Luck o’ the Big Blue

REALLY??? You have got to be kidding me! The Giants are getting the second half of this season handed to them on a silver platter. First, they’ve got three home games after a bye week. That is very unusual for an NFL schedule. That’s a solid month of home cooking. On its own, that alone would be considered fortunate. But it doesn’t stop there. The Raiders who were looking somewhat like a professional football team are coming apart and now look ripe for the picking. The icing on the cake, however, has to be the injury to Aaron Rogers. Granted, Big Blue has had success against the Packers in years past, no one wants

to see Green Bay come to town. Especially when you’re a team that needs wins.
I’m planning on being a bitter Jets fan in a few months when this season comes to a close. For the past few weeks I have been saying that I expect both of New York’s teams to finish 7-9. I’ve also stated that 7-9 could win the NFC East. I was ok with that. But now I’m starting to think the Jets could finish 8-8 or possibly…maybe…9-7. If the Jets finish the season with a better record than Big Blue and miss the playoffs while the G-Men raise a Division Championship trophy, I will be pissed.
It is astonishing how much falls into Big Blue’s lap. The one time they start 0-6, their whole division is stinking up the league right there with them. Certainly, this season is far from over. The Giants have to show up. They have to want it. They have to believe in themselves. But at the end of the day, the stars have aligned themselves in the Giants favor. It ain’t over till it’s over, but you get the sense that the red carpet leading to the playoffs is being rolled out at Metlife Giants Stadium. Now the Giants have to take advantage of a very fortuitous opportunity.

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Not for nothing, the Jets are also 2 games out of first in their division. The Jets have twice as many wins as the G-Men and if the playoffs were tomorrow, the Jets would be going as a Wildcard. But you’d think it was the other way around if you were to talk to a lot of fans. Big Blue won its second game in a row yesterday and playoff talk is already starting. It’s not even a whisper at this point. It’s really a matter of perspective. Despite one of the worst starts in franchise history, the NFC

East has been so weak that the Giants were never really out of it. No one else in the division was winning either.
There’s a Big Blue twinkle in Tom Coughlin’s eye. It’s starting to feel like Christmas Eve 2011 when they surprised the Jets and rolled on to the Super Bowl. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying a 2-6 team is going anywhere but the golf course, I’m just saying they believe in themselves once again. Back in 2011, they were pretty much done, but beating the Jets woke up their locker room and they went on to surprise everyone but their own fans. They are a very long way from that, but it’s not impossible. Highly improbable, but not impossible.
The good news and the bad news is that the Giants are now on their bye week. I think they’d be better off keeping their momentum with another game, but they’ve got a week to recoup from a rough start. It will do more good than harm, but they probably wished it was out of the way sooner. More good news for the Giants is that after the bye, they’ve got three home games in a row. That’s pretty lucky for any team – not having to be on the road for a month should be huge. After the bye, they’re home against the Raiders. Oakland is nothing to sneeze at

this year, but a rested Big Blue should handle them without any trouble. After that are the Packers. Good luck with that. A week later, they host the Cowboys.
I think the worst is over as far as schedule is concerned, but they really didn’t bank enough wins. Out of their final 8 games, there are 3 probable losses – Green Bay, Seattle, and, Detroit. You saw what they did to Dallas on Sunday, so the Lions are a credible threat, especially at home. Seattle plays that new wave football that clashes with Coughlin’s more traditional approach. They’re fast. Real fast. That game could go either way, but the Seahawks have been on a roll all season (6-1). The NFC East is so bad this season that 7-9 could possibly be enough to win the division this year. As bad as 2-6 looks they’re the only team with a win streak in their division. Hey, ya never know…

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We all expected one of New York’s teams to be 0-4 at this point, but we all expected it to be the Jets. Looking back, the Giants should realistically be 1-3. The Cowboys played that game like it was the Super Bowl. It just meant way more for them to beat Eli in Dallas for once than it did for Big Blue. Week 2 against the Broncos, come on. Denver is looking better than any team has looked in years. Even the Chiefs are playing like champions. The only team that the G-Men could’ve legitimately beaten was the team that actually shut them out. The Giants should never be shut out by anybody. It’s so unbelievable, it’s almost suspicious. For a brief moment there, I was thinking “Suck for Luck”? Could it be possible that the G-Men are tanking their season in order to get an heir to Eli? I shook it off and I don’t really believe that any more, but I did for a minute there.

