What a game. From the edge of my chair I watched as nothing went the right way for the Giants. Heart beating as Brandon Jacobs lost a fumble and watched returned for a TD by Kerry Rhodes. 7-0 Jets! The Jets later get the ball back and drive into Giants territory and attempt a field goal only to see it missed once again by Mike Nugent!

The second quarter brought more of the same. After Brandon Jacobs and Derek Ward moved the ball down field, Ward had a nice run for a TD to tie the game. The Jets then move the ball and hit Brad Smith for a 16 yard TD. 14-7 Jets now and the Giants get the ball with time in the half. This is where it really gets bad!

Rather than run the ball, the Giants elect to throw a short pass. INTERCEPTED! JETS BALL! The Jets had time to drive the ball and possibly get a touch down. Instead, they elected to be concervative and play slow. Mike Nugent hits a 47 yard field goal and the Jets walk into the locker room with a 17-7 half-time lead. It gets better from here!

Starting the second half, the Giants get the ball and move it down field with precision. Brandon Jacobs and Derek Ward combine to move the ball effectively with a pass mixed in by Eli Manning. The drive culminates with a Jocobs 19 yard run for a TD. Jets 17 Giants 14! That is not all.

The ensuing kickoff is returned 98 yards by Leon Washington. Now the game is Jets 24 and Giants 14. Now it does not look good as a Giants fan. The Jets offensive line has been able to protect Chad Pennington the whole game. There has been little or no pressure on Chad and he has been able step into the pocket and pass, almost at will. What happened to the DEFENSE the Giants showed last week?

Moving on, the Giants get the ball and are once again able to move down field a find Jeremy Shockey for a thirteen yard TD. Now it begins to look a little better. Jets 24, Giants 21. Giants are in the game once more.

The fourth quarter was all Giants. Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress for a 53 yard touchdown and near the end of the game when the Jets were driving, Aaron Ross returns an interception 43 yards for the game clinching TD.

There is the game summary. What happened? The Jets offensive line did a fantastic job of protecting Chad Pennington. The offensive scheme kept Chad away from harm. Get rid of the ball quick, hand offs, etc. Result was only one sack on Pennington and very few hurries. Think that doesn’t change a game?

Over all I have to say the Giants played poorly in the first half. Eli Manning had a big 0 for QB rating. He ended up with 186 yards completed and 1 interception. Not a bad second half.

Bottom line is the Giants got a much needed win. Being 3-2 is much better than 2-3. Dallas is running away so far and unless someone beats them, the Giants MUST win every game they are supposed to win. This was one of them!!

See you all next week after the Atlanta game.

[Edit] I forgot to add that the D E F E N S E played well. They only gave up 7 points. That is pretty damn good! I should have said
that originally, but it slipped my mind! The Giants D is once again a proud group of players. They are becomming the GIANTS again!
[End Edit]

I didn’t think the Giants against the Eagles was going to be a pretty game. Donavan McNab was going to throw all over the place against a very suspect Giants secondary. BOY WAS I WRONG!

Giants regained the “D” in D E F E N S E! 12 sacks. Count ‘em folks! Osi Umenyiora had 6 by himself! So…how did this suddenly happen? Take a look at the second half of last weeks game against Washington. The Giants defense came up huge in the second half against the Redskins. It was like they all of a sudden “Got It”!

Steve Sagnuolo’s defense seems to be germinating with his side of the ball. The blitz package continuously put pressure on McNab. There were even coverage sacks as the maligned secondary kept Eagle receivers from getting open. There is a HUGE change in itself!

Eli Manning and the offense did not do fantastic although Eli had another very nice game. I have to attribute the lack of scoring to a very good Eagle defense. Eli hit Plaxico Buress for a touch down which was all they needed. The BEST thing was the throw up high where only Plax could get it! Why don’t they do that more often? Hey, Plasxico Buress is 6′ 5″, but he is usally against 5′ 10″ corners! That should be exploited more often! JMHO.

