Flu? Screw that!

Apparently some of the Giants have the flu.
Let us not forget Keena Turner, who played in Super Bowl XVI despite having THE CHICKEN POX.
So get over it guys. Got a game to play.

Media Day

Listening to it on 1050 ESPN Radio right now. Max Kellerman is interjecting comments and mocking the whole thing with appropriate vigor. Tom Brady just went off on a vague tangent about "using this platform to do more important things," in response to a question that asked "what do you do?" First he said, "I throw a football," and said some things about it not being terribly important in the grand scheme of things.
Stat of the day: 42 reporters for every 1 player. 106 players. 4,876 reporters. Approximately.
Oy vey.
Speaking of oy vey, the predictions have begun. Plax gives a score but not a winner; presumably he's picking New York. Strahan: "History will be ours." I guess they take their lead from Steve Tisch Mir Tuchas.
Everybody on the Giants: SHUT UP.

Surreal

This may sound odd, but it didn't start to feel real until a day ago. Not in the sense that it's OMG SO FANTAASTIK. It just didn't... feel real.

When the Giants beat the Packers, I heard multiple people screaming outside my window. I live on a side street in Manhattan with no retail, no bars, nothing except for two parking garages. When they beat the Cowboys I heard one person yelling. When Tynes' (finally!) hit that field goal in Green Bay, I must have heard 10 or 12 guys shouting like lunatics. I peeked out the window but couldn't see anything. I'm near a highway, so it must have been people in their cars.

There hasn't been an unexpected winner in New York for awhile now. The Jets aren't going anywhere. The Rangers or Islanders almost don't count because so few people care about hockey at this point. Apparently New York has a Lacrosse team, but who knew? The Knicks are so bad the only reason to pay attention is to see when the train actually goes off the rails. The Nets have their moments, but that's New Jersey. The Yankees have been good for so long now that we expect them to make the playoffs, and even making the World Series isn't as much of a thrill as it was back in 1996. The Mets are... you know, the Mets. Who cares?

The Giants weren't expected to go anywhere this year. Most pundits said "no playoffs." Predictions of a 4-12 season were the norm. (I had them doing better than that, for what it's worth.) Making the Super Bowl? Please. Not gonna happen. And yet it did.

The conventional wisdom is that the Jints are playing with house money. I don't particularly care for that attitude, since it doesn't exactly scream "winner." But when you see the reaction of so many New Yorkers, it's hard to argue against it. Still, this sort of thing is a bit much:

As a New Yorker and a lifelong (I'm 87) Giants fan, I want the Patriots to win. Just getting in the Superbowl is way beyond what was expected of this Giants team, and, this should give them plenty of satisfaction. [source: NYTimes.com, comments]

Yes, getting there is an achievement. Winning is a better one. As long as the Giants don't get blown out, they should be OK psychologically. Eli's psyche is a concern, since a young QB getting destroyed in the big game could do long-term damage to even Mr. Alfred Eli Newman.

Bottom line? Achieving more than was expected is always fun. When a team goes all the way, it's even better. The Giants may have achieved a rare moral victory this season by almost beating the Pats in Week 17, and then beating all comers in the playoffs to make it to Arizona. But I'd still rather see the victory parade happen in New York.

NYG vs GB - 2nd half

• The throwing is working but it worries me. Eli just threw a pick that was erased by a penalty. Got the first down, which evens things up after the David Diehl penalty in the first half. Plax is playing like Jerry Rice, or at least like he was playing earlier this year.
• I'm going to say this and please, be sitting down: I agree with Joe Buck. Not enough running for Jacobs.
  
• Another penalty! 15 yards! First down! That was a nasty hit, actually. Eli doesn't come across like a tough guy but I think you gotta be to take a smack like that. Ouch.
• I guess they listened to me, cuz Jacobs just had a nice run there. Almost made it into the end zone, a couple of inches short of a first down. 3rd and inches.
• Jacobs? Fumble? Forth down? What happened? OK, it looks to me like Kevin Boss picked it up after Jacobs got the yard. Nice replay.
• Offsides on the Packers. Half the distance to the goal? What's that, a foot? Auto 1st down, though. Green Bay penalties galore. That's two offsides in a row. Wacky. This is the unit that everyone with a radio show was saying that this was an "elite" defense.
  
• Jacobs! Touchdown! There you go. They listened to me. At least Jacobs didn't throw the ball at anyone (or anyTHING).
• Buck points out what I was thinking, which is that GB really only has one good play, the 90 yard TD by driver. Of course, now they have a huge punt return, putting them deep into Giant territory. Favre is playing OK but not great. No, you don't get a flag there Favre. NO FLAG FOR YOU!
• That was a dopey play. Ball bouncing all over the place, Driver eventually gets it, then Sam Madison pulls a HUGE foul and Green Bay gets an immediate touchdown. Bad bad bad. We were happy he's playing again but that was an unbelievably stupid penalty.
• Bradshaw has a nice run, gets a first, so the Giants come out and... throw the ball again on 1st down. Plax tied a Giant team postseason. Toomer just made a great fucking catch there, 23 yards. But Green Bay challenged it. I don't know, it's not clear. On that replay it looks like both toes are in, I think Green Bay loses that challenge. Cool freeze frame. The camerawork in this game seems better than in previous weeks. The angles are there, there's not a lot of "Why'd they shoot that? The play was over there."
  
• Toomer again. This is weird. Both Green Bay touchdowns are on passes, Manning is throwing the ball all over the field, and it's -20 degrees.
• Bradshaw! Touchdown! Got the lead right back. Take that cheeseheads.
• Another nice one from Favre, to Robinson this time. Then Ryan Grant shows why everyone's been talking about him this week, 13 yards. I don't blame the Giants for being tired at this point in the game but now is not the time for the team to fall apart. There we go, good stop. Keep that up.
  