They say you learn more from losing than you do from winning. I’ve learned that a lot of Giants fans are spoiled brats. The people calling in various radio stations saying “Fire Coughlin” need to stop watching football immediately. Cease and desist. Coughlin is a first ballot Hall of Fame coach. The Giants were a bum squad with drunkard for a quarterback and a 4-12 record when Tom Coughlin came to the team. He’s the one that turned the team into the winners you’ve grown

so used to seeing. If this team is in need of rebuilding, there’s no better coach than Tom Coughlin. If the Giants cut him loose, he’ll have a new job within the hour (hopefully with the Jets). Fortunately, for Giants fans, they’re owned by a football family, not some business man who knows nothing about football. I couldn’t see the Maras cutting ties with Tom Coughlin over a season that, realistically, isn’t far below expectations.

Another fortunate bit of luck that has been bestowed upon the Giants, is that the NFC East is the new NFC West. This division is the worst division in football. The 0-4 Giants can still win the division. Remember 2010? Remember when the Giants didn’t make the playoffs with a 10-6 record because the Seattle Seahawks were able to win their looser division with a 7-9 record? Guess what – you’re that guy now. The Cowboys won game one and that’s really all they wanted to do this season; anything else is just gravy to them. The Redskins look awful. The Eggles look like a team in a rebuilding phase. It sounds crazy, but I could still see the Giants winning this division. Just be prepared to hear all that crap you said back in 2010 flung back at you.

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had expected. Their schedule is very back loaded and cake walk is over. The rest of their schedule is full of postseason regulars and division champions. It’s an unenviable position to be in, but I’m not worried about the Giants. From a Jets perspective, the Giants are starting to look an awful lot like the Patriots in the 2000’s. Big Blue has a sturdy defense that doesn’t give up a lot of points, along with an arsenal of a passing game and a decent run. Even their kicker is good. All three phases are tight. In today’s NFL, that is very hard to come by as teams either devote their salary cap to offense or defense. The Giants are a well coached, well managed and smartly owned team. Good for them. This squad has put two Lombardi’s on the shelf and another one or two would solidify them as the dynasty team of the 2010’s. I’m probably getting a little ahead of myself, but I feel like I’ve seen this movie before.

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The only thing the Eagles have gotten really good at is beating the Giants. Since 2008, the Eagles are 8-2 against the G-Men. The Giants haven’t faced a strong opponent in nearly a month. Since then, they’ve beaten up on some lackluster opponents, the dregs from the NFC South. The good news is that the Giants have won the games they were supposed to win and whether you win by 2 or by 34, it still counts as one in the win column.

Speaking of winning by 34, the Giants/Bucs game should’ve looked more like the 49ers/Jets game than

some post season slugfest. The Giants are the defending World Champions and the Buccaneers are a scrubby team in a rebuilding phase. If anything, the Bucs and the Panthers may have given the Giants a false hope or a false sense of their capabilities. The Bucs led the G-Men to believe that they could crawl out of any hole and put points on the board whenever they really needed to. The Panthers led the Giants to believe that they could win a game with field goals. I could almost hear Coughlin preaching his mantra from last year – “Finish!” – as drive after drive stalled out around the 30 yard line and Big Blue made a fantasy points king out of Lawrence Tynes.

I’m wondering if the Browns will have the same effect. Next week, the Giants host Cleveland in what shapes up to be a rebound game. The Giants will most likely win that game and could walk out of there thinking that they’ve made the necessary repairs to their game plan. The following week at Candlestick will be the real test of that. The Giants won’t catch another break until week 10 when they travel to Cincinnati. Until then, the Giants will face the 49ers, the Skins, the Cowboys and the Steelers. I don’t feel confident picking the Giants in any of those games.

The fact that the Giants are 0-2 in their division is really bad news. That kind of record usually means missing the playoffs completely or sneaking in as a wildcard. It means that your fate is in someone else’s hands and you’ve got to rely on other teams losing to make the playoffs – you know, like the Jets usually do. Granted, the Giants have won on the road in the post season before, it’s not the way the defending champs should be going about it. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is in “Giants” Stadium and prospective challengers should have to come here to get it if they think they can take it.