Back to the offense for a minute. Although they only scored the 1 touch down, they did move the ball and eat up time. Lawerence Tynes missed an extra point and a field goal. That didn’t matter but, it will some game. Derek Ward continues to fill in admirably for Brandon Jacobs, and we are still not sure what Jacobs can do, the running game still needs a little better production.

All in all I have to rate the game as a B+. It appears the PRIDE of the defense has returned. The offense was very good, but not great. That is the reason for my rating.

Next the Giants have “Gang Green” or the New York Jets coming in. The JETS just suffered an excruciating loss to Buffalo. Don’t think for a second this is a gimmie game. Chad Pennington is playing extremely well as well as the Jets defense. This will not be a push over for either team.

Be back next week with my unathorative review on my favorite NFL team! The NEW YORK GIANTS!

GB
Walter Gavurnik

The Giants finally get a win. A good one too since it was in the division. Although I was not overly impressed with the defense, it DEFINITELY looked better than the first 2 games. The defense seemed to click a little better and pretty much covered assignments from what I could see on TV.

While I am not yet convinced the Giants defense is back, I do have to congratulate that FANTASTIC goal-line stand. 3 times they kept Campbell and the Redskins from tying the game. That showed heart and guts to me! Maybe the whipped puppies got some of that fight back! (Pleeeeze, this is not a reference to the Michael Vick story! That was despicable!)

The offense continued clicking after a not so good first half. Plaxico Burress dropped what, 5 passes? I lost count so I’m not sure. In the second half he did catch 5 passes and one was the game winner.

Eli Manning had the 2 picks. That’s ok since he was able to overcome them and complete 21 of 36 with that big td to Plaxico Burress! So far it looks like Eli is comfortable this year in his leadership role. He has been moving the offense and scoring points. Something the Giants have needed!

Derek Ward is not Tiki Barber. From what I have seen so far, he is a work-hoarse. Derek has been able to move the ball and gain yardage when he gets the ball. 26 for 94 is not Tiki, it shows he can take the carries and get yardage.

Waiting until next week to provide a more in depth analysis. We have the Eagles to contend with next.

After further review……………………
I have some new comments about Sundays game against the Packers!

Amani Toomer had his fau pas with the stupid penalty after being pushed. Amani Toomer he made a stupid mistake. You HAVE to like that when a player ADMITS to his mistakes! On the other hand, Jeremy Shockey did NOT make the same response. He decided to tell the media that “This is the way I play” (paraphrase)  Well let me say this about that! A TEAM member does not use personal thoughts for DUMB mistakes!! Team members say what Amani Toomer said!

I love Jeremy Shockey as a tight end. He is very good at his position. He COULD be GREAT if he were a “TEAM PLAYER” Team players admit to their individual mistakes and not place them on “PERSONAL” factors!

My opinion is simple, if you don’t want to play for the TEAM, don’t play at all!! Hey Michael Strahan, did you HEAR THAT? Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Buress, DID YOU HEAR THAT! The TEAM which is paying your ENORMOUS salaries NEED YOU at camp!

I have so much more to say about the TEAM thing, but I just don’t have the time to write it right now. These guys KNOW what they need to do if they want to win football games. Apparently all they want is collect a paycheck!!

The GIANTS are caput as far as I can see. The defense has folded because Tom Coughlin is too tough! This reminds me of the Dan Reeves era where everyone quit on him.

There is a SEVERE problem when the team controlls the coach. Salaries have created the perception in players minds that if they don’t want to do it, they don’t have to. That to me creates OVER-PAID CRY BABIES! [Read] Tiki Barber!

I will shut up about this for now. Let’s see what happens next Sunday.

GB
Walter Gavurnik

While watching the Giants game today, I was talking to a good friend about the defense. One thing we both say in common was the lack of coverage. Soft zone type “D”, nobody bouncing/hitting the receivers at the line. What was the outcome? Favre hit 9 for 9 underneath for a TD!

What happened to making adjustments? Green Bay was able to do this ALL-GAME-LONG! 5 to 10 yard completions underneath! This is not Coughlin, it is however the defensive co-ordinator’s problem. Steve Spagnuolo should have made some sort of adjustment with the defense.

