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Nov
12 Giants
lose to the Cowboys 31-20.
ESPN - Cowboys sail past Giants with Romo, Owens in full bloom. Giants.com - Giants fall to Cowboys, 31-20. Giants.com - Postgame notes. Dallascowboys.com - Cowboys Still Alone Atop NFC East. StarLedger - Coughlin blames loss on rookie mistakes. StarLedger - What a Shock-er: 12 catches, no gloating. StarLedger - Can't close the gap. StarLedger - T.O. causes Giants woes in a flash. Newsday - Giants' Manning finds Shockey, but that's about it. Newsday - Giants' secondary. Newsday - Mistakes bring down Giants in loss to Cowboys. Newsday - Not at loss for failure. Newsday - Giants need to show it's not the end of the world. DailyNews - Undrafted Tony Romo outshines Eli Manning. DailyNews - Old Tom Coughlin returns from hiatus. DailyNews - Terrell Owens, Tony Romo lead Cowboys past Giants. DailyNews - Tony Romo's big plays expose Giant holes. NYPost - Jints done in by Big D. NYPost - Shockey's big game for naught. NYPost - No Giant leap. NYPost - Romo's big game due to bad D. NYPost - Romo rolls Eli folds, in Giant mismatch. Record - Whatever 'It' is, Eli is without it. Record - Giant mistakes harm hopes for a division crown. Record - T.O. shifts up a gear. Record - Big Blue still better than most teams. JournalNews - Delay-of-game penalties leave Coughlin perplexed. Game
9 Giants
(6-2) vs Dallas (7-1) Nov
11 The
Giants don't earn a trip to the Super Bowl if they beat the Cowboys today.
They don't even make themselves the best team in the NFC, not if Brett Favre throws
another one down the field when he has to and the Packers win again. The Giants
don't make themselves the story of the season in pro football if they beat the
Cowboys today, because the Patriots are the story of the season, and after them
comes Favre, who makes you watch him even more now, at the age of 38, than he
did when he was young. What the Giants can do at 4:15 is make their fans believe.
And that is no small thing at Giants Stadium. NFL
coaches and scouts love to call the draft an inexact science, mainly to excuse
the picks that don't pan out. Tony Romo is proof that it's no science at all.
As hard as it is to believe, considering how the Cowboys' new $67.5 million man
has become the league's most celebrated quarterback this side of Tom Brady and
Peyton Manning, Romo wasn't even drafted in 2003. "One of the biggest draft mistakes
in a long time," said ESPN analyst Floyd Reese, who was general manager of the
Titans at the time. "It just goes to show you why quarterback is the No. 1 position
for mistakes in the NFL." The
day after they lost to the Packers in September, the Giants' defensive players
readied themselves for the backlash from coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. "When you
give up 80 points and you're 0-2, you expect the whole world to come crashing
down," middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said the other day. "You expect guys to
get cut and guys to get benched. "He came in here and said, 'Let's go to work.
Let's fine-tune these things and let's fix these little parts and we'll be okay.'"
They've been better than okay. How
Giants CB Sam Madison deals with Cowboys WR Terrell Owens figures to sway
this game. Owens caught three passes in the first meeting (a 45-35 Cowboys victory),
but don't be fooled. He was a force, making two touchdown grabs and averaging
29 yards per reception. Madison (hamstring) didn't play much in the opener. The
starting corners that night were Corey Webster (since benched) and R.W. McQuarters
(relegated to dime situations). Madison and rookie Aaron Ross have upgraded the
position, and when Madison gets Owens, he'll have to be as physical as possible
to keep T.O. from erupting again. Tom Coughlin believes he saw progress in the Giants' coverage and return teams during the win over the Dolphins. He might be right and, actually, today's game will provide another chance to improve because the Cowboys rank 25th in the NFL in kick return average and are near the bottom in average punt returns allowed (30th) and kick returns surrendered (20th). Dallas does hold the advantage in punting (6th in the league in net average to the Giants' 29th) and kicking (K Nick Folk has missed only two of 16 field-goal attempts while Giants K Lawrence Tynes continues to struggle). Tom
Coughlin could have marched into his fateful meeting in January the way he
marched into his introductory news conference four years back. Upon entering his
sudden-death sit-down with John Mara and Jonathan Tisch, Coughlin could have told
his bosses that he knew of only one way to manage an NFL team. If he declared
that he could not and would not change in the immediate wake of the Giants' first-round
loss to the Eagles, "That would have been an issue," Mara said. In other words,
Coughlin would have been fired. Mara didn't want to ask for his coach's playbook,
even though the Giants had turned a 6-2 mark into an 8-9. But if Coughlin wanted
to commit professional suicide by refusing to tame his Draconian ways, Mara would
not have stopped him. The Giants now would be in the hands of Charlie Weis. The 2007 Giants enter today's game with a chance to prove they're for real - and it's only fitting the Cowboys stand in their way. No other team has been a better measuring stick for the Giants' success through the years. Today is the 91st meeting between the two teams since 1960. Only three times have the Giants had a winning season without defeating the Cowboys at least once. The rivalry has featured many milestone games. The first game the Giants played at Giants Stadium was against the Cowboys. The first NFC East game in 1970 was a Giants-Cowboys game. The Cowboys' first win as a franchise came against the Giants (in the preseason). Despite the difficulty of being friends on two of the NFL's biggest rivals, Osi Umenyiora and DeMarcus Ware manage to keep up with each other's achievements each week and support each other all except two Sundays a season. Umenyiora and Ware speak every week or two during the season and try to navigate the touchy territory that comes with being friends and enemies from July to January. "We keep our team stuff private," Ware said. "We both realize it's a business and we both want to win whenever we play." There can be some professional envy, too. After Umenyiora's six-sack game against the Eagles, Ware called. "He was like, 'I can't believe you did that!"' Umenyiora said. "I think he was a little upset. Then he asked me for some tips on Philly." They call it the Saturday Night Massacre. In Dallas on Feb. 25, 1989, Jerry Jones closed a $160 million deal, buying the Cowboys that morning. Jones then flew to Austin in the afternoon to fire Tom Landry and announced later that evening he'd replaced the only coach the Cowboys ever had with Jimmy Johnson. Jones did what Cowboys fans wanted for years - he fired Landry. But because he was an outsider from Arkansas, he was all but hung from the goal posts at Texas Stadium. Clearly, his ownership of the Cowboys got off to a rough start. That "America's Team" brand may stick in the craw of plenty of NFL fans, but the tag is accurate and instructional. The Dallas Cowboys, today making their annual appearance in the nation's media capital, remain the de facto champs of U.S. sports familiarity and can-do symbolism. An October Harris Poll reinforced what has been true most of the 28 years since NFL Films conferred the "America's Team" label: Among adults who follow professional football, the Cowboys are No. 1, ahead of the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Giants, in that order. (The Jets, if you must know, are No. 17.) Nov 10
Brandon
Jacobs always will remember his first game as the Giants' feature running
back replacing Tiki Barber. After all, his starting debut lasted less than a half,
with a knee injury sidelining him in the second quarter against the Cowboys in
Week1. "They didn't get a chance to see much of me," Jacobs lamented yesterday.
