Back and Blue

It took a few weeks plus another half of a football game for the sleeping Giants to finally wake up from their nap. Last Sunday against the Jaguars it was a due or die for Big Blues playoff hopes, a loss would have surely have sent them packing for next season.
Coming into the game the G-men were like wounded animals missing top offensive threats Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith. The Jaguars looked like they were every bit of the jungle cat trying to finish off their wounded prey. Early on the Jaguars ran all over a usually stout Giants defense, gashing them for over 140 yards on the ground in the first half alone.
Going into the locker room Big Blue was rained down upon by the boo-birds of Giants Stadium and its fans. However following an emotional halftime speech delivered by top defensive lineman Justin Tuck, challenging his defense and calling out players.
What ensued after halftime was a display of defensive brilliance, that us Giant fans have been craving for over two weeks.
The Giants completley neutralized the small but explosive Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew or "Mojo" as he is called around the league, and stiffled one of the more elusive quarterbacks around in David Garrard. Sacking the QB 4 times and holding a high powered offense to 90 total yards in the second half. Eli Manning was able to lead a stagnant offense to two fourth quarter touchdowns, one to big tight end Kevin Boss who was able to use his strength and break free of multiple tackles en route to a 31 yard touchdown.
Next week holds even more importance for the G-men who play division foe, the Washington Redskins and old friend Donovan McNabb.

Turnovers Cost Giants NFC East Lead

The Giants took another step back on Sunday night when they lost a close game to the Philadelphia Eagles 27-17. This team continues to shoot themselves in the foot, no not with bullets… sorry Plaxico, but with turnovers. Turnovers are the stat that has kept this team down this year preventing it from reaching its full potential, and stunting its progress from becoming the best team in the NFC. Last night with five turnovers, four committed by Eli Manning the Giants squandered an opportunity to take an important road victory from their bitter division rivals who have now beaten them three games in a row. After a disappointing defensive effort against the Cowboys last week, allowing journeyman John Kitna to throw for over 350 yards, Big Blue’s D was able to contain the ever elusive Michael Vick, who happened to put on a spectacular offensive showing against the Redskins a week ago. All-Pro defensive end Justin Tuck was able to record three sacks and two forced fumbles, while limiting a high octane Philly Offense to field goals, eluding the big play from the Eagles which would have indeed landed a knockout punch much earlier in the game. The Giants who now sit at 6-4 are still in a position to make the playoffs, barring an epic disaster, however if they can’t find a way to secure the football this dream of not making the playoffs could soon become a reality.

Schellacking in Seattle

The Giants showed no ill effects coming off their bye week, delivering a 41-7 mashing of the Seattle Seahwaks late Sunday afternoon in Seattle. The Seahawks who came into the game injury depleted, missing starting QB Matt Hasslebeck, and two starting offensive linemen. All that aside this was a game that was mailed in from the start. Big Blue exploded out of the gates with 21 first quarter points, silencing a hostile Seattle crowd, who prides themselves on dubbing their noise as "the 12th man." The Giants cruised to their NFC leading 6th win of the season, and 5th in a row. Big Blue excelled in all aspects of the game, from special teams, defense, and offense , the Giants are now showing that they are a force to be reckoned with coming down the stretch of the season. Seattle on the other hand may need to go back to the drawing board, more importantly the trainers room, after taking a thorough beating by Eli Manning and Co. Next week the G-Men take their talents back home to face their division rivals the Dallas Cowboys, who find themselves at 1-6 and at the bottom of the barrel in the NFC East. It certainly seems like a good time for the Giants to pour a little more salt in that Texas sized Cowboys wound, and drop the hammer on a disgraceful season, orchestrated by head coach Wade Phillips. Other game notes from Sunday include the continuous blistering hot play of Eli Manning and Hakeen Nicks, Manning who now leads the NFC in passing TD's looks to be headed to his second straight pro bowl. More importantly 22 year old Hakeem Nicks now has 9 TD grabs on the year ranking him first in the league. With 8 games left to play it should be fun to watch the maturation as well as the numbers pile up for these two superstars.

