Week 12 vs Vikings - 1st half

• Aside: why is Fox the Frank Caliendo channel? I like impressionists but I'm getting really tired of Frank. Maybe when his TV show gets canceled they'll dump him, or at least cut into his time a little bit.
• Also aside: Interesting Mort story on Countdown about colleges that may be looking to NFL assistants to fill their coaching vacancies. College football annoys me.
• Conventional wisdom says that this will be a big game for Eli. Could happen. Chester Taylor is averaging 5+ yards per carry. If the Vikings just keep on pounding it out, they'll run time off the clock and maybe E will have to make bigger than usual plays in order to score.
  
• Siragusa says Giants need to blitz to keep pressure on the Vikings and not let them run the ball effectively. Vikings' O-line is good, but Giants D-line "wants to pass rush," so they can't stop the run if they try to block the box.
  
• Aside: I'm glad Beyonce is getting some work. I was really worried about her.
• I don't care how cold it is, Giants Stadium is a great place to watch a football game. Not that I'm there.
• Tynes, you fucknut. All you do is kick and you can't even do that right. Out of bounds, putting MIN on the 40. NY was also offsides - on the kickoff - but they were spared the extra 5 yards.
  
• OK, maybe they can block the box. Giants just pushed Taylor back for a 1 yard gain.
• WOW. What the hell was that? Sydney Rice with the big reception. That's not what they were supposed to do. Tell me they didn't just fake out the defense with a stupid play action... oh. Yes. That's what they did.
  
• Aside: this Onstar commercial is enough to scare you into buying the service. Fuckers.
• So 41 seconds in, it's 7-0 Vikings. I blame Tynes. And the Giants defense thinking they're too good. The one thing nobody ever remembers when predicting Giant games is all the penalties and dumb mistakes, like the kicker booting the ball out of bounds on the opening kickoff.
  
• Nice return from Bradshaw, a rookie.
• There you go. Reuben. Sometimes I know what I'm talking about.
• Good catch Shock! He jumped! Amazing.
• I need to look up Shockey's yards after the catch stat. Gotta be like 4 yards. He never runs.
  
• New t-shirt for Burress: no practice, no problem.
• This is what you want to see. Move the ball, move the ball, move the ball. Pass, run, pass, pass, run, all forward movement.
• Droughns is a good running back. He's big, runs hard, and is just tough to stop. #1 run defense. Fuck that.
• What was Eli throwing to? The play was blown dead but he panicked. "Half the distance to the goal" is about ten feet, but I'll take the first down.
  
• Droughns leaps in for the TD. Nice.
• See, this is what you do. They score, you answer, quickly. Nothing fancy, just showing that you can play. Clearly having Guy Whimper in as an extra blocker did the trick.
• Aside: Wanda Sykes should do more ads. I like her. She almost makes me think Applebee's isn't completely disgusting.
• Hm, yes, Fox announcing team. This is different than you all thought it would be. Giants ran the ball, Vikings threw it. FASCINATING.
• How did the Giants not recover that fumble? Good sack but now the Vikings actually gain yardage on that one.
• Tavaris Jackson is a funny one. He doesn't seem to be very good but the team likes him, and he's being pushed as a future star. He's 4-2 as a starter, which isn't bad at all, but he has almost no passing yards.
  
• ANOTHER penalty?
• There we go. That's the other thing good teams do - stop the other team from scoring.
• Tynes: pay attention. That's how you kick. Pin them behind the ten. OK? Put down the haggis and start kicking better.
• INTERCEPTION! What the hell was that? This is not good. Eli threw the ball to a Viking. Shockey didn't even turn around. So who's fault was that? Shockey's, but Eli shouldn't have thrown the ball his way. It's not all about trust, Eli.
• Thanks for reminding us of the game 2 years ago, guys. Darren Sharper got 3 INTs. Now he has one that he's returned for a TD. In the first quarter. Fuck you.
• I don't want to give succor to the enemy but the Viking Kittens are a classic.
• THAT was a good play. Eli pumps, stops, pulls back, then hits Toomah for a first. He had time, but he also allowed himself to take the time.
• That pass to Toomer was the longest completion Manning has made in 5 games? 31 yards. That's Plax not being 100%. He's the big play dude.
• I'm not sure if S. Moss fell fown there or if Eli overthrew him. Yep, it was Moss.
• What was that? You're down by 7 points and you go for it on 4th and 5? Toomer and Shockey were both open but Eli threw to an imaginary receiver. I know that they run these routes, and the QB expects them to be in certain spots, but doesn't he look first?
  
• OW. Big sack by Robbins. He just picked up Tavaris Jackson and planted him in the ground.
• What was the penalty? Illegal Contact. Nowhere near the play. So a great sack turns into a first down by penalty. That's a stat the Giants would lead the league in.
• Taylor and Droughns are a lot alike. Backups, decent players if they start. Pounders. Just keep hitting and running and you'll get a few yards.
• Peterson seems like a good dude. Like he wants to be a star and has star quality.
• ANOTHER INT? There's a flag. But it's against the Giants so it doesn't matter. This is really embarrassing. Eli is playing like crap but the illegal formation isn't his fault.
• Chester Taylor, TD. That was fucking ridiculous. The Giants just kept not finishing the tackle, and Taylor didn't give up.
• The Vikings are on their way to becoming one of "those teams" for Eli Manning. Stat: 6 quarters against them, Eli has 6 INTs. That's baaaaad.
• See, maybe they should've listened to me. Run the ball. Look, 14 of the 21 points the Vikings have are the result of interceptions. So OK, you can't run the ball against these guys. So what?
• Droughns gets some praise for his blocking ability. Great but it's still a 14 point game.
• This is turning into one of those "why am I watching it" games.
• Giants play the Bears next week. That's a chance to win, I guess. Of course, so was this week.
• One bright spot: this guy Bradshaw seems to be a decent return man.
• Hey! Steve Spagnola! Stop hugging Brad Childress!
• OK, here's the Eli 2 minute drill. Let's see it. This is something he can usually do and now would be a good time.
• Coughster: now is not the time to go to the run. Should've established it earlier. Might be too late now.
• Toomah. Dropped the pass. Bad.
• Not "a great effort from Jeremy Shockey"? How can you say that? He's the hardest working TE in the NFL!
• Penalty, Chris Snee. Coughlin's son in law. Figures.
• What can you say? Right now, they stink.
• 45 seconds left in the half. Let's see if there's any gas in the tank or if it's all between Coughlin's ears.
• Manning just had a bucket of time and he did nothing. Was there no one open? Did he get rattled? They look like a high school team.
• And SHOCKEY drops it. Tough catch but he could've gotten it. If the team isn't completely out of sync he probably does.
• That was pathetic. Eli either misses his spots, or if he hits the receiver, he drops the ball. Lots of chances to do better but they aren't taking them.