So the Giants lost a meaningless game to the Vikings. Big deal. 12-4 is more aesthetically pleasing than 13-3 anyway, and 13 is bad luck. If anything, I’m glad we lost that game.

Even with the loss, the Giants sent a message that they can beat you with their backups, or at least almost beat you. David Carr looked like a first overall pick, Darcy Johnson looked like Tony Gonzalez, Mario Manningham looked like he was born to run the slant pattern and Danny Ware looked like he could take over as the third running back next year if the Giants do not re-sign both of Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward.

Overall, I’d say this game went about as good as possible, and besides the Sam Madison injury, there isn’t much to talk about. So instead of recapping a meaningless game, I will announce the 2008 All-Bonehead Team! Like a fantasy football roster, the All-Bonehead Team consists of 1 Quarter Back, 3 Wide Receivers, 2 Running Backs, 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker and 1 Team Defense.

The 2008 All-Bonehead Team!

QB- Donovan McNabb (PHI)- The voting for the QB position ended in a tie, between McNabb and Lions QB Dan Orlovsky, who accidentally ran out of the end zone while scrambling to make a pass, resulting in a safety. Luckily for McNabb, the All-Bonehead team voting cannot end in a tie.

WR- Terrell Owens (DAL)- I would list all of the reasons for Owens to be on this team, but I have a 50,000 word limit. TO has a permanent roster spot until he retires.

WR- Plaxico Burress (NYG)- I don’t remember exactly what he did to belong on this team, but that can be blamed on the lack of media coverage. I think it had something to do with an unlicensed handgun, a nightclub and a Hamburglar costume, but my memory is a bit foggy.

WR- DeSean Jackson (PHI)- Flipped the ball away in celebration of a touchdown he would have scored had he not flipped the ball away. This would have been embarrassing, but not necessarily boneheaded, had he not done the same thing when he was in college.
EDIT: The play I was referring to actually occurred in High School. This time he actually did a flip and landed 1 yard short of the end zone before fumbling the ball. Thanks to ‘NYGiants044′ for the clarification. If you haven’t seen these videos before, this is a must watch.

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According to Rich Cimini of The Daily News, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has jumped “to the top of the Jets wish list.” He will interview on Saturday, and rotoworld.com speculates that they could try to sign him “right away.”

“Right away”? As in before the Giants’ first playoff game? I wish they were a little more specific.

I understand that they want to get their coaching staff assembled as soon as possible, but it doesn’t seem fair that teams can interview assistant coaches while they still have the current playoffs to worry about. If these teams didn’t want to be in this situation, they shouldn’t have missed the playoffs; my team shouldn’t be penalized for winning games. And it’s not like something is going to happen to the coach if you wait a couple of weeks. It’s not like Steve Spagnuolo is going to blow out his coaching muscle while implementing a complex blitz, and Kevin Gilbride isn’t going to tear his brain while devising an offensive scheme.

Personally, I think the Jets should reunite Mike Shanahan and Brett Favre (the two faced each other in Super Bowl XXXII) and leave our coaches alone.

While watching  my friends E and Tank deteriorate from enthusiastic, child-like euphoria into drunken bitter animals during this  past Sunday’s Jet game (both die hards) at Duffy’s in New Jersey (great wings) I was approached by another Jet fan. When I say fan I mean, half fan, half insane lunatic (the redundancy doesn’t begin to describe how crazy this guy looked). He came up to me and just began talking as if we had been there together all day.  Clearly he was too drunk to realize I had no idea who he was. He proposed this scenario to me and I thought I would pass it along.

What if instead of playing the whole year your team gets one play, a 4th and 1. If you pick up the first you go to the playoffs, if not, your out. What do you do?

