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Dec 31 When the Giants gather today for their first postseason practice, there will be two new players on the roster. The Giants yesterday signed cornerback Rashad Barksdale off their practice squad and linebacker Rich Scanlon off the street. Barksdale replaces veteran Sam Madison, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve after breaking his right ankle in the third quarter of Sunday's loss in Minnesota. Scanlon replaces linebacker Edmond Miles, who was waived. The
team out there smart enough to hire Steve Spagnuolo
will get a man of great integrity and commitment, someone
with no interest in self-promotion and a great zeal for
becoming a head coach for all the right reasons. Spagnuolo
will bring passion, intensity, humility and a knack for
plain-spoken communication that makes players feel included
in the process. As a first-year coordinator, the four words
he used on his downtrodden defense after allowing 80 points
in the first two games of last season - "I believe in you"
- resonated so forcefully that his players had no choice
but to believe in themselves as well. Talk about adding insult to self-inflicted injury. Sales of Plaxico Burress' No. 17 jersey fell from near the top of New York's best sellers to practically nothing - even at 75% off. Stores like Modell's and Sports Authority shot holes in the price of official NFL Burress jerseys, marking them down from $80 to just $19.47 after the fallen star was benched for shooting himself in the leg last month. "We marked them down because he's not playing anymore. I don't think I've sold one since the shooting," one Sports Authority worker said. "All of a sudden they just stopped selling," she said. "They used to be really hot." Titans,
Giants still power top of NFL rankings Dec 30 Antonio
Pierce was asked if he wanted Steve Spagnuolo to remain
with the Giants. "I expect him to stay," Pierce replied
during a conference call with reporters. "He's under contract
to be the New York Giants defensive coordinator so I don't
expect him to go anywhere." That's called denial. So yes,
Pierce and the rest of the Giants defense would prefer to
have their coordinator stay after he turned what appeared
to be one of the worst units in the league into one of its
best over the past two seasons. But that doesn't appear
likely. While
the coordinators are courted by other teams, the Giants
will enjoy a well-earned week off after one of the most
brutal 10-game stretches in NFL history. But it's a bye
week, not a week of vacation. "I have no plans to travel
or do anything," said Eli Manning. "My plans to Cabo fell
through." In other words, don't expect to catch Manning
making like Tony Romo and Jessica
Simpson and jetting off to some exclusive resort while
the rest of the playoff field goes about its business. The
defending Super Bowl champions this week will be in the
film room, the weight room or, for a couple of days at least,
on the field. Eli
Manning plans to spend the Giants' bye week close to
home, relaxing over the weekend as he watches his brother
Peyton and seven other quarterbacks play in the wild-card
round of the NFL playoffs. "My plans for Cabo fell through,"
said the Giants' quarterback, adding quickly, "That was
a joke, by the way." While none of his players will be sunbathing
Tony Romo-style in Mexico, coach Tom Coughlin does have
an interesting task this week of making sure they don't
lose their focus on their Jan. 11 divisional playoff date
at Giants Stadium. There's
probably a strong inkling around the Giants that waiting
for them in the Jan. 11 divisional playoff game at Giants
Stadium will be the Eagles. For that rematch to happen,
all that's needed is an Eagles first-round playoff victory
on Sunday in Minnesota. Though the Eagles are the No. 6
seed and on the road, they are favored to beat the Vikings,
a clear indication of what the odds-makers think of the
strength of the two clubs. The Giants ended their regular-season
losing 20-19 inside the Metrodome in a game they believe
would have ended differently if they had not rested several
starters in the second half. Las Vegas sports books favor the New York Giants over the 11 other teams in the NFL playoffs to win the Super Bowl, giving 2-to-1 odds on the NFC's No. 1 seed to repeat as champions. The Tennessee Titans are the favorite among AFC teams to win a title at 4-1, closely followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at 9-2. The Giants have the easiest road to the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, while the AFC teams are more evenly matched, oddsmaker Mike Seba of Las Vegas Sports Consultants said Monday. NFC East News 
GAME
PHOTOS
NFC East
News Game 16 Preview
- Giants
(12-3) vs Minnesota (9-6). Dec 28 There
haven't been enough offensive plays in a Jetsgame for
bothThomas Jones and Leon Washington to save the season.
