It was widely believed that New York/New Jersey would wind up hosting the event. There’s no bigger game than the Super Bowl and there’s no bigger city than New York, so it seems like a good fit.

There will be lots of criticism of the choice though. There are people out there who believe that having it in New York could wind up being a mistake. Everyone knows what the weather can be like in those parts in February and it could be a factor.

There’s the chance that getting to the stadium could be very difficult if a storm were to hit the area just in time for the big game. There’s also the argument for playing the game in as fair conditions as possible, as to avoid any possible advantages for one team over the other.

All of that was put aside though to get the game on the biggest stage it’s ever been on. One thing is for certain, it will be a spectacle.

Technorati Tags: New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, Super Bowl 48

The defensive line was the strength of the Giants Super Bowl team and they’d like to return to that. They drafted defensive tackle Linval Joseph out of East Carolina. He’s a huge body at 6′4″ and 328 pounds and looks to plug up the middle for their defense. Another spot of weakness was safety with Kenny Philips seeming to be injury prone. Bringing in LSU free safety Chad Jones gives them a big, athletic player that should bring some depth. Phillip Dillard, linebacker out of Nebraska, helps fill the void at middle linebacker left by their staple all bark and no bite player Antonio Pierce. They added some serious strength to the interior of their offensive line by drafting guard Mitch Petrus from Arkansas.

William and Mary defensive end Adrian Tracy gives them another potential edge rusher who can get after the quarterback. Punter Jeff Feagles was the oldest player in the NFL last year, so the Giants filled a need of youth at the punter position drafting Matt Dodge out of East Carolina. New York was able to fill some of it’s needs in the draft, but leadership is something you can’t draft right away and it should still be a concern.

Technorati Tags: 2010 NFL Draft, New York Giants, NFL

Rumors circulating right now are that Coughlin will get the boot, which may be a little rash in my opinion. Coughlin may not have had his best season coaching, but they finished at .500 and went 4-2 in the division. The problems may lie more on the field than off.

It’s obvious the Giants miss former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, but it’s not like the Giants lack in talent, although some of the talent may think they have a little more talent than they’re actually blessed with…..Brandon Jacobs I’m looking your way.

What the Giants don’t seem to have is any leadership. They’re kind of like a ship in the middle of the ocean just letting the current take them wherever. Guys tried to step up, like Jacobs and Antonio Pierce. The only problem is that just because you’re a total mouthpiece doesn’t mean you make a good leader. Talking the talk is one thing, walking the walk is another. In all fairness both these players finished the season injured, but prior to that they weren’t doing much anyways.

I’m sure the Giants would love Eli to be the leader they thought he would be after his little streak through Super Bowl 42 and into the following season. But Eli needs everyone around him to be playing great for him to be able to perform at a high level consistently. He’s not the kind of player that can lift a team up and carry them, like his brother.

This offseason is going to be an interesting one for the Giants. I expect to see a lot of changes, maybe even Coughlin getting the boot. Things will not stay status quo for New York. The Giants team that takes the field next year may look quite a bit different.

Technorati Tags: New York Giants, NFL, Tom Coughlin

Jacobs season ended one game short because he’ll be undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery next week. He finished the season with 835 yards on 224 carries for a poultry 3.7 yards per carry. Not something you’d expect from a self-proclaimed great running back.

That reminds me of something Jacobs said earlier this year on ESPN radio in New York, “If I finish the season averaging (3.4 yards) per carry, I won’t play next year. I’ll be done,”. “That’s how much I believe in my ability.”.

While 3.7 is clearly much more respectable than 3.4 yards per carry, maybe Jacobs is on to something here. Maybe retirement should be in the cards for him. Since he can’t reach the standards he sets for himself maybe his best days are behind him.

He was once a great running back, stringing together two fairly successful seasons. But those days seem to be a forgotten memory, much like the success of his team. And now all Brandon is left with are his memories and all his talk about how good he is.

One positive way to look at it is that if he does retire then the 5 year countdown is started for his eligibility for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Maybe Jacobs bust will be the first ever to be able to talk. The awesome thing about that would be instead of having to read the lengthy list of his achievements, he could just tell you about them himself.

Technorati Tags: Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants, NFL

Pierce has missed the last two games for the Giants with a bulging disk in his neck. The injury wasn’t thought to be that bad at first but more evaluations led the team to pull the plug on his season.

