Burress said in a radio interview with WFNZ in Charlotte on Monday that, “no doubt about it,” he wants to play for the Panthers next season but acknowledged he hasn’t received a call from the team.

In other words….”I hope somebody signs me, cause I wasted the 3 million those Jets gave me last year for doing nothing.”  You know I want to work for a few companies too, but I haven’t gotten a call from them either…hmmmm, maybe I’ll call the Wall Street Journal and announce all the places I’d like to work.

Plaxico, go home, be with the family you missed so much, and if you are lucky enough to get an offer from a team that says “Show us something and we will pay you” jump at it, until then, keep quiet, it’s no mystery you are unsigned.

I re-watched the game, sifting through the myriad of Ford and ATT commercials to find the keys to this victory.  Here are a few tid-bits as I see them, and also some telling stats as we go through the game.

The first half didn’t have too many key plays for the New York Giants, but a few points that kept them in the game.

At 4:19 of the first, Brandon Jacobs takes a check down pass from Eli at his own 14, runs through a few Jets and fights for 12 yards and a first down.  Showing the fight and the physical nature the Giants would play with later in the day.

At the start of the second quarter Hakeem Nicks caught his only ball from Eli, on an inside release against Revis, that was followed at 13:34 by a third and 11 catch and run for 28 yards by Victor Cruz.  The Giants couldn’t convert from the one, but they were starting to find some holes in the Jets.

AT 6:56 of the second Williams makes a great tackle on Tomlinson to keep him short of a first down and force a punt.

Then at 2:27, of course, we know that Victor Cruz made the longest play he will ever make in his NFL career.  99 yards for a T.D.

AT :19 Defensive lineman J.P.P. sacks Sanchez pushing the Jets 7 yards back. After a timeout by Tom Coughlin, the Jets miss the 44 yard field goal attempt.

GIANTS LEAD 10-7

The second half started with pressure on Mark Sanchez that he would see the remainder of the day.  The first Jet drive consisted of two awful passes by Mark, and one of many tipped balls on the day.

At 10:53 Justin Tuck gets a sack to force 3rd and 12, and another punt by the Jets.

At 9:04 Shonn Greene gains 8 yards, but gets up very slow, and limps off the field.  From that point on Greene had runs of 0,-2,and 2 with a dropped pass mixed in.

Then finishing the 3rd quarter at 1:19 Eli hits Cruz for 36, Jacobs runs for 28, and Bradshaw destroys the Jet secondary on a 14 yard T.D. run.  Again the pure toughness of the Giants running game shows itself.

Starting the 4th quarter Sanchez throws an interception which leads to a Field Goal.

At 8:58 after a long drive by the Jets, they fumble in the end zone and the Giants recover.  The Jets, however, would never recover.

At 5:23 The pressure continues with another sack of Sanchez attributed to Tollefson, but one that involved 3 of the 4 lineman.

And then at 3:33 the Giants faced  3rd and 3…What call does everyone hate in this situation? The DRAW…except when it works, D.J. Ware takes the handoff from Eli lined up in shotgun and converts for the first down.  He gains 17 and the Jets take a penalty for another 15.  This play allows the Giants to take the clock down to 2:24, and forces the Jets to use 2 timeouts.  Then the former Jet Steve Weatherford pins the Jets inside their own 10.  This of course leads to the safety.  Rex Ryan them loses his mind completely and calls for an onside free kick from his own 20.  Bradshaw runs in the next snap 19 yards for a touchdown.  Game over.

So here are some interesting numbers:  In the second half, after the big introduction of Plaxico Burress, after naming him the sole captain of the team, Plaxico pulls the ultimate disappearing act and has zero catches and an offensive pass interference call.  So, instead of visiting the “end zone three, maybe four times” Plaxico ultimately couldn’t beat anyone, not even the rookie.  Santonio Holmes had 2 catches in the second half, one for 15 and one for 6.

For the game the Jets ran 89 plays for 331 total yards, an average of 3.719.  They had 59 pass attempts. 10 penalties, 3 turnovers, were 4-21 on third down conversions, and after going 48 yards on 10 plays in their first drive for a T.D. ultimately did nothing the remainder of the game.  I like “ball possession” as a stat, but when you run 89 plays and average 3 to 4 yards a play you are inviting disaster.  There are going to be penalties, drops, tipped balls, bad snaps, bad play execution.  The complete lack of big play ability just bogs this offense down almost by design.  This is the proverbial offense you could play in a phone booth.