The top-seeded Giants, on the other hand, are about to become
the fourth team in NFL history with two 1,000-yard backs
in a single season, thanks to Brandon Jacobs (1,089) and
Derrick Ward (948). And Jacobs doesn't have enough words
to explain how much Ward, who likely will join him in the
1,000-yard club today, has helped his game. After
five years as the quarterback of an expansion team that
never expanded in Houston and a backup who lasted just a
few months in Carolina last season, David Carr is enjoying
the ride with the Giants - even if he doesn't have a grip
on the steering wheel. In training camp, Carr bluntly said
he was trying to use the opportunity with the Giants as
a springboard to another starting job somewhere else. Lately,
though, he's considering whether he'd mind being a career
backup here with the Giants. Last week, the Giants struggled dealing with Panthers backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, whose 2,117 combined yards are the most by teammates this season. They combined for 137 yards and Williams ran for four touchdowns, but the Giants won in overtime, 34-28. This afternoon, the assignment for the Giants defense is to contain Peterson and Chester Taylor, who have combined for 2,046 rushing yards, second-best in the league. The Giants duo of Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward are third at 2,037 yards. Crotchety, miserable old Tom Coughlin insists he wants to win today's game. And the New York Giants coach is so old school that he couldn't possibly tell a lie. That would be un-American. I don't think I've ever seen this guy smile, even after he won the Super Bowl. Instead, his face was sort of frozen into a jack-o'-lantern-type expression. He's so intense that he scares me, not to mention the Giants players. If he really and truly is committed to winning this one, he will. But it's all about his depth of commitment. NFL News Dec 27 When
the Giants were preparing to face the New England Patriots
in the Super Bowl, they had something much more valuable
than hours of game film to lean on. They had the experience
of having played them just five weeks earlier. And it hurt
the Patriots that, in their quest to finish the regular
season 16-0, they held nothing back in that otherwise meaningless
game. So why would the Giants risk showing the Vikings anything
Sunday in Minneapolis, in a game that means nothing to Big
Blue? For the most part last year in the playoffs, the Giants stopped the run well. But they haven't done that lately. And while the Giants may have the league's best rushing attack, tomorrow they'll try to fix their running problems on defense against maybe the league's best rusher, period. Adrian Peterson, the Vikings' sensational second-year back, is the NFL's top rusher, tallying 1,657 yards on the ground - the only man to have cracked the 1,500-yard barrier. The Giants drafted Visanthe Shiancoe in the third round in 2003, and he played in every game as a backup to Jeremy Shockey who saw little action in the passing attack over four seasons. The Vikings, though, liked his 6-foot-4, 250-pound frame and speed to run up the seam and expand an important element of their play-it-safe version of the West Coast offense. They lured him with a five-year contract featuring $7 million guaranteed with a value as great as $18.5 million, a package that drew skepticism around the league for a player without much accomplishment to date. In last week's loss to Atlanta he totaled seven receptions, 136 yards and two touchdowns - almost all of it in traffic. Only Steve Jordan, with 179 yards receiving against Washington in 1986, had more in one game as a tight end in Vikings history. Only Joe Senser, with eight scores in 1981, has accumulated more touchdowns at that position for this team. Known as the "License Plate Guy" to fans and players alike, Ruback has spent the last 16 weeks as he has most of his life: following the Giants around the country. His passion for the team and his trademark license plates worn around his neck paid off this month. After traveling with the Giants last season all the way through Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, Joe Ruback of New City has been with them the whole way again this season. And if you were watching the Giants' game against the Panthers last Sunday night, you probably saw him in a commercial. NFL News Dec 26 This week Steve Spagnuolo is focusing on the Vikings. Next week he could be focusing on the Browns. Or the Bengals. Or the Bills. Or any of another half-dozen or so teams that conceivably could have a head coaching vacancy once the regular season ends. Although he was one of the hottest coordinators among candidates for head coaching jobs last year, Spagnuolo had to wait until after the Super Bowl to start interviewing for them. Every playoff game won by the Giants made prospective employees less patient, and by the time he climbed off the float that carried him down the Canyon of Heroes, most of the good spots were filled. Tom Coughlin has some interesting decisions this weekend for the regular-season finale in Minnesota: Who will play and for how long, who sits? Giants co-owner John Mara knows Coughlin will make the correct call. Coughlin's fire is balanced by Reese's ice, which helps the emotive Mara on game days. "(Reese) is very confident, always (a) positive guy. That's the one thing I've been amazed at with him," Mara said. "I never hear him go into any game saying, 'I think we're going to have a tough time this week. I don't think we're going to win.' He believes we're going to win every week and that makes the rest of us feel pretty good." Five
