Dec 31 The Giants NFC Wild Card game against the Buccaneers will be played next Sunday, January 6, at 1 p.m. This will be the Giants first postseason meeting against Tampa Bay.
The Giants' opponents for next year are: home games against Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Carolina; and road games at Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Arizona, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
Michael Strahan will let the Giants know by March whether he plans on playing in 2008, according to a report yesterday on Fox. Strahan, who waited until after training camp to decide that he wanted to play this season, has said he's undecided about playing another season.

Anyone who first-guessed Tom Coughlin's decision to play his starters against the Patriots on Saturday was definitely second-guessing him yesterday as several injured Giants players went for MRIs and treatment. Center Shaun O'Hara and linebacker Kawika Mitchell each suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament and their status for Sunday's playoff game against the Buccaneers is uncertain.
They and Sam Madison (abdominal strain) had MRI exams Sunday; their status for Sunday's game isn't clear. Craig Dahl, a rookie reserve safety, hurt the ACL in his left knee and is done for the year. But as Coughlin saw it, he had little choice but to risk his team's health by going for the win in Week 17. And even if he had played it safe and rested some players, none of those four would've sat out the entire game. Mitchell, O'Hara and Dahl were injured in the first half, long before most coaches would've put in the reserves.

A week before their first-round playoff game against the Buccaneers, the Giants showed they can hang with anyone, even the first team in 35 years to put together an undefeated regular season. Harry Carson then watched with pride as the Giants and No. 10 - Eli Manning - put together one of the most impressive and most refreshing performances they have produced in quite some time. They took the undefeated Patriots to the limit before finally succumbing, 38-35, making the kind of statement that the Giants and their quarterback needed heading into the postseason.

Now that the thoughts have cleared from Saturday night's 38-35 loss to the Patriots, there's no need to weigh the benefits of looking ahead versus playing to win. Coughlin, his staff and his players are in the postseason now, with a game in Tampa slated for Sunday afternoon. Unlike the Giants, the Bucs have been planning ahead for their first playoff game since they clinched the weak NFC South two weeks ago.
Basically, the Giants and Buccaneers are two teams entering the postseason at opposite tempos. But what does that mean? "I don't know. Who knows?" Coughlin said. "There are different theories and different ways in which they go about it." There are also differing theories on how well the Giants will be able to bounce back from the loss to the Patriots. Sure, it appears unlikely a team wouldn't be mentally prepared for a playoff game, but there's no doubt the Giants expended a lot of energy and emotion in their near-upset of New England.

Jon Gruden bristled at the suggestion that he may have set Tampa Bay up for failure in the playoffs by taking a cautious approach to the last two weeks of the regular season. The Bucs (9-7) dropped their finale, 31-23, to the Carolina Panthers yesterday, resting most of their starters in hopes of opening the postseason against the Giants with as healthy a roster as possible.

Just where has the Manning who showed up Saturday night been all season? In Indianapolis? Did the Giants borrow his brother for one night? He was patient, decisive, instinctive, clever with pump fakes, accurate and a leader - basically all the things the Giants hoped they were getting when they made the big trade nearly four years ago. If he can play like that on such a big stage, he should be able to do it all the time. The Giants are praying it was not an aberration.
In comfortably temperate weather, Manning passed the ball with verve, an extremely encouraging sign, considering the climate in Tampa next weekend figures to be to his liking. He'll need to be at the top of his game, because the Buccaneers have the NFL's second-ranked pass defense. "As far as the quality of game he played, it couldn't have come at a better time," Coughlin said yesterday.

In a game many Giants believed was poorly officiated, the one call that absolutely astounded them in the 38-35 loss to the Patriots on Saturday night was a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Amani Toomer early in the fourth quarter. Domenik Hixon returned a kickoff 33 yards to the Giants' 38-yard line and was hit extremely close to the sideline by Patriots rookie Brandon Meriweather. Replays showed the hit came in bounds. Meriweather, standing near the Giants bench, jawed with several Giants and then tripped and fell while he was backing away. Suddenly, a flag was thrown and Toomer for some reason was called for a personal foul. "No, they didn't call me on it . . . I didn't touch the guy. He fell down on his own," Toomer said before he was informed he indeed was deemed the culprit. .

Michael Strahan - Good effort not enough: "I expected to win," he said, holding court by his corner locker. "I knew that's what the questions were going to be: 'You guys should just be happy that you came so close.' I don't play to get close to a really good team. You're not out there to just be fish food. I want to be the fish. I'm out there trying to win. "To say that it was good enough and close enough and we should be proud - if you want to look at it that way, go ahead. That's not how I look at it. There were a lot of positives. But the one negative that bugs me is that we lost."
Strahan has had an awful lot to say in his time with the Giants. Most of it has been insightful, funny, smart, relevant. Some of it has been regrettably self-centered and self-important. But never has he said anything as vital, as transcendent, as he did in that 109-word valedictory, just before Saturday gave way to Sunday, in the transitional moment when the Giants' 10-6 regular season officially became a 0-0 postseason with just as many possibilities and just as many opportunities as belong to the other 11 playoff teams.

For the second time in seven years, a malfunctioning escalator at Giants Stadium's Gate A has sent people to the hospital and New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority officials searching for explanations. Around 11:40 p.m. Saturday, shortly after the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants to clinch a 16-0 regular season, the 60-foot escalator at Gate A apparently failed at the bottom steps. The escalator runs from the stadium's upper tier to the ground level, and state police Lt. Jim Crann said Sunday that it appears some steps became bent.

NFC East News
The Washington Redskins will enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFC. And with the hottest quarterback in the conference. And maybe the hottest running back. And with a defense coming off a game in which it allowed exactly one yard rushing. The Redskins reached the postseason Sunday with a 27-6 victory over the archrival Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips called his team "uninspired," but then defused the notion that the defeat was part of a late-season slide by his team that could hamper it once it hosts Tampa Bay, the New York Giants or the Redskins on Jan. 13 at Texas Stadium in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Eagles would have loved to strike up the band following yesterday's season- ending 17-9 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field. Only there is no band, no playoff appearance for the second time in three years and still no clue as to whether rookie quarterback Kevin Kolb can play in the NFL. Head coach Andy Reid stuck with Donovan McNabb as his starter the entire afternoon in front of 68,594 largely ambivalent fans and was rewarded with a victory in a meaningless game that did little except get the Birds to 8-8 and lower their draft position come April.

Former Giants
Backup QB Kerry Collins led the Tennessee Titans to three second-half field goals, including a 54-yarder from Rob Bironas to retake the lead in a 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night that left Tennessee celebrating and Cleveland grimacing. The Titans, having made the playoffs, visit San Diego next Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Giants report card - Paul Schwartz | Arthur Staple | Vinny DiTrani.

Dec 30 Giants lose to the Patriots 38-35

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On The Game: Game 16 Recap Gamegirl... "....The fans were really mixed as to what they wanted tonight. Should the Giants go all out and risk injuries to players with the playoffs starting next week, or should they rest players and play it safe against the undefeated Patriots? Well, neither team rested players, and if you sold your ticket, you missed out on one heck of a game........" Mikefan.... ".... Well you can't complain about the Giants performance. After all, you can't win every football game. Oh wait, I guess I can't say that anymore, because that's just what the 16-0 Patriots did tonight. Kidding aside, you couldn't have expected more from the Giants, and even less would have been accepted before this game started, but once it did - Wow. You just wanted it all......."

