Sun Nov 20, 1:00 pm (FOX) - Philadelphia at Giants
Last week - The perfect storm.
Willie Ponder fumbled away the opening kickoff. That was the start of the rainfall. Later in the first period Eli Manning threw the first of his four interceptions, and the clouds grew darker.
Jay Feely missed a 28-yarder wide right, and things felt chillier. Jay Feely had another bad kick to start the second half and his short, line-drive kickoff was returned down the right sideline
for a touchdown, and the waves grew much higher. A fourth quarter touchdown pass on Minnesota's five yard line was nullified by one of the many offensive line penalties, and followed up by another
interception, and the ship was having trouble keeping afloat.
The defense held the Minnesota offense to just 6 total yards in the first half, and only 95 total yards before the final drive where they gave up 42 yards and the winning field goal, and then
the Giants were sunk. In all, the Giants allowed Minnesota to become the first NFL team to return a punt, kickoff and interception for touchdowns in the same game. The only good news is that
perfect storms don't come along very often, or unless Jim Fassel is your head coach.
Giants - Eagles.
It took all the way until week 10 of a 16 week season for these two division teams to meet up, and after a two week space, before any bad blood will be forgotten, they'll go at it again. In
that two game interim, both teams will face the first-place Seattle Seahawks. The Giants have a division showdown with Dallas, and the Eagles host Green Bay. The Eagles are coming off a Monday
night game where they blew a chance to beat Dallas, and to show the world that they can win without Terrell Owens. Now, because of their quarterback's sports hernia and groin injury , they
have to show that they can win without both Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb.
Replacements.
Former Rutgers quarterback Mike McMahon will get the start for the Eagles. McMahon has a 1-6 starting record, and has completed just 44 percent of his passes in his 22 career appearances,
accumulating 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Without McNabb throwing and Terrell Owens catching (Passing offense ranking -- 282.1 ypg, 1st in the NFL) the Eagles will switch to the running
game (Rushing offense -- 72.2 yards per game, 31st in NFL). The Giants defense ranks sixth in the NFL against the run, has given up only 102 yards in the past three games combined, and hasn't
allowed a touchdown in three games.
Keep the pressure off Eli Manning.
This sounds like a message to the offensive linemen, but actually they're doing a fine job. We're talking to the offensive coordinator John Hufnagel, and Tom Coughlin. Eli Manning, who has
gained much needed experience, still has a lot to learn. He picks up on things so well, that they can't help but give him the full pro quarterback load. Meanwhile opposing teams are spending
more time focusing on Manning, his checkoff tendencies, and other weaknesses. You can argue all you want about quarterbacks and who's better -Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger, but you can't
argue with Pittsburgh's win/loss record during the time they brought him along. As we said a few weeks ago, it's time to back off a bit.
Who are these guys?
Jeremy Shockey - nobody. Plaxico Burress - nobody. Amani Toomer - nobody. They all add up to zero if at least barely catchable balls don't come their way, and if Eli Manning plays, well, like
a nobody. If Manning can't get the ball to his offensive weapons, if he fails, they all fail. There is one offensive player who is sort of an exception to this rule - Tiki Barber. Just hand
the ball off to Tiki and you get yards. Manage a short flip or toss to Tiki, and you get even more yards. That will move the chains along and keep drives going.
Tiki Barber.
Tiki Barber was the one standout player on the offense in last week's game. He rushed for 95 yards on 23 attempts and scored one touchdown. Tiki led all the Giants receivers, catching 8 passes
for 111 yards on short screen and dump-off passes. Just think about this, Amani Toomer with 1 year more than Tiki Barber, has just 1 more catch than him. It's time to go back to featuring
Tiki Barber as the main threat for the Giants.
Right now the opposition has Eli Manning figured out. Let's force them to gameplan for Tiki Barber once again and take some focus off Eli Manning. Big plays, nice as they are, do need some
setup and a bit of misdirection. Pittsburgh seems to have the right formula for bringing young quarterbacks along. Plaxico Burress didn't like it because it didn't feature him as much as he
would have liked, but look at their win/loss record.
Bob Tisch.
Bob Tisch passed away Nov. 15 from brain cancer at age 79, exactly three weeks after 89-year-old Wellington Mara died. Flags in and around Giants Stadium will fly at half mast in honor of
Giants co-owner Robert Tisch through Sunday. In addition, there will be a moment of silence prior to the game against the Eagles. The Giants will wear a combination patch honoring both their
late owners, Wellington T. Mara and P. Robert Tisch. The white patch features the initials "WTM" and "PRT" bracketing the team's "NY" logo. The players had worn "WTM" patches the past three
weeks.
Notes.
Giants punter Jeff Feagles will play in his 282nd consecutive game, tying the former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jim Marshall.
Feagles can break the record the following week against Seattle.
Coming into this game, Amani Toomer has 499 career catches, and Tiki Barber has 498.
Tiki Barber has rushed for 100 yards in each of his last three games against Philadelphia.
Eli Manning has a TD pass in 10 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NFL.
Michael Strahan has 18 1/2 sacks vs. the Eagles, his most against any club.
Eagles Brian Westbrook has gained 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his last three games against the Giants.
He has averaged 5.4 yards per carry in six career games against New York.
Eagles have beaten the Giants four straight times.
Eagles have won 12 of their last 16 division road games.
In the last three seasons, the Giants have faced seven backup quarterbacks and lost six times.
2005 Nov 13 Brad Johnson, Vikings 24, Giants 21 - Nov 6 Cody Pickett, Giants 24, 49ers 6
2004 Dec 26 Jon Kitna, Bengals 23, NY 22 - Dec 5 Patrick Ramsey, Redskins 31, NY 7 - Nov 7 Craig Krenzel, Bears 28, NY 21
2003 Dec 7 Tim Hasselbeck, Redskins 20, Giants 7 - Nov 9 Kurt Kittner, Falcons 27, Giants 7
Next Game.
Nov 27,Giants at Seahawks 4:15 PM - FOX.
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