questions for Howie Long. - Should the Giants play their
starters on Sunday? After his huge missed opportunities the previous two weeks, it said something about the Giants' confidence in Domenik Hixon that they went to him, deep, just five plays into Sunday night's game against the Panthers. And there's no doubt it did something for Hixon's confidence in that this time he managed to hold onto the ball. "Absolutely," Hixon said. "It felt real good. Just to move it against a tough defense, move it down the field a little bit. It was a hard-fought game and we needed a couple of big plays." R.W. McQuarters stared into the night sky and stepped awkwardly under the punt as the wind played games with the ball. And when it ricocheted off his shoulder, there was a collective gasp. But he never flinched. McQuarters calmly reached out, gathered in the ball and set the Giants up for the winning drive in overtime against the Carolina Panthers a week ago. "The first thing you think is, 'Oh, no,' and then you just try and get it," he said. "It was hanging and it moved on me, and I think I took my eye off it at the last minute. That's a time you need to remain calm, if anything, don't panic. It was just like, 'Get the ball.' Terrell Thomas nearly had an interception of Jake Delhomme last Sunday night that might have been run back for a touchdown, but the Giants cornerback didn't expect the ball to be thrown his way and it glanced off his hands. Rather than view it as a missed opportunity, the rookie accepted it as a learning experience. Thomas has earned increased playing time after a slow start during the summer. He has come on strong on special teams and on Sunday, his leap to keep a Jeff Feagles punt from bouncing into the end zone helped to pin the Panthers on the 1-yard line. On defense, Thomas took over as the nickel back after an injury to Kevin Dockery and remains in that role. The basis of the emerging friendship between Jeff Feagles and John Carney isn't difficult to decipher. "We just have so much in common," Feagles said. "Start with our age and work your way down." Carney almost didn't have a job in the league this season, signing with the Giants only after projected starter Lawrence Tynes came out of training camp with a nagging injury to his plant knee. Feagles almost gave up his job three years ago, but was talked out of retirement by Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who was willing to let Feagles spend most of his time with his family in Arizona and commute east for a few practice days a week. Dec 25 Tom Coughlin scored big with his players, as for the first time he gave them off on Christmas Day. He said it was not because they had already clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC but rather because he was able to arrange a schedule in which the team came in for practice on their off day [Tuesday]. In the past, Coughlin tweaked the schedule so the players could be home on Christmas morning, but they had to leave their families around 11 a.m. to head to Giants Stadium. Teams interested in interviewing defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo about a head-coaching job last season could not speak with him during the bye-week window set aside for such conversations. The reason? The Giants did not have a bye in the playoffs, and thus Spagnuolo was off-limits until after the Super Bowl. As the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Giants have a bye next week, and Spagnuolo, following the regular-season finale in Minnesota, can interview with anyone who wants to meet with him. There will be a long list of teams looking for new coaches, and Spagnuolo is likely to be at or near the top of many of those lists. If
Derrick Ward gets his 52 yards against the Vikings on
Sunday, he and Brandon Jacobs (1,089 rushing yards this
season) would become only the fifth duo to reach 1,000 yards
in the same season. The first four were: Does anyone even remember that David Carr is on the team? His signing in early March caused a slight ripple because of his resume: the No. 1 overall pick of the Texans in the 2002 NFL Draft, a hotshot quarterback out of Fresno State selected as the cornerstone of a new franchise. It didn't quite work out. Carr was sacked an NFL-record 76 times as a rookie and it never got much better. He was sent packing after five miserable seasons in Houston, hooked on as a backup in Carolina last year before the Giants plucked him off the scrap heap to serve as Eli Manning's understudy. Momentum
meant everything to the Giants during their remarkable
playoff run last season. After an up and down season, they
got themselves on a roll in late December, and it didn't
