NFC East Jinx?
This will be the eighth game the Jets play this season, and half of them will have been against the NFC East teams. So far the Jets have lost each one and are 0-3 against the NFC East, and split at 2-2 against the AFC. The Giants might opt to do the same thing other opponents have done against the Jets, and that is run the ball a lot. The NFC East has been especially troublesome for the Jets who allowed 194 yards rushing last week in their 24-17 loss to the Eagles. They gave up 160 yards rushing in their first game of the season to Washington, losing 16-13. They lost their fourth game straight to Dallas 17-6, giving up 202 rushing yards, and now for game eight they face the Giants.
We called on Jim Fassel to use some 'Thunder and Lightning' in the form of Tiki Barber and Dorsey Levens in last week's game against the Vikings, but he chose to go with Kerry Collins hot passing arm to the tune of 375 yards and two touchdowns. Fassel used a predicable running game just to keep the Vikings honest and the press off his back for not using Levens in more games. Now after a 29-17 win, the second guessing has subsided, and we look for Fassel to use Barber and Levens as if he had this strategy planned out against the Jets from day one.

Sacks and the Jets.
It might catch you by surprise, but the 2-5 Jets lead the NFL with 26 sacks. It's an impressive job done by the Jets defense considering that their opponents have thrown only 178 passes against them, which represents the lowest total in the league. That's all bad news for Jim Fassel's patched together offensive line that has to protect Kerry Collins who has thrown the most passes in the league (293), even with the bye week taking away one game.
The one break the Giants get is that John Abraham, a two-time Pro Bowl player with 6 sacks this season, is suffering from a strained groin and won't be playing in this game. Abraham came away with 3 1/2-sacks against the Eagles just last week and will be missed. Of course the Jets still have defensive end Shaun Ellis whose 9 sacks makes him the NFL leader. If the Giants offense runs into trouble, Fassel may be forced to keep the tight ends and running backs in at times for added protection and that would hurt the passing game. Ellis goes up against rookie right tackle Ian Allen who was back in the starting lineup last week after being benched for poor play following the season opener, and the Vikings got only one sack. For this game Fassel says, "There are times when (Allen's) going to have to block (Ellis). Every time we run a route, I can't do things to help him. He's going to have to hold up on him."

Sacks and the Giants.
By the way, a 3-4 team, the Giants, are second in the league with 24 sacks. Michael Strahan has 7 and he's on a hot streak racking up two in each of the last three games. Strahan's total of 103.5 sacks ranks 17th since the statistic became official in 1982, and it's the third time in his career that he has had multiple sacks in at least three consecutive games.
He attributes his slow start to the broken toe that sidelined him during the preseason. Strahan said when asked about it. "It was tough. It bothered me, but after that bye week it seems to have healed up pretty good. Now I can do everything that I could do before and not have to worry about getting up on the toe and after the play kind of standing there and hoping the pain goes away. Now it feels great and I have no problems with it."
Strahan will be facing a stingy Jet offense that has allowed only 8 sacks over seven games, the fifth fewest in the league.

Chad Pennington is back.
Fact is the Giants are lucky to be catching Chad Pennington at this time on only his second game back from the injury he suffered in their preseason game. Pennington played a little more than half a game last week, and blamed himself for the loss when he threw an interception that set up the go ahead touchdown for the Eagles. Pennington takes a lot on his shoulders and brings a spark to the Jets team. The Giants will try to rattle him, but he's a pro and only the rust from not playing can hurt him.

Notes.
Kerry Collins ranks first in the NFL in passes with 293, and completions with 170 and has 9 TDs and 10 interceptions.

At this current pace Collins would finish the season with 669 passes, 388 completions and 4,301 passing yards which would break his own Giants records of 568 passes, 325 completions and 4,073 yards.

Kerry Collins has been sacked only 12 times in 7 games.

Giants completed just 15 passes of more than 20 yards in six games prior to the Vikings and had 7 against them.

Jets give up an average of 158.9 rushing yards per game.

Giants have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 13 games, the NFL's second-longest streak.

Jeremy Shockey with 37 receptions leads all NFL tight ends

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