On The Road: Making the round in Minneapolis

Carl travels up to see the Giants play the Vikings

Carl decided to head to Minneapolis for a little R&R. The Giants by coincidence happened to be playing there...so maybe it wasn't. The trip had a little turbulence at the start, but by the end was a whole lot of fun.


MINNEAPOLIS – Perhaps I should make a mental note to myself when I decide to head to the upper Midwest in the months of November and December.

Carl, DO NOT do it!

Ok, it wasn’t THAT bad. When you’re wearing a coat better designed for a 35 or 40-degree day then let’s say, oh I don’t know, 10. That is probably going to be problem.

Besides that, spending time in Minneapolis for the first time was a pretty cool experience despite the fact I was mere seconds away from turning into an icicle on Saturday night and Sunday morning. As someone who travels plenty throughout the country, I had never found my way to the Twin Cities mainly because I could never find time or ever had a reason for going. I had tickets when the Yankees played the Twins up there in 2003 and 2004 for the playoffs but sold them off at the last minute.

A group of nine of us made it to St. Louis for the Giants game against the Rams in September. This time, I again rallied some of my friends in Big Blue Nation and decided to head up to The Metrodome for another road trip to see them close the season out against the Vikings.

Originally, there was going to be six of us. But on the Friday before we left, one of the guys backed out and said he couldn’t go. He didn’t give a reason and then wanted all of his money back for the hotel and ticket for the game. Are you kidding me? Mind you, when you buy a hotel room from Hotwire (the site I used) to order the room(s), the charge is non-refundable. Everyone (I think) would know that, but for some, things are never as clear as they seem.

I have certain rules when it comes to travel trips:

1. Read all of the information I give you so there is no confusion.

2. You had better be 100% on going before I put my charge card to anything. No bullshit.

Simply put, if you cannot commit to those two things, don’t waste my damn time. I don’t need you or want you to be a part of any trip that I am creating. If you back out last minute, the charge still applies to you. If you don’t like it, that is not my problem.

It’s not as if I can pull someone out of the blue on less than 24 hours notice and say the following:

“Hey, would you like to go to Minnesota this weekend?”

It doesn’t work that way. Order your own shit and meet us up there if you are going to pull that.

Also, you don’t think when I plan the next trip, I’m not going to think twice before deciding whether to include you? All of our individual costs are bumped up when that happens and it’s the easy way to get on what I term, “The Banned List.”

My two friends Will and Anthony had some drama getting into Chicago before heading to Minnesota. Will’s airline had to be rerouted the night before because of massive fog and was flying in on road trip morning. Both he and Anthony miraculously survived their morning flights without death, phobia or serious illness or injury. I believe that airlines count that as a victory these days.

For the first few hours of the drive, we drove through massive rains and dense fog that nearly blinded our vision. When we couldn’t see the cars in front us, I immediately started thinking the worst. How Mike was ever going 60 MPH was a miracle in itself. When I looked at the clouds darken as we got out of one rough patch and into another, I kept thinking about Chucky in those Child's Play movies when he was trying to transfer his body out of the doll and onto the little kid and you just see the clouds outside turn dark grey. How that movie popped into my head, I’m not sure.

On the road, we stopped by a Subway in some small Wisconsin town that has a food plaza. Did you know that some places do not offer the company's signature promotion of “$5 Footlongs?”

How is this possible?

The company has spent millions of dollars trying to get that damn song etched in everyone’s head (except mine since I have Tivo and was ignorant of the ad until a few weeks ago) and now they don’t even serve it? This is crazy! Not to mention that they didn’t even accept coupons for their food. The quicker I got out of there the better.

It took about seven hours to finally get into downtown Minneapolis. On the street, it was literally a ghost town just like St. Louis was. I don’t even know why they call it downtown in some of these Midwest cities. There isn’t much going on there. From Milwaukee to Cleveland and now St. Louis and Minneapolis. Call it something else, but don’t call it that. It gives me the impression that you have something interesting there until I find there is nothing.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel and it was a nice place. Upon arrival, we bumped into one Giants fan (I think I know where she ordered her hotel stay from) and were settled. For the night, we all wanted to go out and chill and with the help of my buddy Mike’s Minnesota friend, we found a few places to check out.

Apparently, the trendy neighborhood in Minneapolis is called Uptown, which is where we found ourselves. As I looked around, it looked a whole lot like a lower class version of Forest Hills (New York) than anything hip. I thought I was back on Queens Boulevard. Of course, this WAS the Midwest and Minneapolis, so I had to remember where I was. You can’t ask for Filet Mignon at McDonalds.

There were two places we visited – William’s Peanut Bar (which was crowded beyond belief) and Stella’s Fish Cafe. The place (William's) looked like a dressed up hole to begin with, but we were going to try and make the best of it. But when we went downstairs, it reminded me a little too much of my past.

At St. John’s, we used to have an old watering hole called Gantry’s Pub. Essentially, it was like drinking beer inside of a sewer with other people who just happened to be there. Now, think of Gantry’s only four or five times bigger. It was just disgusting. Cover your nose, watch your feet and be careful where you were sitting. I knew something was a little off when there was an open table that was being vacated because of a leaky faucet eight feet off the ground next to it.

I was a little disappointed in the quality of good-looking women the town had. Don’t get wrong, there were a lot of them that made me question where the hell they all came from. But the problem I began to notice was that nearly 90% of them were straight blonde. Nothing against girls who (real or fake) have that specific look, but as someone who likes variety, this was disappointing. Put some highlights to make it look less Paris Hilton (by the way, she is not hot) and a little more Jessica Biel (before the hair dye). Can I get a few more brunettes and girls with darker hair around here? Why do I only find them in New York, Boston, Philly, DC, Miami and LA?

That’s like five places!

You may be wondering why I didn’t put Chicago on that list. Here’s why. After sampling five of the seven big Midwest cities, it’s not hard to notice that the blonde population towers over everything else. As one person put it to me, “It must be the farmer’s daughter syndrome”.

As Bill Belichick says, “It is what it is.”

Mike’s friend explained to me why the ratio seemed to be as disproportionate as I perceived it. As it turns out, many Minnesotans’, have ancestry from Norway and some other countries who families just happen to be straight blonde.

It wasn’t that those women were not hot (most of them were), it was just that after I saw a few too many, they all pretty much looked the same to me. This is never a good thing. It may be for some, but as someone who likes to sample everything, I would rather the ratio not be as lopsided as it was. There’s only so much cake you can eat before you get stuffed and get turned off by it.

On Sunday morning, we made the trip down to The Metrodome for the game. It was about 10 degrees outside and all I still had on was my little jacket.

I guess it wasn’t 60 degrees anymore.

Most of the fans were pretty nice before the game and didn’t say anything to us. When we got in front of the stadium, I broke out our Super Bowl Champions flag to take a picture with all of us included. This pissed off some of the Vikings fans who felt a bit taken aback by this.