stop until the final play of the Super Bowl. Now, after
12 wins in 15 games this year - including a comeback victory
over the Carolina Panthers in overtime on Sunday night -
the champs have recaptured that familiar feeling and believe
they are rolling at the right time once again. But how are
they supposed to keep that momentum going this time, when
it'll be three weeks before they play another meaningful
game? The car taking Lawrence Tynes to the airport had barely pulled away from the curb of his Kansas home. It took everything Tynes had not to scream at the driver to turn around. His tears, flowing freely, were the outward evidence of a breaking heart. He was heading east to join the Giants for his first training camp with a new team, but he was leaving a piece of himself behind with his wife and premature newborn twins. A lawyer for suspended New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress said paperwork will prove two guns seized from the star's home are legit. "We do not believe anything recovered in the home will lead to additional charges," lawyer Benjamin Brafman said Wednesday. Dec 24 They
spent 25 minutes on the phone the other night talking
about how they could be just the fourth set of running backs
in NFL history to each rush for 1,000 yards for the same
team in the same season. And Brandon Jacobs and Derrick
Ward should savor every moment. Because as teammates, that
accomplishment might be the last thing they do. With every
yard they rack up - and so far it's 2,037 - their price
tags go up. Both are scheduled to become unrestricted free
agents after the season, and while the Giants will likely
re-sign one of them, it's hard to believe they'll have the
money for both. This
season, David Carr has by far the best passer rating
of his career: He is 1-for-1 with a 5-yard touchdown pass,
good for a rating of 127.1. But when the Giants play Minnesota
this weekend, in a game when nothing is on the line, he
wouldn't mind trading that artificially high statistic for
some playing time. "Ruin my record," the Giants' back-up
quarterback said with a laugh. "But, gee, I wouldn't care.
I would love to have it go down a little bit." Coach Tom
Coughlin wouldn't publicly commit to whether the Giants
will be cautious with some of their starters this week,
saying only "we will do what is in the best interest of
our team," but the Vikings game figures to be Carr's best
opportunity to see the field this season. Tom
Coughlin admitted the fact the Vikings remain alive
for a playoff berth plays into his thinking when evaluating
how to approach this game. "You have to be aware of the
fact they have a tremendous amount at stake and they are
going to play as hard as they can possibly play," Coughlin
said. "Every player in our locker room has to understand
that." The Vikings clinch the NFC North title with a victory
over the Giants or if the Bears lose to the Texans in Houston.
That game will still be played simultaneously to the Giants-Vikings
game. Danny Clark was about to step into the first defensive meeting of the week Tuesday afternoon when he took a minute to address a problem for the Giants lately: long touchdowns by the opponents. "We're going to talk about it, I'm sure," Clark said before gesturing toward the door and adding: "We're going to get fried in this meeting right here. And it's warranted." In the past three games, the Giants have allowed five touchdowns of 30 yards or longer. Giants
may be NFC's No. 1 seed, but Titans rule power rankings. Authorities searched the New Jersey home of Plaxico Burress last night and found two guns and the clothes the Giants wide receiver was wearing when he accidentally shot himself in the leg last month, according to multiple reports. Dec 23 Don't
bother trying to tell Tom Coughlin that the Giants'
game in Minnesota on Sunday is "meaningless." Sure, the
Giants (12-3) will be the No.1 seed in the NFC no matter
what happens in the regular-season finale, thanks to their
34-28 overtime victory over the Carolina Panthers. But that
doesn't mean the Giants won't have something to play for
against the Vikings (9-6). There's always something to play
for, as far as Coughlin is concerned. Several veteran players seem to be counting on time off to rest and rehabilitate. "We have to take advantage of the rest," Jacobs said. "Not a lot of players have the opportunity to get that kind of rest, so we have to take advantage of it and get ready to go. We have to get the guys that are going to play, I don't know who it is next week, and get them ready to go." Justin Tuck, for one, is dealing with a shin problem. The normally energetic defensive end played in the overtime win against the Panthers despite feeling the unpleasant effects of the flu. It seemed to exact a toll, since Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme had a lot of time in the pocket. "He is not vomiting or anything like that today, but he certainly is still drained," Coughlin said. "I am sure that it is going to take a couple of days to get his strength back." The
Giants had their bye the fourth week of the season,
so this will be their 13th consecutive game without a break.
