Brett Favre breaks record, acts weird

To celebrate breaking Dan Marino's record, Favre decides to barbecue one of his teammates.

Week 4 vs PHI - notes: 2nd half

Halftime show:

• Do we believe Romo's "aw shucks" routine? It's remarkably believable.
• I'm not sure it's possible for me to care any less about high school football, which means I won't be purchasing a Toyota truck.
• "How do you take a 14-2 team..." Easy shot, KO, but a good point. And LT2 looks like he should be on suicide watch.
• What the hell is Brett Favre doing?

3rd Quarter:

• McNabb is getting his ass kicked big-time. Do I have to start saying nice things about Steve Spag? Not if mocking him is working.
• Aside: No matter what happens to you this week, keep saying "At least I'm not a Mets fan." Unless you are a Mets fan, in which case you're in for a long couple of weeks.
• Madden points out that Eli stopped the Eagles from running his INT in for a TD.
• Ouch. Kearse pounds Ward. BUT a facemask erases that. Whoo-hoo! Why isn't The Cough smiling? Maybe he'd rather be bowling.
• Philly has 83 yards of offense, and 85 yards of penalties, sayeth the sage Al Michaels. Shit, that sucks. For them.
• Punt downed at the 1 yard line. TAKE THAT PHILLY!
  
• Osi has 4 sacks, and almost has a 5th.
• What? Nothing? After that great field position? Not even a field goal?
• Feagles pops some Geritol and kicks it inside the 5 again. We mock the elderly, but that's only because we're jealous of their wisdom.
• Wendy's: It's Better Than Helium. Weirdest ad campaign ever.
• Do you think Blockbuster paid a lot of money to get the exclusive rental rights to '1408'?
• Cameron Diaz actually looked excited that she was picked out by the camera. And damn, she looks good.
• If the Giants defense plays well again tonight, they'll be erecting statues to Steve Spag, and Strahan will be strutting around town like he's the greatest player on the planet.
• Tony Hunt busts through for a first down.
• Spagnuolo (maybe I need to spell his name right) likes to jump around, and it gets the players excited. So sayeth our sideline reporter.
  
• Kiwanuka sacks McNabb. This is getting scary. He may not survive the night.
• Nice illustration of how Kiwa should be playing the position that he, you know, always played.
• Here's a nice stat for ya:
  

  NET YARDS PASSING	-28
  Times Sacked (Number-Yards)	8 - 39
  Gross Yards Passing	11

  McNabb, that's you...
• Shockey catches the ball and runs with it! After catching the ball! He ran! This guy is right - this could be the end of the world...
• Pass interference on PHI. Even I could've called that one. Toomah!
• OK, I got up to get a drink and it's 4th and goal. What the hell happened? Dammit. Give the ball to Droughns or something.
  
• You gotta love Madden. (Seriously, not mocking him this time.) "That's just a bad play." Burress behind the line of scrimmage? Yeah, I think it's safe to say that
  
• Hey, somebody makes a field goal. At least now we know we're not watching a college game.
• "And McNabb. Drops. The ball." Al sounded a little shell shocked. Actually, McNabb bumped into one of his own players. OK, that's sort of funny. Eli actually looks a little pained watching that happen.
  
• LAME challenge, but I guess Reid has to try to keep the game within reach. Buckhalter (was that him?) looked like he could've gotten the ball back if he'd fallen on it.
• Ruling on the field stands. HEY NOW!
• Tynes hits the upright on the extra point. No comment.
• OK, I'll comment. Isn't this guy a professional kicker? What the hell else is he doing? Missing a field goal, OK. You should make those, but whatever. Extra point? How do you miss that?
• First down by Buckhalter, but a nice hard hit takes him down.