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ESPN - Pats' year of perfection capped by thrilling comeback win over Giants.
Giants.com - Giants fall to Patriots, 38-35.
Boston.com - Patriots finish off perfect 16-0 season by beating Giants 38-35.
StarLedger - Record-breaking TD for Moss, Brady.
StarLedger - Small Welker big key for Pats.
Newsday - Atmosphere was just perfect.
Newsday - Giants O'Hara, Diehl, Madison injured.
Newsday - Brady, Moss connect twice to set records.
Newsday - Perfection isn't ever easy.
Newsday - Patriots break or tie NFL records early.
Newsday - Blue makes Patriots work.
Newsday - Ex-Giants GM Accorsi to consult for Falcons.
NYDailyNews - Giants fight hard, but Pats are 16-0.
NYDailyNews - Belichick has reason to smile.
NYDailyNews - Magical Giant night ends with loss.
NYDailyNews - Eli Manning impressive against Pats.
NYDailyNews - Giants fans stay devoted in defeat.
NYDailyNews - Three Giants starters hurt in loss.
NYDailyNews - Effort perfect way to prepare for Bucs.
NYDailyNews - A look back at Pats' 16-0 season.
NYDailyNews - Tom Brady, Randy Moss earn hardware.
NYPost - Give Tom credit - He went for it.
NYPost - Historic upset eludes Big Blue.
NYPost - 2nd time's the charm for landmark TD.
NYPost - Trio goes down with injuries.
NYPost - Sweat 16 for perfect Pats.
NYPost - Serby's Q&A with ... Ahmad Bradshaw.
TheRecord - Coughlin on target against Pats.
TheRecord - Pats make history, still undefeated.
JournalNews - Patriots try to push Giants around.
JournalNews - Giants' fans divided on ticket sales.
JournalNews - Several people hurt when escalator malfunctions at Giants Stadium.

Game 16 Preview Giants (10-5) vs New England (15-0).
Last week the Giants locked up a playoff spot by beating the Buffalo Bills 38-21. The game was a lot closer than the score indicated. Buffalo was winning 21-17 at the end of the third quarter, and on the first play of the fourth quarter Eli Manning, at the Buffalo 11 yard line, fumbled the ball back to them. Luckily the Giants defense turned up the heat. Kawika Mitchell ran an interception back for a touchdown and suddenly the Giants had a 24-21 lead.
After that, Ahmad Bradshaw broke free with an 88 yard touchdown run, and so not to be outdone by the offense, Corey Webster intercepted a ball and also ran it back for a touchdown. Meanwhile, New England with a 28-7 win over the Miami Dolphins became the first team to go 15-0 in the regular season. In 1972, the Dolphins were unbeaten in their regular season, which lasted 14 games at that time. The Patriots had an uncharacteristic second half fade where Tom Brady went 4-of-15, and no points scored against a one-win Miami team. They needed just six to break the single-season point record of 556 set in 1998 by the Minnesota Vikings.
The Patriots - No big deal (maybe?). Sure a 15-0 record sounds good, but do you really think the Jets, Dolphins or Bills are very good teams this year? The Patriots are in that AFC East division and so they played six of their games against them. Guess what? The Giants have also beaten every team in that division as well. Also, maybe the Patriots are letting up, having lost some interest with 'boring regular season play'.
They can score big, but their previous six wins were by 10 points or less and last game, once Miami turned up the heat with some pressure on Tom Brady, the Patriots fell off the scoreboard. It was the first time the Patriots have failed to score in a half this season. Maybe being up 28-0 they were just toying with passing records, but maybe a Giants pass rush can get the Patriots thinking 'Super Bowl' instead of '16-0'.

Special Report - He has won three Super Bowls and Parcells has won two. He is excruciatingly close to something Parcells never did and will never do, coach through an undefeated season. Even the setting is perfect for him Saturday night.
The game is against the Giants and it's in Giants Stadium. He used to work for the team, and he coaches (albeit in an assistant's capacity) here, and one of his fondest dreams was to one day replace Parcells as the Giants' head coach.
That desire to be the Giants' head coach, and its ultimate failure, serves as the root of his hard feelings toward the organization. It all began in February of 1991, just weeks after the Giants won their second (and last) Super Bowl.
Want more? - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!"

Dec 29 Tom Coughlin and his team have been subjected to a week of debate rarely seen around the Giants, or even the NFL. No one has gone back and forth about what the Cowboys should do against the Redskins on Sunday, and there's a playoff spot on the line in that one. This sort of debate usually is reserved for Ivy Leaguers in striped ties and blazers. Or maybe Socrates and a few guys in togas. This has become existential. How hard should the Giants play? Why go to great lengths to try to beat a Patriots team that 15 other teams couldn't touch? Why not plan ahead for a meaningful playoff game against Tampa Bay in a week?
If the Giants win in Tampa, they likely would still have to beat the Cowboys and Packers, who easily won all three meetings with the Giants this season. So to hang with, or beat, the Patriots would make the Giants believe they can defeat any team they'll face in the postseason.
One way or another, the Giants will make history Saturday night. They either will be on the receiving end of the perfect punch, making them the final victim in the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. Or they will become heroes to everyone hoping they can knock off the NFL's Evil Empire and derail the New England Patriots' run at a perfect season.

Between coping with weather issues, displaying a lack of efficiency and, in some cases, forcing the ball a bit too much in Randy Moss' direction, the Patriots [team stats]' offensive numbers haven't been quite up to the standards set earlier in the season. They've gone from great to merely good in recent weeks. "Yeah, we're slumping. A negative trend, that's never good," quarterback Tom Brady [stats] said. "You just try to be as efficient as you can and we've been winning games, so you always look at those. I'm not a big statistics guy. I evaluate each play. 'What could I have done? What could I have done better?' I always feel I try to play very consistently and the team really can depend on me to be a consistent player. I hope that continues."
Since the bye week, the Pats have had the NFL's best red zone defense, preventing teams from scoring touchdowns in each of the last nine trips inside the 20-yard line. Belichick and defensive coordinator Dean Pees have really focused on that area, and it shows. Belichick gives the players credit. "The team has really worked hard on that," said Belichick. "When you're ranked last in the league in an area and you have pride in your performance, that's something that you want to address. The players have addressed it. The defensive unit has addressed it."

It's one thing to drone on and on about playing to win against the Patriots. It's another thing to actually have the goods to do it. Sure, the Giant starters for however long they are on the field tonight will go all-out in an attempt to gain their 11th victory, and in the process, prevent the Pats from an unprecedented 16-0 season. But, given the inconsistent nature of the Giant offense directed by Eli Manning and the awesome New England firepower set to be unleashed on the Giant secondary, is there much evidence to suggest the Giants are up to the task?
The Giants are most effective on offense when Eli Manning is handing off the ball to one of his running backs. "Yeah, I think it is what they do best as the New York Giants, and that is run the ball," Tedy Bruschi said with an eye toward tonight's game at Giants Stadium. The Giants likely will be without one of their backs, as rookie Ahmad Bradshaw missed virtually all of practice this week with a calf contusion suffered in his 151-yard outburst in Buffalo. That means plenty of Reuben Droughns tonight after Jacobs gets pulled. Bradshaw is listed as questionable.
If Ahmad Bradshaw can't make it, have Manning throw underneath routes to rookie Steve Smith, who easily could fly under the radar. Manning has sorely missed his safety valve dump-off to Tiki Barber, and with tight end Jeremy Shockey gone, he desperately needs another way to move the chains. Remember, there is age on the New England linebacking corps. The Eagles spread the Pats out with three and four wide receivers and used running back Brian Westbrook as an extra receiver. Manning will have to get the ball out of his hand quickly.

The last thing Nick Buoniconti wants to do is sit down and talk about the unbeaten Patriots. "I've turned down everybody because it's the same old questions," says the captain of the "No Name Defense" of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. "Are you rooting against the Patriots to win? Do you guys really celebrate with glasses of champagne when the other team loses? Are you a bunch of grumpy old men waiting for the Patriots to lose?" Buoniconti shakes his head slowly. "Listening to that nonsense gets a little old, so I thought the best way to avoid it is to just not do it. So I don't do it. It's nonsensical. So the answer to all three is no."

