Yankee Talk: Route 28

The blog is back for 2010 season.


Coming off a world championship and a drama free offseason and spring training, the 2010 season is ready to begin anew.

This will be season number three for the blog and I can't wait to get it all started.

Here’s what I’ll do. Each week, I will have a Yankee column along with a feature story bi-weekly and a section of random thoughts. For the first three games of the year starting on Sunday night against the Red Sox, I will have a game story and a column. This will be followed up by another game story after the Yankees home opener against the Angels when they recieve their championship rings and raise their 27th championship banner.

Each Yankees-Red Sox series will have expansive coverage again this year as well as the Subway Series games against the Mets. Also, I will do the same for any road trips I decide to make during the season.

MLB Talk will return in its monthly form this year as I go around the league to track what is going on in baseball.

And if any breaking news like trades or other drama comes out, you can turn here for coverage.

PLAY BALL!!

Yankee Talk: Statistically Analyzing 2010

A crystal ball look into the season.

It has become a yearly spring ritual.

Here we are once again starting another baseball season and it is time to look at all of the numbers and try to predict (accurately we hope) whether players and the team will over perform or fall short of expectations.

Consider this our way of watching the baseball season under a different sort of prism.

Going back to 2009, there were 20 predictions that I made and these were the results:

1. Yankees over/under for wins: 94 – OVER

Result – Yankees went 103-59

2. Yankees wins over Tampa Bay: 9.5 – OVER

Result – Yankees went 11-7 vs. TB

3. Yankees wins over Boston: 9.5 – UNDER

Result – After starting 0-8, the Yankees rallied to finish 9-9 against the Red Sox.

4. Derek Jeter batting average: .300 – UNDER

Result – Big miss here. Jeter arguably had his finest season, hitting .334.

5. Robinson Cano RBI’s: 80 – OVER

Result – Cano rebounded from a poor season in 2008 to drive in 85 runs.

6. Mark Teixeira homeruns: 35 – UNDER

Result – Teixeira led the AL in homeruns with 39.

7. Alex Rodriguez’s OPS: .999 – UNDER

Result – After missing a month, Rodriguez finished with a .933

8. Jorge Posada games caught: 100 – OVER

Result – In terms of games started, Posada finished with 88. However, pinch hitting appearances and defensive switches up his total to 100.

9. Xavier Nady/Nick Swisher’s combined production: 30.5 HR’S and 120 RBI’s – OVER

Result – Nady was lost for the season one week in, but Swisher was able to make up for most of the production, hitting 29 homers and driving in 82.

10. Brett Gardner batting average: .275 – UNDER
Result – In 284 AB’s, Gardner finished at .270.

11. Total Yankees runs: 830 – OVER
Result – Yankees scored 913 runs

12. CC Sabathia wins: 17.5 – OVER

Result – Sabathia finished 19-8.

13. AJ Burnett wins: 15.5 – OVER
Result: After having 10 wins at the start of August, Burnett finished 13-9.

Joba Chamberlain innings pitched: 150 – OVER

Result: With crafty ingenuity, the Yankees were able to hold him to 157 1/3 innings.

14. Total starting staff innings pitched: 930 – OVER

Result – Total number came in just under 900 innings.

15. Brian Bruney WHIP: 1.25 – OVER

Result –After starting strong, an injury and continued inconsistency led to a 1.51 clip and hidden from the pen when the season drew later.

16. Jose Veras appearances: 70 – OVER
Result – Luckily, I was wrong about this one. After seven weeks of bad, Veras essentially was banned from the team, never to see the mound as a Yankee again.

17. Phil Coke’s strikeouts: 60 – OVER
Result – Coke started out strong, but wilted as the season went along. Though he got a few outs in the postseason, he never became as good as advertised before the year began.

18. Mariano Rivera ERA: 2.20 – UNDER

Result – Rivera never disappoints. He struggled early in the season, and still finished with an eye-popping 1.76 ERA.

19. Yankees total runs given up: 700 – UNDER

Result – Because the offense scored over 900 runs, it allowed the pitching to be more comfortable. Chien-Ming Wang’s implosion skews the number just a bit, but it was a very successful season for the Yankees pitching staff.

20. Yankees playoff wins: 2.5 –OVER

Result –World champions. While I did go out as far to say the Yankees would win it all outright, I had a good feeling it would happen.

Final score: 12 correct, eight wrong, one tie.

With those numbers and results in for 2009, it is time for an entire new set of permutations for the year.

Let’s see what this season brings.

