted in an INT returned to the Giants two yard line. The game plan heading into this drive should have been to chew up as much time as possible so the Eagles would not have the benefit of the wind any longer.

Now we come to 1st and 5 at the Eagles 21 with 1:55 left in the first half. The Eagles are on their heels and the Giants have moved the ball down field by running up the middle, but Gilbride channeling his inner Mike Martz decides this is the time to get innovative and comes out with 3 straight passing plays out of the shotgun formation. All the Giants had to do was run the ball once to get the clock going and Philadelphia would not have seen the ball again until the second half. Because of his putrid play calling he gave the Eagles the chance to score points at the end of the half and the possibility of them doubling up because they got the ball first in the second half.

Finally lets move to the 4th quarter with the Giants down 9 points and needing to score twice to win the game. The Giants get the ball with 14:56 left and Gilbride calls for 5 straight running plays which ended with Eli Manning's girlie attempt at a QB sneak on 4th and inches. The defense then holds the Eagles to a punt and the Giants get the ball back at the 11 yard line with 10:22 left in the game and down by 9. At this point I can only hold my breath thinking about what the genius will come up with on this drive and Gilbride doesn't fail to impress. The passing guru has now become conservative and calls for runs on 6 out of the next 7 plays ending with Jacbos being stuffed on 4th and 2 which sealed the Giants postseason fate.

So to recap. On the two most pivotal drives of the game when the Giants needed to score and save clock Gilbride decides to ball play control. The only explanation for this disgusting coaching performance is that Gilbride must have looked up at the scoreboard and thought that the Giants were winning 23-11.

I am sick and tired of this man and his indefensible moves. He hinders the Giants ability to win every week and these factors are magnified without the abilities of Plaxico Burress to bail out FlutterLI Manning on his deep throws.

Beasts of the East

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

The NFL season kicks off Thursday night when the Washington Redskins head to New York to take on the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It's an early NFC East showdown and with that being the case, the Bleeding Sports NFL preview will being with a breakdown of the best division in all of football.

Washington Redskins

A late surge last year catapulted the Joe Gibbs and the 'Skins into the playoffs, but a lot has changed in Washington since then. Joe Gibbs retired...again the Daniel Synder nearly hired Jim Fassel...again before settling with Jim Zorn as the new head coach. Under the Zorn the Redskins with feature a new west coast offense and rely on the still unproven Jason Campbell to grow in the new system. Clinton Portis remains one of the most overrated running backs in league while the receiving corp is real thin.

While a Campbell led offense is a big question mark the defense is an even bigger one. Despite the addition of Jason Taylor expect the 'Skins to struggle trying to stop the opposition. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams did a great job with modest talent and his departure will prove to be the Washington's biggest loss. The unit's performance in the preseason against Carolina should raise a red flag. By the end of the year, Coach Zorn may be waving a white flag.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles have become a trendy pick this year to go as far as the Super Bowl. to Most prognosticators point to the fact that the Eagles managed to win their last three games last season to finish 8-8. That does not sound like much of an argument. Despite free agent acquisition Asante Samuel, Philly is a team on the decline not on the rise. The offense still lacks play makers at receiver and Donovan McNabb isn't getting any younger. The argument could be made that the Eagles have actually fared better without McNabb in the lineup over the last two years. The bottom line, Philadelphia is a Brian Westbrook injury away from a four win season and even with him the Eagles look like a team on the outside looking in at the playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys

Ah, America's Team. Here are some thoughts after watching Hard Knocks. Rookie tight end Martellus Bennett will be a bust with a capital B. It's still hard to tell after watching whether Wade Phillips knows what's he doing or not. He's like a cartoon character. Jason Garrett will be a head coach somewhere next season...probably in Big D. Terrell Owens actually comes off looking like a good guy. He's counseling the young players, practicing hard, and other than peddling his t-shirts is a relatively unassuming figure. Once the season starts though that the act won't last. The Cowboys have too many combustible parts between T.O., Tank Johnson, and the Pacman. The Cowboys haven't faced much adversity the last couple of seasons so something has to give. If Dallas ends up going as far as most people feel they will this season they will definitely earn it. Most likely, however, the Cowboys lack the type of team chemistry to persevere.

