All Birds in NFC Title Game

Before I get to the miserable effort by my New York Giants, let me just acknowledge a job well done by the Arizona Cardinals.  Anyone have them in the NFC title game back in the pre-season?  Didn’t think so.  I don’t even think anyone gave them a chance in either of their first two playoff games.  For a franchise that has been a complete disaster throughout their entire history, congratulations for proving everyone wrong and even making it this far.  In all honesty, I will be rooting for them the rest of the way.  When my team isn’t in it anymore, I like rooting for the ultimate underdog, which is exactly what the Cardinals are.  Realistically, they only started playing competitive NFL football about two season ago and since they have been so bad for so long, they have my vote.  Another thing about the Cards is how they trust Edgerrin James despite his incessant whining these last several weeks about not getting the ball.  Even though he practically begged for his release and does not want to play in Arizona, the Cardinals still gave him the ball a nice amount of times yesterday, demonstrating a trust that I didn’t think was warranted.  Good call by them, though, as he delivered.

As for my Giants, I can’t say that I really enjoyed anything about the game.  They were terrible, the offense was atrocious, and the defense laid back for most of the game.  No one got to Donovan McNabb for the third time this season and special teams costs the Giants at least 6 points on two John Carney missed field goals.  I’ll be honest in that at the begining of the season I had said that I would be fine for 5 years and not expect another trip to the Super Bowl until then, but once they went 11-1, I had visions of Tampa in my head.  There is no one person to blame for the Giants collapse and no I don’t think Plaxico Burress would have made that big a difference, so don’t even bother with the question.  When Eli is throwing wobbling balls, no one is going to catch them.  Needless to say, I’m disappointed to say the least.  The players, however, looked beat up and tired, so here’s hoping a long off-season will give them enough rest to make it back to the top.

The NFC Will Go Through the Meadowlands

For the first time since 2000, the Giants will be the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs, earning a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs in the process.  What a game last night.  If you missed the Giants/Carolina battle at the Meadowlands Sunday night, you missed a helluva football game.  Here are a couple quick hit thoughts on that and Big Blue:

• The Giants are a much different, much better team with Brandon Jacobs in the lineup.  He provides a pretty serious change of pace from the quickness of Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw and can just wear down defenses.  By wearing down the D, he enables Ward and Bradshaw to run for some long gains (see Ward’s 51 yard run in OT to start the game-winning drive) and he opens up the passing game.  I didn’t know he’s a free agent at the end of the year, but they better re-sign him.  I love Jacobs fire and his strength.  After the game when asked about how he changes the team’s philosophy, Jacobs responded “I just come in and run into people.”  What he meant to say, of course, is that he runs through people.
• I’d like to see Ahmad Bradshaw more.  He’s been mostly on kick return duty lately and spells Ward late in the game, but he was a dynamic rusher last season (ask the Buffalo Bills) and I’d like to see the Giants utilize him more.  I know he’s cut from the same mold as Ward, but he’s got a quick first few steps and could spring for a couple big gains.
• The Offense still has problems.  Correction, the passing game has problems.  With over 300 yards on the ground against a good defense, I’m satisfied with the running game.  However, without Plaxico “Property of the D.O.C.” Burress, the Giants don’t have a go-to receiver.  On a few occasions last night, Eli Manning and Domenik Hixon looked out of sync and while I like Hixon, he’s nowhere near the receiver that Plax is.  Burress and Manning just clicked and Burress had an intuitive connection with his QB that enabled him to make some key grabs (many of which were no look, Burress just knew where to be).  Because of this, I fully expect Eli and the first team to play at least the first half against Minnesota to try to get more in sync before the playoffs.  The bye can be used to rest the starters.
• The O-Line Dictates the Team’s Success. I think this is tied to the first two bullets, I’ve discussed so far.  With the O-Line playing well and cohesively, Big Blue can run over just about anyone.  Without the O-Line playing well, though, the Giants are in trouble.
• Eli Manning Doesn’t Make Mistakes Anymore. For pretty much his entire career, except last year’s playoffs, the NY Media hasn’t left Eli Manning alone.  Funny how after he wins the Super Bowl, no one really says a word about him.  Here’s a guy who has become an excellent game manager on the field and one that – get ready – doesn’t kill you with mistakes.  This year, he has a career-high 60% completion percentage, 21 TDs and a career-low 10 picks (shattering his previous best of 17).  With all the attention that other NY Quarterback gets, he makes a ton of mistakes and throws a ton of interceptions.  Eli has quietly settled down and become one of the top Quarterbacks in the league.  Listen, I get that he doesn’t put up gaudy numbers, but neither did Tom Brady until Randy Moss arrived, he just won ball games.  People always respected Brady because he didn’t make mistakes and he could make a big play when necessary.  Eli has quietly matured into that, himself.  He won’t lose you a game anymore, like he used to.  Seriously, though, until Moss came to town and Brady threw 50 touchdowns, his career-high was 28, close to Manning’s best.  Like Eli, Brady just completed 60% of his passes and limited his interceptions.  Unlike baseball, the NFL is about winning – and that’s it.  There is less of an emphasis on statistics and more of an emphasis on rings.  To be a great quarterback, all you have to is win games and rings and Eli is showing he can do just that.

Don’t Panic, Giants…yet

After winning seven straight, the Giants have now lost two in a row to NFC East opponents.  Am I worried?  I never expected the Giants to go the entire season with just one loss, so I’m not concerned about their record.  There are, however, a few issues Big Blue should be concerned about moving forward.

First off, the Offensive Line looked horrendous tonight against Dallas with two of them, Kareem McKenzie and Rich Seubert, going down and not returning.  Maybe Tom Coughlin was being a bit cautious with them and I don’t blame him, but the foundation of the Giants’ success has been the O-Line, giving Eli Manning time to throw or any of the backs room to run.  Tonight, Eli had absolutely no time to throw and when he did, the Dallas secondary was all over the Giant receivers.  I’ll give credit where credit is due and Dallas’ D was tough tonight.  They brought Eli down 8 times and didn’t give any of the receivers space.  Let’s just hope the O-Line can get healthy and the offense can start clicking again.  Momentum is such a huge part of football and the Giants won’t be able to get any if this unit is not healthy.

Another area of concern is the health of Brandon Jacobs.  I really like the Giants’ three back rotation and while all three are critical players in the system, Jacobs has the ability to just plow through defenders and wear down the defense and I’m not sure Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw can do that when he’s not around.  They’re good backs, don’t get me wrong, but Jacobs adds another dimension to the offense and he was missed.  If he keeps pounding into the D-line, the D is bound to loosen up on the receivers, giving them space for big gains.

Moving forward, the Giants have a big one next week at home against Carolina to determine the #1 seed in the NFC.  I’d be ok if the Giants just got a first round bye because they made a name for themselves playing on the road, but they need that bye week to rest some of these banged up guys.