• Ooo, Strahan got beat on that one. 20 yards for Driver. Not sure what Don was whining about at the end of the play.
• Interception! Fumble! Green Bay recovers. Oh dammit. Favre was almost sacked, Ryan Grant strips the ball from McQuarters after he makes a nice interception, then some huge lineman dives on the ball. Sheesh.
  
• -23 degrees.
• Webster destroys Ryan Grant after he catches a screen pass. Crosby tries to tie it up with a field goal and... does. Then he manages to tackle Hixon on the punt return. He's been good today, Hixon, giving solid field position most of the time.
  
• These Bud ads talking about "The Great American Lager" are pretty stupid. It's cheap beer. That's it.
• After the Cowboys big loss, that Diet Pepsi Max ad is somewhat ironic.
• Plax again. How is he doing this? Wasn't he hurt? Did they install animal parts in him during the week?
• There goes Bradshaw. He's fast. I think they kept the right running back (they got rid of Grant, who's also good, but whatcha gonna do.)
• The Dancing Fox Robot is troubling to members of my family.
• Thaaat wasn't so good. Bradshaw gets stuffed. If they can get him free in the open field... that's the play but easier said than done. 3rd and 5. Manning had to use a timeout rather than get a delay of game penalty. Second time today that happened. I don't know about that. 1 timeout left now. What does it lead to? Offensive interference. So who cares. Actually, the Packers accept the penalty, which pushes NY back 10 yards. 3rd and 15. Bradshaw gets really close to busting loose. 4th and 5, and they go for it. Incomplete. BUT! Pass interference against Green Bay and... 1st down! Steve Smith actually made a nice catch after it bounced off Toomer. So 1st down, and the Giants throw to the end zone. I know, I know. What do I know? But I don't get it.
  
• "It is cramps for Al Harris." Something about that just sounds odd.
  
• Green Bay wastes a time out because they can't get it together on defense, so now both teams have one left.
  
• That's what we were all waiting for. Tynes misses a field goal. It was too far to have him kick it, methinks. What is Coughlin saying to Tynes? Buck up little camper? Yelling at him? Neither seems like a good idea, although you hope its the former since Tynes may get another chance to kick a big one tonight.
  
• Good pressure from the Giants, and nice coverage of Jennings to get a 3rd and 10, and then 4th and short(ish) but Green Bay punts. Defense stepped up there. Again, Favre is playing OK but not great. I wonder if anyone can play great in cold like this.
  
• Green Bay has 31 yards this half? That can't be right. Is it?
• Jacobs back and gets some quick yardage. The play calling seems to be veering back and forth between air it out and keep it on the ground. I know that's oversimplified but there's a strange vibe. That was good; QB sneak, quick 1st down. Let's not screw around. Keeps the clock running, which is good. Don't let the Packers get the ball back. It doesn't matter, because they throw on first down. Again.
• Big sack and NY is done but Feagles pins them back at the 17.
• Neither QB is throwing terribly well. With no glove on their throwing hands, I gotta think that it hurts just to hold the ball, much less throw it. 3rd and 15 now, and they get nothing. Why would Coughlin call the time out there, at 2:30? Giants should get good field position here. I guess he wants as much time as possible to get a score.
• OK, that wasn't good for my nerves. McQuarters fumbles the punt, two Packers try to get it, and then Hixon gets it back.
• Bradshaw runs it in... But it comes back on a Chris Snee holding penalty. Isn't he Cough's son in law?
• 2 minute warning. Actually 1:59, but who's counting?
• Reggie Bush: Has there ever been a bigger gap between the achievements of a player and the amount of ads he does?
• Steve Smith, great catch. Almost a first down. 3rd and 2, 1:37.
• But wait. Oh, it's just a measurement. Did Smith have possession? I think he did. Yeah, we're good. And it's a first down. Outside of Tynes' field goal range.
• NOW they want a review? After all that?
  
• Two questions: are the Giant benches heated yet? And what hot beverage are they serving?
• The nitpicking over completions is a bit much. Not just this play, in general.
• After all that, it's 3rd and 1, not 1st and 10.
  
• Clock running. Bradshaw gets the 1st. Still kinda far for a Tynes field goal. Less than a minute, another first down, and the clock is running down. How far do they let it go? Last second it looks like. It's coming down to a Tynes field goal.
• It's coming down to a Tynes field goal.
• Buck and Troy think Coughlin was yelling at Larry on the sidelines.
• You gotta be kidding me. Bad snap, and it's nowhere near good. Overtime time.
  
• Green Bay wins the toss. Coughlin looks like his face is going to fall off from the cold.
• Does the Giant defense have another stop in them? We'll find out.
• Oh-ho! Interception! Holy crap! Big play by Cory Webster. Favre looks... not so happy.
• They're close but I don't know if you want to put Tynes back in that position again. 3rd and 5, gotta get a first down, right? Crowd still into it. 4th and 5. What do you do? Gives Larry another chance. 47 yard attempt.
• HE MAKES IT! Holy shit, the Giants are going to the Super bowl.
  

NYG vs GB - 1st half

• ZERO degrees. As my six year old said, "Less than zero, but more than cold." The commentators look less than happy.
  
• McCarthy had the Packers practice with frozen footballs, but indoors. Weird. Giants practiced outside. Not this cold, 20 degrees or so. If I'm one of the Fox crew, I tell the network, "Move this fucking thing inside. Now."
• How did I get passed over for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award again? Jason Witten? Oh please.
• "Ice Bowl III." People in Green Bay need to get out more. Oh wait, they can't. It's too cold. THANK YOU! TRY THE VEAL!
• Atlanta is interview Steve Spagnola for the head coaching job? Sheesh. Dude wasn't even a coordinator until this year, right? And we like him now, so let's keep him around.
• Uh-oh, Terry Bradshaw picked the Giants. Last two games, the entire Fox crew picked against NY and we know how that turned out. C'mon guys, I'm wearing the same shirt I wore last week, sitting in the same seat, etc. Get with the program!
  