4th Quarter:

• Uh-oh. Favre next week on Sunday night. Madden better get his adjectives ready.
• Jill Wagner, the Mercury model, is way hot.
• 9th sack on McNabb. He's gonna need more surgery. Or something.
• 53 yard field goal attempt by Akers is.... good. Helps me more than the Eagles, since I get 5 fantasy points. My opponent has Randy Moss, though, so I'm pretty much screwed.
• Interesting that Droughns is returning punts and not much else. Last week he punched in two TDs, but that doesn't seem to matter.
• It's funny, Buckhalter is doing a decent job filling in for Westbrook (14 carries, 86 yards) but it doesn't matter. Michaels is right, it's like the Eagles have had all the life sucked out of them.
• 11 sacks! 5 by Osi! Holy shit.
• There's time left in this game but the Giants do look good. Or McNabb looks bad. That's always a possibility.
• Is there a danger that they might run Ward into the ground? Or are they thinking Jacobs will likely be back next week so we can run this guy as hard as we want to this week?
• That's it! Philly needs to wear the fruity uniforms again. (Ambiguously Gay Eagles. Heh heh heh.)
  
• Sam Madison is hurt, but he's playing. Not to wish ill on the guy, but maybe Tynes could get hurt instead? OK, bad karma. Still...
• McNabb sneaks it across for a first down. This is why the Giants patting themselves on the back makes me nervous. They suddenly look like there's 17 seconds left rather than 4:17.
• I think that's three first downs in a row. Hey, guys, the game isn't that close. And don't let Buckhalter score or I'll really feel like a moron for dropping him. Oh, and then it'll be a close game.
• THERE we go. Justin Tuck brings 'em down behind the line. What's wrong, is he hurt? Nothing serious, we don't think.
  
• Could the Eagles O-line be this bad? Could the Giants defense be this good?
• Reggie Brown gets a TD... BUT McNabb was over the line of scrimmage. Wow. Isn't that the kind of mistake high school players make? He was beyond it, but not by much, so maybe we'll give him a pass. No pun intended.
• 4th and 18 and they have to go for it. That's it for Akers' field goals.
• Osi gets another sack but he doesn't look so good, health wise I mean. 12 sacks for the team, ties an NFL record. Donovan, you can throw up now, nobody would blame you.
• Michaels gives credit to Westbrook, but Buckhalter did a fine job filling in. Maybe the other receivers didn't get open, but the D just beat McNabb down. As the season goes on, we'll see if it's just that the other teams sucked or if this defense is for real.
• And there's Droughns, doing mop up work.
• That's it! 16-3. Osi breaks the single game sack record with 6, and we were right about him not looking healthy; he needed an IV of "superman juice" (his words - um....) to get back in the game. Watching him talk to Kramer after the game makes you realize that Strahan doesn't have to act like such a dick.

Week 4 vs PHI - notes

Note: I'll update this post as often as possible during the first half, then start a new post for the second.
Pre-pre-game:

• Who knew "pissed off" was a bad thing to say on live TV? (Bettis said it and Costas got a little fitutzed).
• Aside: shouldn't fitutzed have more than 5 matches on Google?
• OK, somebody's got to say it: Tiki Barber is funny-looking.
• Tiki says of Ray Lewis: "He's not a young buck anymore." First of all, I don't like to refer to people who've spent time in prison in a derogatory way. Second, Collinsworth says that, it's a scandal (not to mention creepy as hell). Third, will people please stop asking Tiki if he wants to play football again? Enough! He retired. Who do you think he is, Brett Favre? (this guy really doesn't like Packers fans.)
  

Pre-game:

• Madden says that Eli and The Cough think it's all about pass protection. Great minds thinking alike.
  
• Michael Strahan says the Giants/Eagles rivalry is like NASCAR, proving that it's a damn good thing he found football, because he's really just not that bright.
• Westbrook is out, which is good. On a personal note, I dropped Buckhalter from my fantasy roster, which was dumb.
• Ward is in, which is very good because he's been solid.
  