Tomorrow, the Giants hope the Cowboys will see plenty of the 6-4, 264-pound behemoth
when the two teams face off in a pivotal NFC East showdown at the Meadowlands.
Like the streaking Giants, Jacobs goes into the game playing his best. He has
rushed for over 100 yards in three of his last four games since returning from
the knee injury that kept him out for three weeks. It has been almost 14 years since the Giants and Dallas Cowboys played each other with so much on the line. On Jan. 2, 1994 - the final day of the 1993 season - the Cowboys invaded Giants Stadium with first place in the NFC East and the top seed in the conference playoffs at stake. Dallas won a thrilling game in overtime, 16-13. Since then, the Giants and Cowboys have played several exciting and memorable games in their twice-yearly meetings, but none this late in the season with the division lead up for grabs. Michael
Strahan will be playing the Cowboys for the 29th time Sunday, so there might
not be quite as much mystery as there was, say, on Jan. 2, 1994. That's when rookie
Strahan and his Giants couldn't beat the Cowboys at home to win the NFC East.
Dallas went on to win the Super Bowl. Strahan barely played in that game as a
reserve right defensive end. He didn't make a tackle. Clad in their red jerseys, the surging Giants believe they are ready to sweep the Cowboys out to sea in tomorrow's King of the NFC Hill showdown and shock that part of the world that views them more as pretenders than contenders. Linebacker Antonio Pierce can see it and hear it and feel it everywhere he turns, especially in the way the Giants have practiced all week ... especially on his side of the ball. "Faster; probably our fastest we could practice all year, as far as defensively," he said. "We got guys flying to the ball ... it looked like we were in minicamp almost, when guys first get out there and everybody's running to the ball ... it looks like a training tape almost." He sees and hears it and feels it inside the meeting rooms. Judging from the way the Giants operated this week in practice, rookie running back Ahmad Bradshaw may be ready for the first meaningful action of his career on offense tomorrow when the Giants square off with the Cowboys in a first-place showdown. With Derrick Ward out for this game - he's listed as doubtful - because of lingering groin and ankle problems, the Giants are one player short in the backfield. Brandon Jacobs will start and Reuben Droughns is available for backup duty, especially in short yardage and near the goal line. Bradshaw, a smaller, shiftier player out of Marshall, presents a different dimension and he could get his hands on the ball. Lawrence Tynes is no stranger to tenuous job security. Really, what NFL kicker outside of Adam Vinatieri isn't? But as the Giants head into the second half of their season with so much still possible, their hopes for an NFC East title and a deep playoff run beginning Sunday afternoon against the first-place Cowboys, the Giants' kicker is well aware his recent inconsistency puts him on coach Tom Coughlin's griddle. Another missed field goal in the team's last win against Miami plus two missed extra points this season leave Tynes on slippery FieldTurf. Coughlin remained supportive of Tynes after practice Friday, complimenting Tynes' work in practice over the past two weeks before declaring simply, "He is our kicker." After
this weekend, seven games remain in the regular season, a lifetime in football
terms, but with a loss, it gets late earlier for the Giants. Spotting the Cowboys
a two-game lead in the division - actually three, considering Dallas would own
the tie-breaker based on sweeping the season series - would mean first place likely
would not be in the Giants' future. Tony
Romo's Cowboys are 7-1. Since becoming a Pro Bowler last year after just eight
starts, he has become the top passer in the NFC with a 100.4 passer rating. His
19 touchdowns are third most in the league behind Tom Brady's 33 and Ben Roethlisberger's
20. His very playing style indicates a level of fun. More accurate outside the
pocket than inside, he's comfortable in the face of pressure. One gets the idea
that it would take an awful lot for the affable Romo, who joined the Cowboys as
an undrafted rookie in 2003, to let the trappings of fame and athletic achievement
affect him. "You just try not to take it for granted," Romo said. "It's an enjoyable
game. You get to hang out with your buddies and go out there and play some football.
Why wouldn't you have fun?" Nov 9 Cowboys-Giants is the NFC equivalent to the Patriots-Colts, the NFC Game of the Year, and in my humble opinion the Cowboys are better than the Giants. Just not this Sunday. Here's why the Giants win: I - Defense wins championships: I'm betting that explosive Osi Umenyiora has a better day against mountainous Flozell Adams than DeMarcus Ware has against Diehl, in no small part because the Cowboys will have to help Marc Colombo with Michael Strahan, and that still leaves Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka frothing for sacks. The Giants have a chance to show their six-game winning streak against teams with a combined 13-36 record is more than a fluke when they host the 7-1 Cowboys Sunday afternoon at the Meadowlands in a game that will go a long way to determining the NFC East champion. The blueprint for the Giants to win on Sunday may not be complex, but it will be difficult to pull off. They have to keep Tony Romo in the pocket and stop him from dominating the game like he did nine weeks ago, when he threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns. Antonio
Pierce recounted the story of the 45-35 loss to the Cowboys in Week 1, perhaps
hoping if he keeps telling it, the result will magically change. "It's 38-35,
the guy catches a post and runs for a touchdown," the Giants' middle linebacker
said yesterday. "If we get off the field right there, our offense goes down the
field, they score, and it's game over. Then, the Giants are the favorites this
week. Begin
to mention Dallas TE Jason Witten -- and his six-catch, 116-yard, one-touchdown
performance against the Giants in Week 1 -- and Mathias Kiwanuka will good-naturedly
step in. "I contributed to that, yes," the Giants linebacker said after practice
yesterday. "Obviously, I didn't get it done." Kiwanuka remembers his struggles
in covering Witten, a three-time Pro Bowler, in the Giants' season-opening loss
in Dallas. And as the Giants prepare for the second meeting against their NFC
East rivals on Sunday at Giants Stadium, Kiwanuka went so far as to say the Cowboys
should look to take advantage of him again. It has been eating at this team since the first night of the season when that Golden Child's team ran up 478 yards and 45 points. Since then, Romo has been rewarded with a $67.5 million contract and the Cowboys, losing only to the Patriots, look like the class of the NFC. But the Giants, winners of six straight, do not lack for confidence this time. The defense that Romo took apart is vastly improved, and the biggest difference, Tom Coughlin notes, is "pressure . . . pressure," the kind the Giants hope Romo will see on Sunday. It's
amazing how quickly Romo's lengthening eclipse of Manning has happened - not
just the fluff off the field, but the substance Romo has shown on the field, too.