I loved it.

The Metrodome is not a terrible place for a game as we made our way to our seats. It is definitely in need of a replacement because of the lack of concessions and congested space in the walkways. When we got to our seats, we notice a flier from the Vikings asking for a petition to be signed for a new stadium. With few luxury boxes, their money flow is going to be limited for the foreseeable future as these other teams print money from the extra revenue.

With nothing on the line for the Giants, it was the first time I was able to watch a game stress-free in a long time and just had fun with it. They got down 10-0 and got within 10-9 at halftime before David Carr replaced Eli Manning for the second half.

In our seats, we had some nice give and take with some of their fans. One fan tried to take me on telling me to “Watch this” when the Vikings took the field for a drive in the second quarter. I responded by saying, “Watch this? What, you (the Vikings) going three and out?”

The plays later, the Vikings punted.

The guy just put his hands in the air and shrugged. It was good-natured stuff. When they would boo us heading up the stairs, it was one of those playful boos where even they knew they weren’t being serious. The lady in front of us obvious had not seen behavior like this before, and was even more stunned when I referred to the Vikings playoff berth as “anal” as the Texans were leading the Bears by 14 points with 2:00 left.

In our game, the backups played great. They even led 19-10 before the Vikings answered with a touchdown to close within two points. John Carney missed his first legitimate kick of the season (which I still think is a good thing) with 3:12 remaining and the Vikings were able to drive down and eventually kick a game winning 50-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.

Vikings 20, Giants 19.

Nothing to be upset about. That team was fighting for its playoff life against a bunch of second stringers and was only able to come away with a one-point victory. What does that say about them? That must have been why we didn’t get any razzing as we left the place.

They knew better.

So ended another road trip. It was another rousing success amidst the drama that we had the day prior. On the way back, I was reminded that eating McDonald’s chicken nuggets is probably not the best idea in the world. That damn commercial got into my head after seeing it for the 9,000th time.

Chomping down 20 of those little things, large fries and a 32-ounce Coke in a span of 10 minutes while the car is going 70 MPH is a recipe for disaster.

Thank goodness, it never got that far.

By shortly after midnight, I arrived at my house safe and sound, and happy that I had closed my window to avoid the downpours that had descended upon the city just 24 hours prior.

While the football chapter of the 2008 road trips closed, I am excited about what 2009 will bring. Yankees trips will begin in April and take me right through the year again. A glance at the schedule showed Giants road games in the regular NFC East opponents along with stops to Tampa, Minnesota (again), Kansas City, Denver and New Orleans.

New Orleans is on the top of the list for trips next season. Who knows what the hell will happen up there. For that, I may have to start on Friday night and hope they play on Monday just to get four days on Bourbon Street.

Sign me up.

All fun. All the time.

Giants Talk: Big Blue Tunes Up

Giants lose finale to Vikings as title defense nears


MINNEAPOLIS – The fact that kicker Ryan Longwell needed to nail a 50 yard game winning field goal in order to win the game probably should have more about the Vikings than it did about the Giants.

With nothing to play for besides pride and good health, the world champions took the field Sunday with home-field advantage already sewn up. This they did. It was a game that they played on their terms despite coming out of it with a last second 20-19 loss at The Metrodome.

In many ways, this is the only time where success can come out of losing.

Coach Tom Coughlin was given praise for “going all out” in their final regular season game last year against the Patriots. The team once again played to win this year, but on their terms. It was up to Minnesota to capitalize on this good fortune.

The Giants (12-4) played with caution, resting running back Brandon Jacobs and tight end Kevin Boss, but the rest of their regular offense starters in the first half.

Longwell got the scoring started with a 48-yard field goal to open give the Vikings a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. The lead grew to 10-0 when on third down, running back sensation Adrian Peterson (21 carries – 103 yards) found a hole over the right side of the line and sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0.

Eli Manning (11 for 19, 119 yards) and his offense rallied to close out the half with nine points and three John Carney field goals of 51, 30 and 42 yards. The final field goal came on a gift possession where the Giants declined a Vikings penalty to set up a fourth-and-1 play where quarterback Tavaris Jackson would wind up being sacked by Justin Tuck to turn the ball over on downs.

Backup David Carr (8 for 11, 110 yards,1 TD) came out of the bullpen to play the second half and drove the Giants down the field and threw a 23 yard touchdown pass to Domenik Hixon (four receptions – 62 yards) to take a 16-10 lead.

On the drive, running back Derrick Ward was able to join Jacobs as members of the 1,000 yard rushing club. The Giants became the fourth team in NFL history to have two running backs gain over 1,000 yards. Ward (1,025 yards for the season) was finding holes in the Vikings vaunted run defense amassing 77 yards on 15 carries. As a whole, the team gained 135 on 30 carries.

Minnesota was poised to take the lead when they moved the ball down to the Giants 6. However, Jackson’s pass on second-and-goal was intercepted in the end zone by James Butler and returned it 47 yards to the Giants 45 yard line, and gained an additional 15 yards when Jackson was called for a late hit out of bounds.

The short field allowed the Giants to build the lead to 19-10 on Carney’s fourth field goal early in the final period. It took three plays for the Vikings to respond as Jackson hit receiver Bernard Berrian in stride as backup cornerback Terrell Thomas fell on the play and safety Kenny Phillips missed a tackle to make it 19-17.

By this point, outside of linebackers Danny Clark and Chase Blackburn, the entire starting defensive unit was on the sideline resting up for the playoffs. From Dave Tollefson to Bryan Kehl, each player went out there and showed that the high level of play is not restricted to just the first team. The only casualty was veteran Sam Madison went down with a broken ankle and left the game.

The Giants could have added to their lead with 3:22 left when Carney missed his first non-blocked field goal of the season from 48 yards. Jackson (16 for 26, 239 yards, 1 TD) and the Vikings proceeded to move the ball down to the Giants 32 yard line with 0:36 seconds remaining.

Poor clock management (or the unknowing that the Houston Texans had clinched the NFC North title for the Vikings by defeating the Chicago Bears moments prior) brought the clock down to 0:09 left before calling timeout.

After exchanging timeouts, the Vikings set up a 50-yard game winning field goal with 0:04 left and he drilled it to give them the 20-19 final.

It was their third loss and the last four games, but even in defeat, the team can take positives out of the fact they came out of the game relatively healthy and competed throughout even with the second team on the road against a squad that desperately needed the game for their own playoff future.

The Giants will play their NFC Divisional Playoff game on Sunday January 11 at 1:00 PM at Giants Stadium against the lowest seeded NFC team. The team can be Philadelphia, Atlanta or Arizona.

The official time to defend their world championship starts in 13 days.

Giants Talk: Still Looking For Love

Big Blue searching for a little respect

Despite the teams 12-3 record and now home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the (drive by) media and many specters of the league has continued to find ways to overlook the Super Bowl champion Giants.

