The 49ers acquired ex-Giants, Mario Manningham and Brandon Jacobs, after they had great success with big blue for many years. At the time, it seemed like a big loss for the Giants, but was expected after Manningham’s “Tyree-like” performance in the Super Bowl. So far this season, it is looking more like a blessing than a curse. The Giants have not missed them one bit with Rueben Randle and Andre Brown stepping up to fill the holes left.

Last night was Jacobs’ first game active this season, having one carry for one yard. Manningham, who was thought to become a huge part of the Niners offense, has only one touchdown this season through twelve weeks. He is averaging just 11.4 receiving yards a game.

There are still a few weeks to go in the regular season, but if San Francisco was smart, they would start using these players more often during their playoff run like the Giants did. Let’s hope that letting these players go will not haunt the Giants in the playoffs.

May 23, 2012; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Brandon Jacobs (45) at the 49ers practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIRE

Everyone probably remembers hearing how a six year emptied out of his piggy bank of $3.36 and sent it to Brandon Jacobs in an attempt to keep him with the NY Giants. We all know how that worked out. However, Brandon went above and beyond and recently took the six year-old, his brother, and his own son to Jump On In Bounce in New Jersey.  (That is Brandon wearing the number 45 with the 49ers)

“It was just us in the whole place and we were just going room to room — just bouncing and flipping all over the place, hitting each other with balls, sweating, our shirts filthy,’’ Jacobs told the Sacramento Bee. “We were just dirty, stinky boys, you know?”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/giantsblog/former_giant_jacobs_repays_year_CR5sYruGZ4KxXsVYtw3IXI#ixzz1ySSateaB

Jacobs also gave the kid a 5$ bill for his piggy bank. This is a really awesome act of kindness by Brandon towards this boy and his family and although he is in SF this has probably earned back some respect from the Giants faithful.

Joseph asked his mother why Jacobs left to play in San Francisco.  She explained the Giants didn’t have enough money to keep him, so Joseph emptied his piggy bank and wrote Jacobs a letter.  It reads:

“Dear Brandon Jacobs,  So you could go to the Giants, here is my money.  Love, Joe”

Jacobs tweeted he almost cried when he saw the letter and may pay a surprise visit to Joseph.  I hope he finds the time to follow through on that visit.  Too often we see players whose only loyalty seems to be to the almighty dollar.  We hear a lot of talk about being a part of a team and how money is not the issue.

The late, great George Young, former NY Giants GM who brought us the Parcells era, once said it’s always about money and when players say it’s not about money, then it’s REALLY about money.  He also said the NFL is not a business of well adjusted people.  This combination adds up to grown up people acting very juvenile on a very public stage.  It’s a scene we see all too often.

Fortunately, Jacobs exit from New York was relatively drama free.  He was willing to take a pay cut to stay in New York.  But in the end, the two sides were unable to come to terms.  I think most of us understand it was time for Jacobs to move on.

But Joseph doesn’t understand salary caps.  Paying $5 million a year to a back up running back isn’t on his radar.  He only understands he was willing to give everything he has to keep his hero in blue.

By that measure, Joseph is a bigger Giants fan than all of us.  Unfortunately, even Joseph will soon mature past his own standard.  But it was fun seeing the NFL through his eyes one more time…even it’s only for a little while.  And I hope Jacobs gives Joseph his $3.36 back!

Apr 26, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Giant fans react to the pick of David Wilson during the 2012 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger via US PRESSWIRE

After all the mock drafts and all the speculation the picks have all been made. So how did Big Blue do? With the departures of Brandon Jacobs, Mario Manningham, Aaron Ross, Dave Tollefson and with Ballard and Beckum not being able to start the season due to injury there were holes that needed to be filled. Due to successes Reese has had in recent drafts he has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to selecting players.