New York Giants

All the Giants did last year was take down the mighty Cowboys and Brett Favre in their own backyards just to get to the Super Bowl. Then all Big Blue did was defeat a New England team being compared to the greatest in NFL history. One would think that winning a World Championship the way the Giants did would earn a franchise some respect. Yet it has been just the opposite. All the talk going into this season has been about every team in the division other than the Super Bowl champs.

The Giants have had some significant losses on defense, most notably Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora on the defensive line. The line, however, still features Justin Tuck while the linebackers will on the outside this season with Danny Clark and Gerris Wilkerson replacing Reggie Torbor and Kawika Mitchell. The secondary lost Gibril Wilson, but drafted a star in the making in Kenny Phillips.

Offensively, the Giants return all 11 starters from the Super Bowl last season. The offensive line remains one of the most underrated units in the league while the Giants have three running backs that could rush for over one hundred yards in any game. QB Eli Manning proved in the postseason that he is one of the elite players at his position. It is only logically to believe that Eli will take another step forward this season and be a more consistent force. The Giants' young players all played a huge role in the team's success last season and will only be better this season.

The Giants put it all together at the right time last season and their momentum brought the franchise its third Super Bowl title. The team is young, still on the rise and motivated to prove the critics wrong. A division title shouldn't be out of the question in 2008.

Super Giants

Bleeding Sports has dropped the ball in staying current, however, to quote lyrics from a song by Three Days Grace, "It's not too late, it's never too late." This is why over the course of the coming weeks Bleeding Sports will be taking a look back at what has transpired in the world of sports over the last couple of months. Topping the list of sports headlines in 2008 is the New York Giants victory over the mighty New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Suddenly, special teams standout David Tyree is a household name. That's the power of sports on the world's biggest stage. Can you say Catch 42? Let's take a moment to celebrate football's newest folk hero.

Super Showdown

It's the Patriots. It's the Giants. It's SUPER BOWL XLII! As John Travolta just told Ryan Seacrest (yea, you heard right) we have the NFL’s The Best Team vs. The Hottest Team. What we have here right now is our Bleeding Sports Super Bowl Pick'em. As this moment, the Bleeding Sports Brain Trust, G. Francis, and The PickMeister, J. Daniels are all tied up, which means the Super Bowl determine the 2008 Undisputed Bleeding Sports NFL Playoff Pick'em Champion of the World.

And away we go…

The PickMeister – J. Daniels

New York (+12) over New England

Another game for the Cheaters brings another ridiculous spread. When are people going to learn? As I said before the AFC Championship, New England hasn’t covered any of their insane spreads in weeks, including the whole playoffs. There is no way the Patriots beat the G-MEN by 12 points on Super Bowl Sunday, not even if Belichick filmed the Giants walkthrough. In fact, the Giants will win outright. In their week 17 meeting, New York fell short by only 3 points in a 38-35 defeat, despite having a 12 point lead going into the fourth quarter. That game proved to be a turning point for the G-MEN, who have been playing excellent ball since. They went on the road and beat three respectable opponents, including the two best teams in NFC. With the newly discovered weapon of Ahmad Bradshaw the G-MEN once again have a thunder and lighting duo ready to punish New England’s grandpa linebackers. I happened to watch the America’s Game of the 1990 Giants last night and couldn’t help but notice just how similar that team was with this year’s Giants. The ‘90 Giants clawed their way through the playoffs, avenging their regular season loses to the superior 49ers in the NFC Championship and the Bills in the Super Bowl. This year is no different. The G-MEN have avenged 3 of their six loses in their playoffs and are now looking for the 4th against a ‘far superior’ team. Coincidence? Not at all. GIANTS WIN! GIANTS WIN!

Giants 38, Patriots 35


The Bleeding Sports Brain Trust – G. Francis

The Patriots take a shot at history in Super Bowl XLII. The only thing standing in their way is the New York Football Giants. New York and Eli Manning got hot at the right time, taking the momentum from nearly ending the Pats’ perfection at the end of the regular season right into the playoffs. Nobody saw it coming, but the road warrior Giants blitzed through Tampa, made Dallas cry, and gave Green Bay the cold shoulder. The Giants made an impression arriving to Arizona decked out in black and will make an even bigger impression Sunday night leaving New England black and blue. The Giants proved they can hang with Tom Brady’s bunch and at Super Bowl they will do one better by pulling off the biggest upset in the history of sports. New York can move the football on offense, which will enable them to control the clock. On defense the G-Men need to put pressure on Brady and keep Randy Moss from making the big play. The Giants nearly pulled the upset last month and have only been playing better during their Cinderella run this postseason. The Patriots are the overwhelming favorite with good reason, but in the end Cheaters Never Win. Chalk one up for the Underdog.