The last nine games were against teams that have winning
records - a brutal stretch. Coughlin has only one obligation
right now: Get the Giants to January as healthy as possible.
He can't worry about any implications Sunday's game has
on other teams trying to get to the playoffs. He says, "You
have to be playing your best football at this time of the
year," but the Giants took care of that by beating Carolina
in overtime in the battle for the No.1 seed. They have established
momentum going into the playoffs. Since the institution of the current postseason format with the 1990 season, only 18 of the 36 No. 1 seeds made the Super Bowl and just eight of them won it. But of the 72 teams that earned first-round byes, 55 won their divisional round match to get to the conference title game. So while the 2007 Giants and 2005 Steelers, who captured Super Bowls after three playoff road wins, may have proven all things plausible, getting hot doesn't have the same premium as getting rested, healthy, and ready. Long before Giants running back Derrick Ward learned to sidestep tacklers in the NFL, he was dodging bullets in south central Los Angeles. "It was Bloods on one side of the street and Crips on the other side," said his sister Tameka Ward, 25. "I remember me and him actually sleeping on the floor because there were shootings." Ward once admitted rubbing elbows with gang members as a teen, according to published reports. He witnessed a murder. And for part of his childhood, he locked horns with his father who abused his stepmom. "It was a really broken home," his sister told the Daily News Monday. The legal troubles of Giants' star Plaxico Burress continued to mount Monday when a Florida woman sued him, claiming she was injured when he slammed into her car. Alise Smith, 27, of Miami said she suffered neck and back injuries in May when a tailgating Burress rear-ended her 1997 Ford Probe with his $140,000 Mercedes-Benz. Compounding Burress' problems was that he failed to make his insurance payments and his Allstate coverage was terminated three days before the crash. Dec 22 Giants beat the Panters in OT 34-28 | GAME PHOTOS
GAME
PHOTOS
Game 15 Preview
- Giants
(11-3) vs Panthers (11-3). Dec 21 There's
not too much that differentiates the Giants from the
Panthers. They have the same 11-3 record. They have the
same bullying running attack. They have the same athletic
defense. Each team wants to run the ball. Each team wants
to stop the run. But the similarities go beyond that. Each
team is playing this game for the right to earn the top
seed in the NFC playoffs. It is, in essence, a regular-season
championship game. And before they even meet on the field,
both teams will be watching the same game to glean a clearer
picture of their playoff fate. If the Falcons beat the Vikings,
the Giants would be guaranteed a bye in the first round.
If the Vikings beat the Falcons and the Bucs lose to the
Chargers, the Panthers would clinch the NFC South title. With
their opulent new building going up next door, the Giants
could break out into a chorus of, "Be it ever so humble,
there's no place like home." Or the Panthers might offer
a version of, "Nothing could be finah than to be in Carolina
in the playoffs." Unfortunately for one, it will be singing
the blues after tonight's game at Giants Stadium to determine
home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The
Giants have not played a team with a record under .500
since beating the 49ers on Oct. 19. After facing the Panthers
tonight, the Giants close out the regular-season at Minnesota,
making for a streak of 10 consecutive games against teams
with winning records. How tough is that? The Giants will
be the first team in NFL history to play 10 straight games
in a single season against teams with a winning record entering
the game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Despite
the untimely slump, Giants coach Tom Coughlin was rambling
on excitedly about the opportunity to lock up the No. 1
seed in the upcoming playoffs. It's an envious position
to be in. Of course, the Carolina Panthers are running stride
for stride with the defending Super Bowl champions, and
they are coming into the biggest game of the season with
similar intentions. Last
time the Giants played at home, it was the wind. This
time, it could be snow and temperatures below freezing.