Nobody is giving up on Manning, of course. Not even close. But four years into
his NFL career, people are still drumming their fingers on the table and waiting,
always waiting, for Eli to really bust loose, go nuts, terrorize opponents for
a month or two and make the next big progression, the first huge breakthrough
in his career. Plaxico
Burress didn't practice Thursday. He rode the bicycle. He did practice the
day before, making it his busiest week since mid-September. It's his ankle, but
that doesn't keep him from jumping after footballs on the day the coin is flipped.
The wide receiver has eight touchdowns for the 6-2 Giants and the only game he's
gone TD-less was the one across the ocean two weeks ago, where the mushy grass
was the worst place for a tender ankle. It's
one of the signature images of Jeremy Shockey: He's running with the ball
after a catch, and his helmet is ripped off by a would-be tackler. Unconcerned,
the Giants' tight end continues running, even lowering his shoulder to deliver
a blow with his exposed melon. So did Shockey see the replay of Cowboys tight
end Jason Witten running without his helmet after a catch during Dallas' 38-17
rout of the Eagles on Sunday night? "It's a great play," Shockey said yesterday
after practice. "They showed it on every TV station. I was watching The History
Channel and they even showed it." Come Sunday, the Giants will be all decked out in their red alternate uniforms, and that suits Osi Umenyiora just fine. "They're beautiful, man. They look real good on tape, especially," he said. "Looks real good to see a swarm of red." A swarm of red is what the Giants defense intends to unleash on the high-flying Cowboys' potent offense, a band of 'Boys ranked only behind the other-worldly Patriots. Nov
8 The
defense that stumbled through the Giants' season opener at Texas Stadium barely
resembles the one that will take the field Sunday against those same Cowboys.
That game: one sack, 45 points allowed. The seven games since: 29 sacks, 114 points
allowed, minus a couple touchdowns that can be blamed on turnovers and special
teams. "We still put a lot into what we saw from that game," said Justin Tuck,
who had the Giants' lone sack that night. He had replaced Osi Umenyiora, who suffered
a knee injury in the first half and did not return to the 45-35 loss. "It definitely
gives us a great opportunity to see how far we've come and see the things we're
doing differently." The
way he has been playing this season, even without being able to practice,
one could surmise that Plaxico Burress -- a la Allen Iverson -- doesn't really
need to practice. But all along, Burress, the Giants' top wide receiver, has said
he wants to practice, and has been bothered that his badly sprained right ankle
hasn't allowed him to. Finally, Burress got his wish yesterday and made QB Eli
Manning and coach Tom Coughlin very happy when he stepped on the practice field
and participated in the team workout for the first time since Sept. 12. Brandon
Jacobs has proven to be not only a capable replacement for Tiki Barber, but
a serviceable quote as well. When asked yesterday about the significance of Sunday's
home game against the 7-1 Cowboys, Jacobs got right to the point we've all been
wondering about with the Giants. "It's a real good chance to show that the winning
we've been doing isn't fake," he said. Spot on. The Giants, still riding high
after a six-game winning streak against mostly lousy teams, will find out once
and for all whether they're really that good. Or whether they're still a step
or two behind the NFL elite. This
will be the third Romo vs. Manning matchup, rather the third-and-a-half. It
was midway through the Giants-Cowboys game at Texas Stadium last year that then-Dallas
coach Bill Parcells lifted Bledsoe and inserted Romo as his quarterback. Since
then Romo has posted a 13-5 record as a starter, with two wins over the Giants
including the 45-35 season-opener at Texas Stadium. His meteoric rise has included
a Pro Bowl appearance and a 100.4 passing rating this season, fifth best in the
NFL. Tony
Romo thought he was rich and famous last year when he became the Dallas Cowboys'
starting quarterback. "I signed a $2 million signing bonus last year. . . . at
that time I was (like), 'Whoo! I'm rich!' " Romo said of a signing bonus he received
in August 2006. "That was a real big deal." These days, $2 million is pocket change
for Romo, who signed a six-year, $67.5 million deal last month. His Cowboys are
7-1 and in position to take control of the NFC East with a win over the 6-2 Giants
this Sunday. He probably is second only to Peyton Manning in commercials as far
as quarterbacks go, and his love life rivals Justin Timberlake's; he is being
linked to "One Tree Hill" actress Sophia Bush after reported flings with Jessica
Simpson, Carrie Underwood and Britney Spears, among others. Who needs Tiki and Tuna? The Giants and Cowboys don't think they do. Tiki Barber and Bill Parcells are aware of the insulting shots fired from their old locker rooms since they retired. In a real sign of appreciation for their contributions, there are factions on the the Giants and Cowboys who believe they are better off without them. The two were the faces of their franchises, but their teams were worn out by each's dominating presence. Nobody they left behind has been crying about their departures, not with the Cowboys in first place in the NFC East at 7-1 and the Giants right behind at 6-2 going into Sunday's showdown at Giants Stadium." Nov 7
Two
years in a row, the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC has gone straight through
the heart of the Giants. It might happen again this Sunday. When the Giants (6-2)
face the Dallas Cowboys (7-1) at Giants Stadium, it will mark the third straight
year that the Giants will have been involved in what could be considered the NFC's
