Giants Can’t Hold Late Lead in Loss to Pats; Will Travel to Tampa Bay in Playoffs
The Giants couldn’t hold their 12-point lead as the offense stalled late. The Offense looked like an offense that was unstoppable throughout the entire first half, and it WAS, too. The second play of the game, Eli Manning play-action faked, had all kinds of time, and fired a bomb downfield to Plaxico Burress, stunning most of the Patriot fans in attendance, while the Giant fans all cheered louder than anything.
The stadium was packed, mostly of Giant fans, only a few Patriot fans here and there, even though a big deal was made throughout the week that Giant fans were selling their tickets. No, that is not how it was. Most fans in attendance were Giant fans.
In the last home game at Giants Stadium for the 2007-2008 season (unless both the Giants and Redskins win their next two games), Eli Manning was unbelievable and extremely impressive. He completed 22 of his 32 passes and threw 4 touchdowns against the best team in the NFL. Hmm, I guess Eli haters should shutup now. At least that is what I think.
The Giants scored a late touchdown on a nice throw from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress to put the Giants down by 3. The onside kick was horrible by Lawrence Tynes, and recovered easily by New England.
The officiating was horrible, that is for sure. One time a Patriots player tripped on a kickoff when he was running out of bounds. Amani Toomer was at least 15 feet away, yet the referee called a 15-yard penalty on Toomer for unsportsmanlike conduct or something stupid like that. That is a joke. And one obvious pass interference call that I know was missed was on a touchdown attempt to WR Plaxico Burress, who practiced multiple times for the first time this season and his ankle seems to be doing much better.
The only deep play of the game was a pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss, a bomb that, on the play before, was the same call but fell incomplete. Brady and the Pats attempted it again and completed it for a score.
Brandon Jacobs was able to get over 1,000 yards on the season, a great accomplishment considering he played about 10 games and he had competition from Derrick Ward up until the Bears game.
Giants to Play Buccaneers in Wild Card Round!!!!!
The Giants have clinched the number 5 seed in the NFC due to a Vikings loss, while the Buccaneers have clinched the number 4 seed in the NFC because of their loss, meaning that the two teams will face each other in the NFC Wild Card Playoff round in Tampa Bay, FL!
GIANTS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT FOR 3RD YR IN A ROW!
For the 3rd consecutive season, Big Blue will be playing in the Wild Card weekend, a team that could potentially do serious damage in the postseason. This may sound odd, but its true: The Giants prefer the road. They’re 7-1 there.
Sure, you can trash Eli Manning, who did fumble too many times today, but still gets trashed too much by reporters. Sure, you can say the Giants haven’t beaten anyone good. Sure, you can say they didn’t win the division so they won’t last long in the playoffs. But if you say any of that, you are very, very wrong. Here’s why:
The Giants are 7-1 on the road, the last time they did that was, well, before computers were around, that’s long enough to call it a long time. For whatever the reason, the Giants are a better road team, and that is a great thing to know considering that is where they will be in the playoffs. The Giants are sick of their whiny, negative fans who trash the team if 1 thing goes wrong and never support them for the rest of the game. Yeah, I know, I was there and I witnessed it at the Dallas game.
Today’s game started off badly, but I knew right off the bat that the Giants would pretty easily be able to come back, and they sure did, alright. The Giants were down 14-0 in the 1st quarter, when finally the Giants were able to put a TD on the board. The turnaround really came when the Bills messed up a punt and failed to even get the kick off. The Giants started with great field position. The Giants came back to tie the game at 14, when not much longer after scored a field goal to make it 17-14. Right before the half, the Giants were on the Bills 23 with 10 seconds remaining and no timeouts, when the coaching staff made a bad decision to do another play. The pass on that play was deflected and intercepted by Buffalo, ending the half. The Giants had the ball to start the 2nd half, but Eli Manning threw an interception from a deflected pass, and the Bills had great field position. Marshawn Lynch easily ran the Bills into the end zone for a touchdown to take the lead, 21-17.
That specific end zone that the Bills had in the 1st and 3rd quarter, and the Giants in the 2nd and 4th quarter, was magic. Whoever was using it scored all the points, it was hilarious, and I think it was because the wind was going that way.
The Giants defense did AMAZING. As usual, it bailed out the offense when it struggled, and they made great plays. Kawika Mitchell, a free-agent signing this off-season that I thought was going to be a joke, turned out to be great. He made a season-saving play against the Redskins in week 3, and this week he made a game-winning interception for a touchdown. Although, the Giants were already winning, that play really sealed the deal. Corey Webster also had an interception returned for a touchdown.
Running back wise, I tell my dad and my friends each week that Ahmad Bradshaw should be used more by the Giants, he is explosive, fast, and he makes great moves. Today he made an immediate impact. He spun, plowed, and sprinted his way for extra yardage on every ran, and he’s just a little guy running like Jacobs. That’s not all, he had an 88-yard touchdown run, the longest run in the NFL this season by ANY PLAYER ON ANY TEAM!
For Wide Receivers, Amani Toomer had 5 catches for 99 yards, he had a big comeback following last week’s drop after drop performance.
I’m guessing I was right on him.
Well, the Giants are in the playoffs and that is a relief for their players, coaches, front office, and their fans. Only the Seattle Seahawks, Colts, and Patriots have been in the playoffs the past 3 years along with the Giants.
With the Giants holding a better record than their likely playoff opponent, the Bucs, and a 7-1 road record, I’m thinking the chances for Giants playoff success are very high.
Falcons Deal w/Parcells Falls Apart, considers Dolphins
Former Giants coach Bill Parcells was already talking about his new VP job with the Atlanta Falcons when I just found out that a few hours after ESPN announced the deal was close, the deal fell apart, and now he is considering going to the Miami Dolphins to become a front of their front office.
Parcells Says He’s Taking Falcons VP Job
Former Giants head coach Bill Parcells said that
he is taking the Vice President Job for the Atlanta Falcons, less than 1 year after retiring as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it. [Owner] Arthur [Blank] and I have had some pretty constructive discussions. I basically will oversee the football operations. We’ll meet today — not in Atlanta — and work out some of the final details but I don’t think there’s any deal breakers here,” Parcells said.