The good news for the Giants is that RB Brandon Jacobs,
the kind of big, bruising back well suited for these conditions,
should be ready to play Sunday after sitting out last week
with a knee injury. With a victory Sunday night, Brandon Jacobs will be able to rest for the first round of the postseason and likely next week against the Vikings in a game that will be meaningless for the Giants. That'll allow his knee to heal before the divisional round on the weekend of Jan. 10-11. The rest will also allow Jacobs to remain healthy as he approaches another big event: free agency. So far, he's yet to receive a contract extension and could be playing his last couple of games as a Giant. Jacobs has watched as the Giants' organization has locked up Justin Tuck, Chris Snee and Corey Webster to lucrative extensions over the past year, with Webster's five-year, $43.5-million deal coming before the game against Dallas last Sunday. Running the ball will be the way to go tonight, but when Eli Manning has to throw, he often will seek out slot receiver Smith for the shorter tosses. The second-year man leads the Giants in receptions with 52 and has been dependable all season. While Carolina also will try to run the ball first, Jake Delhomme won't forget about his Pro Bowl wideout who leads the team with 70 catches despite being suspended for the first two games. This Smith is averaging nearly 18 yards per catch and probably will get double-team consideration most of the evening. You won't see Tiki Barber interviewing Tom Coughlin Sunday night on NBC's "Football Night in America" pregame before Panthers-Giants. Barber, exiled from the FNIA studio, for a role as Giants "beat reporter" (is his next step out the door?), wanted to interview his former coach. Coughlin said no. Good for him. For his decision Coughlin deserves a standing ovation. The
Post's Steve Serby chatted with the Giants' 24-year-old
starting tight end Kevin Boss. Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, will not be at Giants Stadium Sunday night for the game of the year in the NFC, and John Mara will miss seeing him. "He is a great guy," Mara said. "Of the people I've met in my lifetime in the league, he's right at or near the top. He is as genuine as they come. He is one of the most beloved owners in the league." Richardson, 72, is home in Charlotte hoping to clear the waiting list for a heart transplant. Former Giants NFC East News Dec 20 The
Giants won three playoff games on the road to get to
the Super Bowl last season, so if they have to go on the
road again in January, they won't be fazed. They can handle
the flights, the hotels, the ear-splitting crowd noise and
the intimidating buildings. Still, that's a pain they'd
rather inflict on somebody else. "We're comfortable on the
road, but that doesn't mean we want to go on the road,"
guard Chris Snee said. "Everyone would like to have the
road come through the Meadowlands." Coach
Tom Coughlin said Jacobs will play "barring something
that would be a setback" and that Robbins "has gotten better
towards the end of the week." Hixon is "a little bit sore"
and, like Robbins, will be a game-time decision. It would
not be surprising if all three players were in uniform and
on the field. Robbins, who did not play last week battling
through a shoulder issue, lost strength in his left shoulder,
but he said it is coming back. He declared himself "good
to go." It's imperative to get Robbins back and plugging
the middle against such a formidable rushing team. There is a time for words, but this is not it, so Kareem McKenziechose economy over verbosity when announcing what he, his fellow offensive linemen and, indeed, the entire Giants team must do tomorrow night at a cold Giants Stadium. "Put up or shut up," the right tackle said. That's even more succinct than the "Talk is cheap, play the game" slogan coach Tom Coughlin hammered into his team through last year's incredible Super Bowl run. At stake against the surging Panthers in the 15th week of the season is the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Midway
through the second quarter of last Sunday's loss to
the Cowboys, on second-and-11 from the Dallas 33-yard line,
Giants quarterback Eli Manning faced a blitz from two linebackers.
Manning threw to tight end Kevin Boss, the hot read, for
what could have been a gain close to the first-down marker.
