The Giants - as tough as the competition.
Unfortunately it's for better or worse. This week they host Kansas City, but does it really matter? The Giants tend to play up or down to any level of competition they face. Last week they faced the Eagles, a team coming off a 42-0 home loss, racked with injuries, and as you know, the score was 17-17 at halftime. It was 23-23 at the end of the 4th quarter, and so in overtime, thanks to Osi Umenyiora knocking the ball out of Eagles quarterback Mike McMahon's hand for a fumble, the Giants were able to come up with a field goal to win it 26-23.
Overall, the Giants had 28 first downs, 437 total yards,and converted 11 of 19 third downs. They had the ball for 43:30, but couldn't put the Eagles away. After barely escaping with another win, it's sometimes hard to realize that the the Giants are actually in first place in the NFC East with a 9-4 record and are (maybe) headed to the playoffs. See, the last sentence doesn't even feel comfortable without that 'maybe' word thrown in.

Jay Feeley is back - but we don't want him.
He's back on target, but we don't want Feeley to kick four field goals like he did last week. Feeley was on, but the offense wasn't. Eli Manning led the Giants to touchdowns on his first two red zone possessions. Then the last three before overtime ended in field goals. The Giants had a first down with the ball on the Eagles 7 yard line - field goal. The Giants had first down on the Eagles 2 yard line - field goal. The Giants with first down on the Eagles 17 - field goal and then in overtime, the final field goal to win. Six trips inside the 20 against the Eagles and the Giants came away with 2 touchdowns and 4 field goals. The Giants had 3 red zone possessions against Dallas the week prior and scored 1 touchdown in three red zone possessions against the Cowboys Dec. 4.

Eli Manning - we want him back.
In his first four games this season, Manning passed for 9 touchdowns and had only 2 interceptions. The Giants were 3-1, and even in that loss in San Diego, Eli Manning looked good enough to draw some reluctant praise from the opposition seeing him play first hand. Things were looking pretty good. Since then Eli has thrown 12 touchdowns and has had 13 interceptions. Last week Eli threw 3 of those interceptions to keep the Eagles in the game, and he had only one touchdown pass.
Eli Manning seems to know what he has to do, but is having trouble doing it. "Just falling away and throwing it, I can't do that," Manning has said. "I have to keep my feet and keep moving forward so I can get some power on my throws." This would be a good time for Eli to get it all together. Kansas City is ranked sixth against the run but 30th versus the pass.

Willie Ponder is back - does Coughlin want him?
Willie Ponder was back in the lineup returning kickoffs after being inactive for three games. Maybe feeling a little self conscious, he muffed the opening kickoff, but recovered, and he returned five kicks for 95 yards against the Eagles. Ponder still doesn't know why they decided to sit him down in favor of Chad Morton. He was last year's league-leading kickoff return man, and before the benching, the league's third-leading kickoff returner with a 27-yard average on 30 kickoff returns. "They still haven't said anything," He said. "Honestly and truly, nothing." Ponder is now averaging 25.9 yards per return this year.

Trent Green, Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison.
These guys can really wear a defense down. Over the past 4 games, Trent Green has averaged a 111 quarterback efficiency rating, and is third in the NFL with 3,287 yards passing. Kansas City has racked up over 400 yards in each game, and they lead the NFL in total yardage, averaging 380.9 yards a game.
Running back Larry Johnson has had six straight 100-yard games, which is a Kansas City team record. Tight end Tony Gonzalez leads the team with 64 catches for 737 yards, and wide receiver Eddie Kennison has 56 catches for 911 yards and 5 touchdowns. This is a bad time for the Giants to be playing without middle linebacker Antonio Pierce. They will have to rely heavily on Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora and the pass rush. The Giants sacked Eagles quarterback Mike McMahon six times last week.

Why the Giants are having trouble in the red zone.
It's all Tom Coughlin's fault. He likes to call the red zone the 'green zone' so the offense would somehow feel more comfortable playing in that area. It seems strange. No other head coach is doing that, but the Giants always listen to Tom or else pay big fines. Still, they didn't want to offend any fans who might not like this idea or feel at a loss for the color red. So the Giants switched their uniforms from blue to red. No one thought ahead to realize that with another color shoved off the field, that the football universe would become unbalanced. However, the universe always comes back at you, even worse than Tom Coughlin and the Giants were handed the 'red zone blues'. Another football universe rule is that 'red zone blues' never lead to 'Super Bowl gold'.

Notes.

Jay Feely leads all NFL kickers with 119 points.

Tiki Barber has four straight 100-yard rushing games.

Michael Strahan has 129 1/2 career sacks, three behind Lawrence Taylor.
Lawrence Taylor had 9 1/2 sacks in his rookie season, before sacks became an official stat in 1982.

Only Indianapolis, Cincinnati, San Diego and Seattle have scored more points than the Giants.

Of the Giants 40 pass plays of more than 20 yards this season, only 3 have come in their last two games.

Chiefs Larry Johnson has rushed for at least 107 yards in each of the last six games.

Giants last two season games are played on Saturday.

Next Game.
Dec 24, Giants at Redskins 1:00 PM - FOX.

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