Personally, I am amazed that we are even having this discussion.

This should be as ridiculous of a topic as callers to WFAN asking why the third string running back isn’t getting more carries.

By the way, for those that haven’t noticed, the Giants are 52 Derrick Ward rushing yards away Sunday from having two 1,000 yard rushers. Where do you think these extra carries are going to come from?

Yet I cannot let this go.

I have noticed it since the end of last year’s Super Bowl.

I noticed it in training camp.

I’ve noticed it since the start of the season and outside of a few fleeting weeks when all of the other “chosen teams” were finally biting the dust, vacuumed up by their own mediocrity and subsequently thrown in the garbage disposal. All it took was two losses to bring the talking heads and initial non-believers back out of hiding to say that the Giants were again not that good.

When I bring it up, opposing fans think I am crazy, but I actually think I have a case here.

Here goes:

The Giants do not get any respect.

You may not want to hear it, but someone had to say it. I know it may be hard to say with a straight face when your team may be on its way to winning back-to-back titles, but it has been eating away for so long that it cannot be controlled any longer.

It’s true. It’s damn true.

When the Giants beat the Patriots in Glendale this past February, it was looked at as a fluke. Just because Eli Manning and David Tyree combined for the greatest play in the history of football (which it was) should not have taken away the team’s incredible defensive performance. But that’s ok. I’ll take the championship and move on.

All through training camp, the only news you heard was about Brett Favre with the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys on Hard Knocks talking about how much of a fluke it was for them to lose to the Giants in the playoffs last year.

There seemed to be an awful lot of “fluke” talk going on.

When the prognostications came out before the season opened up, the Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles were ranked ahead of the Giants. Mind you, these were the same Eagles who were 8-8 in 2007, had missed the playoffs in two of the last three years, and a team that had lost to the Giants twice last season. Just because they add a cornerback with butterfingers (ok, that pass in the Super Bowl was a little high, but Mel Blount would have had it), suddenly that vaulted them into elite status.

Why I’m not sure.

Both of those teams after the first quarter of the season were being listed as #1 and #2 in the league with the Giants bringing up the rear...in the NFC East!

The media always has a fascination with Dallas and tries to have one with Philadelphia only because they don’t want to continue to feature negative stories about their town and fans so they bend over backwards.

When both of those teams suffered defeats to the Washington Redskins and were knocked back down to Earth, the media had a new team to enter into a short term love affair with. Quietly, the Giants went about their business of winning with little fanfare.

In actuality, this was a good thing. It’s not that I craved the media attention, I was just looking for acknowledgement that they were the best team. Even the players began to wonder.

It took for the Giants to go through the gauntlet of Pittsburgh, Dallas (even with Romo hurt) and winning at Philadelphia for everyone to start taking notice that perhaps (shockingly) the defending world champions were actually this good. Not just good, but the best team in the NFL.

The wins kept on coming, the Cowboys kept trying to recreate the old show “Dallas” and the Eagles continued to find their season headed right down the commode along with the Redskins. Finally, the (drive by) media had no other choice but to finally jump on the bandwagon.

It was easy to notice what was going here. The media was only on the Giants wagon when they couldn't come up with a better alternative. With no "pizazz" team to choose from, reluctantly, the proper "respect" was given to them.

Arizona was supposed to have a high flying offense to overtake defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his defense. They could not do it.

All you heard was about the Ravens defense before they showed up in the Meadowlands. 207 rushing yards and a 30-10 victory later, they were silent.

The bandwagon kept on growing and got a little too crowded right around the time the Eagles; desperate to save their season, beat the Giants at home.

All of that game after seven days of nonstop Plaxico Burress gun stories in which the whole damn team was question on if they had firearms and if they ever felt in danger. It was if the game was now an afterthought and the Giants played right into it.

It jumped off even more when the team was beaten up by the Cowboys defense. The offense had not scored a meaningful touchdown in two games. Running the ball and finding open receivers was becoming harder now that Burress shot his self right off the roster. The first agita point of the season had found itself and it became popular again to jump back off the wagon as doubt began to creep in as to where this could be headed if things were not corrected.

Translation: Winning its next game.

Out of nowhere came the Carolina Panthers, who by virtue of one Monday Night win over Tampa Bay where they gained 299 yards rushing, they were anointed as the NFC’s best team. Mind you, before that game they had yet to defeat one quality opponent the entire season. Those stinkers they were putting up against Detroit and Oakland were apparently missed by the football public. Their undefeated home record covered up the fact they were only 3-3 on the road before finding themselves in the Meadowlands this past Sunday. No one gave the Giants a chance even at home against this alleged juggernaut.

Down 21-10, the Giants rallied, but did it by running in, out, around and through the Panthers defense, amassing 301 yards on the ground. When it was over, and the world champions were victorious, the same clowns that had jumped off had finally found their way back on.

All this while, the team has been looking for some respect. Maybe in some ways this is better. The defending world champions still being treated as “The Little Engine That Could,” like David trying to slay Goliath a second time as if the first wasn’t good enough.

The late former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh used to have a feeling about this and echoed it to his players.

“They (the media) want you to lose. They want you to lose so damn bad. The same media that pats you on the back? They have nothing to lose. When you lose, your jerks. Everybody wants your ass. No one is on your side.”

Bill Walsh – San Francisco 49ers Head Coach, three time world champion

So now here we are. The playoffs begin for the Giants in two weeks and now they will be favored to go to the Super Bowl.

Any less would be considered abject failure.

Quite the jump from where this same team was five months ago when training camp started.

It appears that if the Giants are to gain that sought after respect that they have been and we have been craving all year, we will have to a take a lyric from an old Aretha Franklin song:

“Take care, TCB.”

Giants Talk: Back in the New York Groove

Giants show heart of champion


There was doubt. No question about it.

We all shook our heads in disbelief wondering if this could possibly be happening.

Optimism and faith were now being replaced with thought that the this team could quite possibly be choking their season away as the Carolina Panthers continued to gash the Giants for big plays and DeAngelo Williams touchdowns.

First, the offense could not do anything for the last weeks.

Now the defense could not the Panthers from scoring.

The perfect storm had arrived.

Every team has its “crisis moment” over the course of a season unless you are so special that you can avoid it. You would hope that it never took place, but when it does, you wonder how they will respond.

When the rest of the league has been gunning and been giving you their best game every week (unless you’re the Rams) in addition to not having a chance to rest in 13 straight weeks, you might think they would have hit that invisible wall and go down for the count.

In the second half on Sunday night, the world champions, running on fumes, needed to summon all of the resolve they had to prevent a third straight loss in December and with it, handing the number one seed in the NFC to surging Panthers.

They found it.

On third downs, the defense finally got themselves off the field.