Overall I would rate the Giants draft as a B. They were able to fill the holes they had with players that have very good potential. David Wilson and Rueban Randle were very solid picks with huge upsides. Jayron Hosley is an extremely athletic corner that can make up for his lack of size with raw ability. Adrien Robinson is a big fast TE that will help the running game, although he tends to take plays off. Brandon Moseley OT has a huge upside, he is a physical player with a lot of experience. Since he played in the spread offense there may be a learning curve. The last two picks of OT Matt McCants and DT Markus Kuhn were very good picks for the late rounds. Both have all the tools to play at this level, but need some time to excel and hone there playing skills and have the ability to become the diamonds in the rough all teams look for in 6th and 7th rounds. There should be some nice surprises when all is said and done.

This year probably wont be any different. Andy Reid is still one of the top 10 coaches in the league, he just needs to adjust a bit more and break from the game plan if the run is working.  Their keys to 2012 are, have a positive turnover ratio and keep Vick upright  in the pocket. He took a lot of punishment last year. While some of it was due to his running, he seemed to take more hard hits behind the line of scrimmage as opposed to down the field. And if DeSean Jackson can stay focused and Vick can get him the ball enough to keep him happy, combined with Macklin, Celek and the late season emergence of Riley Cooper, look out.  McCoy is extremely dangerous out of the backfield both running and catching the ball. And with good defensive ends and a very good secondary all they need is some solid play from their LB’s and their wide 9 defense could be dominating against a pass happy NFL. Barring them believing the press clipping and shooting themselves in the foot again, the Eagles will be in the hunt for the division title.

The defending Superbowl Champion N.Y. Giants will only be better this year and will be in the hunt for the division title with the Eagles. They have the best Coach and QB in the division. Their receiving Duo of Cruz and Nicks is top notch, and could be the best in the league. Even with the loss of Kareem McKenzie they will still have a good offensive line and have already shored it up with the addition of Locklear and they will get their 2011 draft pick James Brewer back.

Their defense is already better with the emergence of JPP and the return of Terrell Thomas. Keith Rivers could be the answer at LB if he can stay healthy and live up to his pre draft potential. The only real question mark is at the RB position. Where will the replacement for Jacobs come from. It will probably be a combination of what they have and possibly someone from the draft. A legit run at the division is well within reach.

Last year at this time all we heard about was Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys. 9 months later all we heard were excuses about why the Cowboys had imploded. Bottom line has been and still is, they are a soft team. Romo is a good QB but seems to fold under the pressure of the big game. They have a good front 7 on defense, but after that it is just a ton of questions. The running game as well as the receiving corp were extremely unpredictable and mostly ineffective. They did have some big plays, but they were inconsistent. The secondary will still be weak and get burned on a regular basis. They still could be a 9-7 team, but with the Giants and Eagles being in double digit wins I believe  Dallas will come up short of the playoffs.

The Washington Redskins will be better than they have been in recent years. With the probable drafting of RG3 they will have an immediate improvement on offense. Unfortunately after Santana Moss and Roy Helu on offense and Brian Orakpo on defense, there is not much else to speak of. Shanahan will probably have this team over achieve in the first part of the season, but  they will come back to earth again down the road. The Redskins will not be much better than 7-9.

Former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs was involved in a high-speed caravan down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City that one witness dubbed “Death Race 2012,” according a report.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/giantsblog/former_giants_report_jacobs_was_mdBSzPLnbLblptWQegIpQM#ixzz1sucOiSab

Well what can we say about Brandon? Every time you think he has matured and has reached his developmental curve through adolescence he goes and does something stupid.  I loved Jacobs as much as any Giants fan, however, I’m done with his immature and adolescent ways. I hope he enjoys his time with the 49ers. I do not think he will be racing his way through the hills of the city by the bay. 

As always follow me on twitter @tom_brant

Regardless, there are still important moves to be made that could impact whether the Giants are able to defend their Super Bowl title against the likes of the rest of the NFL.

