Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network reported that head coach Tom Coughlin said that Phillips and Pierre-Paul will be ready to play tonight. Phillips had come into today listed as “Doubtful” after hurting his knee last week in the Giants win over Green Bay. Pierre-Paul missed two days of practice last week because of  back problems, however was listed as questionable for tonight’s game. The Giants felt more confident about his chances of playing than they were about Phillips.

Here is the full Injury / Inactive List for the Giants tonight …

QUESTIONABLE: RT David Diehl (shoulder)

PROBABLE: C David Baas (shoulder), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), CB Jayron Hosley (shoulder), S Antrel Rolle (illness), DE Justin Tuck (foot.).

INACTIVES: LB Jacquian Williams (knee), TE Travis Beckum (knee), RB Ryan Torain, DE Adewale Ojomo, TE Adrien Robinson, DT Marvin Austin and WR Domenik Hixon (ankle).

Oct 10, 2010; Houston, TX, USA; New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck (91) and defensive end Osi Umenyiora (72) react to a tackle against the Houston Texans in the third quarter at Reliant Stadium. The Giants defeated the Texans 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

Coming into this season the one constant that everyone agreed on was the Giants had the best front four In the NFL. It was said by many experts that collectively the Giants had the best pass rush in the game. And at the time how could anyone argue?

Well, after five weeks the 3-2 NY Giants pass rush is M.I.A. The big three have a total of 3.5 sacks, Umenyiora with 2, JPP with 1.5 and Tuck with 0. And they haven’t even gotten a whiff of the opposing QB the last two weeks. So, as I sit there and watch play after play of this I wonder what is going on.

TC is extremely dissatisfied by their lack of production, saying ” we didn’t touch the QB again” after their win over the 0-4 Browns. The players seem to be looking for answers to, with Tuck saying “we’ll just continue to pound it and guys are figuring us out, so we’ve got to do some different things to try and free our guys up.”

JPP is having a good season with 15 tackles, he just is not getting to the QB. Osi and Tuck though have been almost invisible out there. The only time I hear Osi’s name called is when he is losing contain and getting trapped inside while the ball carrier gets the edge on him again.

Here is an idea for the big three. Go out and beat the scheme that the “O” line is doing.Line up and beat the man in front of you. Your not all getting double teamed, your not all getting chipped, Your not all facing an all pro lineman every snap. Stop making excuses and waiting for Perry Fewell to come up with a way for you to get to the QB. Go out there and make a play! When you want a new contract I don’t hear excuses, I hear how you still are a key player and that you can make a difference in this game. Well, put your money where you mouth is and show us.

I’m going to talk to the parties involved. As I understand it, there were some parts that were inappropriate, and anything that occurs within this family or within our group should not be a part of any social media aspect. I’m going to address that strongly, and I’ve spent a little time on that this preseason, but I’ll look into it further.

The video was originally posted by punter Steve Weatherford, who has since issued an apology via twitter. As for the video itself, it’s hard to tell whether the two players had an actual issue with one another, or whether it was just an innocent example of a couple young players horsing around. Pierre-Paul seems pretty pleased with himself at the end, smiling and high-fiving teammates while Amukamara appears much less enthused.

Overall, this seems to be a lot of smoke without much fire. Even if JPP and Prince do have a problem, nobody ever said that everyone on the team has to like one another for them to be successful. The most significant thing about the video is that it’s pretty funny, so I encourage you to take a look (warning: graphic language).

“I’m just happy, I’m happy all that’s over with,” said Umenyiora. “It’s time to get back to work. It was definitely frustrating (not being on the field this spring), but hearing some of the things they said, whether it was Kiwi or (Justin) Tuck or JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) or Antrel (Rolle) – hearing the way they supported me, it made me want to come back even more and be around them. Those guys really stepped up for me. I really appreciate it and I’m happy to be here with them.”

This has been difficult for Osi because he loves the Giants and did not want to leave his teammates or the fans. 2012 will be his ninth season with the Giants and has played with no other team in the NFL.  Recently, other defensive players have been given contracts larger than the 2007 $41 million dollar extension he agreed to. This was the catalyst for Osi’s requests for more money. He was to make $3.975 million in the 2012 season. He has not been practicing with the team during the contract negotiations. Details of the new agreed have not yet been released.