Steve Smith (the Panthers version), was shut down completely by Corey Webster.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme only completed four passes in the second half.

The Giants offense found its equilibrium.

Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and the offensive line reestablished the line of scrimmage and proceeded to run their defense over.
When they needed “a play”, they were able to get it.

It was everything that we had seen all season bottled up into those final 30 minutes and then into the overtime session. When it was over, the Giants had prevailed over a worthy opponent and established themselves as the beast of the NFC.

With it, they also sent the following message:

You want to get to the Super Bowl? Then you will have to go through Giants Stadium to do so.

The Meadowlands is not a fun place for a visiting team to come to in the month of January. It’s made even more difficult when the team will stare them in the face is a champion hungry to prove its doubters wrong and win a second straight title.

Since the middle of October, no team not named the Pittsburgh Steelers has faced the gauntlet of opponents as the Giants. We all saw it coming after beating up on junior varsity opponents for the most of the first six games.

BEFORE WE CONTINUE: I am still trying to figure out how they lost to the Browns. I officially deem that game a fluke. Cleveland did not play before or after that game and didn’t beat any quality opponent outside of the Giants the entire season. That game still pisses me off.

We now resume.

Only complacency and excessive hubris of their own abilities (and perhaps an abnormally bad weather day) can prevent them from going back to Tampa to defend their title.

I think back to something Chuck Noll said when his great Pittsburgh teams were winning Super Bowl’s in the 1970’s:

“You haven’t arrived yet. If you think you have arrived, you haven’t.”

Chuck Noll, head coach – Pittsburgh Steelers four-time world champion

You look back on Sunday, when the champion Giants were on the ropes and taking haymakers, the way Oscar De La Hoya was taking them from Manny Pacquiao a few weeks ago. It looked as if they were going to go down for the count.

Julius Peppers sacked Eli Manning on third down in the fourth quarter to take the team out of field goal range. It appeared to be a knockout blow until punter Jeff Feagles pinned the Panthers inside its own 1.

It gave the Giants life.

Manning and the team were given a second chance and they responded as great champions do.

Leave your finger in front of a lion and it will be bitten off.

When John Kasay missed a 50-yard game winning field goal at the end of regulation, they were given another life.

Once that happened, the Panthers signed their own death certificate.

Ward made sure Carolina wouldn’t have any more life left. His run of 51 yards stunned them. On third down needing seven yards, he stunned them again for 14 more before racing down to the two-yard line for 19 more yards. Jacobs would officially deliver the knockout when he bulldozed his way into the end zone from two yards out for the victory.

On great teams, you need unexpected heroes. You need overachievers and players who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the team as a whole. It is one thing to have just talent. Add in heart, grit and a willingness to rise above challenges to be great.

That is the heart of a champion.

The Giants have many of those players. From rookie Terrell Thomas, who was making plays all over the field on defense and on special teams, to Justin Tuck, playing with the flu (and even vomiting at times) and did not want out of this pivotal game.

As I have said since the beginning of the season, it is the consummate team. All of these individual parts have come together to create this locomotive who are trying to go in one direction.

Destination: Tampa, Florida.

Giants Talk: Big Blue comeback plants #1 seed

Giants battle from early struggles, rallies to win in overtime


There was a point in the third quarter when things looked bleak and it appeared as if everything that the Giants had built this season was set to crumble and possibly swallow them whole.

It is at these moments when you find out true champions fight their way back. Scratching and clawing for everything and making a stand that this will not happen.

For this game, it would take 60 minutes, a little luck and even a few more minutes in an extra session.

In one of the most thrilling wins of their year, the world champions made that stand, coming back from a 21-10 deficit to win 34-28 in overtime over the Carolina Panthers to clinch the number one seed in the NFC and ensured that the road to Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa will go through Giants Stadium.

The last few weeks saw its offense that was going in reverse because of the loss of running back Brandon Jacobs. He was back in the lineup and his presence lifted the spirits of everyone around.

Of course, at the start, his presence did not lift the spirit of the defense. After Pro Bowler John Carney converted on a 32 yard field goal to give the Giants an opening lead, the Panthers marched 77 yards, capped off a 13 yard touchdown run off right guard by DeAngelo Williams to give the Panthers a 7-3 lead.

The Giants retook the lead 10-7 on a two-yard Jacobs touchdown run, but Carolina answered again. Williams scored again from five yards to take a 14-10 lead. Then after forcing a three-and-out, Williams scored his third touchdown of the game that was set up by 60-yard pass to Mushin Muhammad that went right through the hands of cornerback Aaron Ross.

Though the Giants got within eight points at the half 21-13, it was apparent the Panthers had the defense flummoxed, gaining 206 yards and hitting numerous big plays.

In the third quarter, the world champions closed the gap as Eli Manning led a brilliant 8:34 drive covering 84 yards in 12 plays to pull within a point 21-20, when he found tight end Kevin Boss on a four-yard touchdown pass. The drive consisted of big plays from Derrick Ward (22-yard run), Amani Toomer (12-yard catch) rarely used fullback Madison Hedgecock (13-yard catch).

Once again, the Panthers stormed back.

Delhomme found Mushin Muhammad picked up a key first down on third-and four to keep a drive alive. He them followed that up with a 19-yard completion to Dwayne Jarrett. Williams would score his fourth rushing touchdown of the game when his 30 yard scamper gave the Panthers a 28-20 lead.

Williams would finish the game with 108 yards on 24 carries.

Attempting to close the gap, the Giants got the ball down to the Carolina 30 before Manning was sacked by defensive end Julius Peppers on third down to take the team out of field goal range. They would be given a tremendous spark when punter Jeff Feagles pinned the Panthers inside its own one-yard line.

The defense forced a three-and-out and the punt gave the Giants great field position at the Panthers 44 with 7:09 remaining needing a touchdown and two point conversion to tie the score.

It is moments like this when you test the fortitude of a champion. Facing a team that was looking to establish them as kings of the NFC, it was Manning and the Giants who would embark on season remembering drive.

Manning (17 for 27, 181 yards, 1 TD) found receiver Domenik Hixon for 13 yards and then Toomer for 15 down to the Panthers 22. At the 17-yard line on third-and-five, Manning found Boss for a 12-yard completion down to the 5.

A pass interference penalty on Ken Lucas moved the ball to the 1, and on the next play, Jacobs powered his way into the end zone to make it 28-26. They would tie the game when on a beautiful play action fake, Manning found Hixon on a cross in the end zone with 3:24 left.

The Panthers moved the ball into field goal range with 0:04 left for kicker John Kasay. However, his 50-yard attempt curved to the left as time expired to force overtime.

Both teams exchanged punts at the start of the extra session. When the Giants got the ball again, they decided it was time to end this game.

