Sunday – January 4th, 2009
Ravens at Dolphins (1:00pm, FOX) BAL: 27 MIA: 9
Eagles at Vikings (4:30pm, CBS) PHL: 26 MIN: 14

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS:
Saturday – January 10th, 2009
Ravens at Titans (4:30pm, CBS) BAL: 13 MIA: 10
Cardinals at Panthers (8:15pm, FOX) ARZ: 33 CAR:13

Sunday – January 11th, 2009
Eagles at Giants (1:00pm, FOX) PHL: 23 NYG: 11
Chargers at Steelers (4:45pm, CBS) SD: 24 PIT: 35

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday – January 18th, 2009
NFC – Eagles at Cardinals (3:00pm, FOX) PHL: 25 ARZ: 35
AFC – Ravens at Steelers (6:30pm, CBS) BAL: 14 PIT: 23

SUPERBOWL XLIII
Sunday – February 1st , 2009
SUPERBOWL XLIII @ Tampa, Florida
Steelers vs Cardinals (6:15pm, NBC)
Final Score: PIT: 27 ARZ: 23

Most people would say that Brian Westbrook is the most dangerous player involved in the game Sunday, but I say he is not and it’s not even close.

The first time these teams met back in Week 10, the Giants beat the Eagles 36-31, and it wasn’t even that close. The G-Men racked up 370 yards on offense to the Eagles 255 and if it wasn’t for settling for three John Carney field goals, the game could have been over a lot earlier than when the Eagles failed to convert on a 4th and 1.

In that game Brandon Jacobs rushed for 126 yards and simply punished the Eagles defense in route to two rushing touchdowns. And it’s not only this one game, let’s take a look look at the other 15 games. When Brandon Jacobs plays, the Giants win!  All except the Monday night game in Cleveland, the Giants won every game Jacobs played in and usually with ease. And on Sunday it will be 21 days since Jacobs last played and what happened that day? The Giants clinched the No. 1 seed with a win over Carolina.

The focus right now is on the Eagles because they demolished the Cowboys (loved it) and went on the road to beat the Vikings in last week’s wild card game. Not exactly two tasks worthy of the praise they are receiving. But along with the praise are the reviews of the Week 14 game in which the Eagles beat the Giants on the road 20-14. And while the Eagles feel as though this was an enormous win and that they beat the champs, let’s take a closer look.

Forget the fact that Plaxico Burress was no longer a member of the Giants at this point, but Jacobs recorded only 10 carries for 52 yards in the game, all of them in the first half, due to injury. Not to mention the receivers couldn’t catch passes with a net and Eli Manning couldn’t get a completion. Cancel out the missed field goals by both teams and you have a 20-14 game. Not one thing went right for the Giants as they played their second worst game of their entire season and they only lost by six points.

You would think on a day when Brian Westbrook was creating his own SportsCenter Top 10 and Donovan McNabb was completing 63% of his passes that the Eagles would have run away with the game. But instead they won by six points.

Of course I am not hear to complain about the loss the same way I didn’t complain about it when it happened back in December. I just want to make sure everyone realizes that while it was a victory for the Eagles, it wasn’t exactly the 1980 Miracle on Ice that some media outlets are making it out to be.

I also clearly remember that day when Donovan McNabb stood there taunting the Giants fans, even though at the time the Eagles were on life support. And following the game McNabb said that the Eagles should have won the first game as well, not sure if Donovan was playing in the same game that the rest of the world was watching, but okay. Just another classic McNabb line to go along with his lack of knowledge of the overtime rules.

This Sunday will be about two division foes trying to impose their will on each other and I like my teams’ chances with a healthy Brandon Jacobs. When he’s in the lineup he invokes an attitude that spreads throughout his teammates and when he’s healthy the Giants can’t be touched.

GO BIG BLUE!

The following new NFL stadiums opened:
Lincoln Financial Field (Philly)
U of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona)
Raymond James Stadium (Bucs)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indy)
Qwest Field (Seahawks)
Reliant Stadium (Texans)
Heinz Field (Pitt)
Cinergy Field (Bengals)
Gillette Stadium (Pats)
Ford Field (Lions)
Soldier Field II (Bears)
M &T Bank Stadium (Ravens)
Invesco Field (Denver)
Nashville Stadium (Titans)

So, for all you Dallas fans out there and especially the media, how about we put the star and everything that revolves around it to rest and shut the F*** up until they do something worth talking about. Until then let’s enjoy and talk about the teams that have something worth talking about and that have actually made the playoffs. Enjoy the off-season Cowboy fans…ha ha ha!