“This gives me peace of mind, definitely,” Umenyiora said. “We just resolved a situation. It really was affecting me in a bad way. Because I didn’t like all the negativity that was surrounding the whole situation. I couldn’t stand it, because if you know me, you know I’m not that type of person. I’m just happy all that is over with and I’ll be there. I’ll play out this contract, I’ll play this year and I’ll play my heart out.”

“I appreciate Osi’s patience and effort through this process,” stated Giants GM Jerry Reese. “We talked it out, and it makes sense for everybody involved. We are very pleased, excited and looking forward to seeing number 72 on the field at Monday’s OTA.”

In his career, Umenyiora has made 333 tackles, 69 sacks, 30 forced fumbles, and recovered 13 fumbles. Last season he played 9 games and made 25 tackles, 9 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.

We’re going to be filling up the docket here at GMEN HQ with plenty of Giants-Packers NFC Divisional Round game preview pieces all week long. So gear in and get ready to be inundated with Giants-Packers information overload.

After the break we’ve compiled a few early in the week things to look out for that you will probably be hearing a lot about as the week progresses…

1. (more…)

How good is he?

The Associated Press 2011 NFL All-Pro Team was announced today and the lone member of the New York Giants to make the squad is DE Jason Pierre-Paul, who received 34 out of a total 50 votes. Compare those 34 votes to the 49 out of 50 that top vote getter Jared Allen of the Vikings got and you might see who is in the lead for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. Allen and Lions worldly WR Calvin Johnson tied for the most votes received. Other Giants getting votes were OG Chris Snee, with 2 out of 50 votes, and WR Victor Cruz, who got 9 out of 50 votes.

We here at Fansided.com are lucky enough to have access to bloggers and fans from all 32 teams.  Jamie Kelly from BloggingDirty.com joined us this week for a little Q and A.

1. It’s been a roller coaster season for the Giants, having some highs with wins over the Cowboys amongst others and some lows with losses such as Washington at home a few weeks ago. How good are the Giants? Do they have a shot in the playoffs?

The Giants are as good as their health will allow them to be.  The Giants, like all teams have had injuries, but the timing of those injuries has been the key.  They lost their starting cornerback Terrell Thomas in the last pre-season game. They lost their starting middle linebacker three days before the opener in Washington.  They lost Osi, Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Boley, and 5 players in the secondary, including their #1 pick, at different times.  They have played without Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, TE Jake Ballard, starting center David Baas, and All Pro Guard Chris Snee during the season.  This is the first time everyone who is not on IR is back and playing their positions.  A healthy Giants team poses many problems to the opposition.  The Giants are fianlly as healthy as they can be.

2012 started off on the right foot for the New York Giants and their fans as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the second time this season by a 31-14 margin to clinch the NFC East title, guaranteeing at least one more week of New York Giants football in perhaps the sweetest fashion possible. The Giants will face the Atlanta Falcons in New York next Sunday in the first round of the playoffs.

Thoughts from the game-

-Surprise, surprise- Victor Cruz came up big once again. What else is there left to say about him that hasn’t already been said?

-Hakeem Nicks get a lot of attention for his receiving talents (and rightly so). But he also deserves to get some props for the job that he does when it comes to blocking downfield for his teammates. If he doesn’t make the blocks that he did on Cruz’s touchdown catch and Ahmad Bradshaw’s first tally, those guys might not have scored.

-Travis Beckham really needs to work on his blocking. He struggled last week against the Jets and again tonight against Dallas. The Giants are definitely missing Jake Ballard in that regard.

-My fondness for Henry Hynoski continues to grow. It’s nice to have a fullback with hands, isn’t it?

-Eli Manning’s touchdown to Nicks was his fifteenth of the season in the fourth quarter- a new NFL record.

-Speaking of Eli Manning, it was mentioned tonight that his pocket awareness and movement has been so much better this year than in previous seasons, and that has a lot to do with his success this year. I could not agree more.