While some fans may be selling their tickets to Saturday night's game, the Giants should have no shortage of spectators watching and rooting for them on television. Peyton Manning, Jerry Rice and members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the 1998 Minnesota Vikings likely will be among the masses who become Giants fans for one night, hoping that 16-0 doesn't happen at exit 16W.
The whole evening may border on the Theater of the Absurd, a game that means so much to one team, so little to the other. Perhaps CBS and NBC have cleared their Saturday night schedules to televise Anthony Wright and Matt Cassel taking many of the snaps at quarterback. It could deteriorate into a glorified exhibition game. Yet in the end New England could solidify its place in the history books, the only team to go undefeated through 16 games.

Kent Graham had some memorable moments in 38 NFL starts over 11 seasons. None stands out like the final two minutes on Dec. 13, 1998. With the Broncos 13-0 and within three victories of a perfect regular season - they would go on to win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year - Graham threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer to beat Denver, 20-16, at Giants Stadium.
They got a sense of how it's done back in 1998, when the Giants wrecked the 13-0 Broncos' thoughts of grandeur, and a few players from the '72 Dolphins team that went 14-0 promised to send the Giants some fine bubbly in gratitude. Amani Toomer, for one, is still waiting for his bottle. Maybe this time Don Shula will remember.
With a victory, New England takes dead aim at the 17-0 record of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only NFL team to finish a season undefeated and untied. That Miami team also played a late-season road game against the Giants, with significantly less hype.

NFL News
Almost 100 former NFL drug program agents claimed in a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan federal court that the league fired them after the IRS ruled they were employees, not independent contractors - a decision that could end up costing the NFL millions of dollars.

Dec 28 Yesterday, Belichick reminisced about the two years when he and Coughlin were assistant coaches with the Giants under Bill Parcells. In 1989 and 1990, Coughlin was the wide receivers coach, and Belichick coached the defensive backs. They have rings from the 1990 season's Super Bowl title. Tomorrow night, they'll face each other as head coaches -- often misunderstood head coaches -- in a game with historical significance. Belichick's Patriots are trying to run the table for a 16-0 record, and Coughlin's Giants, their playoff spot locked up and nothing at stake, are (supposedly) trying to stop them.
Tom Coughlin and Patriots coach Bill Belichick haven't tipped their hands about how much their regulars will play. New England can't change it's playoff status either; it has home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. But it can make history with the undefeated record, an issue the players have avoided. But now that they need just one more win, the subject is no longer taboo. "I think we all realize what a win would mean, but a win's always big," Brady said. "Being 16-0 would be a very special achievement, one that no other team has ever achieved and we're finally at that point."

The NFL Network still is treating Patriots-Giants as its Super Bowl, with 65˝ hours of programming leading up to the game, including a six-hour (!) pregame show. Not bad for an event that will have no effect on the standings and could look like a preseason game by the fourth quarter. .

Randy Moss, after telling the Raiders and new coach Lane Kiffin he wouldn't play another down for the organization, was dangled for the rest of the NFL at a garage-sale price. Nobody wanted him. So, the Patriots nabbed him for a fourth-round pick -- the NFL equivalent of a Steve Grogan autographed photo. Still, the Patriots were questioned. Wes Welker? Good guy. Great pickup. Adalius Thomas? Incredible talent. They would fit in perfectly among the Stepford Patriots. Randy Moss? He was a criminal, and maybe his biggest crime had been wasting his talent.
It seems hilarious now, doesn't it, the preseason talk that Randy Moss had lost a step, that a malcontent like Moss might not fit in with New England's speak-no-evil choirboys, that Bill Belichick was ransoming his "core values" by trading for Moss in desperation, just months after the Patriots' 2006 playoff run ended with Tom Brady throwing to bargain-basement receivers such as Jabar Gaffney and Reche Whatshisname. This year Brady is having the best season an NFL quarterback has ever had. And yet, sacrilegious as it sounds, it's fair to at least ask if Moss isn't the Patriots' MVP.

The Patriots will bring an offense to the Meadowlands that is poised to set several NFL records. Although the Giants spoke in respectful tones about that offense, they fell far short of reverential. "Nobody fears anybody in this league," Antonio Pierce said. "You can either be terrified or be excited," Barry Cofield said. "We have the kind of guys in here who are definitely excited."
With a defiant tone on Thursday, the Giants made it clear they think their pass rushers can match up with the NFL's best offense and that they will do everything they can to stop history from happening. The Giants feel no pressure at all. The same cannot be said for Brady and Co. "They are the ones fighting for history." linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "They are the ones that should be stressing. They are the ones shooting for perfection and all these records. We don't have any records to set. "We are going to be loose and have fun. That is one thing I can guarantee, we will have fun."
The Patriots carry themselves as if they are NFL royalty, and the Giants are anxious to shove them off their throne. Now that Tom Coughlin has declared he is playing to win Saturday night despite having the No. 5 playoff seed locked up, the Giants were feisty yesterday, chirping about their desire to end the undefeated dream for the Patriots, who are trying to complete an unprecedented 16-0 regular season and carry that through to a 19-0 season.
The last thing the Giant players want, even with a wild-card playoff game in Tampa the following week, is to wave a white flag and surrender to the perfect team so close to becoming Greatriots. They would much prefer to stop the Hatetriots. Even as they fully understand it is Tom Coughlin's decision as to who plays and how much and who rests, an umistakeable “not against us" mentality has gripped them and won't let go. It is as if they feel compelled in some way to defend the honor of the rest of the league. On the road, where they are 7-1, it is “us against the world" for the Giants. Tomorrow night, it is Hatetriots against the world, and the world outside New England is with the Giants.

Did you know that, even if the Pats finish off a 16-0 regular season with a win, it wouldn't be Bad Bill Belichick's longest victory streak with New England? Bill Cowher knows. On Halloween 2004, the Cowher-coached Steelers ended a 21-game Patriot winning streak, one that straddled two seasons and included a victory in Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Panthers. Pittsburgh ran off nine straight victories after that Halloween win before losing a rematch to New England in the AFC Championship Game.

If the Giants are going to pull off the upset their defense is going to have to at least slow down what with one TD will be the most prolific offense in league history. Two scoring passes by Tom Brady would give him 50, an NFL single-season mark. Two TD catches by Randy Moss would give him 23, also an NFL record. "They throw the ball well, we rush the passer well and pressure the quarterback pretty well," said defensive end Michael Strahan. "So hopefully those things are going to match up and go in our favor. We'll see."

Asked what he would say to fans hawking their seats, Antonio Pierce said: "Turn into Patriots fans. We don't need fans like that." But like several other Giants players surveyed, Pierce changed his tune the more he thought about it. "That's OK," he said of the scalping. "It's their money. Like [Jeremy] Shockey says, they pay their taxes, and they can do what they want with their stuff." Michael Strahan agreed, saying: "You want to sell your tickets? Sell your tickets. I will tell you right now that, if I could make a few bucks to pay for the whole season out of one game, I would sell mine, too." Players do get tickets for friends and family from the club, but Strahan - remembering how much trouble ex-Vikings coach Mike Tice got in for scalping his Super Bowl tickets - said he didn't plan on selling his. "I won't be Mike Tice," he said.

Dec 27 In a concession to those who don't have the NFL Network, the NFL Wednesday arranged with CBS and NBC for an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night's game at Giants Stadium in which New England goes for an unbeaten regular season. In addition, the game still will be carried by Channel 9 in the area.
Why CBS and NBC and not Fox? Aiello said they were the "only two networks that expressed interest in it" in advance of Goodell's decision. Beyond that, the game normally would have been on CBS as part of the AFC package, and NBC is the league's broadcast network partner for prime time. A Fox spokesman said the network was not invited to participate. ESPN, another NFL partner, is set to show the Alamo Bowl that night.
WWOR, which thought it had exclusive rights for the game in New York, was angered at the NFL's concession yesterday. The network released a statement that said, "The NFL is in clear violation of their agreement with WWOR/My9. We fully expect the league to honor their commitment to My9 as the exclusive free over-the-air broadcaster for Saturday's telecast."