But Boss' back was to Manning, and when the tight end turned
around, he saw the ball fly past him. Steve
Smith, meet Steve Smith. The Giants wide receiver will
face the Carolina Panthers wide receiver of the same name
when the teams meet at Giants Stadium on Sunday night. Smith
(the Panthers' one) is a more accomplished NFL player than
Smith (the Giants' one). But Smith (the Giants' one) has
something Smith (the Panthers' one) doesn't have. A Super
Bowl ring. Dec 19 Last
weekend the Giants signed cornerback Corey Webster to
a five-year, $43.5 million contract. This week he'll have
to start earning it. Webster will be lined up against Panthers
receiver Steve Smith, and he also will be a key part of
trying to stop Carolina's potent running game. "We have
certain plays where we have to set the edge for the running
backs not to get outside," Webster said. "I think everybody
has to be disciplined in their fits. No peek-a-booing. Everybody
needs to know what gaps they have." As for covering Smith,
Webster said he's a "game-breaker." The Giants are set to face perhaps the NFL's best one-two rushing punch, as well as one of the league's most dangerous wide receivers, when they play the Panthers on Sunday night. So which do you try to stop: The running back duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who have rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns this season or receiver Steve Smith, who has put up his typical numbers (70, 1,229, six TDs)? If you're the Giants, in desperate need of a victory over Carolina, you'd like to do both, but defensive tackle Fred Robbins wants to make sure they at least don't let Williams and Stewart beat them. It's a short walk between the Giants' locker room and the practice bubble, maybe a couple hundred yards. When the players make that trek later this morning they should take the time to look around. Rain. Snow. Wind. Cold. The Giants better get used it. The forecast for Sunday's game against the Panthers calls for temperatures in the 20s, a wind chill in the single digits, and perhaps that dreaded "wintry mix." There's no forecast yet for the weather on Jan. 18, but it's a fair assumption it won't be suitable for tank tops and flip-flops. That's the day of the NFC Championship Game and that's the game the Giants will host ... if they can win this next game to clinch the top seed and if they advance that far. It
seems as if it was just a few weeks ago that Giants
offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride was being hailed as
a genius, as he dialed up the plays that led Big Blue to
become the most potent offense in the league. Actually,
it was, but that was before Plaxico Burress' suspension
and Brandon Jacobs' injury. In their two most recent losses,
the Giants' offense has looked anything but extraordinary.
Before
the Giants went to work this week, place-kicker John
Carney and punter Jeff Feagles were both congratulated for
making it back to the Pro Bowl. Their teammates were remarkably
polite and sincere. It's probably not going to last. Carney
and Feagles are normally subjected to any number of AARP
jokes in the locker room. They are recognized almost daily
for their longevity. There's usually no holding back. Dec 18 There's one name that has been spilling from coach Tom Coughlin's lips with increasing frequency over the last few weeks, and it belongs to Mario Manningham. "We need to have Mario Manningham involved more," Coughlin said yesterday. The rookie receiver has been involved in two plays in the last two games - a loss of 12 yards on an end-around run and a loss of 1 on a screen. Two weeks ago, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride suggested that Manningham was slow to develop after missing most of training camp with a leg injury. Now with Domenik Hixon missing practice with an ankle/foot injury and Sinorice Moss sidelined by a calf strain, Manningham is the No.3 receiver whether he's ready or not. It's December, and every NFL team has its bumps and bruises. But the Giants, more than others, require some serious healing time between now and the real games. A victory on Sunday means the Giants wouldn't play another meaningful game until the weekend of Jan. 10-11, three weeks later. That is a schedule lifted right off a doctor's prescription pad. "It would mean a lot," said Hixon, whose ankle is giving him all kinds of trouble. "If we had that time, we would be at 100%." The
Giants lost two of their three best offensive players
and, duh, the points dried up. So did the praise for their
renowned depth, which now looks as ordinary as the team
did against Philadelphia and Dallas. None of the Giants
receivers ever will get open again. The same offensive line
that won a Super Bowl is now proving to have been overrated
all along, and the team clearly is overmatched by the one
coming to town Sunday night to steal away the home-field
advantage and NFC berth in the Super Bowl. Brandon
Jacobs must have talked to the right people. "I don't
want to plead this week," the Giants' running back said
yesterday of expressing a desire to play on Sunday. "There
is no 'choice.' I want to go. Whoever I have to talk to
in order to get this verdict, that's what I'm going to do."