As of March 16th, the Giants have made some minor, but important moves:

• Domenik Hixon re-signed 
• Steve Weatherford franchised
• Jake Ballard re-signed
• Brandon Jacobs cut
• Justin Tryon re-signed
• Terrell Thomas re-signed (4 years)
• Michael Coe re-signed
• Martellus Bennett signed
• David Carr re-signed

These are the same moves that Jerry Reese makes each year. He knows which free agents need to be re-signed and which need to be let go. His big signing thus far was that of Martellus Bennett, former Dallas Cowboy, who will serve as the Giants primary tight-end with both Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard expected to start the season on the PUP list.

Ex-Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett (80) during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bennett signed a contract with the New York Giants on March 14th, 2012.

The free agency period is still young, so expect Reese to bring in a few more veterans to round out the rest of the corps. After that, you can expect Reese to focus the rest of his energy on the April draft.

For more news, updates, and analysis… Follow me on Twitter (@ERobertsNY)

http://twitter.com/erobertsny

The Giants and the Niners renew their storied rivalry today at Candelstick Park in San Francisco at 6:30 EST.  This one should be a good old fashioned battle of wills.  Those of us who remember the match-up from January of ’91, are really looking forward to a battle royale. However, there really are a few keys to this game that ensure victory for the New Yorkers. Forget the rain, forget the wind, and forget the mirror image 4 game winning streaks.  This game will be decided up front.

Offensive Line:  The offensive line must protect Eli today at all costs.  They must find a way to open a few running lanes to allow the Giants to use the play action pass effectively.  The Niners have a very talented defensive front which recorded 3 sacks last week.  The Giants did rush for 89 yards in the last meeting in week 10, without Ahmad Bradshaw.  Bradshaw’s presence should make a big difference in this game. His physicality along with Brandon Jacobs could be a key to this game.

Defense:  The defense can turn this into a simple task.  They need to stop the run game of the Niners, force them into throwing the ball, and invite Alex Smith to beat them.  Alex looked good in the final quarter last week, but he saw one look from the Saints defense.  The Saints repeatedly brought 7 to 8 players on blitzes, which is actually a very easy read for the Qb.  This week he will see the Giants rush 4 or 5, and see many more defenders in coverage.  The Giants must remain physical when playing the wideouts and especially the tight ends of the Niners.  Throwing off the rhythm of the San Francisco offense as they did against Atlanta and Green Bay is critical.

Eli vs. Alex: No matter which side of the stadium you are on this week, this match-up is one sided.  If the Giants can make this a game of QB vs. Qb by restricting the running game of the Niners, they win.

No turnovers, No special teams mistakes, and the Giants should win their 5th game in a row as well as their 5th NFC Championship in 5 tries.  Physicality, Determination, and Finishing will get the Giants a re-match with either Baltimore or New England in two weeks

-The Giants run defense had, for the most part, been playing much better in the last two games of the season and it carried over into this game. It’s just about impossible to contain a running back like Michael Turner but the Giants defense did a fine job of limiting his productivity today.

-Not only has the Giants run defense improved but so has their own productivity on the ground. And both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw have had more success when the Giants run the ball behind left guard Kevin Boothe, not right tackle Kareem McKenzie. McKenzie has been rather soft on run blocking all year and he looked lost at times today, especially on the safety where he failed to pick up the blitz. But when they run it to the left behind Boothe, or pull him to the right, it is overall more effective.

-I bet Mike Smith wished that he’d kicked those two field goals instead of going for it on fourth and short, especially the first one when the game was still 0-0. He would’ve had less of a deficit to overcome in the fourth quarter.

-Speaking of fourth and short, do the Giants have the best fourth down, short yardage defense in the NFL? They stuffed the Cowboys on fourth and short last week and managed to contain the Falcons both times they went for it. Atlanta was in Giants territory both times too, so they could’ve easily could’ve come away with six points instead of turning the ball over on downs.

-The defense choose the right time in the season to get hot. They pitched a shutout today, since Atlanta’s only points came off a safety. Not too shabby considering they were facing a team that can boast Turner, Julio Jones, Roddy White and Matt Ryan. Kudos to them for holding the fort while the offense was trying to find their rhythm.

-It’s nice to have two quality receivers, isn’t it? The Falcons focused on shutting down Victor Cruz, allowing Hakeem Nicks to run wild and get two touchdowns.

