Giants’ B-team Give the Vikings a Run for Their Money

Giants 19, Vikings 20

The New York Football Giants, the number one seed in the NFC, have just ended their regular season. The season finale wasn’t quite the disappointment it may seem to be. Yes, it was a loss. Yes, Minnesota was the only team the Giants didn’t avenge the loss last year against, but the Giants had a very similar regular season finale last year, and we all know how that went. Tom Coughlin has been ignoring people’s advice all week, opting to go for last year’s momentum builder, again this year. Will it work? Only time will tell, but the Giants showed they’re the deepest team in the NFL with today’s effort.

Brandon Jacobs didn’t play, Eli Manning played a half, Derrick Ward ran till he got over 1000 yards, and David Carr marched down the field the entire second half. Did Carr win the game? No, but he gave the Giants every chance to close it out. If that fifth John Carney field goal attempt has the truth of Longwell’s closer, we’d be talking about another dubya. The Vikings played well, and the game was as exciting for a Giants fan, as a game with nothing on the line can be. Let’s hope the bye week aids the Giants in getting just a bit healthier for the Championship run.

Note that Tom Coughlin isn’t a reader of the Couch P.O.V. as he ignored the most basic of truths… You are NOT Sub Zero, and cannot freeze the kicker. Let’s see that record in bold just one last time…

12-4… See you in 2 weeks!

Jacobs not hurt, NY/Bos Continues, and the King wins 12

Jacobs’ knee is ready for Sunday: It’s always nice to hear that the league’s most valuable player isn’t injured, but with Ward and Bradshaw waiting for more carries, it may not hurt to rest the Blue Train. Here’s hoping B. Jacobs gets a few carries (for 2 tds), and the rest of the game is left to Wind and Fire.

Demptser Signs, Burnett gets same offer from Blue Jays, Yanks to top it: If the Yankees really do sign Burnett and Sabathia, the Major League Baseball world is in for a long, pinstriped, season.

Rangers win in the SO again, King first to 12 wins: Feels like almost every Ranger game ends in a shootout. I was glad to see Freddie Shoe score last night, and watching Zherdev score the GWG in the SO, despite being angry with himself, was an awakening. When Zherdev’s name was called as the game’s 2nd star he didn’t come out for the applause. I love Zherdev’s attitude, and think he should expect better from himself, so him not accepting accolades made sense.

New York/Boston rivalry continues tonight on the hardwood: Knicks could be this year’s Celtics, so a win in Boston would be huge. The Knicks have been giving up their big leads every game, but it’s nice seeing them have any leads at all after last season. Prediction: Knicks 114, Celtics (without KG) 106

Jacobs and the Giants run all over Lewis and the Ravens

Ravens 10, Giants 30

Are the Giants that good, or are the Ravens that bad? This is a question you will hear debated over the first half of the upcoming week. Despite being 9-1, there will still be people who question the legitimacy of the New York Football Giants, who just rushed for 200+ yards on the number one rush defense in the National Football League. Is it not enough that the Giants have three RB’s who broke at least one 20+ yard gain on the Ravens? Is it not enough that Ray Lewis was hanging off Brandon Jacobs’ leg like a baby for two touchdowns? Will the Giants ever get the respect they deserve? Does it matter? I can say that in my mind it doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters is the Giants keep rolling over teams like Brandon Jacobs over #52.

The Baltimore Ravens offense was nearly as disappointing, being held under 27 points for the first time in five weeks. Joe Flacco had a pretty respectable game for himself with 221 yards of total offense (57 rushing yards), but also had two INTs to go with his one touchdown. Aside from Flacco the Ravens have pretty much no positives to take back with them to B-more, and should think twice about starting newspaper headlines about the baddest running back in the league next time they come to town. I can’t say that Ray Lewis yapping it up in the news made any real difference, but it sure didn’t help his cause when the Blue Train decided to run right down his throat. If the Ravens could have stopped D.Ward or #44 they could have at least made a case for themselves, but after Bradshaw’s 77-yard pop off to the one yard line in the 4th quarter, they should only hang their loud mouthed heads in shame. It’s one thing to be a confident defense, it is an entirely more epic thing to threaten a man amongst boys in a sport where violence is the key.

I could go on about how Lawrence “Day and the” Tynes should be cut in favor of John Carney, or how the Etruth/Plax combo needs to tighten up a bit for the playoff run, but after such a dominant performance by the G-men rush, I’ll just post the record in bold font…

9-1

No Plax, No Problem

Giants 44, Seahawks 6

The Blue Train plowed through Seattle’s defense for 136 yards on fifteen carries, that’s 9.1 yards a carry (not to mention 2 TD’s). Combine that kind of sick efficiency with the fact that the Giants didn’t have to punt until the fourth quarter (when the 2nd team offense was playing), and you get a beating of epic proportions. From the very start when Seattle failed to convert on third down, and Aaron Ross was hit late, the real team suffering was still Seattle, who’s QB went down with a hyper extended knee. It was like this the rest of the game. Seattle could try as they wanted to hit Brandon Jacobs, or run Julius Jones at the best gang tackling D in the league, but it was all moot against a team that was just clearly better. Somewhere between having no defensive stops, and no third down conversions, the Seahawks lost all faith in themselves, leading to the 38 point beating.

The beat down wasn’t just a Brandon Jacobs effort, it included eleven offensive players moving the ball (2 QB’s, 3 RB’s, 5 WR’s, 1 TE), and an offensive line holding up the way they drew it up. There’s been many comments made in the media about Eli being too reliant on one player (most notably Plaxico Buress, and Jeremy Shockey), but seeing him spread the ball around today just goes to show how off base such comments are. Manning did what he has been doing his whole career, controlling the game, making pre-snap audibles, and making the plays that matter. Yes, Eli Manning fumbled the football, and yes the Giants got a first down the very next play leading to yet another Big Blue score. The Giants’ line showed it’s humanity on that play, and rebounded amazingly in response. These Giants aren’t all that new, but they sure are improved from past season. Every single player has a role clearly defined, and every single player is executing at their highest potential.

G-men: 4-0

By Jeffrey Paul Louis Schiller