Jacobs returned to practice for the first time since aggravating
his left knee problem in the game against the Eagles and
hopping off the field early in the third quarter. He missed
all of the team's practices last week and was left behind
when the Giants traveled to Dallas for Sunday night's game. During the season, the Giants will routinely bring in a handful of NFL hopefuls for mid-week workouts. It's rarely headline-grabbing news, but Wednesday it was different. Joe Horn, formerly one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, was part of the group. The key word: formerly. The Giants opted not to sign the 36-year-old after Wednesday's workout, preferring to stick with who they have. For weeks, the Giants have been talking about getting the ball in rookie Mario Manningham's hands. Manningham said the lack of chances has been "frustrating, but I'm not going to let it frustrate me because I know how good of a team we are." Good enough without Horn? The Giants will find out. Dec 17 A
year ago, only one Giants or Jets player -- Giants defensive
end Osi Umenyiora -- earned a spot in the Pro Bowl. But
this season, with the two teams sitting atop their respective
divisions and both quite possibly headed for the postseason,
is a marked contrast. The Jets placed a league-high and
franchise-record seven players in the Pro Bowl and the Giants
will send an NFC-best six to Hawaii. Peyton
and Eli Manning were voted to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday,
the first time quarterback-playing brothers have been chosen
for the same all-star game. The Giants also landed the oldest
Pro Bowler ever, 44-year-old kicker John Carney, who was
signed at the start of the season as a short-term fill-in
for the injured Lawrence Tynes. He has made 27 of 29 field
goals-the two he missed were blocked-and has kept the now-recovered
Tynes inactive for all but two games. | Eli Manning's Giants career in 43 Photos | The Giants may be slumping a bit down the stretch of the season, but they are soaring as far as recognition. Clearly, the Giants rolling to an 11-1 record and clinching the NFC East so early did not go unnoticed among fans, players and coaches, who all vote for the Pro Bowl. They won the Super Bowl last season despite only defensive end Osi Umenyiora named to the NFC team. Umenyiora went down for the season with a knee injury during the summer. After
Sunday's loss to the Cowboys, Giants coach Tom Coughlin
was asked if there are enough weapons on his offense without
Plaxico Burress. "There's got to be," Coughlin said. "This
is our team." Well, their team added another potential weapon
Tuesday in former Dolphins wide receiver Derek Hagan, who
signed a two-year contract with the Giants after working
out for them last week. Brandon
Jacobs may say he's going to play Sunday. He might even
say he really really wants to play Sunday. But if the last
week has taught him anything, it's that it doesn't matter
what he thinks, says or wants. And that's not OK with the
big guy. "They just told me no," he said of the decision
that left him behind for the game against the Cowboys this
past weekend, his face tensing up into an angry third-and-1
snarl. "I wasn't [OK with it]. Not at all. I wanted to get
out and play." Former Giants Dec 16 You
can start here with the Giants, or at least what the
Giants have become lately: If they lose to the Panthers
at home Sunday night that makes it three losses in a row.
And you know how many teams have lost three in a row in
December and then gone on to win the Super Bowl? None, that's
how many. Monday,
when an already banged-up Eli Manning watched film of
the Giants' 20-8 loss to the Cowboys Sunday night, he was
dealt another blow. "Once I looked at the film, I got more
upset," the quarterback said on a conference call Monday
afternoon. "We are leaving plays out there on the field.
That is something that we can't afford to do in these tough
games." Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning will figure it out. Don't worry, be happy. The Giants are going to be just fine. This time last year, I would've believed a journalist could throw his size 10 shoes at President Bush from point-blank range before I would've believed the Giants' coach and quarterback were the right men to pull their team from the depths of a late-season crisis. On this date in 2007, Dec. 16, Manning spent a miserable Sunday night throwing 34 incomplete passes, the most any NFL quarterback had managed in 40 years. This holiday season was supposed to be a festive one for the Giants. No tension. No worry. No nail-biting, must-win games. They were running away with the NFC when December started. Now they're testy, angry, embarrassed and in danger of slipping all the way to third in their conference. And they're not exactly sure how, in two short weeks, everything has changed so dramatically. What happened to the Giants' offense? It's like a recipe. Take away a few key ingredients and you're left with a bad taste in your mouth. So with Brandon Jacobs sidelined by a knee injury and Plaxico Burress sidelined by his thing, the Giants' offense just isn't melding into a tasty delight. How much do the Giants miss Jacobs? He's their identity, the player who pounds the ball and exemplifies the team's persona.The Giants have won without Plaxico Burress. The Giants have won without Brandon Jacobs. But winning without Burress and Jacobs? That's asking too much. It was Sunday night, when the Giants' offense spent another week in reverse during a 20-8 loss at Dallas. But while Burress and his disciplinary suspension have no chance of making a return this season, the Giants can only hope their hard-charging running back is recovered enough from a nagging knee injury to be back on the field for the next huge game. Seeing how their running game has devolved into chaos without Brandon Jacobs, the Giants are eager to get their bruising running back on the field for Sunday's game against the Panthers, which shapes up as a battle for supremacy in the NFC. Coach Tom Coughlin did not make any promises that Jacobs will be available for practice when the team gets back together tomorrow, but did acknowledge that the sagging offense misses him.
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