-Congratulations to Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin for their first home playoff victory! Remember, the Giants won four straight road games in their playoff/Super Bowl run in 2008 since they’d gotten into the postseason as a wild card team. It was also Manning’s first career playoff win outside of their Super Bowl winning season.

-Overall, it was another complete team victory for the Giants. Their play definitely got better as the game went on and once they were settled in, they dominated the Falcons. If they play like this, next week’s game against the Packers should be another close game.

The Giants finished their regular season in style, with a little flash, and according to the script we laid out last week in an article titled Giants All In  The Giants are looking stronger as a team each week and are NFC EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPS.  They now host the Atlanta Falcons in the first ever playoff game at New Giants Stadium Sunday at 1:00 Eastern.  Let’s take a quick look back at the Cowboy game.

The Giants for the first time in a long time started quickly.  Electing to defer after winning the toss, they figured they would test Tony Romo and his bruised hand quickly, and see how he did in the wind and the rain.  Tony actually had a pretty good statistical night finishing 29/37 with 2 TD’s and one INT. A rating of 106.  However after running just 7 plays in their first two drives the Cowboys found themselves down 7-0.  One of the keys we discussed was the Giants healthy defensive line against the Cowboys Offensive line. The rotation of fresh players took it’s toll on the Cowboys as a combination of J.P.P., Tuck, Canty, and Osi Umenyiora accounted for 5 of the 6 sacks the Giants had on the night.  There were a few errant snaps from the Cowboy centers as we had discussed, and overall their line played poorly.

The other topic we touched on last week was the playmaking ability of both teams in the passing game.  Both Laurent Robinson and Victor Cruz made some big plays, but on this night Victor was the star again…even though Laurent thought he could dance the salsa too.  Cruz finished the game with 6 catches for 178 yards and another memorable TD.  Hakeem Nicks had a solid game as did Dez Bryant, but the Giants FINISHED their plays, as the Cowboys seemed to muddle along.

In the running game the Giants, although it sure didn’t seem like it, rushed for 106 yards, while the Cowboys managed just 49.  The ability to get some production out of the running game for the Giants is paramount to success.  The fact that Ahmad Bradshaw can run it in from anywhere, and Brandon Jacobs punishes those that dare get in his way when he makes it into the secondary, allows the Giants to be balanced and keeps defenses on their heals.

The Giants have FINISHED the seasons of the Cowboys, Eagles, and Jets, the past three weeks.  Let’s see if they can’t send the Dirty Birds from Atlanta south for the winter.

Game Time: 1:03pm EST

Location: MetLife Stadium (GIANTS Stadium), East Rutherford, NJ

TV: FOX Sports: Fox-5 (NY, NJ, CT), FOX 61 (CT & MA), WTTG Fox 5 (DC, MD, VA, DE)

Announcers:  Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver

Radio: WFAN 660-AM (NY, NJ, PA, CT, MA) and ESPN 980 (DC, MD, VA, DE)

Game Time Weather: Chilly…

Kick Off: 33* Winds 9-12 mph from NNW

Half-Time: 34* Winds 9-10 mph from NNW

4th Quarter: 33* Winds from 8-9 mph from N

Current Line: GIANTS by 6.5 with Over/Under at 46 points

While the rest of the football world looks towards the Tebow Brady match-up, The Giants take on the Washington Redskins (4-9) in New Jersey tomorrow at 1:00 Eastern.  The Redskins have struggled this year after a good start due mainly to injuries.  No Giants fan wants to hear about how injuries have affected another team, but the losses by the offensive side of the ball have prevented the Redskins from finding much success this year.

Offense:  The Losses of  WR Santana Moss for a large portion of the season, RB Tim Hightower, and TE Chris Cooley, among others has taken away all the balance of this offense.  When your choices at QB are John Beck and Rex Grossman, losing weapons like the above mentioned names is a killer.  The ‘Skins average only 17.5 points per game and are last in rushing yards at 94.  Rookie Roy Helu has stepped in and done an admirable job replacing HIghtower, and the Giants must concentrate on stopping him both in running situations and out of the backfield.  The Redskins showed last week a myriad of trick plays and mis-directions that will test the discipline of the Giants.  Half back passes, wide receiver passes, throw back screens, and double reverses will all be utilized tomorrow to somehow score enough points to be competitive.