• A glass of water, frozen from being outside.
• No turnovers. Thanks Aikman. He jumped on the NY bandwagon this week after we beat the 'Boys.
• I hate to admit it but Joe Buck isn't annoying me as much as he used to. Maybe I'm growing up.
• All righty then. Giants are kicking off. I know most people like these freezing games but with no snow it doesn't even have that "oh look, they're slipping all over the place" factor.
  
• Why don't the linemen wear sleeves? It's a macho thing I guess but with minus 23 weather maybe you say 'fuck it' and put a damn shirt on.
  
• The wind knocked the ball off the tee. Let me repeat that: the WIND knocked the BALL off the TEE.
• Drunken Robinson on the return. Fighting already.
  
• Pam Oliver doesn't get paid enough. She probably does but it looks really unpleasant out there.
• Shit, first play, first down. Then Bubba Franks for another first. Bubba hasn't caught a pass since Clinton (another Bubba, get it?) was President. Tonight, he wakes up.
  
• Ooo, almost a pick. Nice. and that's what we want to see from Favre today. Throwing to nowhere. I shouldn't say anything; Eli hasn't touched the ball yet.
  
• Friend of mine went to high school with McQuarters. I didn't go to high school with anybody athletic. Wahhh, poor me.
• American Idol. Feh.
• I can't tell if Jacobs is starting fights with people or if he's defusing them. I think it's the latter. Defenders get pissed when he runs them over, they mouth at him, he says "it's cool, nothing personal, just business."
  
• Run. Short pass. First down. So far so good.
• And then... WHY ARE THEY THROWING EVEN SEMI-DEEP ON FIRST DOWN IN THE FREEZING COLD?
• Poppinga. Sounds like a Japanese cartoon character. "Picachu, look! It's Poppinga! He's a very rare Pokemon!"
• Nice one for Burress, 18 yards. Plax looks pumped. I think you probably have to get yourself really psyched up to play in weather like this.
  
• Jacobs seems to like running outside, but that's really not his strength.
• Lot of throwing. It's working which is a surprise. But lots of throwing. Eli is 3 for 4 for 31 yards. Not that that's SO much but it's much more than you would expect. There's another one. Hm.
• Eli looks really confident. The whole team does, actually. It's much more pleasant to watch. I wonder how much of that is Coughlin behaving himself.
• OK, here's my TFAG moment: it's tough to defend against the short pass. You can't stuff the box or a receiver will get open downfield, and even in the frozen tundra, you can complete 10 yard passes. So I guess that's the game plan. Interesting.
• Manning makes that play (incomplete to Kevin Boss in the end zone) that's pretty impressive. The opening drive is good either way so far. Boss is 6' 7", that's big.
• OK, not a good end for the drive, Eli throws it to a Green Bay player who luckily drops it.
  
• Oh man, Tynes made it. Phew. 3 points.
• Hey! Burress! I know Shockey's out but you don't need to step in for him and get penalties for fighting! Cut the crap, huh?
• Packers get the ball back. The Giants really aren't screwing around here. It's pretty incredible how different they're playing now, as opposed to earlier in the year.
• Oy vey. Bad drop, Amani.
• OK. Tom. Kev. Everybody. Listen to me. You throw on first down, it doesn't work. You run two plays, get 6 or 7 yards, and that's not a first down. You come out running, get a couple, and you have a good chance of first. End of lesson.
• Oh, wait. That's a fumble, not an incompletion. Incompletion. Oh well. Nice hit.
• Visitors' benches not heated. Not nice, guys.
• Burress having a good game here.
• Oh, that was lucky. Burress got it, on a great catch, then fumbled and it went out of bounds. Lots of yapping between Burress and Harris. Burress throws his hands up as if to say, "Hey, not me. Not me." That's right. You're above that shit. Let them get the penalty.
• Need to do less throwing here, guys. A couple of bad drops, Toomer, Smith. It's not working. 3rd and 12, yeah, that's a passing down, but still.
• How did Sam Jackson get stuck in this sci-fi/action movie rut?
• Tyree coulda caught that. That's a bunch of bad drops. 37 yard field goal attempt, Tynes makes it. Two for two. So far the only thing that's going as predicted is the weather.
  
• Nobody can hold onto the ball today. Robinson looked like he pulled back from the ball a little bit there. Hard to tell. Look at those stats. Giants have held the ball more than twice as long as Green Bay.
• Of course, it doesn't matter when Donald Driver burns you for a 90 yard TD. What the hell was that? I know I don't know a damn thing about what it's like to play football but whenever I see a play like that I always think the defender should hurl themselves at the ball carrier. Since it almost never happens I assume it's not that simple. A play like that gives the Packers such a shot of energy. Favre starts preening, the crowd goes nuts, Eli gets rattled... let's not throw in the towel just yet.
• Jacobs looked like he had something extra on that run, pounding a little more, wanting the yardage more than before. Bradshaw gets dumped. He might not be as helpful in this game as he was before.
• I know I've been saying no passing but that was a hell of a throw and a nice catch by Burress for a first down.
• Eli keeps his composure, then throws it to nowhere, although it was too close to several Packers for my liking.
• Stop saying Poppinga!
• Bad. Bad bad bad. Three incompletions in a row.
• So far both games are about getting touchdowns not field goals. San Diego gets four FGs, New England 3 TDs. Green Bay has 1 TD, Giants 2 FGs. Do the math.
• Too much yakking on both sides. Let Buck and Aikman call the game, guys.
• RW, WTF? No shoving.
• Jacobs. Daaaaamn. Nice. And now holding? Where? What? That was bullshit. Now we're backed up again. Grrr.
  
• Play clock expires, Illegal Shift penalty, or something. Holding penalty causes a punt, from the end zone. Great field position for the Packers. This is where the Giants make or break the game. (Hyperbole, yes, but whatever.) Can't let Favre score here. Or anyone else on the Packers for that matter. 3rd and 10, so far so good.
  