Finish Em’

Undoubtedly coming into Monday night's matchup against the Giants, the Cowboys find themselves in a deep hole. It'll be up to Eli Manning and a ferocious Giants pass rush to turn that deep hole into an insurmountable grave, a 1-5 start would surely end the Cowboys season and douse any dreams that they might have had of hosting and playing in Superbowl 45. The cowboys coming into tonights game bolster a freakishly talented squad, sporting pro bowl honors at many of the eleven positions both on defense and offense. The problem for Big D however isn't lack of talent, but lack of discipline. The Cowboys have been called for more penalties per game (12.4) than any other team in the league. Not to mention a flimsy offensive line, who will be going up against the likes of Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre- Paul, three monsters any quarterback wouldn't want to see even during this Halloween season. A win would move Big Blue to 5-2, and thanks to a loss from the Eagles, courtesy of the NFC East killing Tennessee Titans the Giants would have sole possesion of first place heading into their bye week. Ultimatley leaving the Cowboys and their fans scratching their heads yet again.

Business as Usual

Coming into Sunday's game against a much improved Detroit Lions team, the Giants did exactley what they were supposed to do, win. Detroit has lost twenty four consecutive road games, tying their own record, which was set in 2001-2003. However with the emergence of Calvin Johnson, aka "megatron" as a legitamate NFL superstar, big blue's defense needed to be on its game to prevent any big plays downfield. Johnson, who did finish the game with eight receptions for 145 yards including a TD, gained most of these yards on a 87 yard strike from 3rd string quarterback Drew Stanton, who took over after the Giants knocked starter Shaun Hill out of the game with a fractured left wrist. Knocking Qb's out of games is becoming a weekly occurance for Big Blue's defense, with a furious pass rush, one reminiscent of 2007, the year the Giants won their 3rd Superbowl. They have made Chicago and Detroit dive deep into their depth charts, searching for a starter.

The offense led by Eli Manning looked crisp, scoring 28 points, and ripping a Lions defense for over 150 yards on the ground, 133 of those yards by feature back Ahmad Bradshaw, as well as 2 TD's for the big fella Brandon Jacobs. It was essential for the Giants to keep their momentum going into Big D next week to face their NFC east rivals, the Cowboys in a game that could without question end the Cowboys season if the Giants manage to pull out a critical road win.

Hakeem "The Dream" Nicks Shines in Houston

With temperatures upwards of 90 degrees on sunday, the weather wasn't the only thing that was sizziling. Coming off a ten sack effort against the Chicago Bears the G-men had a lot to prove coming into Sundays game, facing a high octane offense including All-Pro wideout Andre Johnson, and All-Pro quarterback Matt Schaub, not to mention the NFL's leading rusher Arian Foster. The real story in this game however, was the emergence of Hakeem Nicks, proving that he has the ability to become a legitimate star in the NFL for a long time to come. Nicks, in his second full season at wide-receiver, has already surpassed his touchdown total of last year (5), Snatching his fifth and sixth touchdowns in yesterdays game, during a 34-10 drubbing of the Houston Texans. Not to mention Nicks also acheived career highs in receptions (12) and yards (130), and now appears to be the go to guy for Quarterback Eli Manning who stated "I think teams have to account for him, he is making plays, he is getting better in his route running, more confident." The Giants come home next week to face the 1-4 Detroit Lions, Big Blue has now put themselves in a position to get some momentum heading into Dalls in two weeks for a big Monday Night Football showdown, which could determine the balance of power in the NFC East.

NYSE (New York Sack Exchange)

Ladies and gentleman it's finally alive. The Giants defense that is, after to dropping two straight games to out of conference foes the Tenessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts, the G-men were looking to rebound against one of the two NFL's unbeaten teams, the Chicago Bears. Coming off an improbable monday night win in Green Bay, quarterback Jay Cutler looked to continue his hot streak into East Rutherford, New Jersey and leave with a 4-0 record. However, the only thing Cutler ended up leaving with was a concussion and some lingering turf pellets still rattling around in his helmet, after 9 first half sacks scripted a late second quarter exit. Leaving the play calling duties to life long backup QB Todd Collins, who also did not fare as well as Cutler making a fourth quarter exit after being smacked from the blindside by linebacker Michael Boley. An impressive win for the Giants, however there are still some things that need some cleaning up, more specifically securing the football and eliminating those pesky turnovers in the redzone, which costed the G-men another touchdown last night, the culprit this time being running back Ahmad Bradshaw. Big Blue now has a tough task coming up, stopping the high octane offense of the Houston Texans, with all pro quarterback Matt Schaub throwing down field to one of the best recievers in the game Andre Johnson. Whatever defensive coordinator Perry Fewell told his defense this week, lets hope it works next week otherwise we could be in for a long afternoon.