-It’s amazing how much better the entire Giants defense plays when the defensive line dominates. And it wasn’t just Jason Pierre-Paul getting pressure tonight. Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Chris Canty all contributed. New York managed six sacks tonight and Tony Romo never really got much of a chance to get comfortable.

-The Giants did manage to get a few breaks tonight, managing to recover one fumble and then DeMarcus Ware being flagged for jumping offsides when the Cowboys recovered another Giants fumble.

-The offensive line has consistently played well as a whole in the past week or two. Jay Ratliff and Ware hardly got a sniff at Manning all night. The Giants running game still isn’t a strong as I’d like but they’re definitely better off running the ball to Kevin Boothe’s side when he’s in at guard.

-It was, once again, an overall team effort, with both the offense and defense playing well. The defense managed to contain the Cowboys well and the offense was able to score when needed. The Giants are on a bit of a hot streak right now and if they play like they did tonight, they can beat just about any team they’re up against.

Two New York Giants have been named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster.

Eli Manning goes as the third QB and Jason Pierre-Paul will go as the third defense end. Reports indicate that Victor Cruz was named as the number one alternate to the Pro Bowl team.  There is a high likely hood that Cruz will end up going to Hawaii.

To view the entire list, click here.

The Giants lost to the Redskins on opening day by the score of 28-14. I won’t kid you, the loss hurt, as we thought that the Giants were much better than the ‘Skins. The Redskins now pay a return visit to Jersey with a 4-9 record, while the Giants are fighting for the NFC East championship (face it, the wild card slot is likely out of the question. While the Redskins record is not that impressive, it’s better than is indicated. They’ve played alot of games close, and nearly beat the Patriots. More after the jump. (more…)

How good is he?

In 2010 just before the draft I was asked what I thought the Giants would do with the 15th overall pick.  With many needs, I knew the Giants and Jerry Reese usually stick to one philosophy. Best Available Athlete.  The Giants are not an organization that normally drafts for position alone.  They place all the picks in order and take the top guy that remains when their turn comes around.  So in a draft with names like Suh, Berry, McCoy, Haden, Spiller, Pouncey, and Ryan Matthews……The Giants selected with the 15th pick…Jason Pierre Paul, a defensive end out of South Florida.  Now this pick did seem odd to many at the time. Here was a team that had many talented players playing defensive lineman at the time, and clearly needed help at other positions.  JPP, as he has become known, was not the clear choice for the Giants, but surely one that fit their philosophy.

JPP was born in Deerfield Beach Florida.  At 6’5″ Paul lettered in basketball for four years and joined the football team during his junior year. In college he amassed 49 tackles, 14 sacks, 19 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, one interception and one fumble recovery as a freshman at College of the Canyons (California) and earned First-team All-WSC and All-American honors. In 2008 Pierre-Paul played at Fort Scott Community College (Kansas), where his 70 tackles, 10.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries earned him First-Team little All-American honors. (more…)

So many lead changes, big fourth quarter drives, scoring attempts in the final seconds; just another typical night when the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys face off. This time around, it was the Giants who were victorious and launched into first place in the division. And with that win came big jumps in this week’s Power Rankings.

National Football Post gave the Giants the biggest jump of the week, up from number 16 to 9. Let’s see where else the Gmen fell.

The Giants Across the Board

Fox Sports: 12(16)

The Giants showed the mental toughness I thought they would need to outlast the Cowboys on Sunday night. They still have to face the ‘Boys in another head-to-head matchup in the final week of the season, but they appear to be getting healthy at the right time. QB Eli Manning is carrying this team on offense, and he deserves to be named amongst the NFL elite.

So much of the talk this week is about Eli and the way he has carried this team. It’s completely fair, and I have maintained for several weeks now that he should be considered for the league MVP. He won’t get it thanks to Aaron Rodgers and his ridiculous season, but any success this team achieves should be credited to him, and it’s really nice to see the analysts giving him the credit he deserves.

CBS Sports: 12(17)

If they run the table, they win the NFC East. Through all their woes, their destiny is in their hands. Amazing.