game of the year. Two years ago, the 7-3 Giants played at 8-2 Seattle in Week
12. Last year, the 6-2 Giants played host to the 7-1 Chicago Bears in Week10.
Both times the Giants lost and never recovered. Both times the team that beat
them rode the momentum all the way to the Super Bowl. Dallas
comes in with a 7-1 record and a one-game lead in the East. It's another contest
against the best the conference has to offer, another chance for the Giants to
prove they belong with the big boys. Only Green Bay has as good a record as Dallas
in the NFC, and the Giants won't face the Packers again this year. So this rematch
of the season opener is about as good - and as big - as it gets until the currently
untouched Patriots roll in for the Dec. 29 finale.The Cowboys will get even more
physical this week, considering former Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson ends
an eight-game suspension for violating the league's personal-conduct policy. He's
expected to join the defensive-line rotation and could make an immediate impact. The New York Giants will bring a full toolbox Sunday when they attempt to even the season series with the Cowboys and claim a share of the NFC East lead. The last time the Giants played the Cowboys in the season opener, they were without their hammer much of the night. The hammer is 6-4, 265-pound tailback Brandon Jacobs. He's bigger than three of the four Dallas linebackers and more explosive than all but one NFL running back this season. Jacobs is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, which ranks second in the NFL. Jacobs started against the Cowboys in the season opener but suffered a sprained knee early in the second quarter. That knocked him out of that game and the next three. The Giants started off 2-2 without him but are 4-0 with him. Plaxico Burress' badly sprained right ankle isn't getting better. After a week off the field, Burress still could not get through a very short practice on Monday. If he sees the practice field at all again this season, it would shock some of the Giants' coaches, most of whom are resigned to just having Burress in the film room, on the sideline at practice and in games. the question is whether Manning and the offense can find other ways to spread the field. Their first test is Sunday against a Cowboys defense that has improved since the Giants hung 35 points on it in the opener. Remember Brian Alford (third round, 1998), Ron Dixon (third, 2000), Tim Carter (second, 2002) and Jamaar Taylor (sixth, 2004)? Sinorice Moss (second, 2006) may be the latest failure by the Giants in their attempt to develop a solid No. 3 receiver. They are not giving up yet, but the coaching staff is concerned after he was a complete non-factor (six catches, 24 yards) in the six weeks rookie WR Steve Smith (shoulder) was sidelined. There was so much excitement about the potential of the elusive, speedy, 5-8 Moss when the Giants traded up to get him in last year's draft. After an injury-plagued rookie season and a disappointing start this year, most of that excitement is gone. . Nov
6 It's
showtime for the Giants. After beating up on five consecutive losing teams
(three of which were led by backup quarterbacks; four, if you count Chad Pennington),
they're facing an old-fashioned gut check. For them, the 7-1 Cowboys represent
a chance to prove to others -- and, more importantly, themselves -- that their
six-game winning streak is no fluke and that they've truly come a long way since
they lost to Dallas, 45-35, on opening night. There
weren't any souvenir snow-globes inside players' lockers. No Giants strode
around with Hawaiian shirts and leis around their necks, remnants of a five-day
getaway that Tom Coughlin bestowed upon his 6-2 team during its bye week. If there
was any sense of vacation hangover, it probably disappeared from the Giants' minds
Sunday night when the Cowboys slapped the Eagles all over South Philadelphia on
national TV. Tom
Coughlin was asked how is his team different now than they were the first
time they played Dallas. "Well, I think there is no doubt that we are playing
better defensively. For the first couple of weeks of the season we really weren't
playing all that well defensively. We have gotten better. But certainly we will
be tested by a very strong offensive team." Appearing
in Fox's "NFL Sunday" studio, Mr. Strahan showed he knows the credo followed
by many NFL studio analysts: When in doubt, weasel. On Sunday, during a session
including Curt (Big House) Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson,
Strahan was asked to provide reasons for the Giants' current success. Strahan
said one major factor is that, unlike last season, the team is "not fractured."
Strahan did not offer any specifics. He tried skipping along to another topic. If the 1972 Dolphins want to avoid becoming a footnote to history, the Giants might end up being their last hope. That was the consensus here after the Patriots continued their take-no-prisoners march through the NFL by plunging a dagger into the league's only other unbeaten team, the Colts, with a 24-20 comeback win at the RCA Dome on Sunday. Nov 5 The news came out a few minutes after 5 p.m. on Feb. 12: Luke Petitgout had been released, and it didn't take long before the second-guessing began. A little less than seven months before the first regular-season game, it seemed the Giants didn't have a left tackle. Actually, they did. And it turns out they had a pretty good one. Playing his fourth position in five NFL seasons, David Diehl has been a capable replacement for Petitgout. And arguably, he's been even better. In time, Jerry Reese's first major decision as the Giants general manager -- to cut Petitgout on the same day he released broken-down linebackers LaVar Arrington and Carlos Emmons -- has proved to be a very good one. Nov
4 Tom
Coughlin always has been known as an excellent game-preparation coach, but
he left the touchy-feely stuff to others and let that fall by the wayside his
first three years with the Giants. That led to any number of veterans popping
off about rules, or coaching, or fines, and Coughlin eventually had intense confrontations
with leaders of the team. So if there has been a definitive change in Coughlin,
it's that he's taken his players into account instead of just expecting them to
follow along. The Giants are 6-2 for the second straight season after an ugly start that threatened to bury them. But this time, they're healthy. And they appear to be buying into their coach's philosophies. Plus, they have a defense that isn't giving up chunks of yardage. Yes, there are plenty of reasons to believe there won't be a collapse this time around. But should you believe? With seven days until the next game, let's push the worrying until later. For now, take a few minutes during the bye weekend to enjoy what proved to be a very enjoyable first half of the 2007 Giants' season. Nov 3
Eli
Manning never will be mistaken for Fran Tarkenton, or Randall Cunningham,
or even his father Archie. Yet his two unexpected ventures out of the pocket Sunday
in London really caught the eye of Giants quarterback coach Chris Palmer. "I think
he's a better athlete than I had anticipated," said Palmer, in his first year
tutoring Manning after spending last season with Dallas' Tony Romo, who will be
Manning's opposing QB when the Giants return to action a week from Sunday at Giants
Stadium. Nov
2 With
this year's announcement that the Giants and Dolphins would play in London,
the Giants knew right away their bye would come where coach Tom Coughlin had always
dreamed it would be: Right smack in the middle of the season. Eight games before,
eight after. For a coach, it's the optimum time to make sure the players give
all they have in the first half of the season and get enough rest to recharge
for the playoff run. VOTE GIANTS TO THE PRO BOWL - Go Here then click on - "Launch Official Ballot Now" Giants
Transcripts - November 2007 NFC