1st Quarter:

• Reuben Droughns, back to receive the kickoff, has a completely blank look on his face.
• Eli hands off to Ward on the first play and Derrick busts through a bunch of guys. For a backup, this guy is damn good. Of course, the gain is immediately eliminated by a holding penalty. The Cough is all about discipline.
• Broderick Bunkley is a good name for an NFL player. Or a cartoon truck.
• 3 and out, but hey, the Colts do that a lot too. Maybe Eli's really just trying to be like Peyton.
• Philly D is decimated - no Dawkins, no Sheppard, and now some guy named Brown goes out too.
• Nice aggressive play by Antonio Pierce, going after McNabb on his first play.
• Michael Strahan looks too happy. As if it's allll about him.
• And McNabb goes down! Justin Tuck gets a sack. This guy is good.
• Now Madden starts blowing smoke up Steve Spagnolo's heinie. One good series and the guy's a hero? Come on. I guess he missed out on the lathering up of Brett Favre's butt cheeks so he's got some praising to do.
• Eli to Toomer. Amani seems like he's really old. Born in 1974, which makes him 33. That's old for the NFL, but he somehow seems like he's 45 or something.
• Madden and Al lather up Derrick Ward too, but that's OK, he deserves it.
• Toomer again. When he's on his game, the team seems better.
• Eli seems to have more time, and appears to be seeing the field better. The Eagles do have a ton of injured defensive players, though, so let's not hand out trophies yet.
• Hey! A penalty not committed by the Giants!
• Burress gets an easy catch. The fact that he's playing at all is impressive since he has a sprained ankle.
• Ward again, with some yards after the catch for a first down.
• BUT they don't make it to the end zone, and Tynes misses a 34 yard field goal!
  
• Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor. LT still looks like he could break a QBs arm if he wanted to.
• Buckhalter! Dammit!
• Madden explains why the great Steve's scheme actually hurts them. Make up your mind, John!
• If they can make this stop (3rd and 2) I'll be impressed.
• And.... nope. Buckhalter. Again. By the way, I started Ron Dayne in my fantasy league rather than taking a chance on whether or not Westbrook would play. So Dayne fucks with a Giants fan, you know, for old times' sake.
• Kevin Curtis seems unlikely to repeat last week's insanely high number of yards and TDs.
• Strahan comes close to a sack, but McNabb gets rid of it in time. Then Osi nails him.
• Is it just me, or do the Giants seem not to tackle that hard?
• Here comes the Favre parade. They put his numbers up next to Griese's, which seems odd. Are we really comparing these two?
• The Cough looks like he'd rather be watching the game at home.
• Nice jump by Ward. It's always impressive when guys this large can leap over other, equally large guys.

2nd Quarter:

• WOW. Another penalty not against New York, this time giving them a first down.
• Ward has become a huge part of this offense. He's handling it, but there's something troubling about it that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's because it means that when the star RB went down, Cough and Co. just plugged the new guy into the game plan. It worked, but what if it hadn't?
• Eli just misses Burress on a long toss, or Burress drops it, depending on your point of view.
• There's a penalty on the Giants. Back to normal.
• But they get it back. What's going on here? The full moon was last week.
• Eli's definitely showing Peyton-like emotion. So he's either trying to get the team fired up, or making an audition reel for his commercial agent.
• Yes, this did say Week 3 a minute ago. I fucked up. It happens.
• I'm not going to track it closely enough but I wonder if all these Philly penalties are being made by the substitutes.
  
• Toomer Toomer Toomer. Good.
  
• Graphic showing Eli's progress is interesting. He has gotten better.
• PLAX TD! Man he's big. He looks a foot taller than the Eagles' defenders. And Tynes even kicked the extra point. 7-0.
  
• False start on McNabb. Niiiiice.
• Strahan gets beat by Jon Runyan, who looks like he's about as big as Paul Bunyan.
• Osi's having a nice game.
• See, there's another non-tackle. Grabbing McNabb's jersey, and then he (McNabb) gets it off to Reno Mahe for a first down. Speed is great but you gotta tackle too.
• Strahan gets his sack. For real. Breaks the record. LT actually doesn't look too happy about it. I like LT in that fight.
• Now here's an interesting stat: LT played a full year before the sack was an official stat. So he should really have 9 1/2 (?) more sacks than Strahan. Asterisk time - somebody call Marc Ecko.
  
• Madden gives props to Taylor, which is deserved. "Best defensive player I've seen at any position."
• McNabb looks like he might throw up again.
• Normally I like it when a player looks like he's having a good time, but Strahan's joy bothers me.
• Akers misses a field goal, just to keep things even with Tynes. I played Akers instead of Robbie "I'm not Jewish" Gould on the fantasy team, which was stooopid. Interesting stat, Akers misses a lot at the Meadowlands.
  