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510 yards in a single game! The greatest aerial performance of Eli Manning’s career. Was it against

Tom Brady for the Championship of the World? Was it a family feud with his brother, Peyton? Was it an epic NFC playoff battle against Aaron Rogers or Drew Brees? Nope. Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That being said, Eli had probably one of the greatest 2nd half performances of an NFL quarterback in recent memory.

Usually, when a quarterback has a bad game, or a bad first half, it’s up to the rest of the team to rise up out of the ditch. The defense has to stiffen, the running game has to improve, receivers have to turn shorter throws into longer gains. This game was all on Eli. Josh Freeman never faced much resistance from the Giants’ D until the very end. He was able to maintain an 11 point spread through most of the game. The Buc’s D, on the other hand, picked off Eli 3 times and gave Josh Freeman excellent field position to put points on the board. Not for nothing, but spot the Cowboys, Redskins or Eagles 21 points and see where that gets you.
Eli stepped back into the spotlight in the second half and boy did he shine! He didn’t leave it up to his defense to get stops; he didn’t lean on his backup halfback (who was also pretty remarkable by the way); he didn’t shrink in the shadow of the mountain he built. He took control of the game.
Eli didn’t even let the crowd get to him – the crowd that booed him off the field in the second quarter. Really, Giants fans? You’ve probably got the best quarterback in the NFL on your team and you boo him into the locker room at halftime? The same Giants fans changing their profile pictures to Eli after the game, what were you saying about him 90 minutes ago? Shame on you! Have a little faith in (arguably) the greatest player your team has ever had. I don’t think any other team could’ve come back from that. The Giants defense couldn’t stop Josh Freeman. Big Blue couldn’t establish a running game and Eli had Buccaneers breathing down his neck often.
Go check out a Buccaneers page, they’re proud of their performance. T Donald Penn said “…the world knows the Bucs, we aren’t playing around anymore.” Just to put things in perspective – sure, Eli is going to the HOF and there will never be another Big Blue #10, but it took all he had to beat the Bucs. It’s early in the season and pretty much everybody is 1-1, I get that. But, the Giants were stifled by the Cowboys and had to turn out an epic performance to beat a team everybody (including the Bucs) expected them to walk over. Tampa came to “Giants Stadium” wanting to put on a good show. They wanted to test themselves against the Champs, probably expected they wouldn’t win, but could walk out with a moral victory if they kept it close throughout.
Despite the loss, I think the Buccaneers pick up a bit of momentum going into week 3 – there’s only 1 Eli and they don’t have to worry about him anymore. Concerning the Giants, if it takes a Lifetime Achievement Award just to overcome the mediocre teams, what is left in the tank against the top dogs? You’ve only got 3 mediocre teams left on the schedule.

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Everybody is making such a fuss about the replacement referees this season. Maybe I’m just a jaded Jets fan, but the regular guys suck at their job anyway. Not for nothing, but the “Pro” refs were doing such a terrible job over the years that the Coach’s Challenge was instituted. It’s even been expanded because they’re always blowing calls in the end zone and the NFL decided it wasn’t fair to charge the coaches one challenge for something the refs often reverse on review anyway. On top of that, if a coach challenges and wins two calls in a game, he’s rewarded with a third challenge. It’s true that challenges slow down the game and kills that natural feel of the game. Some say that there should be room for human error. It isn’t about just getting the play right, it’s about convincing the ref you got the play right.

So the old regime isn’t getting all the calls they’ve come to rely on. Sure, there was a holding call that was missed in the Giants/Cowboys game. In fairness, the Pro Refs could’ve missed that too. There was also the phantom time out in the Cardinals game. That was probably the worst of week 1. Its the only call from this weekend that I’d say the Pros would’ve gotten right. Every other bad call has been poorly called by the Pros countless times. It’s an even playing field now. I’ve always felt the refs were homers – there were teams that always got the benefit of the doubt while others were playing with a much tighter strike zone. You always hear that “Best Teams Under .500” list, aka Spoilers. They’re the teams who always had the ball-bounce-the-other-way. I guarantee you, those very same teams never got away with holding or pushing off on a defender. Like the refs have one set of glasses for one team, and a newer set for the other.