Starting from their own 13 yard line, Derrick Ward (15 carries – 215 yards) took the handoff and with a great block from guard Rich Seubert sprinted 51 yards down to the Panthers 36. Needing seven yards on third down, the tired Carolina defense was gashed by Ward’s 14 yard run to the 19. On the next play, Ward nearly had the game winner as he again went off the side as he rumbled inside the Panthers 2.

Coach Tom Coughlin could have elected to kick the field goal to win, but rather stayed aggressive and went for the touchdown. For the third time in the game, Jacobs bulled his was up the middle and when he found the end zone, the Giants had snapped their two game losing streak and the #1 seed in the NFC.

The night capped off an incredible rushing performance. Jacobs (24 carries – 87 yards) and Ward combined for 302 yards. There was no escaping the presence of Jacobs to the teams psyche and offense.

After struggling in the first half, the defense stiffed up in the second half, yielding only seven points and limiting them to only 3 for 8 on third downs. Wide receiver Steve Smith, who had three catches in the first half, was shut out in the second.

With the win, the Giants can approach the final regular season game in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Vikings with an eye on the postseason knowing that they will have their first week off since Week 4.

The team’s first playoff game will not be until either Saturday January 10 or Sunday January 11.

They have fought the best the NFL has had to offer over the last two and half months. Now they get a chance to exhale before their official defense of their Super Bowl title commences.

It is something they have earned.

Giants Talk: No Shoot…Plax Is Missed

No Burress on offense part of teams recent woes


I have to seriously question some people’s football intelligence.

We have the proclaimed “experts” on those football shows that actually are paid for their views which most times come off as nonsense.

Then you have our own fans who occasionally seem to lose their grip on reality every now and then.

Mind you, there was a large segment of us at this exact moment last year questioning whether Eli Manning would even be a “good” quarterback much less a guy who would eventually lead us to Super Bowl title.

All you had to do was read the newspapers, listen to talk radio and read the internet and fans were looking for replacement quarterbacks for Manning and we fixated on Derek Anderson (who was having a career year for the Browns in 2007) to replace him.

By the way, how has Anderson worked out this year? He was so bad he was benched halfway through the season.

This brings us to Plaxico Burress.

Since the time the Giants rang up 44 points on the porous Seattle Seahawks defense, there was an immediate rush to suggest that the contributions of Burress were easily replaceable. Domenik Hixon subbed that afternoon, gained over 100 yards, and scored a touchdown.

It appeared to be business as usual.

As the weeks went on, Burress’ production was not on the same level as it had been in his previous seasons with the team. This led many in Big Blue Nation to conclude the following:

1. He was simply not playing well.
2. He was not “mentally” in the game.
3. His presence was not needed for the Giants to be successful.

Of course, all of this was ridiculous, but there were too many people out there with megaphones (or those that think playing John Madden football is “reality”) declaring this as absolute truth. It made me wonder if the four eyes (sometimes two) I use watching these games were not functioning properly.

There were several factors for his slight decline in production this season that just happened to coincide with team dominant start to the season:

1. Defenses funneling their coverage towards him.

You think these coaches and coordinators did not watch the NFC Championship Game? The Green Bay Packers elected to single up Burress with their best cornerback Al Harris the entire game thinking he was going to lockdown the team most talented receiver.

The result: 11 receptions for 154 yards.

Bill Belichick was not as stupid as the Packers. He made sure that no matter where Burress was on the field in Super Bowl XLII, there would at least two Patriots defenders shading him. He only had one catch in the game until the games final drive. Suddenly, the Pats decided to use cornerback Ellis Hobbs to cover him one-on-one without any help.

The result: Touchdown

In the season opener, the Redskins decided they were going to “man up,” playing Burress just as the Packers did and use Shawn Springs on him one-on-one.

The result: 10 receptions for 135 yards

He was going to go crazy again the next week against the Rams until their coaches decided to smarten up in the second half and not be stupid. Since that point, every team the Giants have faced has implemented the same strategy with the intent on eliminating the team biggest home run hitter.

2. Manning grew up as a quarterback

It also did not hurt the Manning had developed into a quarterback that was no long reliant to feeding the ball and having his one focused on just one player. He had confidence to spread the wealth around to Amani Toomer and Steve Smith. With Jeremy Shockey and his loud mouth gone from the huddle, he utilized Kevin Boss. There were options to go with the football.

Oh what a shock, Eli had actually “grown up” as a player and no longer felt as if he need his big target to bail him out! This couldn't be true, could it?

Yes, it was true.

By obvious measures, this would mean that Burress’ production would go down. That is not his fault. What is Manning supposed to do? Force-feed and go deep for Plaxico when he covered by two defenders?

Or should he use his vision to find Toomer, Smith and Boss running free all over the field (which was happening if you simply rewatch the tape)?

The answer is obvious.

3. Numbers game

Teams already knew about the effectiveness of the Giants running game and for fear of being gashed with runs of 5, 6 and 7 yards, they would commit an additional defender to take away such plays. The problem was that the offense had many weapons to keep teams so honest that they couldn’t do anything to stop them.

In other words, the game was being played “9 on 9” instead of “10 on 9”. In the NFL this is huge, especially if you have a supremely talented team. This year, the Giants “9” have been better than anyone else’s “9”.

You don’t believe this? Watch the New England Patriots offense and watch how much attention is paid to Randy Moss last year and this year.

Team took their chances singling him up and he burned them consistently to the point where he set the NFL record for touchdowns by a receiver. Once it became apparent (and the Patriots were scoring 40 plus a game in the first half of 2007), teams adjusted their coverage that slowed down Moss, but allowed other players to be nearly wide-open all of the time (see: Wes Welker).

This year, teams have designed their defense to take Moss and his statistics have declined tremendously.

Does this mean he is having a bad year?

No. He is just being covered differently. There is nothing he can do.

There was only one team (Miami) stupid enough to cover him one-on-one this year.

The result: 8 receptions for 125 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 48-28 win by the Patriots.

Teams haven’t single covered him since.

Coincidence?

No. You think teams are that stupid enough to try that again?

When the Giants played the Cowboys at home in November, Dallas tried defending with seven men at the line of scrimmage in the first half and shaded its coverage towards Burress, who was being matched up Anthony Henry, who has the foot speed of a safety, but playing cornerback. Seeing this, Manning and the offense elected to throw and cerebrally dissected their defense in the first half to the tune of 21 points.

By the time the Cowboys figured what was going on, the attempt to play with more deep backs and they would eventually be gassed for 207 yards on the ground. Burress may have only had three catches in the game, but his presence and the defense fear of him opened up the offense to score 35 points.

This is not an accident. The Giants were the highest scoring team in the NFL while Burress was (and at times, was not) on the field.

The next week, the Philadelphia Eagles had the same problem. Knowing Burress had tormented them over the last three years, they would not play him man-to-man with 5’10 corner Sheldon Brown. On 73% of the snaps, they double-teamed him and that left open space for the rest of the receivers and eventually paved the way to a 219-yard rushing performance. They were powerless to stop the Giants offense on that night.