East News Nov 1 Jerry Reese expects Tom Coughlin "to be here for a long time," and he hopes to be able to give him a long-term contract extension at the end of the season. But even after a surprising 6-2 first half of the season, the Giants GM isn't ready to do that just yet. Though he heaped praise on Coughlin's first-half work and insisted "Tom is my guy," Reese told the Daily News yesterday that the subject of Coughlin's future has yet to be discussed inside the front office. He left the door slightly open that something could be discussed in the coming months, but said the plan likely would be to wait until after the season instead. If the Giants needed any more indication of how different 2007 has gone compared to the last two seasons under Tom Coughlin, then this was it. A host of players scurrying to their cars to begin a long getaway; even Coughlin's coaches, who normally put in 16-to-20 hour days during the season, were given off from today until Sunday. It hasn't been a grind on the field, where the Giants have run roughshod over teams with a combined 11-33 record through their six-game win streak. Giants coaches were given bye week marching orders by coach Tom Coughlin, and they included identifying the worst of the first half and doing something to correct the faults. For offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, the area of concern is obvious. "We have to establish some consistency throwing the ball," he said Wednesday. "That's an area that needs to be looked into. Some games we have done an outstanding job, but not game in and game out." Numbers support Gilbride's assessment. The Giants (6-2) rank 13th in total offense among the 32 NFL teams, primarily on the strength of their running game. The bottom line is what matters most, of course, and a 6-2 record -- including a six-game winning streak -- is impossible to argue with. But when asked about Eli Manning, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said as politely as he could yesterday that he would like his quarterback to pick things up a little. Before the season, the coaching staff had talked about wanting Manning to complete 60 percent of his passes. After an 8-for-22, 59-yard performance in the sloppy conditions Sunday in the 13-10 victory over Miami in London, Manning's completion percentage on the season stands at 58.2 percent. He has thrown 13 TD passes and nine interceptions, and has a passer rating of 79.5, which is 21st in the 32-team league. There had to have been some doubt -- even if only a little bit -- about whether Brandon Jacobs would be able to make a smooth step from being Tiki Barber's understudy the past two years to being his full-time replacement this season. Good luck finding anyone who'll admit having any such doubt about Jacobs now. Jacobs, the Giants' massive, third-year running back, was named yesterday the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month. And if you believe the Giants coaches, they're not surprised at all that Jacobs could earn himself that kind of honor in what was, essentially, his first month as an NFL starter. Yesterday
morning, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was talking with the
other defensive assistants about the steep incline ahead for the team. After playing
and beating up opposing offenses ranked 30, 25, 32 and 18 the past four games
the next challenge in two weeks is the Cowboys, owners of the NFL's second-ranked
attack. And the Giants helped put them there. "That's one way to put it," Spagnuolo
said, smiling. "Pretty accurate." According to certain power-behind-the-throne sources at Giants Stadium, the players in the Giants' locker room are eagerly awaiting the resolution of a potentially polarizing debate. Who's faster, Eli Manning or Antonio Pierce? Well, let's see. Pierce, the fierce middle linebacker, was run down and very nearly pummeled two weeks ago by aged 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer during an interception return. Last week, Manning beat super-fast defensive end Jason Taylor to the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown scramble. Manning beats Taylor, and Dilfer beats Pierce. So does Manning beat Pierce by extension? Oct
31 Giants
tackle Kareem McKenzie came back from the team's successful trip to London
noting that one of his biggest achievements was looking the correct way while
crossing the streets. "You look left instead of right; they don't care about pedestrian
traffic over there," McKenzie said. "They'll run you down. One of those double-decker
buses will squash you." But McKenzie did not get squashed. He remained intact,
which allows his little vignette to serve as a perfect segue into a discussion
of the Giants' overall health at the halfway mark. They've
beaten six teams with a combined 11-33 record. A six-game streak is nothing
to sneeze at, but the real test begins in 11 days when the Cowboys come calling.
Even if the Giants had beaten everyone at the top of the league, they all know
how quickly things can break down (last year and to a lesser extent, the year
before). Health is the biggest factor in whether the Giants can maintain their
run to the end of the season, and they are awfully healthy now. We'll say 11-5
and a home game to start the postseason. If this was any other year, the Giants might feel pretty good at the midpoint of the season. They might even be impressed with the way they've dug out of an 0-2 hole with six straight wins. But it's impossible for them to escape the reality of what happened to them last year, when they were also 6-2. They know how that turned out, and they know everybody else remembers it, too. "Is our team for real? Is it for fake?" cornerback Sam Madison said. "This has been the nature of this football team over the previous years. So, we'll see what happens. Nobody holds our destiny except for us." Oct
30 The
Giants' charter flight from England figured to be a pleasant, seven-hour ride
last night, and not just because they were flying high after their sixth straight
win. After spending the weekend as NFL ambassadors in unfamiliar surroundings,
the Giants all had the same thing on their minds. They needed a rest. "When you're
on a streak, you want to continue. You hate to have a break," Michael Strahan
said after the Giants' 13-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium
on Sunday. "But at the same time, we need a break. It's been long for us. "After
eight straight weeks," Eli Manning added, "the guys are getting tired." They
were happy to be part of history. And from the sound of their creaky voices
yesterday morning, they were happy to have a chance to enjoy the London nightlife
instead of immediately flying out after the game as they normally do on the road.
But make no mistake, the Giants are really happy to be home today. "It'll be good
to get home and get back, have the off week and get back to our regular schedule,"
quarterback Eli Manning said yesterday morning at the team's hotel near Hyde Park.
"It has been a fun trip, it has been neat, but it has been different. The hope for the Giants is that this unique experience can be filed away and later reclaimed, that the lessons, failures and ultimately the victory gained on this unusual trip pay dividends down the road. For four days, the Giants and Tom Coughlin's sacrosanct schedule were knocked completely off-kilter while asked to serve as participants/guinea pigs in the NFL's International Series experiment to globalize the American brand of football. Last night, they finally returned home, finally dried out and finally get a welcome respite after out-slogging the winless Dolphins 13-10 at Wembley Stadium. OK,
so this whole London adventure was a success for the Giants because they accomplished
what they set out to do, which was to return 6-2 instead of 5-3 and carry a six-game
winning streak into November. A 13-10 win over the winless Dolphins at sloppy
Wembley Stadium on Sunday wasn't the showcase of regular-season precision the
NFL hoped for, and it remains to be seen if any of this globalization of American
football takes root on a continent where just about every sports page is devoted
to soccer. The
sloppy conditions caused by heavy rain throughout the evening created all
sorts of problems for both the Giants and Dolphins. And while the crowd was enthusiastic
enough, it left some in the British press telling Americans to keep
the NFL; they'll muddle along with their soccer leagues, thank you every much.