Yankees over/under for wins: 95.5

OVER – This team is better than it was last year in terms of its starting pitching and bullpen. If you remember, when Wang bombed early in the season, the Yankees had to use Joba Chamberlain as their fourth starter and when Phil Hughes left the rotation in June to go to the bullpen, Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin shared the fifth starter’s role.

This year, with the re-acquiring of Javier Vazquez to chew up innings and having Hughes as the fifth starter with quality backup just in case, the rotation is stacked.

In the bullpen, David Robertson, Chan Ho Park, Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte now replace the likes of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and Phil Coke. Games after the sixth inning are on lockdown and that will steal many wins against opponents with lesser quality relievers.

The offense, despite losing Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, does not appear to miss much with Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson (assuming he’s healthy). This is still a 900-run club.

Yankees wins over Boston: 9.5

OVER – Despite the Red Sox addition of John Lackey and the additions made them sew up their defense, their lack of offense is pronounced. This comes up as a problem versus a Yankees team that can pitch with and hit good pitching.
Highly doubtful Boston will win the first eight like last year, but this looks to be a 10-9 Yankees victory.

Yankees wins over Tampa Bay: 9.5

OVER – The Rays have very good young pitching and even though they didn’t make the playoffs last year, this team is still very good and will give the Yankees a few fits this year.

Derek Jeter hits: 203

OVER – Jeter came to camp last year in the best shape of his career and the results were exquisite. He still has the same drive that he had when he was a rookie, and as he closes on 3,000 hits, there is no reason to believe he will slow down now considering he is in a contract season. He will get over 200 hits and then break past 3,000 in May of 2011.

Robinson Cano walks: 50

UNDER – If Cano ever were consistently patient, he would have a chance to compete for an MVP. He still is an easy out in difficult situations because he goes fishing at the plate.

After talking all last spring training about wanting to be a more patient hitter, Cano started the season drawing numerous walks. Eventually though he reverted to the same overly aggressive hitter he has been his entire career, walking only 30 times.

Without Matsui, Cano moves up to protect Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. If he cannot be patient, teams will pitch around Rodriguez and force the over-anxious Cano to beat them.

Mark Teixeira RBI’s: 115.5

OVER – When you watch Teixeira every day, you get a true appreciation for the type of player he is. He is the consummate professional and great teammate. While he may receive a salary of $22 million a year, he continues to produces and play as if he is trying to earn every penny.

After starting slow last year, he picked it up big time and wound up leading the AL in home runs (39) and RBI (122). Teixeira and Rodriguez formed the most deadly 3-4 combination in baseball. Even though Damon is gone, Teixeira production will not dissipate.

Alex Rodriguez home runs: 37.5

OVER – After a legendary postseason where he removed all remaining demons and won his first world championship, Rodriguez now has a fresh outlook on the remainder of his career. No longer does he have to worry about carrying that burden any longer. He can simply go out and just play baseball.

With that, the rest of the league had better watch out. He has scalded the ball in the spring and is in tremendous shape after not needing additional surgery to his hip. He no longer has to feel the burden of the team and can now allow his natural to shine.

Which he will…perhaps to an MVP.

Curtis Granderson batting average vs. LHP: .250

UNDER – While he certainly cannot do any worse than the paltry .173 Granderson performed at last year, the change in scenery, hitting coach Kevin Long and a better lineup all should aid him in becoming a better hitter.

Nick Swisher strikeouts: 123.5

OVER – Swisher has always been a “feast or famine” hitter at the plate. When he connects, good things happen. When he doesn’t, he’s creating artificial breeze.

In the offseason, Swisher’s goal was to cut down on his strikeouts. Time will only tell if that will happen. The stats say he should inevitably revert to the same hitter he has always been. A power hitter, who walks, hits homeruns, yet strikes out a lot.

Jorge Posada combined total of HR and RBI: 92

OVER – It is amazing that even at his advanced age of 38, Posada is still among the top producers at his position. He has remained in tremendous shape and even with up and coming prospects waiting behind him, does not want to give his job up yet to become a full time designated hitter. As he continues to produce, it is a safe assumption he will continue to catch for the Yankees.

PITCHING

CC Sabathia wins: 18.5

UNDER – The big left-handers has logged a lot of innings over the last three years, and while he can handle the workload and has not suffered a serious injury, you just wonder if this will all catch up to him.

To preserve him for October, I can see Girardi limiting his inning in both the first and last 4 weeks of the season. The Yankees project to be so good and with a strong bullpen, can afford to do this.

This will lead though to slightly less wins.

AJ Burnett ERA: 4.10

OVER – As great as Burnett’s stuff is, there is a reason he has never been able to harness if over a course of a full season.

Last year, he would have several great starts mixed in with a few serious stinkers. For nearly two months, he was the best pitcher in baseball and could have made a serious bid as a Top 5 CY Young candidate before again struggling down the final stretch of the season.