Defense: The strength of this Redskin team is up front on defense.  They have drafted and signed well in this area.  They play a three four with both outside linebackers being very active in the pass rush recording 34 sacks as a team.  The Giants will need to continue their strong work up front and give Eli time to find his receivers downfield.  The ‘Skins placed Safety LaRon Landry on IR this week.  LaRon, who regularly gets flattened by Brandon Jacobs, is their best run stopper from the secondary. The secondary has 9 interceptions on the year and the team has an abysmal -14 turnover ratio.

The Giants will need to play well on offense as has been the norm the past few weeks.  Getting off to a fast start and converting early will go along way in this game.  The defense will need to stay disciplined, stop the run, and let Rex Grossman deal with the pressure from the front four.  These last three games are all extremely important to the Giants, but the two division games against these Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys are MUST wins.  I see Eli continuing his good play and the Giants getting a win here.

It appears that last week’s game against the Packers proved to be the moral victory that the Giants needed if they’re to avoid another late-season collapse and make the playoffs.

This game was a must-win for the Giants, and they rose to the occasion. It wasn’t a pretty victory, but you don’t get any style points in the NFL. A win is a win, and this was a particularly thrilling and satisfying one. Their 37-34 win (another fourth quarter comeback!) over the Cowboys gave them a half  game lead over Dallas in the NFC East.

Looks like the Giants-Cowboys showdown in the final week of the season is going to be a very significant one.

Observations from the game:

-There was, of course, lots of buzz about the fact that Ahmad Bradshaw didn’t start or play in the entire first half for disciplinary reasons. It sounded like he was late to curfew. I didn’t think it was as big a deal as so many people were making it out to be. Nothing wrong with Tom Coughlin sticking to his guns. And honestly, Brandon Jacobs played so well throughout the entire game- averaging close to six yards per carry- that the Giants didn’t really miss him too much.

The running game has looked much better in the past two weeks, which is an encouraging sign for a team that has struggled with running the ball all year, and needs to win big down the stretch.

-I wish Kevin Gilbride knew that he’s allowed to call a play in the red zone that’s not a fade in the back corner of the endzone. We all know that it’s coming at this point. Variety is the spice of life, so mix it up a little please.

-That’s not the only bone to pick with Gilbride’s play calling either. Towards both the end of the second quarter and a little more than halfway through the fourth, the Giants had a third and short around midfield and both times, Gilbride had Eli Manning take a shot downfield. Why would you not focus on getting the first down there? There’s the “they were trying to catch the defense off-guard” argument, but Dallas didn’t look fooled on either play to me. (more…)

Luckily, the Dallas Cowboys also lost to the Arizona Cardinals so the Giants remain only a game behind them in the NFC East, making next week’s showdown that much bigger.

A few observations from the game:

-Congratulations to Victor Cruz for reaching 1,000 receiving yards! Cruz came into the game with 957 receiving yards and his 43 yard reception in the first quarter put him over the 1,000 yards mark. He now has 1,076 on the season. Not bad for  a guy who went undrafted, huh?

-Cruz hinted earlier this week that he was planning on using double moves to take advantage of Woodson aggressiveness and draw penalties and it showed.

-Speaking of Woodson, it seems like he can’t tackle any of the Giants running backs without getting run over. Every time I see him, I think of Brandon Jacobs bowling him over in the infamous 2008 NFC Championship game in Green Bay, and Bradshaw knocking him over in the fourth quarter was eerily similar.

-We all know that the Giants have had to overcome a ridiculous amount of injuries again this season, and with David Bass and Will Beatty hurt, today’s game marked the fifth different offensive line combination used this season. That just makes the season that Eli Manning is having that much more impressive.