Martin Samuel of The Times of London even warned Britons that the NFL made a mercenary
ploy here, one not worthy of their loyalty.
ESPN - Jacobs helps Giants win sloppy game in London. Giants.com - Giants enter the bye with a six game winning streak. Giants.com - They came, they saw though very little and they conquered. MiamiHerald - Dolphins fall again, limp into bye week at 0-8. MiamiHerald - Sam Madison missed a few tackles but broke up a crucial pass. StarLedger - All drizzle, no sizzle. StarLedger - 'Referee' streaker provides halftime show. Newsday - Jacobs makes offense run. Newsday - Super Bowl XXVIII streaker scores at Wembley. Newsday - Giants leave London with sixth straight win. Newsday - Get set for NFL's overseas blitz. DailyNews - Giants beat Dolphins in London to improve to 6-2. DailyNews - Giants, Dolphins forced to play in sloppy conditions. DailyNews - Tom Coughlin unhappy with Lawrence Tynes. DailyNews - Eli Manning struggles through worst game of year. NYPost - Giants pass English test. NYPost - One bloody awful game. NYPost - Seubert makes a save. NYPost - Offense gets stuck in the mud. Record - Giants survive the slop to post sixth straight win. Record - Giants notebook. JournalNews - Manning's running makes up for his passing in London. CourierNews - Rain doesn't dampen fans' spirits. Game
8 Giants
(5-2) vs Miami (0-7) Oct 28 The Cowboys and Bears played at Wembley Stadium in a preseason game in 1986 and the folks in England were more intrigued by Refrigerator Perry than the game itself. Then in 1991, the NFL began the World League of American Football, which eventually became NFL Europe, then NFL Europa until it finally went out of business this year. The London Monarchs were along for part of the ride. After a while, European fans became knowledgeable enough that they were no longer buying minor league football. They wanted the real thing. There was an article in yesterday's London Daily Star titled "NFL For Dummies." It offered some quick pointers on the basics of American football - explaining how touchdowns are scored, how much they are worth, how the game is split into four quarters and that the offense has four attempts to advance 10 yards, "in which case they gain another four downs." The cheat sheet should come in handy at Wembley Stadium today when the Giants (5-2) and Dolphins (0-7) play the first regular-season NFL game outside North America. A sellout crowd of 86,000 will pack the famed soccer stadium, mostly European wanting see, as one local report put it, "large men in helmets and pads hurl themselves into a series of bone-jarring collisions." A paper by University of Georgia exercise science researcher Patrick O'Connor found that "although it is widely believed that jet lag impairs the performance of athletes, there are no consistent or compelling studies that offer reliable results." Giants coach Tom Coughlin, in fact, told reporters in London this past week that he had learned of the "inconsistent" theories on dealing with long flights. Still, the actual extent of the Giants-Dolphins excursion appears to be made foggy by the fact that London is across an ocean, whereas the Seattle Seahawks, with no fuss whatsoever, repeatedly deal with four-to-five-hour flights within the United States: to Pittsburgh last month; to Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta later this season. (The Giants' outbound took 5 1/2 hours.). On any other Sunday, in any other city, this game might be meaningless to the Miami Dolphins. Their season is already lost. Most of their best players are gone. They might have slept right though this game if they were playing it in the United States. Instead, just in time to face the streaking Giants, the 0-7 Dolphins get an international wake-up call. "I think it is tremendously beneficial," Dolphins kicker Jay Feely said. "Football is such a rhythmic sport. You do the same thing week in and week out. When you are losing, that can work against you. Anything that you can do to break up that rhythm when you are losing to try to get a spark is going to help you." That's not what the Giants wanted to hear. At
first, Giants left tackle David Diehl said the chilly, damp London air will
be "ideal offensive lineman weather." Then he gave it a much snappier and more
entertaining label. "That's definitely fat-guy weather," the 320-pound Diehl said
of the forecast. "For O-linemen, we love things like that." For the overgrown
men who earn a living throwing their bodies into defenders in the trenches of
an NFL line, an early evening start on a cool (and perhaps wet) day is the perfect
climate. A forecasted high of 58 degrees is perfect. Which
ornerback would you rather have - Sam Madison or Will Allen? They swapped
teams last year when Madison signed with the Giants and Allen joined the Dolphins
as a free agent. Last year, we might have said Allen, but after the last few games,
we'll stick with Madison. He has six passes defensed and two interceptions this
season and has been a big reason why this defense has turned around. Plus, you
should remember how poor Allen's ball skills were. The
seven years Osi Umenyiora spent in London were the first of his life. He doesn't
remember much about his time in Great Britain, other than it was cold and rainy
much of the time. "Just like this," he said after Friday's practice, which was
held on a cool, damp practice field belonging to the Chelsea Football Club. Umenyiora
moved to Nigeria -- which he considers his homeland -- for seven years during
which he started playing soccer and basketball. Oct
27 Not even
someone as impeccably prepared as Giants coach Tom Coughlin had a strategy
to help five team buses crawl through London's notoriously difficult gridlock.