His ERA ended at 4.04. In 2008 before coming to the Yankees, his ERA was 4.08. The question becomes whether for one season he can eliminate the seriously bad outings or just minimize the damage when things get rough.

It’s doubtful he can.

Javier Vazquez wins: 14.5

OVER – This excuse that he couldn’t pitch in New York is ridiculous when you consider that Joe Torre selected him for the All Start in the middle of his 2004 season.

The alleged “bright lights” did not dim his performance early during what would have been an “adjustment period”. What we found out now was that Vazquez nursed a serious shoulder injury that under normal circumstances would have kept him away from the mound or landed him on the disabled list. However, the pitching on the Yankees 2004 team the last two months was in shambles, forcing him to suck it and take the ball every fifth day, even if it to his (and the teams) detriment.

After six years away, Vazquez returns and finds himself in a different environment. All of the old mercenaries have left and he enters a team coming off a world championship. The expectations for him are not what they were before. His job is to eat innings and he has been among the best at doing so over the last five years.

With the powerful offense and pen, this should give Vazquez an opportunity to win at least 15 games.

Phil Hughes wins: 9.5

OVER – The first time he had his chance back in 2008, Hughes flopped big time. Within one month, he was out of the rotation partially due to poor performance and the other part due to injury.

Last year, Hughes pitched a great game on Memorial Day at Texas and when Wang returned, he went to the bullpen where he flourished.
This time, with increased confidence and a refined changeup and cutter, he is far more prepared to be a successful as a starter the second time around. He will be on an innings limit and won’t make his first start until April 15, but the chances are high he will be able to provide third starter quality pitching out of the fifth slot.

Translation: wins.

David Robertson strikeouts: 62

OVER – Statistically, Robertson finished as one of the best relievers on the staff. His impressive 13.12 strikeouts per nine innings were among the league leaders, and his ability to get hitters out in the postseason only will increase his role this season after spending last pitching in the sixth and seventh innings of games.

Joba Chamberlain ERA: 2.52

OVER – If I knew for a fact he would regain throwing above 95 MPH, I would certainly trust that he would perform as well as he did in the bullpen before converting into a starter. Phil Hughes did not throw in the mid to upper ‘90’s until he went to the bullpen last season.

Perhaps Chamberlain will find that extra gear and defy my odds, but I need to be convinced first.

Mariano Rivera WHIP: 0.99

UNDER – Until he proves otherwise, there is no reason (and no indication) that he will suffer from a decline in performance.

How does he do it? It is incredible.

Yankees total runs scored: 910

UNDER – Just slightly under for the reason that unlike Johnny Damon, you just don’t know if Nick Johnson will be able to stay healthy for a full season. His bat in the two-hole is vital because of not only his ability to take pitches in front of Teixeira and Rodriguez, but because of the offensive ability he has as a hitter.

There will be a slight drop in offense going from Melky Cabrera to Brett Gardner, but nothing significant to consider left field a glaring hole. Granderson has potential to put up .900 OPS numbers, which would be higher than Damon provided last year.

If you add in improved numbers for Rodriguez and Cano, and even if Jeter and Posada are slightly off, the Yankees should still be baseball’s most potent offensive club.

Yankees playoff wins: 6.5

OVER – Obviously, we cannot predict the randomness of postseason baseball. However, not making it out of the first round would be shocking this time around considering how strong the team looks. This is not like prior teams that looked tough and played soft. The group that is in place now is a hardened group that thrived on the spotlight last year and did not wilt.

I don’t expect them to wilt this year either.

College Basketball Talk: Bad to worse for St. John’s

School suffering another lost season

UTOPIA PARKWAY – Only schools in freefall reach these times where they need to make a serious evaluation of their program and wonder what the future holds.

“Crisis” is the term you would deem the St. John’s basketball program finds itself at this precise moment.

This was not supposed to be the year to undergo a crisis. That was nearly six years ago when the school was in needing a serious cleaning after Mike Jarvis took the program and littered its good name with scandals and shattered relationships with local high school coaches throughout the Tri-State area.

Six years is more than enough time to clean up a program.

Other schools have been able to make it work, choosing from a lesser talent pool than St. John’s and did not take as long.

The Red Storm administration gave the task of rebuilding to Norm Roberts, a local from Queens, to bring the program not only back to respectability, but also to win and return the team to the NCAA tournament, a place that have not been to since 2002.

Roberts received plenty of patience from the fans and alum that follow the team when he began to rebuild it, but even that has an expiration date. You can only say you are building the program back up for so long before it becomes time for you to put a few victories, meaningful victories on the board.