-Chase Blackburn solidified his welcome back with a huge interception of Aaron Rodgers deep in Packers territory. He looked pretty good in pass coverage too, an area where most of the Giants linebackers have struggled this year. But between Michael Boley and Blackburn’s returns to the lineup, they looked much better in that respect than they did last week (not that that was hard to do).

-What was up with those two plays that Coughlin challenged? It was very clear that neither of those plays were getting overturned and he wasted both of his challenges and two timeouts. Coughlin is normally one of the best coaches in the NFL when it comes to winning challenges, but he’s now lost his last four.

-Kenny Phillips left the game with a sprained knee- the same one that cost him his season last year- and did not return. Is it too much to ask for the Giants to make it through one game without someone getting hurt?

-Another monster of a game from Jason Pierre-Paul. New York needed him to set up in a big way with Osi Umenyiora out and he did just that. It’s hard to believe that he doesn’t even have two full NFL seasons under his belt. Imagine what a dominate player he’ll be in a few more years.

Bradshaw Practices

I read the following tweet this morning from @TheJRob:

Ahmad Bradshaw practices for first time since suffering stress fracture in his foot Oct. 30 vs. Dolphins Maybe he will play after all.

This is great news for everyone concerned.  Brandon Jacobs can be the other back now and not have the weight of the world on his shoulders.  Maybe Eli can have an effective running game to go along with his passing game, allowing for play action, draws, screens, etc.

In other injury news: Hakeem Nicks, Justin Tuck, Victor Cruz, and Derrick Martin all practiced, and Michael Boley particiated in individual drills.  Mario Manningham however was limited to riding the bike and seems doubtful for Sunday.

Lets see where the weekend takes us.

The Giants Across the Board

Fox Sports: 14(14)

The Giants couldn’t cover any of Saints receiver on Monday night and the pass rush didn’t help them at all. This is a team that is built to pressure the quarterback, and didn’t sack Drew Brees even once. On offense, the Giants need to find a running game to complement Manning and the passing game. Brandon Jacobs doesn’t have the skill set to be the feature running back in this offense. They need Ahmad Bradshaw back in a hurry.

I like to think that having AB44 back would make a big difference for the offense, but I have very little faith in that offensive line and their ability to make lanes for any runner. True, they are good at protecting Eli, but that’s not going to be enough down the stretch.

CBS Sports: 14(12)

They were terrible against the Saints on Monday night and now have a short week to turn it around against Green Bay. The way that secondary played against Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers probably can’t wait.

Really, what quarterback would not want to face the Giants right now? Rodgers is having an incredible season, I hate to think about the numbers he could put up this weekend.

NFL Mocks: 16

This team is not that far away from being a really good team, but there are things that hold them back like their inconsistency and their inability to win late season games. They have a franchise (dare I say Elite) quarterback, talented WR, a great pass rush, and a lot of talent in the secondary (Amukamara, Rolle, Webster, Thomas, Phillips, Ross are all 1st or second round picks). What is the missing ingredient? Offensive line this year. Coaching? I’m not sure, they need to figure it out though.

It’s always the little things that separate the good from the great. Unfortunately there are a lot of little things that need to be fixed here. The worst part is not all of it is fixable, because there have been just too many injuries suffered by this team, and it feels never-ending. (more…)

The Giants are now 6-5 on the season and two games out of the NFC East lead. Still, the season still has potential to be salvaged with two huge games against the Cowboys looming after undefeated Green Bay comes into town next week.

Some observations from the game:

-I don’t know if Kevin Boothe and Stacy Andrews really make that much of a difference but the offensive line looked much better overall against the Saints. Unlike last week against the Eagles, Eli Manning had enough time to throw and the whole offense looked better as a result. The running game still didn’t look very strong but at least they gave Jacobs some holes to work with this week. It’s also worth noting that the o-line did not commit any costly holding penalties for what felt like the first time this year. Those have hindered the Giants all season. Need I remind everyone of the one that killed a New York drive in the San Francisco game?