• Ohhhhh, what was that? Come on. The fix is in, people. "Illegal Brett Favre not going to the Super Bowl. 5 yard penalty. Automatic-first down."
• Good play by Pierce to stop a first down, and probably a TD. Now the Giants get the ball back before the half ends. Can Eli do the same thing he did last week?
  
• Plaxico Burress. Coming through BIG time. 32 yard pass. Aaand then an incomplete pass that was almost an AMAZING catch by Burress. They're really pushing the envelope here with these long bombs.
• What was that? No timeouts, Manning is running. I guess the play was blown. Now 4th and 8, 11 seconds left. Oy. And Manning goes down with a sack. Not looking good.
  

Heeere we go

Shannon Sharpe on CBS:

Some lady has brought [something else] into the equation today, and that's Mother Nature. She's showed her ugly face today.

The 'something else' was something I couldn't quite make out.

Eli being interviewed on Fox by Pam Oliver: dude is very 'aw shucks,' and I think its genuine. I'm not nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize, but there are worse things than having a QB who's not a douchebag (Rivers... Rivers...).

Tom Coughlin (also being interviewed by Pam) looks like a different guy. Calmer, confident but not idiotically so.

Coughlin's theme of the week: let's keep playing. Sounds good.

All Roads Lead to New York

There are a bunch of storylines for this Sunday's game against the Packers, but one of the few that hasn't been beaten to death yet is the fact that somehow everything seems to connect back to the Giants.
Flip Bondy's column yesterday (Packer legend Vince Lombardi's saga begins in Brooklyn and ends in N.J.) points out that Vince Lombardi, forever linked to the land of cheese and beer, not only is from Brooklyn, he used to work for the Giants and is buried in freakin' New Jersey.
When Bill Belichick wants to show his players how to do defense, he pops in a tape of Big Blue from the 1980's.
(Bonus: check out this pic, featuring Bill B in unfortunate shorts.)

From left, Bill Parcells, Lawrence Taylor
and Bill Belichick with the Giants in 1986.
(Jerry Pinkus for The New York Times)

Ryan Grant, the new running back for the Pack, arrived in Green Bay at the start of the season. From the Giants. (For a freakin' sixth round pick, but we'll forgive Jerry, since he kept Ahmad Bradshaw.)

Everything goes through New York.

The Week That Was

NYC has gone Big Blue Bonkers. When McQuarters intercepted Romo's pass in the final minute to seal the win for the Giants, I heard a fan outside my window shouting for joy. Repeatedly. The thing is, I don't live on a street with a bar or even an avenue that's frequently populated. I think it was one of the garage attendants but it could have been a random passer-by, or even a neighbor with an open window (it was cold, so probably not). I paused the broadcast (Tivo, so necessary) and listened.

When was the last time New York had a surprise team go this deep into the playoffs? After making it to the Super Bowl in 2000, the Giants fell apart a little bit. Tiki Barber hadn't become the great player that he was in his final two seasons, Ron Dayne was, well, Ron Dayne, and Kerry Collins never recovered from his Super loss. Collins stayed with the team through the 2003 season then left for Oakland to help Al Davis change his Depends.

And thus began the Eli era.

Or, if you prefer, the Coughlin era.

What's funny about both of those statements is that until a couple of weeks ago most New Yorkers wouldn't have been able to say them without sarcasm. Eli was OK, not great, but he showed signs of possibly becoming a solid enough quarterback. Maybe he would never justify the price Ernie Accorsi paid for him, but hey, you pays your money, you takes your chances.
Coughlin was another story. He was old, annoying, and just not a very good coach. He led the Jaguars to a championship game. So what? He couldn't handle this team and generally came off as a befuddled old man on the sidelines: arms flapping at the frequent penalties (interesting for a guy who preached “discipline”), stamping his feet at officials' calls, not knowing how to handle increasingly egotistical players (Tiki, Strahan), many of whom seemed to make game-changing mistakes more frequently then they made even halfway decent plays (Shockey). The coach had “lost the team,” he had certainly lost the fans, if he'd ever had them. At the end of the second straight first-round playoff exit, many screamed that Coughlin should be canned (and maybe even caned). But Mara gave him a one-year extension. This way he wouldn't feel like a lame duck coach, just biding his time until his eventual firing.

After a fairly dull pre-season, where most pundits predicted the team would win 4, maybe 5 games all year, the Jints seemed to be proving everybody right with two straight embarrassing losses. The defense gave up 80 points in two games. 80 points! What were we, the Browns? Or worse... the Jets? We had Tiki, who had retired from running his mouth in the locker room to take a less dangerous position of running his mouth on national television. The guy's been retired for a few months and he picked up right where he left off, calling out his former quarterback and saying that he didn't know how to lead the team. Eli, who usually didn't respond to much of anything (his nickname of “Easy Eli” was about to be replaced with “Mute Manning”), surprised everyone by (politely) telling Tiki take his talk and shove it.

Then came Week 3. The Giants came back from a 14 point deficit and then held the Redskins out of the end zone in the final minute. Suddenly Steve Spagnola was Superman. Coughlin was still a kook but he had seemed to calm down on the sidelines. The penalties had dropped. When Brandon Jacobs got hurt, we found out that rookie General Manager Jerry Reese had drafted a pretty nice group of young players, especially at running back. Jacobs is hurt? OK, let's try Derrick Ward. Oh, he's hurt? Well, we can go back to Jacobs. Season coming to an end, need to win some games, and Jacobs is a little nicked up? How about Ahmad Bradshaw, who now looks like he might be the best of the bunch? Screw Thunder and Lightning. This was Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the gates of hell.