When the Big East expanded to 16 teams for basketball several years ago, designed with the ability for nearly half of the conference to make the NCAA tournament. Even if you finish with an average record, just the strength of the schedule along would be good enough for you gain entry to the “Big Dance”.

Unfortunately, for the Johnnies, even the expansion has got them not anywhere to close.

Therein lies the problem.

Roberts has not been able to put a dent in the conference. Since going 7-9 in the league and finishing with a mediocre 16-15 record at the end of 2007, they have gone 39-45 and a horrendous 13-32 in the Big East.

You would figure that these numbers trend up as these players, recruited by Roberts and his staff and subsequently coached by them would improve. Instead, not only have these players not improved the overall record of the team, but also an argument can be made that outside of swingman DJ Kennedy, there has been a regression among a majority of these players, ultimately culminating in Tuesday night’s 84-72 disgraceful performance against Rutgers, a team 1-8 in conference going into the game.

The game itself was a microcosm of Roberts’ entire tenure as a coach. His team, compiled fully of players he recruited and has coached for nearly three seasons, looked to lack athleticism, talent and common basketball instinct and intelligence.

At 2-7 in the league, the freefall has already begun.

As a famous player once said, “The ship be sinking.”

Before this season, Athletic Director Chris Monasch eliminated all speculation about Roberts’ job by letting everyone who would listen know that the embattled coach was going to return for his sixth season. He did this knowing the fan base had already cast their votes on ridding themselves of this coach who appears in over his head, incapable of being able to match up with the “big boys” in conference, while they continue to come into his “turf” and continuously take the best players, leaving him with what amounts to scraps.

Monasch did not care and continued to ask his base to be patient, going so far as to say that he believed that making the NCAA tournament was a legitimate goal for this season.

After starting the non-conference schedule 10-2, losing to only Duke and Cornell (both currently ranked teams), they have collapsed. A home loss to Providence was a red flag, and Tuesday’s loss to Rutgers, their fourth loss in a row, was more than just a loss. It was a signal that this program now needs change and Roberts is no longer fit for this job.

The votes are in, all the precincts have reported and the jury has reached their verdict.

Now the question becomes, can it get worse?

The answer is yes.

The main reason behind keeping Roberts was that last season the Big East boasted arguably five of the 15 best teams in the country. Two of them (Villanova and Connecticut) made the Final Four. Two others (Pittsburgh and Louisville) lost in the Elite Eight, and another (Syracuse) lost in the Sweet 16.

Logic held that the conference would not be as strong this season, and with a team comprised mostly of juniors going into their third year, they would have made significant progress and at least be competitive this season.

Instead, with seven losses in nine games, morale is once again down, as another lost season appears to be in the making. However, this time suffering a bad year has serious ramifications.

Carrying nine juniors turning seniors before the 2010-2011 season, assuming the school does not retain Roberts, the next coach will have the envious task of finding players to give scholarships too. Without a good base in which to procure talent as we have seen from schools like Pittsburgh, Villanova, Syracuse, Connecticut and even West Virginia, the mediocre cycle will only continue.

The plan should have been to fire Roberts after last season, and allow the new coach two years to establish his style and be able to use the quantity of available scholarships to bring in his own class.

Instead, by keeping him, the administration locked them into two more season of him and put the future coach in a disadvantageous position. By allowing Roberts to pick the players before his inevitable firing, the incoming coach will be inheriting Roberts’ players, and based on the recent track record of mediocre recruiting classes, will set up a no-win situation for whoever takes over.

Every school can withstand one subpar recruiting class. The problem becomes magnified when this happens with multiple classes and the insistence on putting most of their faith in one or two recruits in the hopes of having them “saving the program”, while allowing lesser recruited players walk away and having them flourish elsewhere while the Red Storm continues to struggle.

As the gap widens between St. John’s and the other power schools, the question ultimately becomes whether their basketball program can survive the way they are and how the conference currently stands.

Bottom teams such as St. John’s, DePaul, South Florida, Providence, Seton Hall, Rutgers and even Notre Dame all are fighting the same uphill battle. The problem is that all of these teams slowly find themselves coming to the realization (whether they want to admit it or not) that competing with the “big boys” has become too difficult.

Years of recruiting young men while there in high school and establishing relationships all go for nothing when Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun and Jay Wright show up at the door. Their success puts them on national television weekly appeals to the recruit so much before they even have to make their pitch selling them on their program. In the end, kids at the last moment heavily recruited end up signing with these schools, allowing the rich to get richer, leaving a school like St. John’s in a bind as other recruits sign letters of intent, forcing them to bring in lesser quality players.