Given the fact that Saturday night's game means nothing to the Giants as far as playoff positioning and the game means everything to the Patriots as far as attaining an unprecedented 16-0 record, expect to see a different dynamic at Giants Stadium. Giants season-ticket holders in record numbers are selling off their tickets to New England fans who want to be on the scene if their team makes history. That does not sit well with the Giants.
It's unclear how many Patriots fans will be able to get their hands on tickets for Saturday night's game, but the Daily News reported Wednesday that there were more than 150 tickets available on StubHub for upwards of $1,000. On Wednesday there were no tickets available on the Giants' online TicketExchange, where season-ticket holders can sell their seats to fans on the waiting list at a controlled price. But there were hundreds of tickets available on eBay, where prices were out of control. Many sellers were asking for more than $1,000. Some were asking for as much as $3,000 per ticket. One seller was asking for $25,000 for four tickets in Section 135 and a parking pass. The average face value for a ticket at Giants Stadium is $83.50.

There will be no rest for the Giants' weary players. That's what Tom Coughlin told his team Wednesday morning, that he has no plans to rest his regulars when they face the undefeated New England Patriots on Saturday night. The game may not mean anything to the Giants (10-5) in the standings, but it apparently means something to Coughlin. He wants to win. His players do, too.
Coughlin won't be resting any players unless they are deemed physically unable to play. Right now that list may consist of cornerback Kevin Dockery (hip) and wide receiver Sinorice Moss (back). Even wide receiver Plaxico Burress took part in a practice session for the first time since early November. He said he has given no thought to taking this game off to rest his seasonlong troublesome right ankle in preparation for the postseason.
Coughlin could start his regulars and then start pulling people if the score becomes untenable. But Burress said he wouldn't go quietly if that happened, if only to prepare for the playoffs. "In the playoffs, things move faster," he said. "That's the mode we're trying to get ourselves into. For me, the more reps I can get catching the ball and getting a good look, it'll sharpen me up. "We want to win this game, roll into the playoffs and don't look back."
No one is quite sure what the Giants rallying cry is for this very confusing week but it's obvious what their rallying cry is not. "No one in here is screaming 'Let's rest!' I can tell you that," running back Brandon Jacobs said yesterday. "Guys want to play! It's the last regular season game and it's home. Guys don't want to sit down."

If Coughlin says it's in the Giants' best interest to put every healthy body on the field and go for broke in a game that means nothing to the Giants and everything to the Patriots' quest for immortality, then let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Coughlin deserves as much, after a gutsy coaching job this season, given the circumstances. It's the least we can do for the reformed curmudgeon, who did his darndest to reach the playoffs and show a soft side, two goals supposedly beyond his reach.

While Tom Coughlin's team was banging bodies as usual, Bill Belichick held a mere walk-through Wednesday in Foxborough. The Patriots will work fully today and may have another walk-through tomorrow (although it's not currently scheduled) before they travel to New Jersey for Saturday's game. They were off Monday and Tuesday during the Christmas holiday. The Giants can take that as a sign of disrespect if they want, but who is to question what Belichick does with a 15-0 team and those five Super Bowl rings on his hand? They certainly can't read into it that the Pats will come out at anything less than full speed.
How do you keep the best team in the league from yawning its way through the final game of the season, with a place in history and dozens of individual and team records on the line? You turn the Giants into the toughest sons-of-glitches ever to play the game. "If you're not ready," Belichick told the Patriots, "these guys will whip your butts. You'd better be ready for a physical game, because if you are distracted by all of the 16-0 talk and who will play and who won't, and you play with a lackadaisical attitude, they are going to take it to you."

With all the talk about whether the Giants should play their starters against unbeaten New England in a game that means nothing toward their playoff standing, much of the focus has been on the negative: What if a key player gets hurt? What if the starters are worn out after a tough game and don't recover in time for the following week's playoff game against the Buccaneers? But there's a potential positive, especially in the secondary: How much experience will players such as rookie cornerback Aaron Ross, second-year corner Kevin Dockery and third-year safety James Butler, who is in his first season as a starter, gain from facing the best passing offense in the last few years?

Confident Patriots backers consider the game little more than a brief rest stop off the New Jersey Turnpike on the expressway to eclipsing the 1972 Miami Dolphins' 17-0 mark. "It's going to be a blowout," said Alan Hanson, 47, a Manhattan photo director and Patriots fan. "They're in the Super Bowl. And they're going to win that Super Bowl." Actually, the Pats need three more wins to reach the NFL title game with a perfect record.
No matter how they play it, the Giants would need a small miracle (and no wind) to come close to giving the Patriots a hard time. Isn't it enough they don't need a win Saturday, a line too many thought they'd never read. After finishing the first half of the season an admirable 6-2, they began losing and winning and losing and winning and ... you get the idea. They're 10-5 now, the NFC's No.1 wild card, and they got there, huffing and puffing, last Sunday at Buffalo.
HallL of Famer Harry Carson, Captain of the Super Bowl champion 1986 Giants, believes the Patriots' march towards history and a place alongside forever immortal teams can come to a screeching halt Saturday night inside Giants Stadium - if Tom Coughlin plays to win the game.

After 12 years with the Giants, Bill Belichick will always hold fond memories of Giants Stadium - except for Spygate on Opening Day against the Jets, of course. "Always walking into that stadium, I kind of feel [like] turning right [toward the Giants locker room] instead of left at that tunnel. I mean, I have gotten used to it over the years, but that locker room over there on the Giants' side is one that I spent a lot of time in and coached a lot of games with that team," Belichick said.

When the teams met in the final preseason game Aug. 30, Patriots coach Bill Belichick did not play most of his regulars and Giants coach Tom Coughlin had his starters play one series. "I think both teams played a lot of players in the preseason game that aren't on the roster now for either team," Belichick said. So the teams will spend a lot of time studying film. The Giants will take a close look at what the Eagles did on defense that confused the Patriots when the teams played Nov. 25. Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo probably knows whatever it was because he was the Eagles linebackers coach the last three seasons.

Dec 26 There were many ways to describe the weather in Buffalo on Sunday: Rainy, snowy, windy and cold. No matter which words one uses, you certainly wouldn't call it Eli Manning weather. The Giants' quarterback struggled through yet another winter-weather game, completing only seven of 15 passes for 111 yards and two interceptions. He was also charged with five fumbles -- two of which were recovered by the Bills. It could take place again on Saturday in the season finale against the 15-0 New England Patriots.
The forecasted high for the day is 46 degrees, but by the time the game kicks off at 8 p.m., it'll be much colder than that. Barring a huge change in the forecast -- and in Coughlin's plan to likely play his starters -- Manning will be making his 22nd start in cold weather (50 degrees or below at kickoff). In his previous 21 starts in cold weather, Manning has compiled a passer rating of 63.5. In games when the temperature is 51 degrees or higher, Manning's passer rating is 77.6.
Rarely has a player in charge of running the offense of a 10-5 team headed for the playoffs for the third consecutive season limped so wretchedly to the finish. Not that all is lost. If Manning can somehow cobble together enough of a performance to attain his first career postseason victory, it will be a welcome and badly needed addition to his resume.

The Giants always have thought of themselves as a tough, cold-weather franchise. And while many of the players have shown an adaptability to bad conditions, perhaps their quarterback will be well-served playing in Tampa before potentially traveling to Green Bay, Wis., the following week. Should the Giants make it that far, they'll lean on a running game that broke out against Buffalo. The two-headed attack of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw totaled 296 yards on 41 carries -a 7.2 yards-per-carry average. The team total of 291 rushing yards - Reuben Droughns lost 5 - was its greatest since 1959. Bradshaw's 88-yard run with 6:12 to play put the Giants up by two scores.