He did, however, know that very little about this history making trip overseas
was going to be easy. "I told the players, you just put a smile on your face and
realize that some things aren't going to run as smoothly as you're used to," Coughlin
said Friday after the Giants arrived for Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins,
the NFL's first regular-season contest to be played outside of North America. After
a five-hour flight from Newark to Heathrow Airport that landed at 5:15 a.m.,
the Giants players went right to meetings then hopped a bus for a ride of nearly
90 minutes through downtown London and into the outskirts of the city for their
first international practice in preparation for tomorrow's game against the Miami
Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. "I saw a lot of green on the way here. A lot of grass,"
Pierce grumbled as a few players got loose before the start of practice. "There
were plenty of places we could have practiced." Sure there were, if Pierce and
the rest of the team didn't mind sharing a field with some sheep. But they had
an appointment for a photo op with some of the Chelsea soccer players followed
by a practice that was much shorter than originally scheduled. Now,
that's where the Giants find themselves, getting ready to play the Miami Dolphins
tomorrow in the first regular-season NFL game outside of North America. This,
of course, is no ordinary road trip. Everything from passports to undersized hotel
rooms, irregular sleeping patterns, expanded travel parties, the lure of tourist
attractions and even the food -- a major concern when you're lugging more than
60 overgrown players across the Atlantic -- must be handled. That's why the Giants,
especially their regimented coach, are trying to keep it as normal as possible. Today,
the Giants get a look for the first time at Wembley Stadium, where tomorrow
at 1 p.m. back home and 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom the Giants (5-2) and Dolphins
(0-7) will square off in the first regular-season NFL game played outside North
America. The typical inconveniences of travel hit the Giants in the dull ache
of jetlag, but the sense of the unknown and the anticipation of playing on a very
different stage overshadowed the fatigue. The NFL wants Europe to embrace American football. But at this stage, Europeans like American football about as much as Americans liked soccer in the 1970s and '80s. Though the game is a sellout, there was hardly a mention in yesterday's major newspapers here. Despite the global implications, the only way this works for Coughlin is if he gets a win. Everything is going well with his team right now. They've won five straight games. They're dominating on defense against weak offenses. His running game is getting healthy, and Eli Manning is close to having one of those breakout games. Oct
26 The
Miami Dolphins play their historic Wembley clash on Sunday with their miserable
season taking a turn for the worse because of passport problems. Last weekend's
49-28 battering by New England Patriots cost the Dolphins their best offensive
player, running back Ronnie Brown, who is out for the season with torn knee ligaments.
Safety Renaldo Hill also went down for the season in that game, tearing knee ligaments.
To add to coach Cam Cameron's woes, with this weekend's game overseas, his search
for potential replacements is even more difficult. Everything is backwards in Britain: Fries are chips and chips are crisps, the money features pictures of living queens instead of dead presidents, and cars drive on the left and presumably in reverse. And maybe it's a truly thorough Bizarro World where the Miami Dolphins efficiently deliver the ball using forward passes, stifle opponents using tight secondary coverage and a sturdy bunch of run stuffers, and never have to suffer because of the astounding blunders made by previous autocratic regimes regarding personnel decisions. Certainly, no one would favor the Dolphins in this game, but to Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, that itself is dangerous. He points to the 2005 game against Minnesota when the Vikings, who had been 0-4 on the road, stunned the 6-2 Giants with a three-point win at Giants Stadium. Then he brought up the 2006 game with the 3-7 Titans, who came back from a 21-point deficit to give the once 6-2 Giants their third straight loss. Neither opponent was as desperate as winless Miami, but Jacobs' point was that he puts stock in the latent threat. As much as anyone, Brandon Jacobs is embracing the idea of bringing his sport to a new continent. "It will be interesting to see how people react to us," Jacobs said prior to the Giants' charter flight here, where on Sunday they will face the Dolphins in the first regular-season NFL game outside of North America. "I'm very excited to play in front of a European crowd." For the uninitiated, the sight of Jacobs at 260 pounds taking a handoff and, instead of plowing between the tackles, cutting outside with speed someone his size is not supposed to possess, might be startling. This
is the first time Osi Umenyiora will be back to England since his father and
stepmother moved the family to Nigeria. Umenyiora spent seven years there before
moving to Alabama to get an education and eventually play football. He has lived
in the United States ever since. Umenyiora isn't quite a household name in London,
so it's doubtful that he'll develop any kind of instantaneous following for the
game. The pass rusher whom Londoners likely will focus on most is Dolphins defensive
end Jason Taylor. Sam Madison played in four Pro Bowls while with the Dolphins and made it to the playoffs every season from 1997-2001. He was released, though, in March 2006 and the Giants quickly signed him as a free agent. After battling injuries, Madison, at 33 years old, has regained his form and, along with rookie Aaron Ross, is a big part of the Giants' defensive resurgence. It may not be the Super Bowl - certainly not with the 0-7 Miami Dolphins representing the AFC - but the Giants are well aware that this "business trip" is for more than just a game. Their main goal may be to win their sixth straight and avoid a pre-bye-week letdown, but it's not their only responsibility. They are the NFL's envoys to Europe. And they are taking that job seriously, too. Oct
25 Sam
Madison thought he had gotten a break when the NFL announced in February that
the Giants-Dolphins game originally scheduled for Miami would be played in London
instead. "I thought it would be a plus because, going back to Miami, I would have
had to buy like a hundred tickets," said the Giants' cornerback, who spent his
first nine NFL seasons with the Dolphins. "I still have to buy a hundred tickets
for London. It's still a pain in the butt." Jay
Feely had nothing but high praise for the Giants' organization and the new,
improved Tom Coughlin. It's general manager Jerry Reese the kicker blamed for
his being in Miami instead of East Rutherford this season. "He and I had a conversation
before I left and I asked him point- blank, 'Why didn't you make more of an effort
to re-sign me?' I asked him to be honest with me, and he said, 'I think you're
on the decline of your career and you don't have a strong enough leg anymore,'"
Feely said yesterday on a conference call with local reporters. "I said, 'Okay,
if that's your opinion, I'm going to go out and try to prove you wrong.' When
Tiki Barber retired the thought was he would take the stretch play, one of
the Giants' best running plays, with him. After all, the stretch requires a back
to have the speed and quickness to get around the corner. And Barber's successors,
Brandon Jacobs, Reuben Droughns and Derrick Ward, do not rival the Giants' all-time
leading rusher in those areas. Jacobs and Ward in particular have been very effective
running to the edge, which has been sealed off more times than not by tight ends
Jeremy Shockey and rookie Michael Matthews. Plaxico
Burress is a little confused. All this time, the Giants wide receiver thought
Osi Umenyiora was Nigerian. But now he is hearing that Umenyiora is returning
to where he was born when the Giants face the Dolphins in London. "I have a British
passport," said Umenyiora. "I don't have a Nigerian passport. But my parents are
Nigerian and I was raised in a Nigerian way. So I am a real Nigerian. But in actuality
I am British." Got it? Umenyiora was born in England and raised there until he
was 7 by his father John, who ran a communications business. The league has played exhibition games abroad for many years, and finally played its first regular-season game outside the United States two years ago, when the 49ers and Cardinals played in Mexico City. But that was a shorter hop for those teams than some road trips within the United States. It was next door. Didn't seem a big deal. Sunday's Dolphins-Giants game, the league's first regular-season game overseas, the first outside North America, the first involving extensive travel, is historic for what it is and more for what it portends. It is only the beginning. Oct 24
London
will be showered in the teal blue of the 0-7 Miami Dolphins because, after
all, Sunday's game with the Giants is designated as their home game. But the 5-2
Giants know that despite the 26-foot robotic figure of Dolphins defensive end
Jason Taylor that will be on display, they have an opportunity to make a statement.
