Sorry it has taken me so long to get to this game. What a game. Giants Stadium was rocking, and the Giants actually showed up this time and swept the Cowboys for the first time since 2004. I have to say, you look back on the post I made after the bye week, and it is a possibility that everything shapes up the way I thought it would. Though, I have to admit, I did think the Giants did not have it in them after the Denver game. But give Tom Coughlin credit, the guy is a great coach, he got them motivated and focused and the Giants played a great game against the overrated Cowboys. In fact, the Cowboys might not make the playoffs now with games against the Chargers, Saints, Redskins, and Eagles. If the Giants can manage to win this sunday vs Philly, they would be 4-1 in the division with a chance to go 5-1 if they beat the Redskins on monday night. There is a big possibility the Giants could win out here. Now I dont know if that could happen, the Eagles are a very tough team, but if the Giants do win, look out, all the momentum will be on their side.
Lets get to this game because there were some negatives as well. Lets not crown the Giants defense as kings yet. They did an atrocious job against the pass, but came up HUGE on a couple of plays. That was the key: the big stops on third down as well as the big 4th and 2 stop on Barber, a huge play by Aaron Ross. Besides that, the Giants gave up a mind blowing 14 catches 156 yards to Jason Witten, and 16 more receptions between Roy Williams and Miles Austin. Maybe that is good for the Detriot Lions, but if your trying to make the playoffs that simply doesnt cut it. What the Giants did which they have not been doing is that they stopped the run. Barber was a complete non factor, and Kiwi stepped up HUGE in stopping the run on sunday. The Giants still have a long ways to go defensivly, but building confidence is almost as big as the actual product, if you can believe you can do it, then there is no stopping you. The Giants did not believe they could stop anyone and it showed. After this game, it feels like they are starting to believe now, and if that confidence translates in the Philly game, then as I said before, look out.
I thought Eli played the weirdest game I have ever seen him play. He only made 11 completions, but on almost all of them he look fantastic. However, on the 14 incompletions, he looked brutal. There was no inbetween with Eli. Of course, two of his Td's were plays made by Jacobs and Nicks, and his one pick was totally his fault, so to say Eli played well would be false, but he made the plays he needed to and sometimes that is enough. Lets also calm down on Brandon Jacobs. He broke out of his shell for ONE PLAY. That one play was as big as it gets, but he stil had a brutal game on the ground (39 yards) and was a non factor blocking. I have to give all the credit in the world to Jacobs on that one 74 yard touchdown, but lets be fair, he still had a bad game on the ground. Is it time to start Hakeem Nicks yet? Nicks looked so good on that touchdown, he broke a tackle and walked into the end zone. The guy has such good hands, and he makes it look easy out there. Another guy who is simply having a ball out there is Steve Smith. Steve Smith is on pace to break every Giants single season receiving record, and he makes it look easy. he gets open EVERY THIRD DOWN and despite a couple drops here and there, he is reliable almost all of the time. If he doesnt get to the Pro Bowl the system is falwed (which of course it is).
Again, lets take a step back on the defense. They played excellent against the run, but BRUTAL against the pass. If that was Drew Brees out there, or Peyton or Brady, we give up 500 yards passing. Easily. Tony Romo proved why he is not a good Quarterback, why he will always be average at best. He missed wide open recievers, he over threw Roy Williams which would have been another TD, and he looked rattled out there. The problem was his recievers for the most part were WIDE OPEN the whole game. Why is that? Because besides Cory Webster, who had an average game at best, they Giants cannot cover anyone. Jason Witten, who I think is the third maybe 2nd best tight end in the league, had a game for the ages as I mentioned before. Roy Williams who could not do ANYTHING this entire year broke out for two TD's. Miles Austin also had a big game. Remember, this Cowboys offense had been brutal the last three games and one included the Raiders. Yes, 17 points is good (the last TD was a garbage TD) and Romo threw the ball a ridiculous 55 times, but that still is no excuse why he completed almost 40 of those passes. The rush was not there again, only two sacks and Romo fell down for one of them. I am still am far from impressed by this defense, but again, they made the stops when they had to. In addition, the Cowboys are a soft team, a team that has the deer in the headlight look whenever they play a big game, dont expect that from Andy Reid and the Eagles. The Eagles only get the Deer in the Headlight look when they are in a monumentally big game such as the NFC Title game or Super Bowl.
The lift that Dominik Hixon gave them on that punt return cannot be expressed in words. Not only did that return end the game, it might turn around the season. The crowd went as nuts as I have seen it in awhile, a season on the brink, and Hixon said we are not laying down. All with that return, a season could be revived. I still dont know how he got out of the first attempted tackle, along with three other Cowboys whiffs and Hixon was gone. Its the first punt return for a TD since Chad Morton in 2005 against the Cards on opening day, a day where he had both a kickoff and punt return for a TD. Its the most memorable punt return since Tiki Barber on Monday Night Football all the way back in 1997 against the same Cowboys. Barber broke a tie game against the defending Super Bowl Champs and though Dieon Sanders brought the kickoff return back as the final gun went off, the play was nullified due to an illegal forward pass. I loved the sidelines reaction, especially from Justin Tuck who carried Hixon off the field, and Tom Coughlin, who did the double fist and was obviously very emotional. The team said after that seeing Coughlin like that gave them a lift; if he is so end to it, how can I not be into it.
One last thing, the fact the Flozell Adams did not get suspended is a disgrace. This is twice now against the Giants and three times total that he has been fined and did something almost suspension worthy. The guy is a thug, a straight up thug, who tries to hurt people instead of playing football. Tuck was right in everyway to call him a dirtbag, Flozell's response "Justin Tuck is a nobody." Yea, a nobody who wears a large Super Bowl ring on his finger and had two sacks and five tackles in that game. A guy who had 13 sacks last year, and is a warrior on and off the field. A guy who is playing with a seperate shoulder that YOU gave him and does not complain. A guy who is slowly becoming my favoirte player because of his no-excuse-just-play mentality. Yea, Justin Tuck is a nobody.
I think this Sunday Night game is going to be a battle. The last two sunday night Giants-Eagles game, one at each stadium, were both won by the Giants. However, the last two playoff meetings between these two teams, both in each stadium, have both been won by the Eagles. This is going to be a war, both fan bases despise each other, the crowd should be as intense as any regular season game, in fact this should absolutly be a playoff atmosphere game. The Giants will be just as pumped as they were last week, knowing that their season is on the line. The Eagles will be pumped as ever because they know they can pretty much end the Giants season (especially as a division winner) and put themselves in prime position to win the NFC East. This will be a battle from the start to the finish, I cant wait.
- Lew
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