The Giants have clinched the fifth seed in the NFC postseason. They can't go any higher or any lower. They play another team that has cemented its spot in the playoffs, the New England Patriots, who have clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC postseason. Normally this game would not affect any other team, and the old integrity of the game argument would not even come into play. Both Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick could do whatever they wish with personnel. This game, however, does affect another team – albeit the 1972 Miami Dolphins. So how does Coughlin address the Patriots' attempt to become the first team since those Dolphins to go through a regular season without a defeat, the first one ever during a 16-game schedule?
Opponents have had 15 cracks at knocking off the Patriots, and they all failed. So it's not Coughlin's responsibility to interrupt their shot at history. He owes the 1972 Dolphins nothing. His first responsibility is to his own team, and that's to make sure it's at optimum strength for the playoffs. In the meantime, Coughlin will do his best to balance the public requirement of saying he'll try to win the game, and the private and more pressing requirement of getting the Giants in position to beat the Bucs.

There are a couple of things sure to make Tom Coughlin grimace. One is a question about his game plan. The other is a question about the future beyond the next game. So today, when reporters gather for the coach's news conference, it should take about four questions for him to show that tight grin that says, "Please stop asking me about this."

The "experts" say Giants coach Tom Coughlin should rest his starters for the playoffs, but many Big Blue fans want the team to crush the New England Patriots' dream of a perfect season. "Coughlin needs to bring everything we've got," said Anthony Banks, 41, of the upper West Side. "This is New York. Laying down to the Patriots just wouldn't be right. Beating them would be the biggest possible boost for the Giants going into the playoffs."

If it's the playoffs, it must be Jeff Garcia. For the third time in their last four trips to the playoffs, the Giants will have to face the journeyman QB, who's now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Garcia has knocked the Giants out of the first round in San Francisco (2002) and Philadelphia (2006).

The Giants were 5-8 when the powerful Denver Broncos rolled into town on Dec.13, 1998, with a record of 13-0. They were the defending Super Bowl champions, on their way to their second straight title. And the Giants - the Kent Graham-led Giants - beat them, 20-16. "They ended up going to the Super Bowl and we didn't even go to the playoffs," Toomer said. "But it was that highlight of that year."

Dec 25 For a guy in an enviable position -- the coach of one of the 10 teams locked into a playoff spot with one week left in the regular season -- Tom Coughlin did a good job of finding the gray cloud inside the Giants' silver lining. One day after his team clinched the NFC's fifth seed, Coughlin bemoaned the situation he now faces. With their first-round trip to Tampa to face the Buccaneers locked up late Sunday night, the Giants now have nothing to play for in Saturday's season finale against the Patriots.
Should the Giants go for the throat with an all-out barrage in an attempt to prevent the big, bad Patriots from closing the deal on the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history? Or, come Saturday night, should the Giants take their feet off the accelerator and simply coast into their NFC wild card playoff game in Tampa the following week?

The Giants have plenty to lose if a key player gets hurt in a meaningless game. Coughlin, whose job was potentially on the line had they lost to Buffalo, surely will take that into consideration. The NFL Network, which airs the game at 8 p.m., wants the starters in so the game becomes watchable (The broadcast will be picked up locally by WWOR). Most fans outside of New England want the starters in so they don't have to moan about the Patriots getting a 15-game schedule. The Giants' players have said they want to play. But ultimately the decision to dam the Patriots' river rests with the coach.
The biggest medical question could be running back Brandon Jacobs, who suffered an ankle injury while gaining 145 yards and scoring two touchdowns against the Bills. Jacobs said he did not think his injury would be major, but said he would abide by whatever the medical staff tells him to do. "But I'd like to be out there," he said. Most Giants thought all healthy players will spend significant time on the field against the Pats as they try to sidetrack NFL history. They also want to be at their peak heading into the playoffs.
Nothing can generate a little energy for the playoffs like a victory over a 15-0 team. "I think that certainly would be a great thing and a wonderful thing," Coughlin said. "Of course, you play every game to win and so all of our thoughts are on that. All of our thoughts are on trying to figure out how we can be in a position to defeat a team that is 15-0 and a very, very good team."

The dream scenario for Giants fans would be the Giants taking a defend-the-Alamo approach against the Patriots without jeopardizing the playoffs. The nightmare scenario for Giants fans would be the Giants laying down against the Patriots, losing their edge and then laying an egg against the Buccaneers. I say to hell with worrying about next week this week. The playoffs started in Buffalo. The Buc stops here. With Bill Belichick and Tom Brady coming to town . . . Don't Be Patsies! Go for it.
It won't be pretty for the Giants on Saturday night against the Patriots if Jared Lorenzen is throwing to Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss and Kevin Boss while Tom Brady is picking apart the defense with Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Antonio Pierce hanging out on the sideline wearing baseball caps. But Tom Coughlin's No.1 responsibility is making sure the Giants are as healthy as possible for their playoff game in Tampa in less than two weeks. He needs to take advantage of being locked into the No.5 seed by sitting guys who could benefit from a week off.

Trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter, Antonio Pierce seemed to add to the Giants h orrid start when he raced in untouched and shoved quarterback Trent Edwards to the turf, ticking off the Bills and getting nailed for an offside penalty. Pierce said the maneuver was intentional, done to awaken the defense.

Jerry Reese took plenty of heat for a low-key offseason in which he barely made a ripple in the free-agent pool. Yet the Giants' first-year GM continually insisted his team didn't need major additions because it was good enough to contend now. When he was finally proven right on Sunday, after the Giants clinched a spot in the NFC playoffs, Reese declined to take a bow for himself. Instead he pointed to Tom Coughlin, his staff and his players, saying, "It's a testament to them.

With the New England Patriots now one win away from finishing the regular season undefeated, Sen. John Kerry is stepping up his campaign to get the final game broadcast on national television. The contest Saturday with the New York Giants is to air locally in Boston and New York. But outside those markets it is scheduled to appear only on the NFL Network, a cable channel that reaches just 35 million households nationwide while the league and cable operators dicker over pricing and distribution. Kerry asked football Commissioner Roger Goodell today to move the game to NBC – and threatened Senate hearings if he does not.

Giants report card - Paul Schwartz | Arthur Staple | Vinny DiTrani

Dec 24 Giants beat the Bills 38-21

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On The Game: Game 15 Recap Gamegirl... "....On offense Amani Toomer kept coming through with first down catches, Brandon Jacobs got the running game going and when he was hurt Ahmad Bradshaw kept it going. I was shocked when Jacobs came back in later in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter they let Bradshaw carry the load and he came through with an 88 yard run for a touchdown, the longest run in the NFL this season........" Mikefan.... ".... Next week with the playoffs locked up, I'd expect to see Manning playing most of the game for some much needed practice. Plaxico starting the game and leaving after making maybe just one catch to rest his ankle. Sinorice Moss, who had 5 receptions for 53 yards last week, should see a lot of playing time, as well as Steve Smith who, true to form, had a very catchable ball bounce off his finger tips at the Buffalo 9 yard line. It's time to see what some of these players can really do, and Manning's no exception......."

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ESPN - Giants rally past inspired Bills to clinch playoff spot.
Giants.com - Giants defeat Bills, 38-21.
StarLedger - Running wild.
StarLedger - With playoffs locked up, door opens for rest.
Newsday - Emotional return for Everett and Bills.
Newsday - Big Blue able to close deal.
Newsday - He didn't put his foot in his mouth.
NYDailyNews - Jacobs, Giants storm to playoffs.
NYDailyNews - For Tom, 'tis postseason.
NYDailyNews - Bradshaw, Jacobs carry the torch from Tiki.
NYDailyNews - Giant defense comes up huge.
NYDailyNews - A Buc battle in first round.
NYDailyNews - Giants' Hixon meets Everett.
NYPost - Eli can't save Jints, only sink 'em.
NYPost - Bring on the Pats!
NYPost - Fourth-quarter burst earns a playoff spot.
NYPost - Coughlin: From thin ice to icing it in one season.
NYPost - Brandon: Iron Man.
TheRecord - Giants off to playoffs after win.
TheRecord - Coughlin faces pleasant task.
JournalNews - Bradshaw gets his chance to run with Giants.
JournalNews - Giants beat Bills, clinch playoff berth.
BuffaloNews - Bills can't overcome the error of their ways.