Not just any statement, but one on a grand, international stage, before a crowd
mostly composed of curious Brits. Pleasing the stiff-upper-lip crowd might be
important to the NFL, since the league sees this as the beginning of a real move
to globalize American football. The game will be broadcast in 216 countries, and
brokers are selling tickets for $1,500 each. Discussion
around the Giants' locker room Tuesday was far ranging, from trying to make
members of the Queen's Guard laugh to making sure the Miami Dolphins don't leave
town with smiles on their faces. This weekend's visit to England has put an interesting
twist to the Sunday game against a winless Miami team. And the players are trying
to parrot their coach, Tom Coughlin, into making this a business-as-usual excursion
rather than a distraction that could lead to a disastrous upset. To listen to Eli Manning, the Giants may as well be playing in Cincinnati or Kansas City on Sunday, rather than facing the Miami Dolphins at England's Wembley Stadium. The Giants' quarterback is more concerned with preparing to face the Dolphins (0-7) and adjusting to the five-hour time difference than he is looking forward to soaking in the sights and sounds of London. "I don't have any plans to do any sightseeing," Manning said. "I'll just go over there (and) try to get back on schedule. That first day's going to be real difficult, getting there early in the morning (on Friday) and ... we'll have some walk-throughs and some meetings. Make it through those and I'll just try to get my rest and get back on schedule."
When
it comes to comparing receivers, Amani Toomer thinks the Giants' crew could
hold their own against New England's. And he believes they give the Giants' passing
game a chance to be as successful against Miami in London this Sunday as the Pats
were three days ago. "Oh, we can definitely do the same stuff," Toomer said. "We
can match up with the Patriots' receiving corps. I think we can, easily." The
numbers say they can't. New England's top three receivers -- Randy Moss, Donte'
Stallworth and Wes Welker -- have much better stats than the Giants' starters
-- Toomer and Plaxico Burress, and slot receivers Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss. Tiki Barber was a magician once he got the ball in his hands. He was a visionary. He was a chess master, seeing three and four moves ahead. So it was an easy thought that, with Barber retired, the Giants offense would struggle, especially running the ball. Without their leader, the Giants, supposedly, would be more inclined to throw, more vulnerable to blitzes and more one-dimensional. So why are the Giants still ranked in the top 10 in two key offensive categories - average yards per rush (4.6, tied for eighth in the league) and sacks allowed (eight, tied for fourth)? It's the system, silly. Oct
23 There
appears no real point to the NFL's half-hearted, toe-in-the-door visit to
Wembley Stadium, other than to say it was there. The Giants will spend minimal
time in London. They will arrive early Friday morning, Terminal 3 at Heathrow
Airport. They will practice for two hours that afternoon, with limited player
and coach availability to the media on the practice field. On Saturday at noon,
there will be a walk-through at Wembley, with no interviews. Then there's a game
against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, a brief farewell conference on Monday morning
at a hotel, and a flight back to New York. Wham, bam, thank you Queen Elizabeth. Just
another road game, a business trip, if you will. That's how Tom Coughlin will
sell his Giants the normality of Sunday's contest with the winless Miami Dolphins.
But football players are smart. They got an inkling this would not be the norm
last spring when they were told to get their passports in order. They don't even
need them when they go to Dallas. Then there is all that talk about "pounds" that
are no way related to the weekly weigh-in. And they will know something's different
when they get on their flight Thursday night - instead of Saturday afternoon -
and head directly east rather than the usual south or west. Still Coughlin will
attempt to make sure the NFL's first regular-season venture to England won't distract
his players from their task -- to win a sixth straight game. . As the Giants began to look forward to their trans-Atlantic trip to face the winless Miami Dolphins, coach Tom Coughlin once again backed his struggling kicker Lawrence Tynes. Tynes missed his third extra point of the season in yesterday's 33-15 win over the 49ers. Though the first of his muffs was blocked against Dallas in the opener, his other two were obvious misses. That has Coughlin worried, and even moved him to hold kicker tryouts after his second miss against Philadelphia. When asked if he was still committed to Tynes, Coughlin responded with a firm "Yes" The
new Mr. October on the New York sports scene is Tom Coughlin, who is 12-2
in that month in his four years with the Giants following a 33-15 victory over
the 49ers. Fast starts are part of the scenery for Coughlin, as this is the fourth
consecutive season the Giants are 5-2 after seven games. Recent history indicates
the early winning ensures nothing. Tom Coughlin won't be wearing a Bobby helmet on the sidelines Sunday at Wembley Stadium. He won't be asking the queen to show up five minutes early at the team hotel for tea and crumpets. Because suddenly, out of nowhere, he isn't running for his coaching life. He's chasing a Super Bowl. Coughlin's task this week, aside from putting on a happy face to accommodate the NFL's global desires at a time when his inner thoughts are cursing all the bothersome logistics and overseas distractions that play havoc with every fastidious coach's weekly regimen, is convincing his surging Giants they are playing the '72 Dolphins rather than the winless laughingstock quarterbacked by Cleo Lemon. It may be as difficult a sell as the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become England's Team. "Last season he (Coughlin) absolutely was no fun. That's how his players played," Siragusa said on the air just before kickoff. "They were scared to make mistakes out on the field. They played tight. ... I was skeptical about this 'new' Coughlin. But coming here to the complex on Friday, talking to the players, talking to him, I'm convinced he wants to have fun." Yeah, Tom just wants to "have fun." Following Siragusa's pronouncement, we expected Fox to present a closeup of Coughlin patrolling the sidelines wearing a clown nose and Bozo wig.Are Foxy voices very perceptive or easily fooled? While Coughlin may be showing a more caring side to his players, a side he often displays off the field, there is no doubt any change in his demeanor occurred because he had to change - in order to keep/save his job. If Siragusa and Johnston were buying this "new" Coughlin theory, they should have - at least - said the perceived change was, well, forced.
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