I, for one, am enjoying this. The Jets, especially pre Woody Johnson, were hated by the refs. Maybe they had it out for Hess, but the poor old Jets have lost plenty of games due to bad calls. These scabs are under way too much pressure to play favorites. That’s good news for Gang Green, bad news for Big Blue. You don’t think Eli would’ve gotten some “Roughing the Brady” calls this season? Absolutely he would. People tune in to watch Tom Brady and people love to watch a winner like Eli. The Pro Refs know that it’s their jobs to protect these guys even at the cost of fairness. Nobody is ever called with a “leading with the helmet/unnecessary roughness” when The Sanchise gets obliterated. And wasn’t the Tuck Rule invented, or at least dusted off, to benefit Tom Brady on a snowy day against the Raiders in Bean Town? That rule may have been in the books for ages, but I’ve never seen it called in a game. Not once.

The refs didn’t cost the Giants the game against the Cowboys; they just weren’t as well rested as the rest of the league. I’m sure the Pro Refs will be back by mid-season, but the replacements are doing a damn fine job and I think the League sees that. I think the League is thinking, they can wait these guys out. Had the replacements really bungled week 1, the strike would be over in time for the Bears/Packers game Thursday night. I’m in no hurry.

“The Replacement Refs” written by guest blogger By Joe Castronovo @TheJoeBKNY .

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12 months ago, Eli Manning was one of the most disliked quarterbacks in the NFL. Nobody disliked him more than his own Big Blue fans. It’s well known across all sports that New York is one of the hardest places to play. No player is under more media scrutiny and more fan pressure than a New York athlete. But 12 months ago, Eli had already won a Super Bowl against the undefeated New England Patriots and Giants fans still wouldn’t give the guy a break.

3 years earlier, Eli Manning played the greatest game of his life. A year after watching his beloved brother win his first Super Bowl with the Colts, poor Eli was up against the undefeated Patriots. Everyone thought this would be a blood bath. People were planning on a repeat of Super Bowl XXXV, where the Giants were shellacked by the Baltimore Ravens 34-7.
Eli looked like Phil Simms during that post-season. He was accurate, decisive, explosive. In that Super Bowl, Eli went 19 for 34 and threw 2 touchdowns and a pick. All of a sudden, there’s a lot of #10 jerseys walking around New York. A lot of Giants fans were saying things like “I didn’t think he had it in him” or “he sold his soul for that Super Bowl ring”. Everyone seemed content to pat Eli on the back and tussle his hair. Way to go kid.

But why wasn’t he basking in the glory his brother had enjoyed the previous year? Why was the conversation still all about Peyton, Tom and Drew? Eli Manning had just won a Super Bowl, so why was he still hocking watches like the guys on 42nd street while the Holy Trinity were out there on Gatorade commercials or selling underwear or luxury cars?
Eli is a mouth-breather. He has vacant eyes. He always looks lost, dumfounded and confused. He’s got the personality of a wet rag. But he’s got two rings. When he threw a fuss about being drafted by the Chargers and got himself traded to the Giants, I know a ton of Giants fans that were unhappy about that. “If it weren’t for his brother, or if it weren’t for his dad…” “Who does he think he is?” A year after he won his first Super Bowl, it was a fluke of genius – that for the post season he played completely out of character for himself. Two years after he won his first Super Bowl, it’s “he’ll never be like that again.” Three years later, when he was getting all of his passes deflected for interceptions, “he’s a bum!”

Now? “Oh, Eli Manning! He’s the best playoff quarterback of the last 5 years!” I love asking Giants fans about Eli Manning nowadays. You can almost see the crow feathers. Whenever I ask a Giants fan about Eli, there’s always a smirk, like they’re thinking about all of those disparaging things that have been said about poor old Eli over the years. Eli’s only real problem is his inconsistency. He shines in the post season, but his irregular play through 16 games can prevent him from getting there, where can he can silence his naysayers. Even if they’re the ones wearing his jersey.

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