The Giants defense is clearly struggling right now and not getting one of their best players back on defense isn’t going to help any. With Pierce gone the Giants lose a lot of their bark. They don’t have to worry about losing their bite though, they lost that a while back.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Pierce, New York Giants, NFL

The Giants looked horrible last night. The run game was brutal, Eli looked like a frightened child out there and the defense was too busy pointing the finger to stop the Broncos.

The game was 16-0 at the half and the Giants had been badly outplayed. But they were still in the game.

The Giants picked off Orton on the first drive of the second half, they march all they way down the field to the Denver 21 and have to kick a field goal. That sums it up for the Giants right now.

With Dallas winning yesterday that puts the Giants 2 games back from the division lead. Right now there’s three teams that are in tight for the wildcard spots, Philly, Green Bay and New York.

The Giants are still in the playoff hunt. But if they keep playing the way they have been they’ll work their way out of that position real quick. With still no leaders stepping up I doubt the Giants will be able to solve their problems.

Technorati Tags: New York Giants, NFL

After 4 straight loses the best team in football talk has stopped and the Giants find themselves 1 game behind Dallas in the division. Eli Manning is struggling, the running game is stagnant and the defense lets up too many points.

The season doesn’t get any easier for them either. The remainder of their games have Atlanta, Dallas and Philly all coming to New York, as well as two road games to Denver and Minnesota in the final game of the year.

The possibility of the Giants losing 3 or 4 games down the stretch is very real. In all likelihood that would put the Giants on the outside looking in come playoff time, and that would be a giant letdown (pun intended).

So the Giants find themselves in a must win situation for the remaining weeks. Not a position they expected to be in I’m sure. I know a lot of people had high expectations for them at the beginning of the year.

Coughlin has his work cut out for him. If the Giants let down this year there could be a serious roster shakeup coming.

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The playcalling yesterday on the Giants second to last possession was questionable, real questionable. New York marched all the way down the field and had a first and goal on the 4 yard line, that’s when things got stupid.

Jacobs takes the ball on first down to the 1 yard line, then Chris Snee gets called for holding. This was followed by an incomplete pass on the first down replay, an inside hand off out of shotgun on second down, and another inside handoff out of shotgun on third down. They wound up settling for a field goal, oh yea, and a loss. San Diego then proceeded to march down the field, with relative ease I might add, and puched it in for 7. Game over. It seemed Coughlin was happy settling for a field goal and relying on his defense to save the day.

Why in the world would you run on second and third down? Out of shotgun? The running back has to gain four yard just to get back to the line of scrimmage. He picked up 5 yards on both carries but still. You give the defense a better chance of reacting to the play. It just seemed dumb at the time. They got San Diego to use two timeouts, but the incomplete pass on first down goes agianst the whole let’s get them to use their timeouts philosophy. Poor playcalling.

So much for leaders stepping up for the Giants. This might not seem like a problem but it’s going to be, if it isn’t already.

Technorati Tags: New York Giants, NFL, San Diego Chargers, Tom Coughlin

Eli Manning was the first pick in the 2004 draft, selected by the San Diego Chargers. This wasn’t good enough for Eli or his dad, they wanted Eli to play in New York. When the Giants picked Philip Rivers with the fourth pick Eli and Archies whining got them a first class ticket to New York and Rivers was sent packing to San Diego.

When asked about the situation yesterday Rivers handled it the right way. “I’ve got my hands full with that defense and what we’re trying to get done offensively. Certainly I think he (Eli) and I being linked in that trade and being in the same draft, it’s fun as a side note, but it’s another game on the schedule.  It’s a big game, but none of those things play any part in the mindset or approach.”

That was very well said by Philip. Now why can’t he conduct himself the same way on the football field as he does in front of the media?

Technorati Tags: Eli Manning, New York Giants, NFL, Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Eli Manning plays good when everyone else around him does, and right now he’s surrounded by inexperience at receiver. He’s not getting a lot of help from his running game either, Brandon Jacobs isn’t living up to the hype he creates for himself.

Antonio Pierce is another guy who can’t live up to his own hype. These guys need leaders to be leaders and the Giants just don’t seem to have any. There is a lot of young talent on that team but the lack of true veteran leadership is showing. It’s time for guys like Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck to step up and be leaders, these are the guys they need to start filling that role.

New York can’t afford to keep sliding, not with the way Dallas and Philadelphia are playing. Coughlin knows this and he’s trying to create a sense of urgency for his players, which is probably what they need. The law of averages says they come out and win against San Diego this week. If they don’t they could be in for a disappointing finish to their season.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Pierce, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, New York Giants, NFL, Osi Umenyiora, San Diego Chargers, Tom Coughlin