My response – this is the direct quote, and remember I said all this while wearing a Giant Jersey.  ”Well it’s clear the Giants would pick it up because big blue has Brandon Jacobs who is half Andre the Giant, half Bald Bull and half Rhinoceros (yep I was a little drunk, and yes I realize the math isn’t quite right). That said (I say that said in every sports argument I ever make) I wouldn’t do it. Call me selfish but I need to watch the Giants every Sunday, good or bad, I would die without them. ”

At this point the crazed jet fan came too and said this;

“Wait your a Giants fan? F you (again I am wearing a Giants  jersey) and what the hell is a Bald Bull (very disappointed he did not get my Mike Tyson’s punchout reference, wondering if I should have gone with King Hippo). Ok, here’s what I do, I let the Jets do it. They go empty backfield, Brad Smith in motion, Washington shifts out to flanker, Favre goes with a hard count, and after all the histrionics (absolutely stunned this drunk wing nut just said histrionics) he throws a 40 yard bomb  into triple coverage gets picked and I find a noose to put me out of my misery. Here’s to you Giant fan. (this last part was definitely said sarcastically and then he finished what appeared to be a glass of scotch but it easily could have been his own urine)”

He then bought me a three wise men shot and said “F you if you can’t take a joke.” And with that he was gone into the night.

I promised myself  I would propose this scenario to the readers of giantsfootballblog.com if I could remember it. What do you guys think, 4th and 1 for the playoffs, in or out?

Here’s to you crazy Jet fan guy.

According to ESPN’S TMQ Eli Manning has offered to take the rest of his offensive line and their wives to the Pro Bowl with him.

The Pro Bowl includes tickets to Hawaii for the player and his wife. Currently Shawn O’Hara and Chris Snee are already attending the Pro Bowl but they will now be joined by teammates Kareem McKenzie, Rich Seubert and Dave Diehl and their wives. I too will be there, stalking them, I mean enjoying Hawaii with a telephoto lens…I’m saying a lot of things.

This reminds me of the time I won a pong tournament on the upper East side at a bar called the “Big Easy” and then treated all the other players to a plate of chicken fingers and disco fries at my local diner (where disturbingly  they refer to me as the chicken fingers and disco fries guy, that or jerk).Unfortunately I lost the power of speech halfway through the meal and Houdined out of the diner before the check came. Yep, that’s just what it’s like.

For the record a Houdini is when you become so intoxicated you leave the bar without saying goodbye to any of your friends. Also referred to as ghosting or pulling a Blair Thomas.

If anyone has a good story or just wants share  where they were when David Tyree made the single greatest catch in Super Bowl history we at GiantsFootballBlog would love to know.  Now lets form a circle  hold hands and share.

Personally I was sitting on my couch with my buddy Ben (die hard  fan- I couldn’t fathom having anything but Die hards at my place for such a big game ) My buddy Gshep was forced to stand behing the couch for this very reason; He  stood up behind the couch to get a beer the moment Kevin Boss made that 45 yard grab, we made him stay there the rest of the game.

There is no doubt in my mind that Gshep and all the other crazed Giant fans, doing there crazy rituals, helped David make that miraculous catch. For the record this is the same Gshep who fell 6 rows at Shea after Mike Piazza hit the game winnning home run in the post 9-11 game. The single most dramatic moment I ever had a Shea all ruined (or as stewey would say rueeened) by my buddy flying 6 rows in the air in slow motion. That’s right it happened in slo mo.

Yes coach Mora you can talk playoffs when you actually get in, so let’s talk playoffs.

The Giants have three potential opponents for the divisional round  (1pm January 11th on Fox) the Cardinals, the Eagles or the Falcons. Here is a quick breakdown of how  each team might fair in the weather of the Meadowlands.

The Cardinals - This looks to be the most favorable match-up on paper. Although the Cardinals boast a high powered offensive attack they do most of their damage through the air, which clearly won’t be easy to do in the swirling winds of the Meadowlands. Tack on the fact that the Giants beat the Cardinals in Arizona and you have yourself a Giant home field advantage. The Cardinals are  dangerous but you have to be routing for them come Saturday.

The Falcons – They play in a dome so coming to New York (New Jersey really) in January could be an issue for the Falcons. That said they are a run first outfit with a two headed attack. Micheal Turner is having a phenomenal year and Jerios Norwood is a home run threat (well not a home run as much as a long running play). There style of play should be suited for the cold and although Matt Ryan has been phenomenal as a rookie you can bet the Giants will stack the line all day and force him to make plays in the swirling winds. Something Ryan has been able to do most of the year.