Roberts’ pitch has not worked over six years.

Malik Boothe as your point guard is never going to amount to a sustained level of success in the Big East. . This will not win when you are going up against quality players such as Scottie Reynolds and Kemba Walker. How no one handling the recruiting could have seen this clearly must have those responsibilities stripped.

Having Sean Evans and Justin Burrell as your interior players will never be good enough against other elite level conference competition.

Not having a consistent shooter on your team will always amount to team failure as defenses, knowing you can’t consistently shoot, continue to congest the lane, lowering your chance to win.

While Roberts has been a failure, he has not been the only culprit. It has been an administration failure that begins at the top.

Now you are asking this same group to pick the next coach.

Will they pay top dollar for a coach? History says no.

If that is the case, then the question becomes what does St. John’s want to be?

Do they want to be a serious contender in the Big East every year?

Do they want to be on the national map and be in a position to win a championship?

Or, do they resign themselves to simply being mediocre at best? Occasionally sneaking into the tournament and hope to get lucky and win a game, yet never being a legitimate factor.

The response from the people who run things on Utopia Parkway have shown nothing to indicate that winning is even a priority.

Just add another one to the loss column.

NFL Playoffs – AFC Championship Edition: A lost opportunity

Jets blow chances to pull off upset

INDIANAPOLIS – In the end, it was the Jets feeling blue.

Make no mistake they lost to a superior team in all phases of the game. They would up losing to a quarterback who legitimately may go down as the greatest ever to play the position.

No shame in that.

While they will hold their heads high after a season that brought them more than they ever thought would happen, the Jets will reflect for months about what might have been.

The Jets will look to three instances in this game where they could have either had momentum on their side or put themselves in a position where they would have put the threat of a possible upset into the minds of the Colts.

When they did not capitalize, the ending was almost predictable.

Early in the first quarter after the Jets sacked Manning and forced a punt, they drove 45 yards down the field to the Colts 26. Attempting to get the first three points of the game, Jay Feely would miss a 44 yard field goal to keep the game scoreless. It was an early victory for the Colts and a bad sign that the offense was able to move the ball effectively early and still come away with zero points once they were inside the 30.

This would be slightly negated by the Jets great red zone defense limiting Manning The Great and offense to two field goals, including a tremendous goal line stand at the 1 when he attempted to push forward three feet and the defense would not let him move an inch.

With the Jets now leading 14-6 late in the second quarter, they got another big break as Calvin Pace forced Joseph Addai to lose the football and Jim Leonhard recovered. The ball was now at the Colts 29 and upset was in the air.
Could the Jets really do this?

A touchdown would have put made the margin 15 and would have sent their confidence through the roof. At the same time, Lucas Oil Stadium would have the feeling and silence of a funeral procession.

The offense elected not to go for their Colts throats and instead slit their own wrists. A conservative run call was then met by a false start penalty and a four yard loss by Thomas Jones on another running play. Eventually, it was fourth down and Feely was back on to try a 48 yard field that he would make this time.

17-6 is different than 21-6. With enough time on the clock, it gave Manning the opportunity to lead his team down the field to score a touchdown before the half. The Jets defense had not necessarily stopped the Colts offense as much as it was timely defense. Surely, there was no way that the Jets were going to limit Manning and his offense in this championship game to only six points.

On cue, it took only four plays and just under one minute for Manning to drive down and stick the ball in the end zone. For all they had done to that point, the lead was only 17-13 and both the Colts and the crowd were back into the game.

When Jets elected to preserve the lead by running out the clock instead of attempting to increase their lead, storm clouds began to hover.

Those storm clouds grew dark when the Jets faced a fourth down at the Colts 35 yard line needing seven yards. In essence, the game was on the line right here.

There were three options to choose from in this situation.

Option 1 was to kick a 52-yard field goal with Feely. He already had made and missed kicks shorter than this one earlier in the game.

Making this field goal would have made the score 20-13, but still giving Manning a chance to tie the game anyway. A miss would give the Colts the ball at their 43, which would be a death sentence.

Option 2 would be to pooch punt the ball and pin them inside the 10. Problem is that if the execution fails, this would equate to giving up 14 yards of field possession, giving them the ball on a touchback at the 20.

Translation: It makes no sense.

This leaves us with Option 3, and that is to go for it. Settling for field goals in this game against Manning is another way of asking to lose the battle. Punting was not an option and going for it was the best chance of winning the game and keeping Manning off the field as long as possible. If you do not convert, you give them the ball at that spot and take your chances.

Essentially, you ask yourself whether your percentages were higher kicking a 52-yard field goal or attempting to convert on fourth down. Both seems to be in the same vicinity, so you may as well take your chances.

