Merry Christmas Giants fans!

As expected this was a tight game that was came right down to the end. But no fourth quarter comeback was necessary today. The Giants were ahead 10-7 at half time and never relinquished the lead. It was a huge “road” win for the Giants

-The Giants might have been able to run away with this one earlier if they weren’t on the brutal end of two big calls in the Jets favor. The first was the too many men on the field call on fourth down in the first quarter. It was the right call of course, but take that away and the Giants had a defensive touchdown. Instead, the Jets get an automatic first down and score to go up 7-0. Add it to the list of times the Giants have hurt themselves with penalties in key moments all year.

The second one was, of course, the fumble that Ross recovered and ran back. It was a very close call, but honestly I didn’t think that there was enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. Thankfully it didn’t end up costing the Giants anything since Nick Folk missed the ensuing 44-yard field goal.

Then, of course, there was the pair of incomplete pass challenges that didn’t help either. It definitely felt like there were more reviewed plays in this game than any other this season.

-After that first drop by Hakeem Nicks, did anyone else have flashbacks to last week, when early dropped passes could have changed the whole tone of the game? Luckily the Giants managed to hold it together much better than they did against the Redskins.

-I think Darrelle Revis knows who Victor Cruz is now. His 99 yard touchdown reception was the longest play in Giants history, tied for longest in NFL history. (The former longest play by a New York Giant was Earl Morall to Homer Jones for a 98 yard reception in 1966.) That was a beautiful play by Cruz from start to finish, from making Antonio Cromartie miss the initial tackle to staying in bounds to make sure the touchdown stood. He has also now broken Amani Toomer’s single-season record for most receiving yards in Giants history. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that but it’s hard to believe that the Giants signed Cruz as an undrafted free agent.

-Jacquian Williams played one of, if not his best, game of the season. His awareness on his tackles was excellent (including a huge third down stop), he wrapped up well and he had a goal line fumble recovery as well. I was impressed with him today.

-Can someone please explain to me why Tom Coughlin couldn’t challenge the Santonio Holmes fumble? There was absolutely no explanation given to explain why he wasn’t allowed to throw the red flag. Again, it didn’t end up costing the Giants anything as Ahmad Bradshaw scored on the ensuing possession but still. At least we got this, uh, interesting headline as a result:

(Last I checked, the Giants and Jets weren’t even in the same conference, much less the same division.)

-I cannot say enough about how well the Giants defense played, especially in the second half. They gave the Jets almost nothing to work with, put pressure on Sanchez, were stingy on third down for a change, and came up with big turnovers and sacks, and a safety to ice the game. They’ve been heavily criticized in recent weeks- rightly so- but they won the game for the Giants in the second half.

-Overall, the Giants played disciplined football. They weren’t perfect, the running game and offensive line still struggled, a few play calls were questionable, but they didn’t take stupid penalties and won the turnover battle. They played well enough to win, despite some very questionable calls, and it was enough to stay in the hunt for the NFC East division title.

Eli Manning was 18 of 52 for 184 yards and a TD, but his 34 incompletitions were the most since Joe Namath. Eli did not have much help if you want to say any at all as the G-Men dropped 10 passes and it seemed as though Brandon Jacobs dropped 59 passes alone.

Todd Collins made his first start in the NFL in 10 years and two days. The backup QB didn’t play well at all (8/25, 166 yards), but he didn’t hurt his team and Clinton Portis picked up the offense. Portis ran for 126 yards on 25 carries including a TD.

Amani Toomer dropped a few balls and one for what would have been a huge play and possibly the turning point of the game. Kevin Boss caught his first NFL TD pass, replacing Jeremy Shockey who left the game with a broken fibula and will have surgery sometime this week.

All in all, the Giants were awful on a night they needed a win. Now, they have to win one of two games to get in the playoffs on their own terms and have to play at Buffalo where anything could happen and at home against the 14-0 Patriots. Not exactly a promising schedule.

Washington holds the tiebreaker on the Giants now and the G-Men are anything but a lock for the playoffs.

Even if the Giants are technically a “playoff” team as of now, they are truly anything but that as their inconsistent play might just keep them out of the playoff picture in the end. The Giants are about as good as their kicker, Lawrence Tynes (who missed a 38 yard FG tonight). A 9-5 record is the most amazing feat a team as poor as the G-Men could accomplish and if they can beat Buffalo next week, playing like this against Tampa Bay, Seattle, Green Bay, or Dallas will get you embarrassed.

Here is a quote from Clinton Portis showed during the telecast:
“If we don’t win tonight, that’s pretty much a wrap on our season.”
If the Giants had played this way they would be popping the champagne in the locker room right now instead of answering questions about their poor play.

Urgency. Something the New York Giants lacked tonight and something their organization has lacked for a while.