We all know what happened in Week 16. Coughlin, in a surprisingly ballsy move, decided to play to win. And they came extremely close, essentially giving the game back to the Pats in the fourth quarter. That's not a Wade Phillips-esque “the best team lost” routine – the Patriots could very well be the best team ever, Tom Brady is much better than Eli, and Belichek is much better than Tommy C – but if you watched the game, it felt like New York ran out of steam at the end. But somehow, even though there are no moral victories, this was as close to one as you were ever going to see. Something happened in that game that gave the team a spark that they've carried with them into Tampa, beating the Bucs as they should have. Then they beat Dallas, which they probably shouldn't have, but Wade appears to be a so-so coach at best, and Eli is actually a more experienced quarterback than Romo.

The Quote of the Week on Giants.com is this:
"That was the first time we actually all played together. We came out and showed what we’re made of. … We knew if the score was close in the fourth quarter, we were going to be alright. In the previous game [vs. Dallas] we had too much focus on keeping him in the pocket. This game, we just let him bounce around, but we kept him contained. We knew we were going to get pressure on the quarterback, no doubt.”- DE Osi Umenyiora on the Giants defense after Sunday's win over the Cowboys

Think about that first sentence. “The first time we actually all played together.” Clearly there were specific differences. Eli wasn't making bad throws to empty spots on the field. He wasn't throwing interceptions the way Jessica Simpson tosses her hair. The penalties had dropped dramatically. The defense, from Strahan to the growing core of rookies that were taking over the roster, was playing aggressive and smart football. But Osi is right – the most important thing was that they were playing together. No more Eli throwing a pass and finding that Shockey was somewhere on the other side. No more missed blocking assignments. Eli seemed less nervous, and the team wasn't giving up so easily. Think about it: that drive in the final minute of the first half against Dallas, where the Giants did in 30+ seconds something that it took Dallas 10 minutes to do, was something that probably wouldn't have happened in the regular season. Coughlin and Gilbride would have had Eli take a knee. But this is the playoffs. Screw it, let's go after these guys. That attitude started in Week 16 when they lost to the best team in the league.

The last time New York went this nuts for a team on an unexpected championship-type run was in the mid-90's, when the Yankees started winning regularly. But after they made the playoffs year after year, it wasn't enough for us anymore. We expected, needed, a World Series. Not just an appearance, but a win. Sure, the race for first in the division was fun. So was beating the Red Sox in the ALCS. But getting to first round, only to be knocked out by a Cleveland or a Detroit team? Please.

This Giants team wasn't supposed to do a damn thing this year. Except lose. And they won. Bizarrely, columnists (well, Lupica) are saying things like “even if they lose to Green Bay, it doesn't matter. This team achieved something great.” As stupid as that sounds, it's true. New York fans already won this year.

Now let's go disappoint Favre and a bunch of freezing cold cheeseheads.

Divisional Playoffs, Giants vs Cowboys, 2nd half

• Coughlin wants to stop the run in this half. Not a good start there. Barber is tough to stop. 121 yards so far. Ugh. That time they stopped him.
• Glenn with another one. Not sure what Joe Buck means when he talks about the snaps being late (I'm watching the game and doing something else too - SORry.) Dallas O-line is doing a good job keeping the pass rushers away from Romo. Except on that play where he ran right past a ton of Giants for a 1st down. They had him but he slipped out.
• 3rd and 12, thanks to a penalty. Dallas committing lots of those today. That gets them to 4th and 12 and a FG try. Horrible throw by Romo; if he's calm he throws that right to T.O. and it's another touchdown. Look at T.O. yelling at Tony. Not too badly, actually. Still, maybe this is the meltdown game. Oh please let it be the meltdown game.
  
• Dallas looks a little downtrodden after that drive. Interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if Wade Philips wasn't any good at pumping up a team. He "treats them like men." Last time I heard that? Herm Edwards. That's working out GREAT in KC.
• Nice return gives NY nice field position.
  
• Jacobs pounds it out. Max Kellerman has it right, he's The Juggernaut.
• Oooo, Eli. That hurt. Bad sack. Now to 3rd and 17. 4th down, not enough to try the field goal. Dallas calls time out for some reason, hopefully that'll come back to bite them later.
• Aaron Ross is in a sling. Running out of players here. Giant players are starting to bitch and moan (well, Strahan is) and they all look tired. Bad penalty on Dallas, though, could give a little spark. Strahan had something to bitch about.
• Ooo, if Crayton catches that pass that's an easy first down. Shit. Not looking good here, although at least they stopped 'em there. Need to SCORE. Now.
  
• McQuarters with the nice punt return. I think the Giants have had decent field position all day. If I remember correctly, McQuarters is returning punts mostly because he doesn't fumble,
  
• Sam Madison is basically coaching on the sidelines. I like it.
• Gotta score a touchdown this time. Come on.
  
• Eli's overthrowing everybody. Remember the running game? Remember Bradshaw and how good he is? OK, Bradshaw's in there now. Not sure why they seem to have given up on the run already. It's only a three point game. Wouldn't it be better to control the clock, keep the ball as long as possible?
• The American Idol people scare me. That's fans and contestants. Oh, and the hosts. They don't scare me, but they're irritating.
  
• There you go - Steve Smith, 1st down, 1st and goal. Smith has 4 for 48, that helps.
• Sheee-it, cousin, that was a nice run by Bradshaw. Stopped at the 1, but barely. And Jacobs storms in, throwing the ball at the play clock, which was a little weird. Wade's looking nervous... which is reasonable, consider his past playoff experience.
• Another Dallas penalty knocks them back. 8th so far.
• Crayton drops another one. Ha ha. Witten catches one, boo-hoo. Then T.O. drops one. HA HA!
  
  
• OK, we'll stop taunting Crayton. He caught that one.
  