Instead, Rex Ryan elected for the Feely field goal and he missed for the second time in the game. Manning took the ball at his own 43 and eight plays later, the Colts were on top and the game was all but over. After trailing by 11, Indianapolis scored the game’s final 24 points, shutting the Jets out 17-0 in the final 30 minutes.

Perhaps the Jets still would have lost anyway. However, they had their chance and you don’t know when that opportunity will come around again.

It was there for the taking.

They just couldn’t take it.

NFL Playoffs Talk – AFC Championship Game: Fun while it lasted

Manning, Colts end Jets playoff run

INDIANAPOLIS – When the Jets were leading by 11 points late in the second quarter, there was a real sense that this improbable journey they have been on since the beginning of the playoffs may actually end up in South Florida for the Super Bowl.
Peyton Manning would have none of it.

To get to that ultimate game, they were going to have to find a way to continue to slow down the Colts and their weapons. Relentless pressure and two red zone stops inside the 10 kept their offense to six points, but he was not going to be held down much longer.

The Jets, possessors of the NFL’s top-rated defense had no answers for stopping Manning as he continues to make the case as the greatest quarterback to ever step on an NFL field. A touchdown just before the half trimmed the lead before the half, followed up with 17 unanswered second-half points in their 30-17 AFC title game win to end the Jets season on a somber note after a memorable postseason.

While they walk away losers and ponder a golden opportunity wasted, they leave knowing that they were indeed beaten by a better team and can look ahead to a promising future. The Colts, returning to the Super Bowl for the second time in four season, have not lost a game (16-0) in which their starters have played four quarters, and show to be the superior team.

After limiting the Colts to four plays and a punt on their first possession, the Jets moved the ball from their own 29 to the Colts 26, but kicker Jay Feely missed a 44 yard field goal that would have given them the first points of the game. Indianapolis would drive down later in the quarter into the red zone before settling for a 25 yard Matt Stover field goal.

It took one play for the Jets to answer.

On a play action, Mark Sanchez got safety Antonie Bethea to bite and found an open Braylon Edwards streaking deep down the left sideline, beating cornerback Jacob Lacey for an 80-yard touchdown strike to take the lead 7-3.

Manning moved the offense down the field, but once again the Jets defense stiffened on the successive plays with the ball resting on the 4. Needing one yard for a touchdown to go ahead, Manning tried a quarterback sneak up the middle, but great interior penetration and Calvin Pace coming off the edge shut the play down, forcing another Stover field goal.

Breaking out their bag of tricks, the Jets surprised the Colts when Brad Smith, running out the Wildcat, faked the option to the right and throw deep to an open Jerricho Cotchery for 45 yards. Three plays later, Sanchez stood in the pocket, took a hit, but found tight end Dustin Keller in the end zone for a touchdown at 14-6 lead.

More good fortune would come when Pace made a stop on running back Joseph Addai in the backfield causing a fumble that safety Jim Leonhard recovered at the Colts 29 on the very next possession. However, instead of creating serious distance scoring a touchdown, a false start and then a four yard loss by Thomas Jones set the offense back. This led to a 48-yard field goal by Feely to increase the margin to 17-6.

It took Manning four plays and 58 seconds to cut the lead to 17-13 at halftime. The biggest play came on a 46-yard reception by Austin Collie down to the Jets 16. For all they had done for the first 30 minutes, they found themselves only leading by four points, which was an ominous sign.

With their defense shredded in the final minutes of the half, things became even worse when running back Shonn Greene left the game early in the third quarter with rib injury and did not return.

Needing seven yards on fourth down at the Colts 35, the Jets opted for a 52 yard field goal that Feely would miss to the right. Manning took advantage, moving his team 57 yards in 8 plays culminating in a beautiful four-yard touchdown fade pass to Pierre Garcon, who kept his toes in bounds.

It was the Colts first lead of the game and the 11 point advantage once held by the Jets had been eliminated. Momentum was on the side of Indianapolis and there was nothing that can be to take it back. Two punts by the Jets followed drives that did move the ball into Colts territory and Manning had his offense back out to the field against at their own 20.

Putting this game away, Manning embarked on a championship winning drive. After two first down receptions by Collie and tight end Dallas Clark, a 15 yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the Jets 19. Two plays later, Manning would find an open Clark over the middle for a touchdown and 10 point lead 27-17.

It all came to an end with 2:11 remaining when Sanchez, trying to rally his team back with the score now 30-17, had his pass deflected and intercepted by Kelvin Hayden at the Colts 46.