Giants 37, Patriots 28

Bleeding Sports Playoff Pick’em: Conference Championships

Welcome back to the Bleeding Sports Playoff Pick’em pitting the Bleeding Sports Brain Trust – G. Francis against the PickMeister – J. Daniels. The current standing having the Brain Trust leading with a record of 5-3, but the PickMeister is still alive at 4-4. This weekend the nation will find out who will be playing on February 3rd in Glendale, AZ in a little game dubbed The Super Bowl. The weather outside maybe cold, but Bleeding Sports is just heating up. Enjoy the games.

And now to the picks…Enjoy the games boys and girls.

The Bleeding Sports Brain Trust – G. Francis

NEW ENGLAND (-14) over San Diego

Everyone and their mommas were expecting a Colts-Patriots rematch this weekend in Foxborough. The Chargers pulled the upset despite losing Tomlinson, Rivers, and Gates at certain points in the game. Rivers barely practiced this past week, Gates may not play after gutting it out last week and who knows how effective Tomlinson will be. The Chargers only hope is to consistently pressure Tom Brady with Merriman, Phillips and company and hope that the weather is a factor in the Patriots passing game. I would love to the see the upset, but the Chargers offensive stars are just too banged up and I don’t foresee Billy Volek leading the Chargers on another game winning drive. In addition, the San Diego secondary gave up over 400 yards to Peyton Manning and the Colts last week so I can’t think of a compelling argument to suggest that the Chargers will be able to stop Brady, Moss, Welker, Stallworth, Watson, Faulk, etc, etc. Look for the Pats to win big on their way to making history in Arizona.


New York Giants (+7.5) over GREEN BAY

Both the Giants and Packers impressed last weekend in their respective divisional round victories. On Sunday in Green Bay temperatures at kickoff are expected to be below zero, which, make no mistake, will have an effect on both teams. The weather could actually be a bigger disadvantage to Green Bay as Brett Favre will want to throw the ball down field especially to WR Greg Jennings. If the passing attacks are negated, the Giants have the advantage with the running back tandem of Jacobs and Bradshaw and will try to mix up their different running styles to keep the Packer defense off balance. The Giants have won nine in a row on the road and while all the prognosticators are picking Brett Favre to continue his storybook season into Super Sunday, I’m taking the Giants. The Giants have come together as a team and Eli Manning is playing his best football at exactly the time. The Giants will take care of the ball, stop Ryan Grant and head to the Super Bowl for a second crack at New England.

The PickMeister – J. Daniels

San Diego (+14) over NEW ENGLAND

The Patriots once again proved to be the luckiest team in NFL last week. Not in their win against the defenseless Jaguars but in the Bolts ridiculous upset in Indy. But if the Chargers showed anything last Sunday, it was that there backups, including Michael Turner, Billy Volek, and a bunch of no name tailbacks, have the potential to stay in a game. This will obviously be necessary with the status of Tomlinson, Rivers, and Gates all in question. Everybody, including myself, wanted to see the Colts – Patriots matchup this week, frankly because San Diego doesn’t have a chance, especially since their whole team is now injured. But the only thing more ridiculous than this matchup is the spread. The Cheaters haven’t covered any of their insane spreads in weeks, not to mention their 13.5 points last week against a far inferior opponent. Even without Rivers and possibly Gates, if LT plays like he said he will there’s no way the Patriots cover the 2 TD spread. Take San Diego with the points.