NFL News
Patriots - They beat the descendents of the '72 Dolphins Sunday and eclipsed the old record streak, playing one half of great football and one uninspired. This 28-7 win over the Dolphins was far from perfect. But now that the Patriots stand alone in the annals at 15-0, there can be no denying that they will go all out against the Giants on Saturday night.

Game 15 Giants (9-5) vs Buffalo (7-7).
Last week the Giants blew a chance to secure a playoff spot, and worse yet, it was the first time this season they lost to a team with a losing record. And worse yet (did we say that already?) they lost the game 22-10 to a backup quarterback who hadn't started a game in 10 years. Meanwhile, Buffalo who had won six out of their last eight games, ran into some bad weather and bad times. They lost their game, and a chance at the playoffs, to Cleveland. The game was played in a driving snowstorm that made moving the ball almost impossible and the final score was 8-0.
It could be no win for Tom Coughlin or the fans, or maybe a big win by losing.
What? - Let me explain. If the Giants win at Buffalo, Tom Coughlin has some real tough choices to make playing the following Saturday. Seeing a key player injured in a game the Giants didn't really need to win and have that hurt their playoff chances will have the fans calling for Coughlin's head. It turns out that the only win-win situation is to lose-win. Losing to the Bills, but finishing in a dramatic fashion in the final game at home over the Patriots, a game that would send the Giants on to the playoffs, would have the fans toasting Tom Coughlin on New Year's Eve. After that, it's hangover time again in more ways than one as Coughlin tries to get his team past one playoff game.

Dec 23 Playoff clinching, take two. The first attempt, a 22-10 Giants loss to the Redskins, is best left on the cutting-room floor. Now comes the second try, and the Giants hope it will be the final "win-and-in" scenario they must deal with. It's all on the line in today's game against the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium, where it's not expected to be frigid but likely could be rainy. A victory sends the Giants to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

With nothing to lose, the Bills will play with a loose style they displayed in last Sunday's loss to the Browns, when they were already long shots to make the playoffs. Besides their unpredictability, there are a few reasons why the Bills will be a difficult opponent for the Giants (9-5), even though they've already been eliminated from the postseason. Firstly, they're a team that hasn't quit all year long. Through a ton of injuries, blowout losses and heart-breaking defeats, the Bills are a .500 team. "They're playing for a winning record," Snee said. "They obviously want to make the playoffs, but a winning record is also an important thing, something to take pride in."

In the last two seasons, when the Giants needed to win their final games to make the playoffs, Barber came up with two of his greatest games - in last year's season finale in Washington, where he had 258 total yards and the year before in Oakland, where he had 263. Now, as Eli Manning runs out of weapons and continues to struggle, it may take that kind of performance again. Brandon Jacobs has been a brute running the football - he slugged out 130 yards on 25 carries against the Redskins last week - but he's been brutal trying to catch it, with five drops on eight chances in the same game. The week before, Jacobs fumbled twice, for a total of five on the season, so his slippery hands - not unlike Barber's early in his career - have become a huge cause for concern.

Even under ideal conditions, the Bills were going to sell out to stop Brandon Jacobs and dare Manning to beat them. Last December, it was Tiki Barber who carried Manning and Tom Coughlin to the playoffs on his back with that heroic 234-yard rushing night against the Redskins at FedEx Field. With Barber gone, the job was supposed to fall to the quarterback. Except the quarterback starts falling when the second half of the season starts.
The message for the Giants is this: If you are a playoff team, prove it! Manning's mandate, then, on a wicked day like this, becomes not losing the game more than it does winning it. Even though he has been shockingly outplayed lately by the likes of Tarvaris Jackson and Todd Collins, it isn't asking too much of him to outplay Trent Edwards, his rookie counterpart. That's the least, and probably the most, he can do today.

Again and again, this NFC East theory is stated as league-wide fact: Eli Manning is the one Giant in position to save Tom Coughlin's job. That might be true, but when will someone get in the quarterback's ear hole and tell him that Eli Manning is the one Giant in position to save Eli Manning's job? Eli is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions (17). His completion percentage (55.7) seems acceptable to the untrained eye until it discovers that 29 quarterbacks have a better one. His quarterback rating? Twenty-four passers are living north of Eli's 72.7. For an undrafted journeyman who did hard time in the CFL and NFL Europe, these numbers would qualify as a fairly acceptable standard of play. For a No. 1 overall pick who forced his draft-day way from one coast to the other, demanded $54 million to sign, and cost his team a shot to select a quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger) who's already won a Super Bowl ring, these numbers tell the tale of a risk that hasn't been worth the reward.

In the last two seasons, when the Giants needed to win their final games to make the playoffs, Barber came up with two of his greatest games - in last year's season finale in Washington, where he had 258 total yards and the year before in Oakland, where he had 263. Now, as Eli Manning runs out of weapons and continues to struggle, it may take that kind of performance again.
Brandon Jacobs has been a brute running the football - he slugged out 130 yards on 25 carries against the Redskins last week - but he's been brutal trying to catch it, with five drops on eight chances in the same game. The week before, Jacobs fumbled twice, for a total of five on the season, so his slippery hands - not unlike Barber's early in his career - have become a huge cause for concern.

Even at its best, the Giants defense was not particularly adept at causing turnovers, but lately, there has been a stark decline that no one on that unit is happy about heading into today's game in Buffalo, where rain and wind could make for a slippery football. There hasn't been an interception since the Giants were in Detroit, a span of four games. There's been just one forced fumble in the past four games, when Justin Tuck separated Brian Westbrook from the football and cornerback Sam Madison recovered the loose ball. That helped turn a 10-6 deficit into a 13-10 lead and sent the Giants on their way to a victory in Philadelphia, once again showing how a forced turnover can turn a game.

Two weeks ago, everything was all in a nice, neat package - perfect symbolism considering the holiday season. The Giants had just beaten the Eagles, Eli Manning had put his struggles behind him and Tom Coughlin seemed headed for a contract extension. The only question seemed to be for how much and for how long. Then came those 30-mile-per-hour winds last Sunday night, and the entire scenario was blown away in a chaotic and potentially season-changing - and possibly even coach-changing - loss to the Redskins. Once again, the Giants are on the brink.
It's almost as if they prefer playing with their backs against a wall. "It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" says guard Chris Snee. Well, if the Giants like pressure, they're going to love this. They face the out-of-contention Buffalo Bills this afternoon at cold and windy Ralph Wilson Stadium knowing all they need is one win to clinch their third straight playoff berth. With two games remaining, that shouldn't be a problem, except that the still-perfect New England Patriots are looming on their schedule on Saturday night. That means if the Giants (9-5) don't beat the Bills (7-7) Sunday they likely won't win again in this regular season. And if that happens, they might have to spend next Sunday praying for help from the Redskins, the Saints, and possibly the Vikings, too.
"Yeah, we want to control how we make it," defensive end Michael Strahan said. "We want to make the playoffs because we did it ourselves. We don't want to have to sit by the TV and worry if someone has won or lost a game. That's not the way you want to do it." It would be a long wait, too, should the Eagles help out by beating the Saints in a 1 p.m. contest. Washington and the Vikings don't play until 8:15. A Giants loss and a Saints win will produce an even longer wait, however. Then it will all come down to the final weekend, preceded by a final week of questions over Tom Coughlin's growing job insecurity, the Giants' contender/pretender status, and the difficulties in denying the unbeaten Patriots a proper end to a historic season. The Giants could have curtailed all that with a win last week against the Redskins. But that didn't happen..

When Coughlin was given a one-year extension through the 2008 season in January, team president John Mara and treasurer Jonathan Tisch, who conducted the sessions with Coughlin, gave the coach one season to change the sour locker-room attitude and put together a consistent season for the team and Eli Manning. Coughlin managed the first part, thanks to the retirement of Tiki Barber and his own attitude adjustment. But the second and third parts of Coughlin's mandate still are in doubt.
Manning has been the same quarterback he was the previous two seasons. He's had some good games, some terrible ones and some that were alternately good and terrible. But the offense has stalled since the six-game winning streak and now, without injured Jeremy Shockey, there is more onus on Manning to play well and manage the game better. As for the overall situation, Coughlin's legacy could end up being that of a coach whose players wear down, whether from too much work between games or not enough adaptability on the field.