When he had to exit early with an injury at Arizona, the offense did not appear to miss a beat again. When they were in Washington, it looked the same way but it was becoming apparent that teams were going to be intent on stopping the Giants running game and forcing them to pass without Burress in the lineup as a threat.

The Giants then suspended him for the season and many fans applauded it by saying that it was not a big deal because they can just plug another guy in the lineup and it wouldn’t be a problem.

This type of thinking bordered on insane and damn near ridiculous.

Did anyone ever consider how bad the defenses of Seattle, Arizona and Washington really were?

An average team moves the ball on them weekly.

A better team smokes them out of the building.

The Seahawks are 3—11 with no defense. Arizona has given up point totals of 56, 37, 48, and 35 this season (Translation: stink). And the Redskins haven’t played well against a good team all season. It is reasonable to conclude that the Giants should have not missed a beat against those teams.

This is why I declared immediately back in October that the team would NOT repeat as Super Bowl Champions without “17” on the field.

I stood by it then and I still stand by the opinion today.

When they played the Eagles again, the wind may have played a major role, but knowing that Burress was never coming back, they chose to attack the Giants far differently than in previous games. The 73% double team number dropped to only 7% in the second meeting (4 of 51 snaps).

Coincidence?

The Eagles stuffed 8 men at the line of scrimmage and consistently used run blitzes on early downs. This led to more pressure on Manning. The same receivers who were getting open in the first game because of Plaxico were now bottled up by the Philly defenders.

The result: The Giants nearly shut out by the Eagles defense.

(Listen, you can say that if Hixon catches that deep pass that he dropped in the second quarter that the Eagles would have changed their defense, but he didn’t. So stop making the argument.)

The Cowboys employed the same strategy on Sunday night. This time the offensive line broke down. Manning was sacked eight times. No room to run consistently. The receivers were once again blanketed, this time by Dallas defenders.

The result: Six offensive points.

What has happened is a trickle down effect. Not having 17 out there moves up the chain of receivers against better corner and nickel backs. This non-fear of the teams passing game is allowing more defenders to creep to the line to commit more to the run. This is has led to more blitzes which in turn has led to a slow breakdown of the offensive line who cannot handle the five, six and sometimes six man blitzes that are now being sent.

And people are actually questioning why the Giants suddenly have problems moving the ball and scoring points.

Isn't it obvious?

Would Jacobs help? Not if the defense is bringing eight men and you are only blocking with seven.

Did they have to rid themselves of this troublemaker?

Yes.

But at the same time they had to know that his presence was going to be missed severely.

Perhaps they were arrogant enough (like most teams) to think they were Teflon when it came to losing players. At a certain point, you lose one too many and cannot replace him.

The blueprint on how to beat the Giants is available for any team that has a good defense to look at. Fans are wondering why the team is having problems moving the ball now as opposed to before as if to think it is not obvious.

The Giants DO miss Plaxico. They may miss the bruising running of Jacobs, but as teams are stacking the line, geared up to stop him, the receivers are now forced to play beyond their current skill sets.

Correcting this problem is not as easy as receivers simply “stepping up.”

It is an issue that now threatens to derail what appeared to be a Super Bowl season unless certain changes or made.

Otherwise, there will be no trip to Tampa.

If there is, no Lombardi Trophy for the second straight year.

Giants Talk: Sacked in Big D

Offense breaks down as Jints lose to Cowboys


IRVING – In a season that has been so great for so long, it is now at this point in the season where the Giants are picking the wrong time for their first “crisis”.

Once again needing a win to nail down a first round bye and facing another desperate team needing to save their season, the world champions followed up their ineffective, lifeless performance on offense with their worst of the season in a their 20-8 loss to the Cowboys.

The awfulness on offense masked a courageous defensive performance that knocked quarterback Tony Romo down time after time and nearly out. However, with the team running on fumes late, was unable to get a stand to give the game back to the offense with a chance to win.

In game that was controlled by the defenses, the Cowboys defense bullied and pushed around the Giants offensive line, who played their worst game in nearly three years. Quarterback Eli Manning (18 for 35, 191 yards, 2 INT's) was sacked eight times, pressured consistently and the offense resembled that of a below average team, not one of a Super Bowl contender.

The absence of Plaxico Burress has had a trickle down effect. Add not having running back Brandon Jacobs, and yards have been difficult to come by and the offense has only scored one touchdown in the last two games (that score came in garbage time).

On the Giants first offensive play, linebacker DeMarcus Ware sped past left tack David Diehl, sacked Manning, and forced a fumble for a nine-yard loss. It set the tone for the entire game.

Romo was being battered by the Giants defense. On three out of four plays in the first half, he was sacked and was slow to get up after taking a hit to his lower back. Toughing it out in the second quarter, he would gingerly roll to right, drew the defense in and found receiver Patrick Crayton open in the end zone 34 yards for a touchdown to give the Cowboys a 7-0 lead.

The Giants answered with a 34-yard field goal by John Carney to cut the lead to 7-3 going into halftime. It was their only sustainable drive of the half (66 yards in 11 plays), as the 78 net yards was their lowest total of the season.

In the third, neither offense could get on track. Manning pass was intercepted by cornerback Terrence Newman on a slant pass intended for receiver Domenik Hixon. He would also be sacked on back-to-back plays in one series and three times for the quarter.

Romo and the Cowboys finally put some distance between themselves and the Giants when he found fullback Deon Anderson on a one-yard play action pass to them in front 14-3.

Punter Jeff Feagles would pin Dallas deep in their own end and again the Giants defense put Romo on the ground, this time for a safety (sack was split between Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka) to trim the lead to 14-5.

Utilizing a no-huddle after getting the ball back, Manning and the offense moved quickly down to the Dallas 29 before three incompletions forced another Carney field goal. The 47 yarder to cut the lead further to 14-8 and needing one stop on defense to get the ball back with a chance to steal this game that they had been thoroughly dominated.

The Cowboys were called for holding on a second-and-13 play and rather than choosing a third-and-11, the Giants elected to take the penalty to force them to get 23 yards for the first down. Backup running back Tashard Choice ran for 14 yards to bring up third down. However, Tony Romo would get the key first down when he found tight end Jason Witten for 11 yards to essentially seal the game. On the next play, Choice bust through the line for a 38-yard touchdown run to finish the scoring.

For the offense, it was their second bad performance in row, held to only 218 yards and pathetic 3-for-13 converting third downs (6 for 24 over the last two weeks).

There was no wind, and most of the credit can be attributed to the defense of the Cowboys who eliminated running lanes for Derrick Ward (14 carries for 64 yards) and blanketed the receivers one-on-one with no safety help. It is apparent that the absence of Burress is being felt by the rest of the team along with the loss of Brandon Jacobs, who sat again with a lingering knee injury.