• Oh right, Indy lost.
• Sacktastic! Romo goes down. Some receiver (Miles Austin? Who dat?) was open but Romo went down hard. Another incompletion and that's 4th and 13. Ha ha.
• Romo's getting rattled, yelling at players and stuff. Punt is downed at the 3 yard line, feh. Jacobs pounds his way through to at least get them out of the end zone, but they don't convert. Too close to go for it I guess but that just sucks.
  
• Oh look, women in the kitchen. I didn't know we had color television in 1952.
• Those Mac/PC commercials would be insufferable except that it's generally acknowledged that Windows Vista blows massive chunks.
• And now he's SACKED... oh ye-ah-ah-eh-ah... SACKED... 000 ye-ah-ah-eh-ah!
• Witten. WITTEN. At least they stopped him before the first down. How are we not noticing that Witten is doing this frequently? Witten again, but theres a flag. Illegal formation on Dallas, so its 3rd and 9. Romo's getting really mouthy to the officials, which is unusual for him I think.
  
• Automatic first down on a Giants penalty, which Romo follows up with Intentional Grounding. The officiating is a little wacky today on both sides.
• Interesting comment by Aikman about the clock. Giants are pounding Romo and they're getting totally rattled. 3rd and 20 and they have to use a time out or take a delay of game penalty. Come on...
  
• 4th and 20. Strahan not on the field, not sure why but he looked really spent earlier so he might just be over tired. Punt-a-rooski. 3:46 to go, 21-17, New York Football Giants in the lead. Giants have 3 time outs, Dallas has one.
  
• Let's see if they run the ball. They do. Bradshaw gets a few yards. It's an interesting strategy, using him at the end. I think that might be counter-intuitive, since he's a little guy (5'9", although at 192 lbs it's a big 5'9"). 3rd and 5, not good. Need to get the 1st. Oy, Eli gets sacked. 2 minute warning.
  
• A 5'9" man should be, at most 176 pounds. So Bradshaw's kinda big, though not by football standards. A 6'4" man (Brandon Jacobs' height) should be 207 at most. Jacobs is 264.
• Grr.... Need to stop them now. 2nd and 1, they stop Barber (actually he ran into his own O-lineman), clock is running, they get another play off, barely. Romo does a Favre and flips to Witten for a 1st down. Giant time out stops the clock at 31 seconds for Tuck's injury. (Acting? Dunno.) Jerry Jones is on the sideline. Giants need to step up BIG here.
  
• Same weird thing with the snap not happening at the right time again, this time it's called as a false start. 2nd and 11 as Witten catches another one, gets out of bounds but it's because of a push and therefore the clock runs, so Dallas burns the last time out.
  
• Romo gets hit, throws it away, 3rd and 11, 22 seconds left. Spagnolo is praying. Romo overthrows to the end zone, 4th and 11.
• INTERCEPTION! GIANTS WIN! Jerry Jones looks like he just ate his own liver. No amount of lovin' from Jessica Simpson is going to make this one go away. Holy crap, we're off to Green Bay.
  

Divisional Playoffs, Giants vs Cowboys, 1st half

• T.O. is in, so is Terry Glenn. Jason Witten did an interview right before gametime. That would annoy me if I were a coach but it didn't seem to bother Witten, who scares me a little as a Giant fan. He had a monster season (96 receptions, 1,145 yards, 7 TDs) and really killed the Giants this year. He plays hard (like that run where he lost his helmet earlier in the season) and is just a big target for Romo pretty much all the time. Hopefully Glenn is rusty (like Marvin Harrison earlier today) and T.O. is hurt enough to slow him down. Then Strahan and the rest need to beat Romo like he owes them money.
  
• The time that Fox gives you for the start of the game has as much relation to reality as most of the news on Fox News Channel. Wait a minute, I see a pattern here...
• Joe Buck looking longingly at Troy Aikman... "Oh Troy, you're so manly..."
  
• I think one of the sideline photographers is taking a picture of Pam Oliver's booty.
• Giants have the ball first. Sean O'Hara is back on the field which is nice. The fill-in was fine last week but the Cowboys are a much better team than the Bucs.
• The guy to watch is Kevin Boss. OK, I'm wrong, it's Brandon Jacobs, who opens the game with two carries, the second for a first down.
• David Diehl is taking Shockey's place for "most tattooed Giant player."
• Why is Eli throwing to the middle of the field this early in the game? He threw it away but to no one, although it was awfully close to a Cowboy defender.
  
• Ooooo... DeMarcus Ware... Offsides! Third and less than a yard now.
  
• QB sneak, safe play. Looks like they made it, but barely.
• TOOMER! Another one for the old man! Stepping up in the postseason, some crappy tackling by the Cowboys and BAM. 7-0 in less than 3 minutes.
  
• Cowboys, 3 and out, bye bye.
• Toomer again, quick first down. What's that smell? Oh yeah, Tony Romo just crapped his pants.
• DeMarcus Ware stops Brandon Jacobs, which ain't that easy.
• Jacobs just pounded through some Cowboys, although he didn't quite get the first down. Most backs can't pound through like that though. He goes out, Bradshaw comes in and gets a nice few yards for a first down. Lot of people (OK, Mike Francesa) are saying that he could be a "really special player." Could be.
• Jacobs split out as a receiver, which gives Bradshaw room to get another 12 yards. Nice.
• WHY IS ELI THROWING BOMBS? This is what they didn't do last week and it worked great. Eli didn't hit Burress, who knows if it was overthrown or Burress just didn't get there. I wonder sometimes if the long throws are mostly for Eli's ego. I know, that would be stupid, but why else would they do it? Burress is hurt, and even when healthy he's not Randy Moss. Here's what happens: you waste a down. The big throw on 1st and 10 was meaningless, if they'd gotten even one yard on that play they'd have a first down.
  
• Feagles is a punting savant. It's such a great and sort of odd skill, precision punting, but he's got it.
• Aaaand there's T.O. Then Aaron Ross kills Patrick Crayton, which is what he should be doing. GO!
• Big run for Marion Barber. See Tom? This is why you don't do that long bomb on a first down when your running game is knocking Dallas on their heels.
  