Just like the game against the Cowboys with Witten catching EVERYTHING, Brett Favre was able to go underneath and NO ADJUSTMENT was EVER made……….[Fuming here!!]

Does anyone else see what has happened in the first 2 games? ZERO adjustment by the defense which anyone watching could see needed to be done!

DO NOT blame Tom Coughlin for this! This problem is SOLEY on the DEFENSE!

K……….Calming now. Eli Manning did a great job. Jeremy Shockey had a great game. Amani Toomer did very well other than the STUPID 15 yarder!

Again, the Giants have ALWAYS lived on defense. They go where the defense takes them!

BTW, did you see the picture of the defense after the drive by Green Bay? They “Looked” like they gave up!! Where are the defensive leaders? Michael Strahan was sitting there looking like a whipped puppy! Strahan should have been up “rousing” the defense rather than sitting there looking defeated! That was the most telling shot in the game!

I really want you people to tell me what you think about the Giants thus far. My opinion is they are pretty much done for the year. Offense is clicking, but without stopping the oposing team on defense, YOU LOSE!

GB
Walter Gavurnik

What can I say……………….. The injury bug continues………………..

1. Osi Umenyiora
2. Brandon Jacobs
3. Kevin Dockery
4. Eli Manning

Am I blaming the lose to injury? HELL NO! I blame it on the defense and the lack of ability to STOP anyone. If the defense continues like this, they are in for a LOOOONG year and some early time at home! Read on…

My GAWD I love this! Tiki Barber, Eli Manning! Eli Manning, Tiki Barber! I just keeps going back and forth. I really need to give my take on the whole situation.

Eli as a reserved type of person. Not outgoing at all. He does what he does and that is all………. Tiki, on the other hand, is very outgoing. Tiki does not worry about what he says.

This is how I see it, Tiki Barber made a statement about Eli Manning. Was is a bad statement? NO!! Not at all. However, what Tiki has done is to create a MEDIA thing which is what he gets paid to do! You think this is wrong? Think again!

Eli Manning plays football! Tiki Barber is now an announcer! Hmmmmmmmm………………………..Let’s think about this for a second……………………Time UP! If you are working for the MEDIA, what would you do? Kiss ass or create controversy?

IMHO, Tiki did EXACTLY what he is supposed to do. TIKI created headlines. I do not think for a minute that he is angry about the return statements. Eli simply helped Tiki create some news by replying to his comments.

I love TIKI and what he did with the GIANTS! 1650 is a pretty good number, even if his heart was not there!

The only thing I have left to say is GOD bless you TIKI. May your new endeavor treat you well! Eli, could you keep up the hard-ass attitude for a little

We are going into the season shortly and we, as fans, NEED to know what Michael Strahan is doing!!!!
HEY MIKE! If you happen to read this, TELL US! Look man, we love you and what you have done for the team. Do not leave us on the edge!  You, at 80%  will be better than what is there as proven in game 1 of the preseason. Let’s hope it does not get worse!

Ok, with that said, I think we will be OK at running back, even without TIKI!  Tiki did a WONDERFUL job, but he decided it was time to move on. GOD bless you TIKI and thanks for your wonderful contributions! Derek Ward looks like he is stepping up a little. That would be pretty cool. Brandon Jacob is a good back with power and speed. I have to think they will complement each other in a great way! You 2 need to make it all happen for the Giants!

Eli Manning, this is where there may be a problem. My thoughts on this are simple. The Giants gave up too much to get Eli simply becuase he is Payton’s brother. THIS AINT RACING PEOPLE!  Blood lines are not the same! OK!

I have seen enough out of ELI to believe he can be very good. It’s TIME for him to begin!! Get rid of the “Happy Feet” and create some plays for the team. THROW the ball away if nothing is there!  The sidelines are your friend at times! Use it when you must. Incompletions are better than interceptions!

That’s about it for now, until the next exibition. May not add more then either. I am not an exibition type person. I want to see the REAL THING!

Keep it going guys and make us fans proud! You got it, FLAUNT IT!!