Osi Umenyiora was asked.
Q - Are you going to break Michael Strahan's Giants' sack record (1411/2)?
A - I don't know if I'm gonna be able to play that long. I'm at like 41 (401/2). I might be able to get that.
Q - Another 10 years, 12 sacks a year ...?
A - That would be like 160-something. I might be able to get that ... nah ... I don't think I'm gonna be able to play that long. I'm gonna put up numbers, though. As long as I'm healthy, I'm gonna put up numbers.

NFC East News
Cowboys - Terrell Owens injures ankle as Cowboys thwart Panthers. Last week it was Romo, who bruised his right thumb and was ineffective in a loss to Philadelphia. Now it's Owens, who left in the second quarter after his left leg got caught underneath him after a catch.

Dec 22 Today in Charlotte, N.C., tight end Jeremy Shockey undergoes surgery to repair his fractured left fibula. Tomorrow in Buffalo, the Giants face the Bills in need of someone to pick up the pass-catching void created by Shockey's absence. Rookie receiver Steve Smith wants to be that someone. "I was telling myself that today, I want to be the guy to make the play," Smith said yesterday. "These guys have been out here working hard, practicing every day. I'm a rookie, I'm just sitting here getting checks and watching them from the sideline. I want to show 'em my worth, show I can be a playmaker for this team."
When leading receiver Amani Toomer went down last year with a knee injury, Eli Manning and the Giants' offense struggled in the second half of the season. Now, Manning must find a way to get the Giants into the playoffs over the final two games without his second-leading receiver, Jeremy Shockey. While rookies Kevin Boss and Michael Matthews will assume Shockey's tight end duties, Manning will have to find a new target and safety valve to replace Shockey, who had 57 catches for 619 yards and three touchdowns before breaking his left leg and injuring his ankle during last Sunday's loss to the Redskins. It could take a combination of Toomer, Steve Smith, Boss, Matthews and Sinorice Moss to replace Shockey's production.

When the weather outside is frightful, it would be a terrific idea to just give the damn ball to your frightful running back. Eli Manning will be slinging in the rain and the wind tomorrow in Orchard Park, and the best way to help him is to unleash the full fury of the water buffalo. With the season on the line, Tom Coughlin and Kevin Gilbride better understand that this is no time and no place to throw the ball 52 times. Manning very well could be asked to win the game at the end, but he has no chance unless you kill the body so the head dies. And you kill the body by pounding Brandon Jacobs into the belly of that eight-man box. A 264-pound water buffalo like this can help in these ways: He can help silence the crowd so Manning can hear himself think; and even better, he can punish, wear down and demoralize the Bills defense by the fourth quarter.
After dropping a handful of balls out of the backfield Sunday and losing two fumbles the week before, Brandon Jacobs is definitely under scrutiny as the Giants face another week with conditions not favorable to a deep passing game. The Giants' playoff lives may hang in the balance, with a win clinching the postseason and a loss setting up a possible win-or-go-home finale against the undefeated Patriots. "Bad weather can be a burden on the running backs because it's so hard to feel the ball," said Reuben Droughns, the veteran running back who has served as a mentor to Jacobs this season. "It can be hard to keep your hands warm, which makes it hard to feel the ball."

If the Giants truly wanted to leave no stone unturned and ratchet up their preparation to obsessive levels, they needed to practice this past week outside on their field turf with the sprinklers on the entire time. Why not practice in simulated rain if there's a good chance you might play in real rain? "I think we are OK when the weather is bad," coach Tom Coughlin countered. The Giants, in search of a victory to clinch a playoff spot, likely will have to be more than OK tomorrow, as the weather might be an issue once again as they face the Bills in Buffalo. The forecast calls for moderate temperatures - high perhaps reaching 50 degrees, downright balmy, considering the locale - but a 90 percent chance of showers sometime during the game and heavy wind.

Looking back, Kawika Mitchell was disgusted, and fellow linebacker Reggie Torbor sounded like a punch-drunk boxer after one too many haymakers. The Giants pride themselves on their meat-and-potatoes approach to defense. But their reputations -- and egos -- are in need of a massage after the unit was slashed to ribbons last Sunday by Redskins running back Clinton Portis in a 22-10 loss. "After last week, I would run the ball on us," Mitchell said. "The past two weeks, (the Bills) have had a lot of success running the ball. ... We know we've got to stop it. It's December and that's what you have to do." In Torbor's opinion, there wasn't anything unique or exotic the Redskins did in their run-blocking schemes. They simply outmuscled the Giants to create wide-open running lanes.

The Giants need a takeaway. Boy, do they ever. An interception, a fumble recovery deep in Buffalo territory - they'll take anything at this point. At minus-10 in turnover differential over the last four games, one could even say the Giants' defense is desperate. Or at the least, a tad annoyed. "Yeah, we definitely heard about that," said linebacker Reggie Torbor, who has witnessed firsthand the defense's one fumble recovery in the four games since it intercepted three Jon Kitna passes in Detroit. "It's stuff that, as a defense, we focus on. For us not to get them at all, it's very frustrating."

Gibril Wilson has been anxious to hit someone, and antsy to get back out there to help the Giants during their drive for a wild-card playoff berth. The strong safety has missed three straight games with a knee injury but appears to be on track to regain his spot in the starting lineup Sunday when the Giants (9-5) take on the Buffalo Bills (7-7) at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. Wilson, who was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday, practiced fully Friday and officially is listed as probable. "I'm excited about getting back," Wilson said after practice at Giants Stadium. "I just hope that I can contribute and play well for this defense."

Dec 21 The 2007 Giants desperately need Eli to be what Bill Parcells used to call a battlefield commander. "I would like him to show more confidence," LT said, "like Phil Simms used to do. He had some horrendous years. He had his moments when he looked like [horsebleep]. But you know what? We always had confidence Phil Simms was gonna get that job done ... the way he carried himself in the locker room, the way he carried himself on the football field.
This is not the right time to be worrying about Eli Manning's right arm, his back leg, his loopy spirals, his invisible temper, his hot and cold performances. On Sunday, he'll be trying to put the Giants into the playoffs, and this is the scary news: He can't be trusted. The Giants don't need a Tom Brady throw-alike to put away Buffalo and come home a playoff team for the third straight year under Tom (One and Out) Coughlin. The Giants need to win this one because their next and last chance is against the perfectly perfect Patriots.

For two straight years, the Giants have taken their playoff chances down to the last week of the season. Needing a victory, they got it both times against the Redskins in 2006 and the Raiders in 2005. Of course, they put themselves in that situation by losing their next-to-last games each of those years, and if that happens again Sunday in Buffalo, they're going to need a life raft to salvage what, at 9-4, had looked like a sure playoff berth.
Urgency figures to be high, pressure even higher, yet the Giants are a cool, collected group that on the surface appears unfazed by the mounting burden to win. Even Coughlin seemed quite jovial, almost to the point of playful, and his players followed suit. "Are we having more fun?" asked cornerback Sam Madison. "I guess we're relaxed. I'm still smiling."