Oh yeah…GO BIG BLUE!

Now let’s get down to the dirt. As a Yankees fan, I love the move and of course I expect them to win. However, I can hear all you Yankees haters out there already, “there they go again trying to buy another World Series.” Allow me to retort, don’t hate us ‘cuz you ain’t us! If there is anyone you should be mad at it’s the MLB Players Union because they refuse to agree to a salary cap. Besides have we not seen smaller market teams like the Florida Marlins win championships recently (and the Tampa Bay Rays almost did it last season)? Look at the bright side Yankee haters, ya’ll can rejoice if the season ends and the Yankees choke big-time. It will easily be the biggest choke job in MLB history and before you say it’s not possible just remember the Yankees have a guy on their team named Alex Rodriguez who can and may find a way to make it a reality. Hell, he’s already been dumped by a 50 year old, washed-up pop singer.

So, whether it’s bitterness or just plain disgust, no baseball fan has any room to talk about how the Yankees operate. The obvious fix is to institute a salary cap. Of course, this would surely infuse a strike by the players and baseball would risk losing even more ground in American sports but if things continue as it is now, I’m not sure the same result wouldn’t occur. If ever there was a need for a salary cap, now is the time.

Derrick Ward ran for career best 215 yards and set up Brandon Jacobs’ winning 2-yard touchdown run with 9:57 left in overtime and the Super Bowl champion Giants re-established themselves as the team to beat by earning the NFC’s top seed for the postseason with a wild 34-28 comeback victory over the Panthers Sunday night.

The last two weeks had been disgraceful running the ball for the Giants, I witnessed it first-hand last week in Dallas with my Buddy Brent. The doubters came out in full force after losing to Dallas, led by the Cowboys’ biased closet fan, Deion Sanders. But Sunday night was different than the previous two weeks because they had their beast back (Brandon Jacobs). Jacobs gives the team an attitude that is tough to match. The Giants are a physical team who sets the passing game up with their nasty and powerful running game. That’s the New York Giants identity…nasty and powerful!

Sunday Night’s game was not only exciting to watch but it was a clean fast moving game. It had no turnovers, only 4 penalties (first one called in the 3rd Qtr), and if you enjoy a running attack then this was the game to watch. Both teams combined for 459 yards on the ground and the Giants’ 301 rushing yards was their most in a game since 1959.

It goes without saying that the Giants will need to continue to run the ball with Earth, Wind, and Fire to be able to make another run at the Lombardi Trophy. However, their key component will be Jacobs (Earth) and his health. By winning Sunday night they locked up the #1 seed and afforded themselves to rest some players for a couple weeks. With a healthy and rested Jacobs in the playoffs the team can do what they do best…play nasty and power football!

GO BIG BLUE!

These are not the same World Champion New York Giants that won 11 of their first 12 games. That team had one of the best wide receivers in football that commanded a double team on every single play and an MVP candidate at running back, that puts fear into anyone that has to tackle him. Last night it became apparent that the reason for their last two losses came down to lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball.

Plaxico Burress’ role in this offense is big. He forced teams to shade a safety to his side, leaving only 7 men in the box to stop the run. He was just as big of a reason for the 200 yard rushing games, as was the Earth, Wind and Fire combination.

Speaking of Earth, they need him back, badly. However, there is no reason to rush Brandon Jacobs back from his knee injury if he is not close to 100%. Last night, there were times that Derrick Ward was able to hit the hole, but unable to create that extra yard or two on the run. Brandon Jacobs does not get knocked down if he is able to hit the the hole full speed, if you don’t hit him behind the line, he is getting 5+ yards, no matter what. His ability to run through blitzes keeps teams honest, and opens up the play action calling. I think every Giants fan understands that this team needs a successful running game to establish their passing game. That is how their offense flows. If they cannot do this, things become ugly.

And then you have that nasty offensive line. However, the last two games they have been anything but good. They need to wake the hell up and make a block. A lot of it has to do with above mentioned missing pieces, but they have to make adjustments, that is what great lines do.

This lowly bloggers suggestion (until Jacobs is 100%) is to install more check down plays in the offense. More screens to the running backs and TE, and more draw plays. The Cowboys and the Champs both played great defense last night, utilizing the blitz on more than one occasion. Neither team was never able to get their running games going. Disregard that last run by Tashard Choice with less than 2 mins left. The big difference in the game was that Jason Garrett slowed the blitz with the screens and draws. Except for one ugly broken play, Tony Romo was not really able to stretch the defense. The majority of Dallas’ big plays came when the Giants would blitz, leaving Tashard Choice open for screen plays.