The Eagles – A win over Minnesota and the Giants NFC east  rival comes back to NY where several weeks ago they beat the Giants. The Eagles will have no issue with the weather in NY (NJ) so there is less advantage here for big blue. The last time these two teams met theGiants were dealing with life after Plax, but they seem to have figured things out since there last meeting. Not to mention the fact that the Baby Rhinoceros (Brandon Jacobs) will be healthy. If anyone looks like the Giants of last year it may be the Eagles.  As usual this match-up will come down to one thing, stopping #36.

As Eli said “In the playoffs I’ve never been a fan of saying I hope we play this team or I hope this team makes it. In a sense you might get what you ask for and it might not turn out as good as you thought.”

Still, I say go Cards and go Minnesota. Although either way I like big blues chances against anyone. Rest up, it’s about to get serious.

According to ESPN.com, the 2010 Pro Bowl will be played a week before the Super Bowl, instead of the Sunday after. It will be moved from Honolulu to Miami, the site of Super Bowl XLIV.

I like this. The downside is that players from the two Super Bowl teams will not get to attend, but so many players opt not to play anyway. The upside is that now football fans will have something to hold them over during that dreaded week off after the conference championships. It’s still a meaningless game, but I feel that it will work better as an appetizer for the Super Bowl as opposed to an anticlimactic epilogue to the NFL season.

ESPN is reporting that the Oakland Raiders have expressed interest in Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Gilbride can meet with the Raiders during the bye  week if the Giants give their permission.

Most Giant fans seems to give Gilbride a hard time, but the fact remains he is the coordinator for the second best offense in the league (points wise). He has been able to do this without having his top flight wide out for the entire year so he deserves a great deal of credit. That said, Tom Coughlin is an offensive coach and this is his system Gilbride is running, so I am not sure the Giants would lose all that much with an in-house promotion. And now for the scarier news.

NFL.COM is reporting that the Lions will meet with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo during the Giants bye week. The Giants had to give Spagnoulo their permission, and they did.

Spags is one of the highest paid coordinator’s in all of football so he can  sit back and wait for the right team to come to him. I can’t imagine how he would justify the Lions as the right team. Still, hype can be fleeting, just ask Jason Garrett. With that in mind, and coming off a year in which he turned down the Redskins, (something lunatic Snyder still won’t  admit) Spagnuolo may not want to wait yet another year, unless  he believes the Gmen will one day turn to him, as all Giant fans expect. Still, can he wait that long? A lot can happen in a couple of  years.  Two names worth mentioning as possible in house candidates are defensive line coach Mike Waufle or linebacker coach Bill Sheridan who Coughlin considered as a defensive coordinator 2 years ago.

Eric Mangini was fired as head coach of the New York Jets this morning.

There is speculation that Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could be on the short list of candidates to replace him. Former Steelers coach and CBS Sports analyst Bill Cowher is likely to get serious consideration as well.

The Jets were 9-7 this season, after at one point compiling an 8-3 record. Mangini has a 23-25 coaching record overall, 0-1 in the playoffs.

In February of 2008, Spagnuolo took his name out of of consideration for a head coaching job with the Washington Redskins, citing that he didn’t feel like he was ready to be a head coach.

Our buddy Brian Bassett has the latest information about the firing and everything you need to know about the Jets at TheJetsBlog.com

The Philadelphia Eagles win over the Dallas Cowboys gives them the 6th and final seed in the playoffs. They will face the 3rd seed Minnesota Vikings, while the 5th seed Atlanta Falcons will face the 4th seed Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card games.

The Giants and Panthers will have a first round bye. As the number one seed, the Giants play lowest seed remaining after completion of wild-card round.

The AFC is clear except for the 4th seed. Tonight’s Football Night in America game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers will determine that seed, who will face the Indianapolis Colts.

The Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets, giving them the 3rd seed. They will face the Baltimore Ravens.

The Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers have first round byes.