There's not much margin for error anymore for the Giants. If they win Sunday, they're in the playoffs; if they lose, they could have to beat the currently undefeated Patriots at home to get in. It's a simple scenario filled with enormous pressure, but Tom Coughlin said his team "had some fun" in yesterday's practice on the Giants Stadium turf. The defense has been having the bulk of the fun the last dozen games, though the unit has slipped a bit against the run the past two weeks, allowing 153 rushing yards to the Redskins and 141 to the Eagles. Those teams also had the first two individual 100-yard rushers against the Giants all season.
Rookie Marshawn Lynch, the Bills' first-round draft pick, has rushed for 940 yards on 240 carries. With weather conditions calling for rain and 20 mph winds, and fellow rookie Trent Edwards running the offense, Lynch figures to see the ball often against the Giants. "They don't put a lot on his plate," Giants cornerback Sam Madison said of Edwards, who has won seven of his nine starts. "They use the running game to take the pressure off him. They are finally jelling as a young football team."
As the Redskins realized on Sunday, shutting down Umenyiora is the best way to short-circuit the entire Giants defense, especially the pass rush. In the loss to Washington, Umenyiora was held without a sack and had only one tackle. The Giants sacked Todd Collins only twice.

There wasn't a lot of outrage from the Giants over placing just one player, DE Osi Umenyiora, on the Pro Bowl roster, although they certainly think there should have been more. "If you think you are the third-best (NFC) team going into the voting with the second-best defense in the NFC, you would think you'd have more guys," said MLB Antonio Pierce, who went as an alternate last year. "There were guys like Plaxico (Burress) who definitely deserved it, but it's been going on for years and it's always going to happen like that."

There was no buzz around punter Jeff Feagles this week, as opposed to the stir created three weeks ago the assignment was to punt the ball away from the Bears' Devin Hester. But the lack of hype doesn't mean the challenge isn't as great. On Sunday, the Bills will put third-year receiver Roscoe Parrish back on punts, and what he lacks in name recognition he makes up for in production. "He's as good as Hester," Feagles said.

The first thing Domenik Hixon did after signing with the Giants in October was look at the rest of their schedule. The news wasn't good: When the second-year wideout saw "Dec. 23, at Buffalo," he got a sick feeling in his stomach. "I was kind of dreading it because I knew that was going to be an emotional day for me," Hixon said yesterday.
Domenik Hixon could have plenty of attention coming his way Sunday, and not for any reason that makes him happy. Hixon, then with the Broncos, was the special-teams player who collided with Bills tight end Kevin Everett Sept. 9, a play that left Everett near death and almost certainly paralyzed before risky surgery allowed him to walk again. The Bills have invited Everett to Sunday's game against the Giants. Hixon, picked up by the Giants Oct. 3 after being waived by the Broncos, hopes to have a chance to at least meet Everett.

Dec 20 Tom Coughlin's job security has been directly linked to Eli Manning's performance from the moment Ernie Accorsi pulled off the biggest trade in Giants history in 2004. As it turns out, that's not such a good thing for Coughlin. Coughlin didn't appear nervous on Wednesday even though he could be in his final weeks as the Giants coach. He will either be offered a long-term extension or he will be fired. If the Giants fail to make the playoffs after holding a two-game lead on the Vikings and a three-game lead on the Redskins and Saints with three to play or if they back into the playoffs and then don't get out of the first round for the third straight year, Coughlin will likely get fired. He's probably back if the Giants split the final two, finish 10-6 and lose in the first round.

When the weather outside is frightful, lately Eli Manning has been, too. That could be a big problem when the Giants try to clinch a playoff spot on what is expected to be a chilly, windy, rainy and possibly snowy day in Buffalo this Sunday. The conditions, at best, could be similar to what they were at Giants Stadium last Sunday night. "Maybe it's good," Manning said yesterday. "We had some practice this past weekend and got all the bad plays out of the way. Now we can get better."
There's nothing like a December trip to Buffalo. The Bills enjoy a winter home-field advantage few teams can match, marked by blustery winds and lake-effect snow dumped in from Lake Erie. Expect similar conditions in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sunday with a mélange of snow and rain in the forecast. QB Eli Manning has never played in Buffalo. But he knows the frustration of flinging passes around in brunt winds. "You just have to step through your throws and make sure you get everything on it," Manning said. "If you don't ... it gets caught up in the wind and that's where the trouble happens."
"Cold weather isn't the problem," Manning said. "It's the wind. It can do things to the ball you don't expect. It's a matter of following through on your throws. Whatever you see from the defense, just go out and be confident that you can make every throw. You can't worry about the wind." Coach Tom Coughlin vigorously defended his decision to practice inside last week, saying that inside or out, there is no way to simulate the wind. Yesterday offered proof of that. Since the Giants' bubble had yet to be re-inflated fully from its early-morning collapse Sunday, they practiced inside Giants Stadium.

This was one of those uncomfortable conversations, two players headed in different directions, one about to embark on an exciting new chapter of his NFL career, the other a couple days away from going to the operating room. Rookie tight end Kevin Boss on Tuesday bumped into Jeremy Shockey, who was in the trainers' room at Giants Stadium. Tomorrow, Shockey undergoes surgery to repair a fractured left fibula and ankle damage. Sunday, Boss as a result makes his first NFL start as the Giants visit Buffalo looking to lock up an NFC wild-card playoff spot.
Boss caught his first career touchdown Sunday night, a 19-yarder from Eli Manning in the third quarter. He did remember to point to the stands where his older brother, Terry, and his girlfriend, Bree Ramsey, were sitting. He then flipped the ball to an official and trotted off the field. "Everyone on the sideline was saying, 'Where's the ball?' I was like, 'Oh, shoot, I forgot,'" Boss said. "I think [equipment manager] Ed Skiba went and got it for me." Low-key is Boss' way, so don't expect him to try and fill Shockey's shoes as the emotional center of the Giants. He won't even engage any of the experienced Giants practice chatterboxes this week. "I try," Sam Madison said on Monday. "I try to get Boss going. Doesn't work."

Kevin Boss has been called the "anti-Shockey" for his demeanor, the quiet, laid-back personality which conflicts with that of the Giants' former starting tight end. "Kevin is more meek. He keeps to himself a little more," said Mike Matthews, the second half of the duo that will look to replace the injured Jeremy Shockey. "Shockey is more outgoing. He speaks his mind. If he sees red, he says red. If he sees green, he says green." Despite their inherent differences, Shockey and Boss formed something of an odd-couple relationship. The veteran took the fifth-round draft pick from Western Oregon under his wing and helped him prepare for a moment neither hoped would come.
The reporters swarmed around Kevin Boss, the quiet, unassuming rookie who had his locker all to himself for most of this season. Until last Sunday, that is, when Jeremy Shockey broke his fibula and Boss became one of the options to replace the Giants' starting tight end. "The legend of Kevin Boss," left tackle David Diehl yelled from across the room when he saw the media horde. Next to Boss' locker, Michael Matthews was being ignored. Actually, he was practically being stomped upon as a few reporters jostled for position near Boss.
"Hey, that's just the way it is," Matthews said with a grin as he cocked his body sideways to get enough room to remove his shoes. Maybe it's because Matthews was signed in April as an undrafted free agent and Boss was a fifth-round pick. Or maybe it's because Matthews does the grunt work as a blocking tight end whereas Boss gets the glory as a pass-catcher the Giants are trying to turn into an all-around player.

Plaxico Burress has longed to make his first Pro Bowl since he joined the Giants in 2005. He was selected Tuesday as a first alternate at wide receiver for the NFC, but that wasn't good enough for him. "I wasn't selected, I was named an alternate, so I think ... being selected and being an alternate is a little bit different," said Burress, who is second in the NFC with 10 touchdown catches. "It doesn't bother me, it doesn't take away anything that I have done this year. I'm still, I would say, one of the best in the league, and I did it on half an ankle and one knee, so it doesn't change anything."
It's been 39 years since the Giants had a wide receiver voted into the Pro Bowl, when Homer Jones was selected in 1968. Had Plaxico Burress not played virtually the entire season with a sprained right ankle and at times with a sore left knee, he might have ended the nearly four-decade wait. Burress was named a first alternate, as voted onto the NFC squad at receiver were Terrell Owens (76 receptions), Donald Driver (78), Torry Holt (83) and Larry Fitzgerald (83). Burress has 69 catches, and his 10 touchdowns are more than any of the other Pro Bowl receivers, except for Owens, who has 14.

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