-Hakeem Nicks looked like his old self for the first time in weeks. Look at the screen pass he caught on the Giants’ last drive of the first half, where he shook two defenders in order to get a first down. It would appear as if he is finally 100% healthy. So of course he sustained a bruised rib

-I cannot for the life of understand why Kevin Gilbride thinks it’s a good idea to try and get Brandon Jacobs to run wide. He may not be the Jacobs of 2008 but he’s still somewhat effective when he’s putting his shoulder down, plowing people over and getting going downhill, as he did on the touchdown run.

-The Giants’ struggles in most aspects have been pretty well-documented but one area where they’ve been weak but hasn’t been talked about much is punt and kick returns. They haven’t had much success in gaining a lot of positive yardage after the catch, no matter who is returning punts and kicks. But it looks as if Da’Rell Scott has changed that. Several times he was one broken tackle away from breaking loose.

-After last week’s game against the Eagles, Giants fans were understandably nervous about the linebackers defending passes up the middle. Well that concern wound up taking the back seat. Big plays absolutely killed the Giants all night. It felt like that gave up more big plays in this game alone than the rest of the season combined.

-Where oh where has the Giants pass rush gone? They’ve led the league in sacks for a good part of the year but for the second week in a row, they’ve gotten minimal pressure on the opposing quarterback. And when the defensive front isn’t applying pressure, it really exposes the weakness in New York’s secondary, which leads to them giving up the aforementioned big plays.

-For the first time in 23 games, New York did not have a defensive takeaway.

-Giants fans have many reasons to be grateful for Victor Cruz and this game showed why. He (along with Manning) continued to play hard, even when it was clear that the game was out of the Giants’ hands. Those are the kind of guys you want on your team. He also showed good awareness by not doing his famous salsa dance celebration after either of his two touchdown catches. Both of those two little things demonstrated that he’s a character guy and I’ll take that any day of the week. He’s only 43 yards away from crossing the 1000 yards receiving mark. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t drafted, huh?

He still needs to work on his dropped passes though.

-I’m sorry but the Da’Rel Scott fumble was bogus. His elbow and forearm were clearly down before the ball came loose. I don’t know what they refs were looking at on that review. It should’ve been overturned. I have no other complaints about the officiating in the game otherwise but the Giants losing that challenge stung.

“It’s up to them whether or not they want to boo. And that’s what they do,”  “No, I don’t take anything back I said about not caring.”

Thought #1 from me: Brandon, the fans care and by saying you don’t take back anything you say, you are only hurting yourself. New York City is one of the greatest, if not the greatest sports town going. Our fan base is passionate and intelligent about football. However, you appear to be neither..

“We don’t want to hear that,” Jacobs told Boomer & Carton. “We don’t want to hear anybody as we’re trying to work hard and play and overcome adversity as it is already. And they’re making it even harder for us to overcome our adversity when they do things like that.”

Thought #2: See thought #1. Also, we wouldn’t boo if you averaged more than 2.9 yards per carry. Except for the catch in the first Eagles game, can someone tell me something positive Jacobs has done for the GIANTS this year?

(more…)

Eagles 10

Its been UGLY! The GIANTS forgot to show up in the first half…pathetic!

Key Moments

1. Young cannot get it into the end zone. Eagles settle for Field Goal.
2. Nicks couldn’t hold onto the deep ball from Eli
3. Jacobs gets stuffed on 3rd and 1…shockers!!! not!
4. Phillips gets a pick off a nice deflection by Ross
5. Three and out after starting on the Eagles 45, end up on our own 43
6. Jackson decides to taunt the GIANTS and costs his team big time!
7. Near INT but led to a big hold by the GIANTS defense at 2:27 mark of the 2nd Quarter.
8. We punted to Jackson–enough said. Ran it back to the 14 yard line of the GIANTS
9. Steve Smith burns the GIANTS and scores a TD from Young. Kiwi got burned on the play
10. Ballard drops another big pass down the middle of the field
11. Three dropped passes
12. Tynes good from 48 yards, gets the GIANTS 3pts
13. Giants were pathetic in the first half.