Boneheaded Recap: Week 16
Well Giants fans, we did it; #1 seed in the NFC playoffs. I’m only a part-time football fan, so I’m not exactly sure what this means. But it sounds to me as if we are on our way to the NFC Championship!
At least that is what people will have you believe. You cannot read a single thing about this game without reading the phrase “the road to the Super Bowl goes through [New York/New Jersey/Giants Stadium/The Meadowlands].” One of these days, someone will have to explain this phrase to me. The phrase is stated as an absolute fact every year when any team clinches the #1 seed, despite being misleading and inaccurate.
If the Giants win their first playoff game, then sure, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Giants Stadium. But if they lose, I believe the NFC Championship game will be held in another stadium. Thus, if the team that advances to the Super Bowl is not the team that knocked the Giants out, their road never passed through Giants Stadium.
Let’s take a look at the game that made the road to the Super Bowl possibly (but not necessarily) go through Giants Stadium.
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For all of ESPN’s hype over the airing of “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” last Saturday night, I think they may have jumped the gun. Sunday night’s game between the Giants and Panthers had everything you could want in a football game (Here’s another phrase I never understood. I could want the game to end with me winning a million dollars. I guess people who come up with phrases are not as greedy as me.) The game even ended with a dramatic overtime touchdown, reminiscent of the 1958 Championship game, except this time, the good guys won.
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The Giants should make it their #1 priority in the coming offseason to re-sign both Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward. Re-signing Jacobs is obvious, so I won’t talk about that. But by now, Ward and the Giants should both realize how mutually important they are to eachother. If not for Ward rushing for 215 yards, the Giants would not have won on Sunday night. If not for Ward being the change of pace back behind the best offensive line in football, Ward would not have rushed for 215 yards on Sunday night. Does anyone honestly think he’d ever have that kind of performance on the Bengals or Browns, even with ten more carries? Sure, Ward can make a quick buck by signing a starting role on one of these running back starved teams, but even then he’d still just be the lead back in a two back system, and he was not impressive in Jacobs’ absence. The best long term situation for Ward in terms of success, career longevity and probably even statistics (he is now 52 yards away from a 1,000 yard season) is the situation he is in right now.
- I think a cute idea for a movie would be Alien vs. Predator vs. Brandon Jacobs vs. DeAngelo Williams.
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Here’s a neat little stat: the top 3 running backs in the NFL in terms of yards per carry (the most important stat, in my opinion): Derrick Ward (5.7 YPC), DeAngelo Williams (5.4 YPC), Brandon Jacobs 5.0 (YPC).
- Give a game ball to Jeff Feagles. Not only did he handle and place a couple of bad snaps on John Carney field goals, but he made one of the biggest plays of the game. By pinning the ball at the 1, Feagles finally swung field position in the Giants’ favor, which eventually resulted in the tying touchdown drive. With the great seasons our two octogenarian (if you combine their ages) kickers are having, I just can’t bring myself to make any more old people jokes.
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How long is it going to take before sportscasters stop making corny jokes about Donovan McNabb when games go into OT? As long as Tony Kornheiser is still on Monday Night Football, the answer is never.
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While we were all watching the Giants beat the Panthers in overtime, Southern Miss and Troy were battling for the treasured New Orleans Bowl trophy. This storied bowl game also went into overtime, and was won on a field goal by Southern Miss’ kicker Brittian Barefoot. Yes, I kid you not; their kicker is named Brittian Barefoot. Google it if you don’t believe me (I understand if you don’t).
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ESPN’s Jeffri Chadiha wrote an article weighing the good and bad from the Giants’ performance against the Panthers. I did not link you to the article, because it is a waste of time. In the article, he insightfully explains that the Giants’ ground attack worked well, while also pointing out that homefield advantage is good. He then says that while celebrating the victory, the Giants’ players should remember that they only won because John Kasay missed a 50 yard field goal. Next, he says that the two teams play a similar style of football (true), and that the Panthers will relish the chance to beat the Giants in a rematch (true, but obvious). He then awkwardly and abruptly ends his article by saying “If these two meet again, the Panthers win.” Thank you Jeffri (it just doesn’t look right without a heart over the i), for saving us the time of watching an NFC Championship game that might not even happen. If these two teams do meet up again, I will just re-read Jeffri’s intuitive article to find the outcome, instead of watching 3 boobless hours of football.
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Most insightful comment of the week: “The Panthers could have won it at the end if Kasay made the [game winning] field goal” –random person on ESPN.com’s post game article.
Bonehead of the Week: Random Panthers Fans
For some reason, I got into an argument with a couple random Panthers fan about the game. But the weirdest part was that I still have no idea what they were arguing. They said that no one respects the Panthers, to which I responded “I respect the Panthers more than any team in the NFC outside of the Giants.” They responded by saying that the Giants got lucky that Panther Steve Smith only had a few catches. I said that this was because the Giants covered him so well, to which random fan #1 responded “respect is earned.” Before I could comprehend what that meant, he told me that “you Yankees sure are mean.” I knew he meant “Yankee” as in “person from the North,” but I jokingly said “I’m a Mets fan.” Bad move; don’t confuse a Panthers fan. I must have thrown him for a loop, because he repeated his argument that the Giants were lucky that Steve Smith only had a few receptions. I said that it’s an insult to the Giants defense to say that they got lucky to keep Steve Smith quiet, to which he responded that if anything, it was Jake Delhommes’s fault for not throwing it to him. He then laughed at the idea of the Giants DBs covering Steve Smith. Finally, random fan #2 pointed out Jeffri Chadiha’s article, saying that it proved that the Giants got lucky and that the Panthers should have won. It was then that I realized the conversation could no longer be salvaged, and bid them good day.
Merry Christmas/ Happy Hannukah/ Happy Holidays to Everyone!