• This is not what you want to see. Can't let them get into a rhythm. Crayton was open wider than Jessica Simpson for Tony Romo.
• This is where the coach is important. I don't know if Belichek or Parcells say inspirational things on the sidelines but I bet they do something other than pout. Actually, Tom is fairly subdued so far, which is better than the arm flapping.
• Barber, man. T.O. blocking. Come on, make a stop here.
• OK, let's calm down, this is what we thought would happen. We knew the Cowboys would score. We'll just need to score too.
  
• TD for TO, stupid challenge by Coughlin. Not a good move. We'll see if it matters.
  
• Now suddenly we're in the 2nd quarter and it's 7-7. Bad call on that long pass play. I'm telling you.
  
• Aikman: "T.O.'s got a little bit of the showman in him..." Really? I hadn't noticed.
  
• Oy. Terry Glenn. Come on. This is not the time of the game when the Giants fall apart! (That usually comes later.) PICK IT UP!
• Well thank goodness Matthew McConnohee and Kate Hudson are getting work.
• 2 minute warning and all is not well. 2nd and goal, score still tied. Now 3rd and goal. Spagnola furiously working his headset. Marion Barber... punches it in somewhat easily. Or maybe now. His knee kinda looks like it hit the ground before the ball crossed the plane. And four angels can dance on the head of a pin. Important minutiae, but minutiae still. TD stands. Loooong drive. 20 plays. Over 10 minutes I think. Not good.
• "It's hard to win games in the National Football League." Aikman, you TFAG.
• Whoah. Nice catch by Smith. Wobbly pass from Eli but it's caught and then he gets out of bounds. No he didn't, they called timeout. I'll take it. Smith again, this time he gets out. Good work. AND a penalty, which puts them deep in Dallas territory.
• THE BOSS! 19 yards, 1st and goal, WHOO-HOO!
• TOOMER! TOUCHDOWN! TIE GAME! WOW!
  

Colts vs Chargers

Down to the wire, 28-24... San Diego. Ouch. If Peyton and Eli are Super Manning Brothers, looks like Peyton is Luigi. Time for Eli to be Mario. Big upset. Not really sure how that happened, even watching the game. LT went out, Rivers goes out, and Billy Volek wins the game. Tony Dungy definitely handles himself well, looking genuinely pleased for Norv Turner, who spent most of the game flapping his yap and complaining. Philip Rivers decided it was time to yell at the crowd at the end of the game, which he also did as he left the field with an injury. BIG win for the Chargers, crushing loss for the Colts who were heavily favored by the entire planet. Once again, though, Peyton didn't really get it done in the tight spot. You can blame Marvin Harrison being
out for most of the season, or any number of other things. But San Diego lost LT and Philip Rivers, and had a hobbled Antonio Gates. Yet they won.
Eli! Avenge your brother's loss!

Mike say: Look out for Tynes

Yesterday on WFAN, Mike Francesa said (not quoting exactly here) that "we've been waiting all year for the kicker [Tynes] to miss a game-winning shot." He went on to say that he could see Tynes blowing an easy FG, then watching Dallas' Nick Folk kick one through the uprights. To make him wrong, NY needs to come out and score right away.

Wild Card Weekend - Giants vs Bucs, 2nd half

• Fumble recovered by Giants! Tynes almost had it himself but he muffed it and Webster snagged it.
• Memo to Jacobs: Keep pounding 'em. Actually, that's a memo to Gilbride. Yards is yards, y'know? Takes time off the clock, go to the pass when you want to.
• Awful throw by Eli. He got himself some space but he threw it so high Warren Worthington III couldn't have caught it.

• Best play of the day so far: screens and other short passes to Jacobs. Got good blockers, use 'em.
  
• Eli throws a lot of balls too far or too high. False start? Giants? Hey, 1st penalty this game, not bad. Still 2nd and goal.
• Hmf. Bad. Shoulda got a TD there. FG makes it 17-7.
  
• That Oil of Olay ad reminds me a porno I saw once.
• So a nice interception by Webster leads to a nice punt by Feagles. Eli was baaaaad. He gets flustered too easily, feeling the heat. Hopefully the phone they just handed him was his father or brother or a hot chick telling him to calm the fuck down.
• Defense could win the game for New York but it'd be a lot easier if the offense could capitalize on good field position for once. Garcia looks awful; he's not throwing the ball with any accuracy. Maybe it's the time off or maybe it's Galloway's injured shoulder but that combo isn't looking like much at this point.
• I smell anti-Giant bias. Buck says things like "the NY defense is doing well - so far," as if they won't keep doing well. On the other hand maybe he's a fan and knows what could happen.
• What the hell was that? Oh. Burress grabbed the jersey. Too obvious. I don't know what the rule is but if an official sees a jersey get grabbed I have to think that's gonna get called. They should know that. 3rd and 7. Haven't been great today in tight spots like this but maybe they can pull it out...
• They do! Toomer comes through at the right times, mostly. In that horrific Vikings game he dropped about 552 passes but sometimes he gets the job done when he has to, today being a very good example.
• David Diehl goes out, Guy Whimper comes in. Someone with a name like Whimper sort of has to become a huge football player to avoid getting his head kicked in every day, doesn't he?
• It's so hot players are requiring electrolytes by IV?
• Boss with a nice catch and... run isn't exactly the right word but he gets more yards. Reminds me of Witten a little bit, with the shoulder pad popped out but keeps running. Also, he looks like a big dumb white guy. That helps.
• TOOOOOOMER! Touchdown!
  