• Why are tight ends almost always large white guys who look like they can barely tie their own shoes?
• Did I mention I liked Derrick Ward? Madden likes him too. We're both geniuses.
• ANOTHER Eagles penalty. This is much more fun when it happens to the other team.
  
• Ward again, with a first down and a leap at the end for good measure.
• INT! What??? How'd that happen? Oh. It's because Shockey fell down.
• J.Load appears to be consoling Eli, or just trying to get seen on camera. Eli looks mad. I want to see him get all Drew Bledsoe on Shockey, that'd be good. (This has nothing to do with anything really, but it's a little bit amusing.)
  
• 10 penalties on the Eagles so far. 70 yards. That's the way you do it, Andy.
• And.... halftime. What a barn burner.
  

Bizarro NFL

This season so far... I mean, come on. The Lions scored more points in the 4th quarter than any team ever, beating the Bears with semi-new QB Brian Griese. The Bills beat The Jets - well, that's not so weird, but they lost to a team with an unheralded rookie QB (Trent Edwards), and only by one field goal - the field goal that Mike Nugent missed from 35 yards. The Browns beat the CRAP out of the Ravens. The Rams lost to The Cowboys, which isn't so odd, but they're 0-4 and didn't even score an offensive TD today.
THE PACKERS ARE 4-0.
The Chargers were all paid off by Marty Schottenheimer to show that he shouldn't have been fired. This guy still thinks it was a good move; although he doesn't like Norv Turner either.
The Bucs are beating teams soundly.
The Cardinals returned a punt for a TD for the first time since 1993.
Oh, and Trent Dilfer played. 'Nuff said.

Not Another Miracle at the Meadowlands

Courtesy of Keith Olberman, a reminder of The Miracle at the Meadowlands in 1978. Tonight, the Giants need to avenge the Mets, who fucked up so royally that they missed the playoffs. But they missed it in favor of THE PHILLIES, who win the NL East.
Tonight, we make McNabb and friends choke on their cheesesteaks.

80108 Saturday Update - Extras

The Post points out that Peanut Butter Mikey Strahan needs just one more sack to break the great Lawrence Taylor's record. Perhaps McNabb will help him out by just falling down the way Brett Favre did? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

*-*-*

Plaxico Burress is going to play through a sprained ankle. Considering that MLB pitchers are often scratched from a start because of hangnails, this should remind us all that NFL players are much, much tougher than baseball players.

*-*-*

A close friend has told me many stories of sitting in the snow and watching a crappy Eagles team knock the Giants out of the playoffs. This isn't that situation, but it would be nice to see New York pound Philly. They're vulnerable: except for last week against Detroit, McNabb and company haven't been stellar at all. Some key players could be out on defense, which should help Shockey get open (so he can, you know, fall down after he catches the ball).

Giants Headlines

Dysfunction Loves Company on Atomizing Giants
Unless the season’s opening two weeks were an 80-point aberration, the staple of this organization’s success, defense, seems to have disintegrated on Tom Coughlin’s watch. More specifically, you could say it was during the third quarter of a 35-13 defeat to Green Bay when a countdown commenced on the Coughlin era, when it became apparent that the Giants’ issues go well beyond the coach’s personality and Eli Manning’s learning curve.

---

Burress’s Ankle Injury Raises Issues for Giants
The Giants may have to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday without wide receiver Plaxico Burress, their most dynamic player this season. At the recommendation of the team doctor, Burress flew to Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday to have his nagging right ankle examined by an orthopedic specialist. A diagnosis was not made available.
Coach Tom Coughlin would not speculate on the severity of Burress’s injury, saying only that the ankle was not broken. The Giants have been calling the injury a sprain.

---

Jacobs, Ward back to practice
RBs Brandon Jacobs (knee) and Derrick Ward (ankle) were back in pads today at the start of practice and appear set to get back to work. We'll see how much both did later on when coach Tom Coughlin addresses the media after practice.