The interception was Sanchez’s only mistake of the game. In the biggest game of his career, he was not afraid of the moment, finishing the game completing 17 of 30 passes for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns. 100 yard receiving games came by both Edwards and Cotchery. Keller hauled in six receptions for 63 yards.

However it was Manning that ruled the day. The four-time MVP completed 29 of 36 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. He played like the ultimate field general, directing his team and taking apart the league’s top rated defense.

Garcon (151 yards) and Collie (123 yards) each had big receiving games while Clark and Reggie Wayne were held in check, which is little consolation to this Jets team that played valiantly and prideful despite falling in defeat.

Giants Talk: This cannot stand

Change needs to be in order

MINNESOTA – Two games.

Two thorough beatings.

One worst than the other.

When it was over, finally over, the only thing substantive comment Coach Tom Coughlin could only muster that his team “tried” in his postgame press conference.

If you remember the movie “Any Given Sunday”, a scene was reminiscent to what this Giants team looked like.

In the scene, the team in disintegration shows little effort in being killed in the game and in the shower area of the locker room, both the quarterback Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) and running back Julian Washington (LL Cool J) get into a fight that the coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) ends up breaking up.

He screams, “Stop! Stop this now.”

Unfortunately, Coughlin couldn’t do or say anything to prevent his team from if not quitting (he said they didn’t) on Sunday. Aptly put, the veteran team that he put his trust in not only failed, but also lied down like dogs.

“30 years in football, I’ve never seen something that stinks like this.”

In the world of 24-hour news cycles, message board and sports talk radio, had he said what he really thought, the tabloids would be screaming.

Therefore, he couldn’t use the unfiltered terms that he wanted to use thus tried to make everyone act like fools when he would later say that stalled offense and penalties were the reasons for “The Lay Down: Act II”.

“Today out there, D’Amato continued. “ You embarrassed yourselves. Today I’m ashamed to be your coach.”

This edition was worse than what took place at Giants Stadium last week and that is saying a lot considering the utter disgrace that performance was. All week the team tried to promote the good word about wanting to close strong and go out on a positive note to save face on what was a lost season.

It was all a joke.

They came to Minnesota in search of Giants pride and left as a team suddenly infected by a virus of certain players having individual agendas, declining players, and some lacking the ability to compete anymore.

All this came to a head in the final two games of this roller coaster ride of a season. One that started promising and ended with not only missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, but also ending in such non-competitive fashion that alarms must go off.

Change was already in order after the loss to Carolina, but this 44-7 demolishing by the Vikings, serious reform needs to take place.

The stench of this season is going to be felt all through the winter. Upheaval needs to happen in order for this team to rebound and get back to being Super Bowl contenders.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan clinched his fate last Sunday, but put the final nails into his coffin with another 30 point half and above 40 point performance by his defense. When asked last week why he should return, he stated because he described himself as “competent” and “diligent”, despite none of that found its way to the field as a combination of his communication skills, defensive schemes and teams overall effort were far below expectations coming into this season.

When given the job, the mandate to him essentially was “don’t screw it up.” This proved to be an epic failure with numerous missed assignments and alleged “miscommunications” all causing enormous breakdowns in coverage and on running plays.

All of this led to the team giving up 427 points on the year, 360 coming after the team’s 5-0 start. Giving up 36 points a game is too much for any offense to overcome. This is all before the atrocious red zone defense that allowed teams into the end zone at a rate of nearly 70 percent.

However, Sheridan is not totally to blame for this mess. These defensive players failed him and did so miserably.

Justin Tuck injured his shoulder in the win at Dallas after Flozell Adams tripped him. Though he did not miss a game, he wore a harness for safety, clearly rendering his effectiveness the rest of the season.

Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield did not provide the interior presence needed to collapse the pocket and establish the line of scrimmage. Coupled with Osi Umenyiora’s either unproductive play or unwillingness to play 100% due to his initial rift with Sheridan before the year ever started potentially sabotaged any real chance the he had.

The average linebackers played below average. This magnified the eventual secondary problems once Kenny Phillips injured his knee and was lost for the season. CC Brown was not a capable back and Michael Johnson regressed. When things got rough, The Giants signed Aaron Rouse off the Packers practice squad to little success.

It’s obvious what the needs are on that side of the ball. A stud defensive tackle either via the draft (think Terrance Cody) or free agency (think Vince Wilfork). Add to the list one more linebacker if not two. In addition, upgrades in the secondary.

The special teams needed an overhaul. Giving teams the ball at the 35 yard because the kicker can’t kick the ball into the end zone is unacceptable and this is before the abominable kick coverage displayed this season. This creates short field for the already porous defense to defend.