• You know, just when you think you can start surfing for porn doing the dishes the stupid Schmucks get a touchdown and suddenly it's a 10 point game with under 4 minutes to play.
• OK, let's pay attention here. Tom needs me. It's 2:45 and counting, and both teams have all their timeouts left. Bradshaw has emerged in this half as a good option for Eli. Tampa Bay has to start burning timeouts, which we like. Now let's see if they can get the 3rd and 3 and keep the ball away from the Bucs. Kept it on the ground and didn't get it done. The argument Joe Schmuck made about forcing Tampa Bay to burn time out #2 is good, and Aiky inadvertently affirms it by saying "yes, but if you trust your quarterback to made a good play..." which the Giants don't. Eli just flat out gets flustered. It's not only the loonies who could benefit from a little therapy, it's also the inconsistent players who seem like they could be better if they didn't collapse under pressure.
• Oh that would've been nice, but McQuarters doesn't get his feet down in time. But wait. I think he did, and the booth wants to check it out. That could be it if the call gets overturned. Come on guys, let's get the call in already, I got stuff to do here. Like watch the other game.
• YESSS!!!!!! INTERCEPTION!!!!!!
  INTER-CEPTION (clap clap clapclapclap)
  INTER-CEPTION (clap clap clapclapclap)
• 1:53 left, Schmucks only have one time out left, let's see what they do here. Run, good. We're done here. Next week: Dallas, who, according to convention wisdom, is totally screwed. Next week!
  

Wild Card Weekend - Giants vs Bucs

• Just for yucks, let's call them the Schmucks.
• This is where Brandon Jacobs is from. Nice short piece on Countdown this morning about him. Apparently he was wearing 3-6 month old clothes at birth, and rolled over the day he was born. Screw Tiki, I prefer Brandon.
• Nice weather in FLA today. Eli's happy, he says.
• Anthony Mix had a great play yesterday for the Redskins. I know it's not a big deal but in Mix looked good in the pre-season and NY can use anything they can get now.
  
• No O'Hara. Lots of people say that's a problem but we'll see.
• See, first throw is to the new TE Kevin Boss. If the Giants win, look for the headling "Meet the New Boss." You heard it here first.
• Jacobs tries to run outside, which isn't his strength. Not good. Not sure what else there was to do but I bet he gets at least two yards rather than losing two, leading to a low toss to David Tyree that he drops. Hey, nice work. Feh.
• Earnest Graham? EARNEST GRAHAM?!?!? Who cares? Joe Schmuck is talking about him like he was LT2. SCREW HIM.
• Galloway was open wider than Lindsay Lohan on that play.

• Now the defense is stepping up a bit. 3rd and 15, we like that.
• Enough with the debate about whether or not the Giants should have played their starters last year. It's over. She has your t-shirt, she sold your CDs on ebay. Move on.
  
• Nice blocking by the Schmucks to free Earnest Graham for a good run. Giants have to be insanely aggressive on defense, the offense is good but the play calling isn't. I don't want to see Graham out rush Jacobs today. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT.
• Tom Coughlin - Are you a sucker? Or a sucker BUTT?
• Oh HO. Not good enough, Earnest Graham. Where's your praise now, Joe Schmuck? I smell anti-Giant bias from Aiky-Breaky Troy and Joe Buck Schmuck.
  
• Dammit. The only thing worse than a Giant loss would be a Giant loss at the hands of Earnest Graham. Because then Joe Schmuck would be right. Which is a sign of the apocalypse, or at least a sign that Joe will be more annoying, if such a thing is possible. Touchdown. Tampa Bay. Earnest Graham.
  
• If BJ isn't getting it done, try Bradshaw. It's called "change of pace." Perhaps the Giants coaches have heard of it.
• Montay Kiffin may go work for his son Lane at the Jokeland Raiders.
• Hey! Penalty against the Schmucks! Whoo-hoo! Let's see some capitalizing on that, New York.
• Eli doesn't have a great group of WRs but it's not like he has nobody to throw to. Bucs pass rush is looking like the Giants-fast and dangerous.
• That should've been a sack but it didn't matter much since Jeffy G threw the ball low leading to a punt. Good field position for New York, let's see them do something this time. It's been 3 and out each time for them so far.
• Somebody on the Giants - Gilbride, Eli, Coughy - is anti-dink and dunk. Short passes are suddenly working for them, which makes sense if you look at the Bucs defensive stats: #2 overall defense, #17 against the run. So it's not a lot of yards, but they can be beaten. Let Jacobs keep squeezing out a yard or two at a time up the middle so Tampa stuffs the box, then Eli can hit whoever is nearby. Of course, if nobody can catch the fucking ball it won't matter.
  
• Steve Smith is no good. Time to cut him. Too many dropped balls. Either teach him how to play or accept that he stinks and let him out.
  
• There's a stat: -2 total yards for NY in the 1st quarter.
• Toomer woke up. Don't ask him to be Joey Galloway just ask him to get open in the short field.
  
• Hey! Nice play by Eli and Jacobs! Actual clever football.
  
• SACKED! If you can plant Garcia like an orange tree, you take away a big part of his game: mobility.
• Bottom line: this Bucs' team isn't that good. IMO they seem to win games with Garcia throwing for under 200 yards, with the defense keeping the score low. Can't do that forever.
  
• Gwen Stefani is way hot.
• Once again, we insult Giant players, and they play better. STEVE SMITH! NICE CATCH! FUCK YOU!
• JACOBS!!!!! OK, him we don't insult. I might be the guy's biggest fan. It's weird how little credit he seems to get. 2nd touchdown and it's only the first half. Good blocking + enormous running back = points for the Giants.
  
• I don't think Tampa has great offensive weapons either, but they seem to have a better offensive scheme. Alstott, Askew, Graham, these aren't immortal names but they get open and that makes a difference, especially with a mobile QB like Garcia. Of course, even if they complete the short passes, it doesn't matter as long as the Giant defense swarms the receiver as soon as they make the catch.
  
• Good catch by Hilliard, but was it enough for a 1st? Let's see.... Yes. Yes it is.
• New York stops them but doesn't bother trying for more points before the half, which hopefully won't be a mistake.