More Wednesday comments

Following up on the latest thumbcast:
Plaxico Burress needs to be the player he was in the 2nd half of last week's game. This isn't exactly a genius statement, but if he can play at that level it will make a huge difference for Eli. Manning wants Burress to be his Marvin Harrison; it'll never happen because Plax is too much of a headcase. It does seem that he can keep it together long enough to make some nice plays, and unlike our pal Shockey, he doesn't fall down whenever he catches a pass.
It's interesting how Manning is suddenly not the problem anymore. If the defense plays well against Philly this week, that will quiet the 'Fire Spagnola' movement that was starting after those first two games. As it stands now, the Giants are 12th in the league in average points scored per game with 24 (not bad), and 30th in average points allowed with 32.3 (horrible). If the offense can keep it together they'll win some games. If they fall apart the way they did against the Packers, with Eli throwing terrible interceptions as it all crumbles around him, they could go 4-12 like a lot of sports analysts predicted.

Griese gets his chance

Thanks to Bigfooty.com and this person (can't view the profile) for linking to Give Griese A Chance. And Bears fans are giving Lovie Smith some love for shelving Rexy in favor of The Griese Man. He's not a worldbeater, but almost anyone would be better than Gross Man at this point. Tim Couch, anyone?

Block Those Boobs

Note to cameraman: If you want to show the cheerleaders, don't do it with the ads in the way.

A Shockey Blast From the Past

Try as he may, Jeremy Shockey may never top this moment:

Click the image to see him in all his glory.
Found here.

Late Sunday game: Bears vs Cowboys

Watching the Chicago defense beat the hell out of Tony Romo, I noticed a difference between the Bears and the Giants. When the Bears tackle somebody, they wrap up and take the guy down. The Giants, who played well today, kind of... trip people. Or grab the guy's foot and watch him hop up and down, which is what Kiwanuka did to Jason Campbell today.

Strahan: Thanks Pam

Michael Strahan said that Pam Oliver's comments about the team's play on defense inspired them to play better tonight. Either that or he was just trying to pick her up. He is single now, you know.

Week 3 vs WAS: Notes - 2nd Half

Third Quarter:

• Burress makes his first catch of the day after several drops.
• Eli looks like he's getting rattled, but then hits Burress with a nice strike, catching London Fletcher napping.
• Plax: 8 balls thrown to him, 2 caught.
• Nice 21 yard catch by Shockey. He holds up the ball like a kid on Christmas. "See? I caught it!" At least there was no spike - he put it gently on the ground, showing us what a good guy he is. He's a good player, but I think he needs a good therapist.
  
  
  
  
• Oh *there's* Droughns - punching in a 1 yard TD.
• NYG marches down the field, three 3rd down conversions, couple of long tosses by Eli, quick 7 points. Good work.
• Aside: hey cameraman. If you're going to do a close up of a cheerleader, don't do it when you're plastering ads all over the screen.
• Kiwanuka can play. Tuck is good. Strahan - eh. Who knows what would've happened if he would've shown up for camp. Even if its just that the Redskins aren't all that good and the Giants are finally playing a team they can beat (not that they are at this point in the game), so far there's a little bit of hope here in the second half.
• Hey look! One of Spag's blitzes worked.
• OK, so Shockey's having a good game - 3 for 57, and more catches than any Giants' tight end ever (isn't it annoying how everything is celebrated now?). But I'd swear that he falls down once he gets the ball.
  
• Going good here, definitely playing with more energy - and a false start penalty! On Coughlin's son-in-law Chris Snee. That's gotta be awkward.
• And.... INTERCEPTION. Great throw, but to the wrong guy. Dammit. Who was Eli throwing to?
• Do those dumb penalties get in the player's heads?
• Its like Dr. Plaxico and Mr. Burress - just made a truly great catch. 1st half, all drops, 2nd half, all good.
• And Shockey again! I'm going to start talking smack about him every week, it seems to help. Uh-oh, he's hurt. Again.
• If nothing else, at least this is a good game. Giants seem to be paying more attention this week.

Fourth Quarter:

• Giants moving down the field, but having trouble once they get close to end zone. Aikman joins Buck in the Let's Make Obvious Statements contest - "The New York Giants have had a difficult time in the red zone."
• Eli is doing some of his brother's schtick - the arm flapping after a crappy pass, for example.
  
