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.