New York (+7.5) over GREEN GAY

-4 with the wind chill reaching -24. That’s the forecast for Sunday’s NFC Championship game. But if after listening to these “experts’ for the past week, you would think only the Giants will be battling the cold. “Will Eli and his receivers be able to connect in the cold”, “Can the Giants pass rush overcome the field conditions and get to Favre”, “Will New York’s defense be able to stop Ryan Grant and the Green Bay rushing attack?” Well I got news for these GENIUS “experts”. It’s going to be cold for EVERYONE. So the better questions will be: Will Favre be able to connect with his inexperienced receiving core against a Giants defense who are better against the pass? Can the Packers pass rush get to Eli even though they only had a measly 36 sacks during the year compared to the Giants 53? Will Green Bay’s defense, who give up more rushing yards per game than the G-Men, be able to stop the Giants superior rushing game? With these insane weather conditions, the game is ultimately going to comedown to whoever runs the ball more effectively. And since the Giants are clearly better at keeping the ball on the ground, they should come out of this game on top. “But Ryan Grant has the second most rushing yards in the last half of the season behind only LT!” Oh yea “experts”? Guess who has more team rushing yards the second half of the season. That’s right the G-Men. Take New York with the points.

Jimmy Kimmel Misses Joe Theismann

While watching the Giants - Falcons game on Monday Night Football this past week viewers were treated to the comedy of one Jimmy Kimmel. The late night talk show host on ESPN sister network ABC just couldn't help but mention former MNF analyst Joe Theismann on more than one occasion.

More hilarious than his actual remarks is the dead silence reaction from the MNF trio of Tirico, Jaworski, and Kornheiser. The Worldwide Leader has now apparently banned Kimmel from the Monday Night Football booth. ESPN should take that one step further and ban every "celebrity" from the booth and stop turning MNF into a variety show. The trend these days is to turn sports broadcasts into entertainment spectacles in order to attract the casual television viewer. The problem is that this technique alienates the core audince of true sports fans who are tuning in to watch a sporting event and not a sideshow. So ESPN, how about just sticking to football? I mean does any football fan really want to hear from Christian Slater in the middle of a NFL game?

They Could Have Been Giants

There has been a common theme with the New York Football Giants lately: Missed Opportunities. By now Giants fans should be tired of hearing it. A convenient excuse echoed by the head coach and players seemingly after every recent loss. Fans are even more tired of seeing the same mistakes, penalties, and poor execution every single week. Yet each and every week the Giants have had a chance to turn things around and take control of their season. The Giants have had chance after chance to prove they can compete with the elite of the NFC and week after week they lay an egg. This past Sunday at home against the Saints, the Giants played their worst game of the season. At the time of the year when teams should be peaking, the Giants are regressing.

The Giants head into Saturday night's game against the Washington Redskins with a record of 7-8. They have won exactly one time in their last 7 games and just demoted their offensive coordinator with one game left. Yet a win at Washington puts Big Blue in the playoffs (unless the Packers win, 4 other teams lose, 7 other teams win, Florida beats Ohio St by at least 3 touchdowns, and Notre Dames loses to LSU by less than 20). The fact that the Giants can claim a playoff berth by finishing the season 2-6 is downright amazing and utterly pathetic. Talk about backing into the playoffs. Welcome to parity in the NFL.

It has been an interesting year in the NFC. The dominant team in the conference all year long has been the Chicago Bears and yet suddenly there may be a quarterback controversy brewing in the Windy City. Then there are the feel good New Orleans Saints who clinched the South Division title the same week they lost at home to the Redskins. The Saints redeemed themselves this past week by throttling the NYG. Much like the Seattle Seahawks did in Week 3. The Seahawks have been on a bit of a streak lately, losing 3 in a row and clinching the NFC West in the process. Nice. And only in the NFC 2006 can a .500 team lose their star quarterback (who was playing like an MVP), replace him with a guy who has been in the witness protection program since 2002, then go on to win 4 in a row and be in the driver seat to win their division. Crazy.

So I guess the more I think about it the more sense it does make that the Giants control their own destiny this weekend. A team with enough talent to defeat anybody in the NFC. A team that in week 10 of this season was playing at home on national television with first place in the NFC on the line. So what happened? Were there too many injuries? Is it that QB1, Eli Manning, just hasn't played well? Is it that the offensive and defensive coordinators seem to be completely lost? Is it that coach Tom Coughlin just doesn't get through to these players?

But why worry about all that. A victory on Saturday night puts the Giants in the playoffs. Only this team may be better off losing on Saturday night. A playoff berth gives the Giants an extra week of life, but only disguises the reality of the situation. The fact is that the Giants are not a good football team right now. They should be better. The players certainly think are better than the team's record, but have not done anything on the field to prove it. The Giants may be able to back their way into the playoffs, but the organization can't back away from the fact that something has to change before next season.

If not, it's going to be the same old story, same old problems, same old Giants.