• Something else that seems to happen a lot with this team under Coughlin: timeouts called because the team can't seem to get it together on offense. Yes, the crowd is loud (90,000 crazed 'Skins fans), and its a tense game. But it just looks like that sort of thing happens more often than it should.
• NICE RUN BY WARD! 1ST DOWN! BUT THE BALL COMES OUT! FUCK! WHAT IS IT?
• ...
• Three words guaranteed to deflate a drive: "Redskins have it." But Coughlin challenges it.
• What would be fun is to have a mic on people during a challenge. The coach, the ref, maybe a really drunk fan.
• So his knee was down, and the ball came out after that. After three turnovers, we'll take it.
• Another false start! It's not a new thought, but Coughlin's "discipline" never seems to translate into disciplined play.
• Good flip to Toomer, putting the team 5 for 5 on third down (thank you, Joe Buck). Washington has 9 yards this half so far. Ouch.
• Droughns with another one! Something else I'm going to have to do next week - wonder where Droughns is.
• This is one of the many reason this team is frustrating. It's like Burress with the first half drops and the second half tough catches. One minute they look like the crappiest team in the league, the next they score 14 unanswered points and look great.
• Hard to tell from the couch, but Tynes appears to be pretty good about trying to make tackles after he boots the ball.
• Portis pulls a Burress and drops an easy pass. Three and out for the Giants' Defense? Maybe we need to make fun of Spagnola next week, too.
• When a unit turns around like this, you have to wonder if its just that they're playing a team that isn't as good.
• Running game: Ward is over 4 yards per carry, and Droughns is working as the short yardage guy in this game with a third and short conversion and a pair of short yardage TD runs.
• And... Shockey drops the ball! Tripping on his own feet! Slips off his fingers! Oy. Once his NFL career is over, Shockey has a nice career ahead of him as a cartoon character.
  
• Is Aikman right about Eli having a lot of balls batted down at the line? It does seem like it happens a lot.
• Aside: I have a hard time liking Joe Buck. He just bothers me. Aikman is pretty good, though.
• Strahan makes a tackle and acts like he just scored the winning TD in the Superbowl.
• Redskins fumble! Giants recover! My man Portis couldn't hang on to a hand off for the first Washington turnover of the game (the Giants have three).
  
• Finally a penalty against the Redskins. I'm not good about calling pass interference penalties, but I've seen a couple of plays today that looked like they could've drawn a yellow flag.
• Ward gets planted in the ground by the Redskins H.B. Blades (good name).
• Eli is definitely trying to Peyton-ize his game at the line of scrimmage. I wonder if big bro coaches him on that sort of thing.
  
• GREAT play by Burress. Wow. When he's good, he's really good. Pokes his hands in front of a Washington defender, dodges a tackle, and runs it all the way into the end zone. Wow. That's got to feel good when you make a play like that. It really is like he's two different players - the first half he was horrible, the second half he's been amazing.
• I'm not clear on why Antwan Randle El doesn't get any love from fantasy football guys. I know he's not an elite receiver, but he's better than most. Having a good year this year.
  
• Campbell throws a pass to Randle El but is looking the other way. I know that's not terribly unusual (misdirection, whatever) but I think Campbell does it better than a lot of quarterbacks.
• The Giants REALLY have to keep Burress and Shockey healthy... unless Anthony Mix is another Derrick Ward.
• Campbell's starting to feel some pressure. Imagine if they'd been able to do this to Favre last week.
• The Giants are acting like they're just running out the clock, but it's a little too soon for that. The Redskins aren't world-beaters but they have weapons on offense, you don't want to play games with them. But the defense is playing well, so maybe ask them to make a stop, which they've been doing all day.
• Weird play choice - pass, and a short one. Aikman and Buck think it's a good move since they gain 8 yards for the punt, but I think I would've rather seen a run play and Washington burn their final time out.
  
• The cameraman likes that blonde cheerleader. "Hey baby, how *you* doin'? Yeah, that was me, putting you on camera. Drinks? After the game? Sure..."
• Can the Giants hold the lead?
• Campbell starts looking like a rookie QB.
• See, Washington calls a time out with a little less than 2 minutes to play, and they wouldn't have had that if the Giants had run the ball earlier. Next play, first down on a long pass to Santana Moss.
  