The loss dropped the Giants to 11-3 and has setup what now appears to the NFC Game of the Year on Sunday night at Giants Stadium for the right to have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

If the Giants happen to lose and the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Atlanta Falcons at home on Sunday, that would force a game where the winner of Giants-Vikings would be for the number two seed and a first round bye.

Suddenly, things have gotten treacherous in a matter of just two weeks.

There are leaks that are emerging from what was a juggernaut a few weeks ago. Could they be wearing down after not having a bye week since the third game of the season? Is the string of facing strong, over .500 opponents along with the sudden rash of injuries finally taking its toll on the defending world champions?

All of this could be possible.

We will find out on Sunday night.

Giants Talk: That Strange Feeling of Losing

Lack of losses make Sunday’s tough to take


We’ve been spoiled.

In the words of Chris Rock:

“Yes I said it. It had to be said. Somebody’s got to say it.”

It’s not our fault the team has been this good for this length of time and through Sunday had gone only losing one time in the previous 344 days.

That’s a lot of days without a loss. It’s almost as if you are just immune to winning.

On Sunday, the second loss of the season game at Giants Stadium. The game was close for a half before turning ugly and the final score was dressed up to look prettier than it actually was.

It was an off day against good team who happens to be a division rival. It happens. Such is the world in the NFC East.

I guess you really can’t win them all.

Listen, sometimes you just get beat. I mean, the Eagles do have a good team even though at times they resemble a circus act. One with any reasonable intelligence had to have expected that they would give a far greater effort (especially on defense) than the garbage they put out there at home in The Linc in November. Hell, if they didn’t it would have been an indictment on their entire team in a game they desperately needed to win to keep their playoff hopes from going six feet under.

The loss dropped the world champions to only 11-2. Looks like people will not be holding any funeral processions for us any time soon lamenting our defeat. With that and a combination of the Carolina Panthers victory on Monday night, their lead in the NFC as a whole is down to a single game.

For as great as this season has gone so far, nothing has been decided yet and with one small slip up, can find ourselves needing to once again go on the road in a potential NFC Championship Game in order to gain entry to Super Bowl XLIII.

This is why there is some panic in small circles of Big Blue Nation.

Everything was going so well for so many weeks this season that even I may have slightly had the impression that this road to repeating would not be as treacherous as I would have thought.

Now, questions arise as to whether this juggernaut of a team, who was looking to cruise into that big game, has just met a little turbulence, or a massive speed bump.

You learn quickly that attempting to win a championship (much less two in a row) is not easy. Not when you are shooting for it and anything less than that is considered failure.

Let’s face it, last year none of us went into the 2007 season expecting anything. I figured that if they go 8-8 that would be good enough. Even through the playoffs, nobody expected them to do anything. Suddenly, before you knew it, they were world champions.

This year was shaping up to be very similar. I expected nothing and neither did most “experts” (otherwise known as a highly paid person who really doesn’t know anything more than you or I). The only person who felt the Giants could and would repeat as champions was Bob Glauber of Newsday.

As the wins piled up and the early season favorite Cowboys began to fall, people started paying attention closer to the Giants. When they took down Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on the road and ran off a seven game winning streak, it became clear that this team was perhaps the best in all of football.

The rules of the game changed. No longer was just making the playoffs acceptable. The NFC did not appear to have a viable second candidate to compete with the defending world champions.

Suddenly, with one shot of a gun, a lot of things began to change. Plaxico Burress, who was already in the running for Malcontent of the Year, got himself kicked off the team and could have potentially killed teammate Antonio Pierce or anyone else in the process had the bullet found its way anywhere else.

Because of Pierce’s involvement, he was forced to spend all of last week with the NYPD and dodging questions of reporters instead of worrying about how he would dodge Eagles blockers. It was all unnecessary drama that forced everyone to answer silly questions about gun ownership and the like and took the complete focus away from football.

Then Sunday’s loss came.

Football became the prime source of conversation again because that’s where the focus should have been all the time. Instead it was all of this other garbage masquerading around as “news”.

It wasn’t about bullet holes anymore. It was about the holes in the Giants defense that Brian Westbrook ran through. The lack of holes the offensive line did not create for its running backs.
It was the hole in the offense created by Burress’ full time absence from the lineup.

Now here we are, with the focus back to football again. There is this need and want to eliminate the stench that came from last week’s performance. Eli Manning said it best this week when he said that the team had not gotten used to losing and they didn’t want to experience it again. This is a good thing.

Losing does stink.

It is why each loss (and they’re have only been two) gets dissected from every angle and met with such incredible scrutiny.

Do we nitpick more than most fans? It is very likely. Only this time, we all know what’s at stake.

There is no surprise here.

The culture has been changed around here now. It is no longer hoping it is expecting. A certain standard has been set and it has found its way to even us fans.

In a bizarre way, we almost never expect them to lose anymore. Somehow, almost in a blink the way we think about them is so completely different than any of us could have predicted.

This is a good thing.

Yes, they are allowed a loss. It’s ok. Even the greatest teams in the history in football lost two games in a season. It is not a means for indictment or an FBI investigation.

Now, as they head to Dallas on Sunday night in another big game that they seem to be playing every week, we look for them to take out their anger on the team they hate the most.

The Cowboys may be a desperate team trying to hold on for their playoff lives, but playing this team coming off a loss is not the best elixir.

Sunday night in Big D is a chance to get back on the winning track.

Giants Talk: Big Blue Slip

Giants shut down by desperate Eagles


When you have only lost one time in the last 344 days, seeing what happened yesterday does provide you a little shock.

As it was playing out on a cold, exceedingly windy day at Giants Stadium, you were hoping for a moment that would spark the team against the Philadelphia Eagles.

After it became apparent that there would be no sustained joy on this day, all Giants fans had to take in a loss that was as thorough as it can get.

Give the Eagles (7-5-1) credit. Needing a win to keep any hopes of a postseason berth alive, they put their best foot forward on a day when the world champions were clearly not their best and emerged with a 20-14 victory.

The final score is so misleading it is ridiculous. With the exception of Kevin Dockery’s return of a blocked field goal 71 yards for a touchdown and Eli Manning garbage time touchdown pass to third string tight end Darcy Johnson, the Eagles pitched a shutout against the league’s best team.

On a day where the conditions hampered both offenses, it appeared the Giants (11-2) were going to get on the board first. After a field goal by David Akers gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, the offense was ready to respond.

At their own 15, Eli Manning on a play action fake against the wind and threw deep downfield to receiver Domenik Hixon who had beat cornerback Asante Samuel by several steps. However, Hixon had the sure touchdown slip right through his hands. An eventual 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Eagles defensive end Trent Cole.