It is amazing. And this division is theirs to lose, an enviable place for any team. After four straight losses and the messy ways in which they won early in the season, it’s easy to forget that, despite everything, they found ways to win. Whether they can continue this trend remains to be seen, but it’s nice to enjoy this moment for now. (more…)

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…)

This week the Giants travel to Texas to take on Jerry Jones’s Dallas Cowboys.  The Giants are sporting a four game losing streak, although the last game against the Packers is being viewed optimistically. The Giants showed alot of fight in the loss, and came within a minute of forcing an overtime against the undefeated Pack. The Cowboys lost a heartbreaker to an inferior Cardinals team that could have been avoided. Basically, the Giants have to win three out of their next four to have a shot at the playoffs. Four wins would guarantee them the playoff slot, but that might be too much to ask for. The G-Men are choosing to look at the loss to GB as a flashback to their loss to the Patriots in 2007. They are hoping that the loss showed that they can come up big when things are on the line, and are viewing the next four games as playoff games.

Offensively, Eli manning is having another great season, and has developed a rhythym with his receivers. He also plays well against Dallas, with 26 career TD’s against the ‘Boys, the most of any opponent. In three of the last 4 games against them, he has thrown for over 300 yards and 2 TD’s, and has had four 300 yard games against Dallas, with three of those games coming in Texas. The Giants are 2-0 in the Jerry Dome, and Manning is 5-2 when playing in Dallas. The return of Ahmad Bradshaw seemed to rejuvenate the Giants’ rushing game to a serviceable level. The running attack doesn’t need to be great, just good enough to make the opponents think twice before committing to an all out rush against the Giants’ overmatched O-Line. Stacy Andrews is out with blood clots, Will Beatty has a detached retina, David Baas is plagued with headaches, everyone knows the drill. Mitch Petrus played well in the loss, and David Diehl slid outside to his natural left tackle slot. This matches him up against the first of Big D’s defenders, Demarcus (big D) Ware. In previous matchups Ware has handled Diehl effectively, so Bradshaw might be called on to help out in protection. The receiving corps looks relatively healthy, so this should be a strength for the G-Men. (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.

In his weekly press conference today Perry Fewell seemed to bring more heat than his defense has in the past few weeks.  When asked what he had told his troops this week Fewell didn’t hold back:

“Obviously we need to play with more energy. We have to play with more passion. That was a game against a playoff football team, we have aspirations of being a playoff team. Sometimes it’s just the will. It’s the will to get it done. We didn’t will ourselves to get it done. ”

When asked how he felt about the teams play last Monday in New Orleans where they surrendered 49 points:

“I was pissed, okay. I was getting them going Monday night and we’re getting going this week. Player friendly or not, it’s all about winning. It’s all about being successful on the football field. I think that they got the message and we all understand what’s on the line for us.”

Both Fewell and Head Coach Tom Coughlin praised the play and hustle of Jason Pierre-Paul.  They explained that that is how the entire team needs to play to be successful, not just one player.  He stated that he thought his players did not go all out on every play. When asked if he saw his players stop short on a few plays: (more…)

We have landed at the halfway point of the 2011 season. Every team in the NFL have played out their first 8 games. Only two teams have played into the second half of a 16 game schedule, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. The second half is upon us and the playoff brackets are beginning to take shape.

The NFC East has always been a competitive division, in and of itself and outside of the conference/division. The first impressions that many had of the NFC East have been blown out of the water. Regardless of record, any team in this conference is capable, at any time, of making the opposition sorry for mistaking a losing record for terminal weakness. We’ve got the grades and projections for the remainder of the season right here. Welcome to the NFC EAST Midseason Report Card! Check it out!
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They were without their leading receiver. Their starting running back, full back and center all missed the game due to injury. Their 1st pick overall in the 2011 NFL Draft made the trip, but did not play.

Of the six categories (ten positions within each slot), not one…NOT ONE single member of the New York Giants earned themselves a slot in the NFL Weekly leader board. They were shutdown for the entire first half. Just how did Big Blue pull off their biggest upset of the season? We’ve got answers. Join me on this incredibly inspiring fact finding recap.
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Fore more information on the addition of JPP to the report, click here.

From our friends at In Reese We Trust, there is a tid-bit on the Prince and Deon Grant, click here for that interesting information.