The offensive line has seen their better days. David Diehl did an admirable job at left tackle, but he’ll need to be moved. Rich Seubert played through a bad shoulder, but he cannot start anymore. Kareem McKenzie has back and knee issues he dealt with and his replacement Will Beatty waits on the bench.

As the Giants far away?

Not in the NFL. However, it is clear that they to design their team to find a way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles at some point in the near future, and to have a defense capable of slowing down the numerous spread offenses that have begun to permeate the NFC.

In addition, Coughlin is not absolved from criticism too. When asked about his ability to accurately read his team’s psyche, he was not able to. As the breakdowns continued along with the losing, he continued to say that he did not know what was going on.

As Sheridan’s defense was failing miserably, he did nothing to step in and stop the bleeding. In the end, the same players he put his faith in, quit on him. Is his message getting through to the players? Has he lost them?

For one thing, Coughlin has to win next year. Simply making the playoffs is not enough. With one year remaining on his contract after the 2010 season, if the Giants do not win at least one playoff game, he will (and justifiably so) be fired.

Winning the Super Bowl doesn’t give you a lifetime pass no matter how special that moment was in Glendale, Arizona. Changes have to be made swift and decisively.

Otherwise, the change will start with Coughlin and his people.

The off-season awaits.

Giants Talk: One for the dogs

Giants lay down in season finale


MINNEAPOLIS – After last week’s dismal performance at home that ended their playoff hopes, the Giants talked all week that they wanted to use the final game against the Vikings as a way to restore some pride from this lost season.

It was all lip service.

With the Vikings needing the game to enhance their chances for a bye week, the Giants made sure that would happen, starting their vacation early as they rolled over for the second straight game, losing 44-7, mercifully finishing the season a disappointing 8-8.

The dog nature in which they lost again one week after being humiliated at home last week is sure to have repercussions throughout the organization. Losing their last two games by a combined score of 85-16 is a black mark on a proud franchise. Anything not resembling serious change before the start of next season would be insulting to its own paying customers.

Why they bothered to make the trip to Minnesota for this game is anyone’s guess. Forfeiting would not have been a bad option if such a thing existed. However, on a day where other teams around the league also eliminated that played with effort, this Giants team showed none of it, leading many to believe that run that they have had with this group of players needs to be broken up and that simple tweaking will not be enough.

Brett Favre and the Vikings offense to march quickly down field for a touchdown against a Giants defense showing little resistance. Going 60 yards in five plays, Favre found former Giants Visanthe Shiancoe for a 10-yard touchdown pass to jump on top early.

With the score 10-0 in the second quarter, Minnesota started with possession at the own 9 and drove 91 yards, culminating in a one-yard touchdown to up the lead to 17-0. The lead would later grow to 24 when Sidney Rice hauled in a perfect Favre pass in the corner of the end zone despite good coverage from Terrell Thomas.

Things would snowball when Eli Manning short pass over the middle to Kevin Boss deflected into the air, intercepted by Chad Greenway at the Giants 40. With 0:11 left in the half, Favre found Rice again for a 12-yard touchdown to increase the whipping to a laughable 31-0 at halftime.

It was the fourth time this season the defense allowed 30 or more points in a half and seventh time allowing that amount in a game. When it was over, the 41 points given up increased the final season total to 427, was the most points allowed by the franchise since 1966 when they gave up 501.

Minnesota racked up 343 yards of offense in the half and Favre was 19-of-23 for 271 yards. The only silver lining was Steve Smith got the three receptions needed to reach the century mark.

The score was 37-0 and still Manning was in the game, presuming for him to reach the 4,000 passing yard barrier despite a heavy, consistent pass rush. At his own 15, Jared Allen sacked Manning and forced a fumble that would eventually recover. Three plays later, the Vikings were at the one-yard line facing fourth-and-goal. With the Giants not showing any ability to stop them, Minnesota elected to go for it. Whether it was disrespectful of not is irrelevant, because the defense had yet to make a stand all season. True to form, Favre on a play-action found Tahi wide open in the end zone for a touchdown as the lead ballooned to 44.

It was the fifth time this season the Giants yielded 40 or more points in a game. Not since 1971 had the team allowed at least 40 points in back-to-back games.

How bad was the defense? Similar to games against the Saints, Eagles and Panthers, the drive summaries were ugly. Minnesota scored on eight of its nine possessions.

Manning finally eclipsed the 4,000-yard passing mark in the fourth quarter as the offense scored for the first time when Danny Ware scored on a one-yard run as the Vikings had already removed most of their starters.

Chances are that even if Minnesota did not play its starters, the Giants likely had no chance anyway.

It was a fitting end to the season.

Dogs.