Passing:
The Redskins will be without Jason Campbell after injuring his knee last week against Chicago. Washington will turn to Todd Collins. Collins was 15/20 with 224 yds, 2 TD, and 0 INT in his time against the Bears in Week 14, and is no pushover. The Redskins do have a nice pass rush and will protect Collins well, but the fact of the matter is that the Giants’ defense has come A LONG way since Week 3 when they last faced Washington, and Collins could be in for a long day.

Eli Manning has played well under constant scrutiny his entire career and even more so the previous two weeks after his play against Minnesota. Plaxico Burress finally appears to be healthy, playing the way he was at the beginning of the season as he carried the Giants on his back against the Eagles in Week 14. Amani Toomer has been a great option for Eli, but it would be nice to see Jeremy Shockey get more involved in the offense. With Jacobs’ return to the lineup and his shaky play (two fumbles) against Philly, expect the G-Men to put it in the air a lot of Sunday.

Rushing:
The Giants were unable to contain Brian Westbrook last Sunday and they need to do a better job against Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts this week and make Washington use Collins. The Redskins have had some trouble on the ground at the goal line and the Giants have been doing a great job of holding their opponents to field goals. If New York can prevent Washington from making big plays on the ground, Washington could be in for a long day with Collins getting a look at the Giants relentless pressure.

Brandon Jacobs needs to make up for his effort last week and prevent turnovers. Washington was able to hold the Bears to 60 rushing yards last week, and though I like to think that the Giants are a better offensive team than the Bears, it appears as though Coughlin and Co. will pick their spots carefully on the ground. The Redskins tend to give up points late in games, possibly from defensive fatigue, so if they can keep Jacobs and Reuben Droughns fresh, and keep the Skins’ defense from making stops, Eli will have more time to hit the open man.

Tomorrow a look at the defenses.

Also, check out some stats about the Giants from Michael Eisen of Giants.com.

Going to school in Boston, Giants telecasts are not an automatic, but for the first 13 weeks of the season, every single Giant game has been televised on FOX up here. But, not today, so as I sit here and watch Joe Buck and Troy Aikman call the Dallas/Detroit game with the sound off on the televison, the NFL has the very handy Field Pass, which provides audio from either the home or away team feed, in my case WFAN’s call of the game.

UPDATE, 2:16 PM
Giants get the ball back with 1:40 left in the 2nd, trailing 7-3 with a chance to take the lead and start the 2nd half with the ball. All of this made possible due to another huge defensive stop of the Eagles improved offense.

UPDATE, 2:23 PM
Plax comes up with few nice catches as Eli realizes the blitz and adjusts to the pressure of the PHI defense. Tynes comes on to kick a 23-yard chip shot (not that anything is really a chip shot for him) with :05 left. Giants trail 7-6 going into half.

UPDATE, 2:44 PM
The chances at taking the lead for the first time in the game are shattered as Jacobs fumbles the ball, and the G-Men lose the challenge on the play. It would be an enormous victory to come out of this down 10-6.

UPDATE, 3:05 PM
An awful drive for the Giants there going 3 and out. Two incomplete passes and a loss of 3 on a run. Jacobs has 13 carries and 16 yards on the day. Maybe it is time the offense goes with a different game plan.

UPDATE, 3:15 PM
The Giants had a “New York Giants” moment when Toomer fumbled, but luckily he was down by contact. Eli to Plax for a 20-yard TD and the Giants take a 13-10 lead.

UPDATE, 3:27 PM
Disappointing drive by the G-Men there. They could have put the Eagles in a big hole with only a little over a quarter to play. Plax is having one great game after a series of weeks without much due to the ankle and knee injuries. The Giants need to turn this into a two-possession game quickly.

UPDATE, 3:38 PM
There is the Giants team we all know. Taking an offsides penalty with the Eagles 3rd and 2 on the Giants 28.

UPDATE, 3:50 PM
“The Giants never make it easy” – Bob Papa right before commercial break. Papa hit it right on the head as Jacobs fumbled for the second time today, this time at the PHI 2. Plaxico is giving the Giants all they need and Jacobs is coming up short in his effort today. Yet again, the Giants defense is called upon to save the offense.

UPDATE, 3:56 pm
Here comes the play of the game at the 2 minute warning. Eagles 4th and 6 on the Giants 44. A stop here would seal the win for any other team, but you have to believe the final 120 seconds of this game will be interesting.

UPDATE, 4:10 PM
Well looks like I was right with the interesting finish. The Giants can’t get the first down they need coming one yard shy and then the Eagles hit the upright on a game-tying 57-yard field goal. What a game in Philly, basically putting the Giants in the playoffs, and pushing the Eagles out of any contention. Post game coverage to come.