The Giants D shut down the Jets as much as the Jets shut themselves down all day. Giants play next week for a division crown, but I’m sure Rex will try and make the Miami-Jets game THE game this week, one that might get the Jets a 6 seed, if all the other teams lose.

For years the tandem of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have played the party line on the Giants and Head Coach Tom Coughlin.  The production crew went out of their way to show Coughlin at his worst moments.  They would cut to him only when he was seething over mistakes by his players.  They would show the Giants players in their worst light.  They would tell stories about rules, remarks made, and “things they heard” about Tom.  It started with the 5 minute rule.  Showing up 5 minutes early was mandatory for Tom Coughlin, a rule he implemented but didn’t invent.  He learned it from All World Coach John Wooden.  I don’t think I ever heard anyone call that idea silly when it was attributed to Wooden.

Fox has gone out of their way to put Coach Coughlin in the worst light possible.  Make him seem old, inflexible, and mean spirited. Yesterday for about 5 minutes it all changed.  Fox finally showed the side of Coughlin people who really know him have seen for years.  They showed a short clip of him chatting with the line judge on his sideline.  A big smile, shaking hands, making a little joke;  And then, in a way only Joe Buck can do, they expanded on the subject as if he was their best friend.  Joe goes on to state that over the years they get the opportunity to get to know these coaches and players in a personal way.  That Coach Coughlin is not only a great football man, but a great man in general.  Now, we all know Joe is a load of hot air, who never bothered to learn the rules until Fox brought in an expert that made him look silly.  He is a lifer that never had to wonder what he would do with his life.  I have no problem with Joe taking his opportunity for success, but he has always been lazy, thinks himself too funny, and takes the easy way out when discussing others.  He could have been on Coughlins side early on.  Even in 2007 they gave him no credit.  They always quoted Tiki, and Plaxico, and others that complained there way through life.  Tom Coughlin is a good man, a grandfather, and an ex-marine.  He should be treated with more respect.

It might be a little too late, but at least for one day, and hopefully for the remainder of the season, Joe Buck and Troy will remember there is a good person under that headset.

For the Giants this is a good place to practice the running game, work on blitz pick-up, and look at some options for nickel back, and third down receiver.  With all the blitzing the Jets will do, the receivers will need to know their reads, and the backs will need to know their protection along with the Offensive line.  It really will be a good test on that front considering the Cowboys, Redskins, and Eagles will seek to employ the same tactics on defense once the season begins.  The key here is to get some work in, see some players for the past time, and as always get out healthy.

The game has been moved to 2p.m. as previously published here at http://gmenhq.com, and now will be aired live on the NFL Network.  Enjoy the game!

He said:

“Personally, I think I just needed a fresh start. If I wanted to go somewhere and make money, I could have went a couple other places and got a two- or three-year deal, different things like that. But I just wanted an opportunity to go somewhere fresh and have an opportunity to play for a great organization and a great coach in Rex (Ryan) and a great team.

“And I feel like I’m in the right place.”

He didn’t want to sign with the Giants — he just wanted to meet with the front office and thank them for the opportunities they afforded him. Interestingly though, if the Giants had matched the Jets $3million in guaranteed money Burress acknowledged that he would have been open to rejoining the Giants instead of the Jets.

Hmm, we’ll see how this story shakes out around week 16.

[quote via The Daily News]

Rex Ryan and March Sanchez can’t say enough good things about Plax after his 3 catches for 66 yards and a TD:

via PFT:

Ryan: “You see we beat Cover-One and we beat Cover-Zero throwing the ball up to him. I don’t care who you are playing corner, you can be Willie Brown or Darrelle Revis out there, that’s going to be tough. We were smiling from ear to ear. That’s why he’s here.”

Sanchez: “I’ve never had a target like him.”

I’m still a little bitter about this because I wanted to see Plax back in Blue, but the Giants made him a ‘responsible offer’ and he went with more guaranteed money. Now, the Jets offense is going to be that much better with Plaxico Burress lining up in the red zone — guaranteed.