Later in the half, Philadelphia converted on two third downs of seven and ten yards. At the Giants 30 yard line, the defense stacked 10 men at the line of scrimmage. Running back Brian Westbrook ran himself into the hole and with no additional defenders in sight, he ran out of the hole to daylight for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

Wide receiver Steve Smith dropped a sure completion on fourth down late in the half to end another Giants drive and the Eagles were set to go up 13-0 before the break as they moved the ball into field goal range. Akers’ kick would be blocked by Justin Tuck, Kevin Dockery was able to recover the ball, and race 71 yards the other way for a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7 as time expired.

In a game where the offense and defense appeared to be a bit sluggish, that play should have been able to swing the momentum in the favor going into the third quarter. Instead, Eagles Coach Andy Reid stuck to their gameplan of keeping things simple and it would eventually pay off.

With the wind in their favor for the third quarter, the Giants defense was unable to get the Eagles off the field, allowing them to hold the ball for 11:42 of the period and only ran six offensive plays.

On the third play of the fourth quarter on a third-and-11, quarterback Donovan McNabb bought time with great protection from his offensive line, waited for Westbrook to come free after his initial chip block of Mathias Kiwanuka and found him one-on-one with Antonio Pierce for a reception and an eventual 40 yard touchdown to increase the lead to 17-7.

The offense, which failed to get into a rhythm all day, had one final realistic chance with 9:35 remaining at the Eagles 38 yard line, but were stopped again. Needing a yard on fourth down, Manning was pressured and his short pass to Sinorice Moss was incomplete as Philadelphia took over and the fans began to look for the exits and their cars for a warmer climate.

In garbage time, the offense moved 70 yards in six plays to make the score more respectable, but it would not matter. The Giants were offsides on the onside kick to finally conclude matters.

The world champions were held to 211 total yards (141 before the last drive), their lowest output of the season. Manning played his worst game, going 13 for 27 for 123 yards – dressed up by the fact he went 6 for 6 for 70 yards and the teams late minute scoring drive. The running game that has been the best in the NFL was limited to only 88 yards.

McNabb did not play his best, but he was efficient enough utilizing three step drops, quick passes and occasionally using his feet to pickup timely first downs. Westbrook had 203 total yards, with 131 coming on the ground on 33 carries, added with six receptions for 72 yards.

At one point, the Eagles were an incredible 13 of 14 on third down conversions ranging from the end of the first half into the fourth quarter. This allowed them to control the tempo of the game, the clock and kept the Giants offense off the field for most of the second half.

With the Cowboys late game loss to the Steelers, the Giants were able to clinch the NFC East, but the goals are much wider than that. At 11-2, they head to Texas Stadium on Sunday night for a big showdown with Dallas. The stakes cannot get any higher for “America’s Team” as a loss can virtually eliminate them from postseason contention.

For the Giants, a win would seal a first round bye and line up what is set to be a showdown for homefield advantage in the NFC in two weeks against the Carolina Panthers.


But for this week, it was a tough loss to take.

Giants Talk: Giants Shoot Plax Away

Big Blue pulls trigger ending Burress’ season


In the end, the world champions scored another victory.

In a year that has seen them dominate the league in a fashion not seen in years and poised to repeat, they decided to take a stand against the one player that seemed hell bent on derailing their train.

Yesterday morning, the Giants summoned Burress to their personal court of Giants Stadium.

They talked to Burress for a while. They asked him about his health and expressed their emotion over what their star receiver had gone through.

There would be no due process here and no cross examination.

The jury did not consist of random John Doe’s. It was made up of the team co-owners, the general manager and the head coach.

Finally, they delivered their verdict.

They told Burress to go away.

Far, far away.

The team suspended him for four games placed him on the non-football injury list, in essence, ending his season.

Goodbye. So long. Sayonara.

The best team in the world decided that the best idiot in the world was no longer going to be worthy of putting on their uniform.

Not this season. Quite possibly never again.

Good riddance.

It appears the Giants had finally reached their boiling point with Burress; a man of such great talent and impeccable, God-given skills on a football field, who was also the same as a dope off of it.

They lived with the missed meetings, practices and mandatory treatments. The holdouts, antics and other assorted childish behavior were tolerated because on the football field, he could help them win.
The Giants gave him plenty of chances, including giving him an incentive based 35 million dollar, five-year contract with what would seem to have been very simple instructions:

“Play well, stay out of trouble, and you will get paid”

Perhaps he may have missed the fine print in the contract that made references that poor conduct would result in a loss of money. Maybe it was in that small type that is barely readable unless you have an magnifying glass. On Friday night, when he pulled the trigger of that illegal gun, he lost so much more. It was made worse when he brought defensive leader Antonio Pierce into the case by playing the role of caretaker. From taking Burress to the hospital, followed up with taking possession the gun to where he may now be brought on obstruction of justice charges.

If there was any greater case of “Conduct Detrimental to the team”, this was it.

He had his one final shot. It was time for the team to strike back.

The Giants may have given some small consideration to bringing him back for the playoffs after a four game suspension. It was something I suggested earlier in the week. Surely they thought it over and may have taken it to a vote because they knew that sending him home for the season would have an impact on the field because of what he brings.

Likely, the debate lasted no more than a few seconds before they agreed to bid him adieu.

There was no other choice.

The Giants are in the business of winning, but even they have some moral standards. This is not the Dallas Cowboys or Cincinnati Bengals where the inmates and criminals run loose all over the team. They have been the model franchise in this sport since 1925. A rough spot or two may have happened along the way, but they have rarely compromised their core principles that were set by the late Wellington Mara and are still in place today.

Keeping him would put them in the same breath of those other teams with malcontents and criminals masquerading around as football players. Good character and citizenship would have been damned.

Of course, there is also that little public relations circus that would have enused had they allowed him to return. Allow him to reappear the week before a playoff game would have been asking for a media firestone that no team would want to endure.

Would it have been easier to win it all again with him?

Sure.

Can they win it all without him?

We’ll find out.

Since October, I’ve said that the Giants would not repeat as champions without Burress. With a minimum of five games left to play, it will be time to put this theory to the test. I sure as hell would want to be proven wrong.

Will the receivers find the same holes in the defense? Will the running lanes getting clogged up with defenders as they choose to cheat more against the run?

No one knows the true answer to any of these questions.

But the world champions have made the choice that they would rather potentially lose and keep their dignity than winning dirty with a player who obviously had no respect for himself, his teammates, his coaches or anyone else.

Maybe it really was “Plaxico being Plaxico.”

Now he goes away, trying to pick up the pieces of whatever will remain of his football life as he tries to find some miracle way to avoid jail time. He now becomes out of sight and out of mind to all of us.

While the Giants remain front and center, with their vision pointing one way, with Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa looking right back at them and the potential of greatness and history looming if they can get there and win it.

They will have to do without their former star.

On the consummate team that thrives on adversity, challenges and still fights for acceptance and respect, they wouldn’t want it any other way.