• 1:07, 2nd and 13, Campbell drops back and... Randle El! At the 2! This time Campbell spikes the ball and stops the clock with under a minute to play. Good game.
• Coughlin looks silly calling a time out, but at least he got it in.
• Note to self: do NOT say that Randle El is a good player when the Giants play the Redskins. He doesn't have huge numbers today but he's had some key plays.
• A throw to the fullback? Huh? I always wonder why plays like that get called in these situations. I'm glad they did it (although from a fantasy perspective I would've preferred a Portis TD run) but it just feels like a wasted play.
• And Portis... doesn't make it in! 20 seconds left! GIANTS WIN!
  

Week 3 vs WAS: Notes

First Quarter:

• Why are the Redskins wearing yellow?
• Joe Buck, master of the obvious, points out that Eli is not the problem.
• Burress starts which is nice, but hopefully he'll go all out.
• I don't want to sound like I think its important, but the uniforms for the 'skins are bugging me. I'm color blind and I know that they look weird.
• Portis looks good on his first run. Mixed emotions in this one: Portis is on my fantasy team (sorry to sound like Tony Kornheiser there).
• Giants are last in 3rd down defense (among other categories).
• Portis is just putting his head down and charging, and the Giants can't stop him. He's getting good blocking, much of it from former Jet Pete Kendall (smart move letting him go, Woody), but NYG still can't stop people.
• Justin Tuck is a rare semi-bright spot on defense.
• Mitchell dropped an interception. Steve S., listen up: tackling and catching. Work on it.
• Giants finally stop somebody!
• Now that Jake Plummer isn't playing any more, Jason Campbell holds the title of dorkiest moustache. But he has nothing on these guys.
  
• Shockey makes a nice grab. Is it just me, or does he roll on the ground every time he makes a catch? This time he could've picked up more yards if he'd just, you know, run after the catch.
• Here's a weird stat: NYG is second in the league in yards per carry. That's mostly with Derrick Ward. Of course, they aren't rushing that often. Ward, frankly, looks good. He plows through a bunch of guys, and the O-line is fairly solid. Not to beat a dead horse but if the defense could step up they could make something happen here.
• Tynes has been good despite being horrendous in the pre-season.
• Skins uniforms are throwbacks, and were designed by Vince Lombardi. Lombardi coached in Washington for one year and then passed away. Which means the team killed him? The helmets look like Green Bay's.
• OK, I take back what I said about the O-line after letting Eli get hit, causing a fumble and an easy TD.
• Again, I know it's repetitive, but Derrick Ward is doing a nice job with Brandon Jacobs out.
• Burress should've made that catch. He was distracted by the defender, but it was a nice throw and he got his hands on it.
  
• Ward misses a conversion on 3rd and 1. They could use a short yardage back. What happened to Droughns? Ward's been great but you can't expect him to magically turn into a superstar overnight.
• Jason Campbell is quietly a very good runner. Aikman says that Portis is the best blocking running back in the league, he may be right. Janky-Spanky, baby.
  
Second Quarter:

• There aren't really any personalities on this Giants team to rally behind. Shockey's a jerk who never lived up to his early promise, Eli's just too damn quiet, Strahan likes to shout at reporters, and Antonio Pierce is busy reading. It's chaotic, and Coughlin doesn't seem to know how to control them.
• Another drop by Burress! If I'm Eli, I'm starting to get pissed. On a positive note, he had time to make a good throw.
• Aikman: it's hard for a QB to get into a rhythm if receivers drop the ball, even if you're throwing well.
• Aside: This show 'K-Ville' looks interesting.
• Aaaaand... Santana Moss makes a nice catch on a long throw. This is what Burress is supposed to be doing.
  
• You know, if the Redskins are going to score, could it at least be Portis who does it so I get some satisfaction?
• Campbell threw to a wide open Chris Cooley; there were three Giant defenders who were 5 yards from the ball. When Cooley caught it they moved in towards him, but it was way too late.
  