A team should not have to change its identity this late in the season, but with the losses on offenses, the Champs have to change something if they want to be successful in January. They cannot continue to try to play the same style when they do not have the same team.

The road to the playoffs does not get any easier these last two weeks with Carolina and Minnesota left on the schedule. A win against the Panthers gives the defending Champs a bye week and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, regardless of what happens against the Vikings. They need the bye week to rest up injured players, like Jacobs, and also the time to figure out who they are going to be offensively in the playoffs. Right now it is a ‘Giant’ concern…but I have faith that they will figure it out.

GO BIG BLUE!

How the hell does this guy in his position get away with this and yet we still see players (NFL and NCAA) get fined for throwing balls into stands, wearing the wrong color shoes, or even penalized for “excessive” celebration after scoring meaningful touchdowns.

A perfect scenario (video above) to the “excessive” celebration happened back on September 6, 2008 (Washington vs BYU) with two seconds left Washington quarterback Jake Locker made a nice run, scoring the potential game-tying touchdown and capping off an exciting drive. After he crossed the goal line, he threw the ball over his shoulder and went to celebrate with his teammates. The back judge called an unsportsmanlike penalty, turning a simple game-tying extra point into the equivalent of a 45-yard field goal try, a try that was eventually blocked, and caused Washington to lose the contest.

This was just the case of a young kid getting excited about scoring the tying touchdown. These unnecessary penalties cost teams on a much bigger scale than simply the win/loss column for one game. There’s a huge ripple effect – Unnecessary or incorrect penalties cause players to become frustrated and their play on the field suffers. As a result, multiple games are lost, lost games result in lost coaching jobs, and the vacancies move right up the ladder until they reach the top, all because of a bad call.

I like to believe that the games are won in the trenches and decided between the players and coaches but when we continue to see unnecessary and horrendous calls from these overpaid punks in the zebra suits, it makes it tough when you have to compete against these ridiculous calls.

It’s time to hold the officials accountable for blown calls and unnecessary penalties, they need to be suspended, fined, or even fired if deemed necessary, otherwise, what the hell is the point of having them out there.

Oh…and some advice to our forearm shivering official, Mr. Hackett, next time rap up!

The New York Giants kicked off their Super Bowl title defense with a “truck” and what else — defense.  As the cleanup crew at Giants Stadium dealt with the usual morning of paper cups, beer bottles and hot dog wrappers, they should’ve checked the 35-yard line for pieces of Redskins safety LaRon Landry.  Brandon “The Beast” Jacobs supplied the “truck” as he literally ran over Landry for a punishing 17-yard run (see video above).  Jacobs racked up 116 yards on 21 carries.  Overall, the Giants had 154 rushing yards, averaging 4.8 per play.

Meanwhile, the defense that was suppose to feel the “pain” from both the loss of Michael Strahan (retirement) and Osi Umenyiora (injury) instead inflected pain to Jason Campbell and the Redskins all night.  Justin Tuck, Strahan’s replacement and a force in Superbowl XLII – just ask Tom Brady, started the defensive series with a sack.  Any doubts on whether the Giants’ defense can be nearly as dominating as last year’s run were answered Thursday night.  The Redskins only got in New York territory three times all game…Dominating to say the least.

Last season, the Giants started with two straight losses.  The reflection in the Lombardi Trophy on Thursday night looked just fine to me.

Shockey had some great moments with the Giants, maybe none better than that fade he caught for a touchdown over the Eagles’ Dawkins to put us in the playoffs back in 2002. My wife and I remember that game vividly because we were there waving our “Win & In” towels going crazy! Some other great moments:

- The Hall of Fame game in his rookie season against the Texans…’nuff said
- Losing his helmet against the Eagles in 2006 (see picture above)
- Making Dallas’ safety Roy Williams his beotch
- Killing the Skins with 11 catch games (my brother-in Law won’t miss that)
- Running over Colts’ safety (Gibson) after he called him out in the media
- Handing touchdown balls to soldiers on the sidelines

I’ll miss his tenacious attitude, brashness, and excitement. He’s not just made the team better, but he’s made other guys act that way on the field with the confidence he has. No one can ever say he didn’t play his heart out everytime he stepped on the the field. This ended ugly, but both teams got what they wanted and hopefully the Giants we’ll be better because of it. I have no hard feelings and I wish him success in New Orleans…until we face them of course.

Thanks Shock…Good luck with Saints.