• Portis pulls a Shockey and spikes the ball. This one didn't look as bad as Shockey's. But wait: it was 5 yards, not 15. WEIRD.
• I think the officiating is better during this game than last week. That's a very surface observation.
• Another drop for Burress! Is this the injury?
• And after the drop... Interception! Eli say: "Fuck!" Pretty easy lip-read.
• Nice stop by Kiwanuka on 3rd and inches, grabbing Campbell's foot while he hopped.
  

Quick Game Preview

The Redskins' Jason Campbell isn't a worldbeater, but he's decent, the Giants' D looks awful, and Steve "What? Me Worry?" Spagnola plans to stay the course. Eli looks good but he's hurt. We'll go 24-21 Giants, but it could go the other way as well.

Giants Headlines

Reese and Coughlin Say Game Plans Are Same - you know, because things are going so well, which mess with success?
The Giants Dominate in Bookstores, if Not the N.F.C. East - when you finish with Patton, you can pick up one of these.
A game preview from the NY Times, and a depressing stat: last time a Coughlin team started 0-2 was 1995, and that team (the Jags) finished the season 4-12. An quick check of Giants history shows that the last time the team was 4-12 was 1980. Phil Simms was the QB. That ended up OK, but it was only his second season.

More history

The Giants really have the edge in this series. According to RedskinsDB.com, from 1932 to 2006, the teams have played 150 times. New York has won 85 of those games, lost 61, with 4 ties. Not bad.
RedskinsDB.com

From 1966 to today (well, Sunday)

As NY prepares for the Redskins, let's recall a game from 40 years ago. The Redskins won, but the Giants scored 41 points. Unfortunately, the Skins scored 71. It was the highest scoring game in pro football history, and apparently some players have yet to let the game go:

Sam Huff, the Redskins' defensive captain, insists to this day that he signaled time out to the referees and told his coach, Otto Graham, to send the field goal team into the game. With a goal of humiliating his nemesis, Giants' coach Allie Sherman, Huff implored Graham to "show no mercy."

OK, so it's not terribly controversial. The dispute appears to be over just who actually called that time out, which led to a field goal, putting the score over (ulp) 70 points. To say that the Giants defense doesn't look so good is, at this point, the understatement of the year, but they should be able to hold the Skins to fewer than 71 points.
Prediction: Giants get their first win of the year and stop the Skins from going 3-0. Final score: 24-21.

'66 Redskins-Giants: Who Called Time Out?

Give Griese a Chance

Some foolishness for you.


See also: Even seven pound mini-daschund Bauer is tough enough to bring down the Bears QB, and Rex Grossman Sucks, which is way better than the video I made.

Notes for Saturday's update

Here are some notes for the Saturday September 22 80108 update.

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Hey reporters - watch yourselves, or Mike Strahan might eat a peanut butter sandwich at you.
Antonio Pierce, Michael Strahan get testy with media - NY Daily News
"Anybody can sit on the sideline and look at the bench and go, 'Oh.' That is crap. You know what? That is crap," Strahan railed. "It is just so disappointing to me when you guys had me come out here to answer questions and you ask stuff that is just. ...Be creative. That is crap. Coach (Tom Coughlin) answered it. Don't ask me what you asked Coach. I am not Coach."

That's our Mikey. Always so articulate.
Video from last year, when they were 6-5. What happens if they get to 0-3, or worse?

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Some players on the Giants read. Some don't.
Giants' shredded defense wants to turn page: Newsday

Linebacker Antonio Pierce jovially apologized to reporters for not talking in advance of Sunday's game at Washington, saying, among other things, in an entertaining 10-minute news conference, that his time had been spent reading a book by Gen. George S. Patton.

"I have a lot of notes from it," said Pierce, one of the team captains. "Just the way he went about his business as far as inspiring the troops and everything else."


But...

Pierce said the book had been read by the entire defense - The Big Blue Book Club? - though his tone and half-grin during much of the interview suggested some exaggeration.

"Whatever he said, I'm sticking to it," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said with a laugh. "I haven't read a book since elementary school."

An unlikely scenario for the Northwestern graduate, though Cofield turned serious when talking about defensive players' attitudes heading to Washington. "You gotta be angry," Cofield said. "Being the worst defense, points-wise, in the league, that makes you angry. We have a lot of pride."