When it comes to profanity-laced exultations of joy that are caught on camera, Steve Weatherford’s reaction to Lawrence Tynes’ game winning-field goal in the conference championship game against the 49ers last week might not have had the significance of, say, Joe Biden’s reaction to universal health care.

But to Giants fans, the field goal—which was made possible by Weatherford’s nifty hold of a bad snap, and which Weatherford reacted to by screaming in view of Fox’s camera that the Giants were going to the “mother—— Super Bowl”—was a pretty big deal in its own right.

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The Giants rediscovered the running game vs the Jets and the offense started to gel. The defensive front four was finally back together for the first time all year.

The WheelHouse discusses the hottest topics involving the Giants’ playoff run in a game of “Hit or Miss”, including Jets’ coach Rex Ryan possibly sparking the Giants’ sudden success….

Like most, viewing him from a distance over his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jets, had caused me to (fairly or unfairly) assume certain things about Holmes based on the media-shaped perception of him.

I knew of the great talent Holmes was on the field, but I was also aware of the marijuana-related four-game suspension, and the Pittsburgh Steelers being forced to release the former Super Bowl MVP after they ran out of patience with an apparent selfish player who couldn’t put his team first nor stay out of trouble off the field.

Yet, while interviewing him along with Dr. Bill Chachkes, the founder of Giants Football Blog’s affiliate site, Football Reporters Online, I found Holmes to be gracious, accommodating, patient, and engaging while answering both football-related questions and those about his III & Long foundation, which Holmes started after his son Santonio III was diagnosed with sickle cell disease in 2009.

The Jets were 8-5 then, riding a three-game winning streak. And, Holmes was telling me that as long as the Jets had the opportunity they had the past two years as a wild-card team, they could make another serious run at reaching the AFC title game for a third straight year, and perhaps their first Super Bowl in 43 years.

The team sharing a stadium with Holmes’ team meanwhile, the New York Giants, were enjoying a huge win in Dallas the night before. That victory stopped a four-game win streak and put the Giants at 7-6, tied with the Dallas Cowboys for first place in the NFC East.

After each team lost the following week, the trash talk started, leading up to the Meadowlands showdown between New York’s two professional football teams, with each club desperately needing a victory to keep its respective playoff hopes alive.

And, it was almost exclusively on the Jets’ side, except for a few brief moments when a couple of Giants players were uncharacteristically baited by the Jets and their mouthy head coach Rex Ryan into responding.

Ryan declared the Jets the best team in New York, the latest unfounded exclamation on the heels of countless failed Super Bowl guarantees, and pronouncements that the Jets had taken over the New York City from their MetLife Stadium co-tenants.

Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin meanwhile, retorted with the simple motto, “Talk is cheap, play the game.”

The Giants did, and they beat the Jets fairly convincingly, 29-14, effectively ending the realistic postseason chances for Ryan’s team, while moving themselves one final step closer to doing the same to another rival and securing a division title for themselves.

It was the beginning of the end for the Jets who went on to lose in Miami to finish the season 8-8, on a three-game losing streak, and out of the playoffs.

But, the Jets’ unraveling has continued even since their final game of the season last Sunday.

The other Holmes – not the one from the Fresh Meadows Country Club, but the apparently selfish player whom the Jets couldn’t rely upon – showed up last week, as he walked out of a team meeting and missed others. That eventually led to an argument in the Jets’ huddle between Holmes and offensive lineman Wayne Hunter during the fourth quarter of a close game between the Jets and the Miami Dolphins.

Centering around Holmes, it has all come apart for the Jets (not that things are so bad that they can’t be fixed by next season).

Ryan, who was often hailed as the league’s prototype player’s coach during his first two seasons with the Jets, has apparently lost control of his locker room, and things are no longer happy and carefree in Jetville as they were over the past two seasons.

He went so far earlier this week as to announce that no Jet player would be wearing a captain’s “C” on a jersey any longer.

According to various reports, several Jets players have made comments that the “C” on Holmes’ jersey might have been more befitting of the words “Coward” (for quitting on his team, and as one Jet player said), or “Cancer,” which another Jet player actually called Holmes, while adding that the receiver “quit a long time ago.”

That’s a sharp departure from the optimistic Holmes who seemed to believe in his team during his fundraiser less than three weeks earlier.

And, it’s an even greater difference from how the Giants seemed to galvanize and support each other, motivated by the drive to save Coughlin’s job in the final two weeks of the regular season, to beat not only the Jets, but a far more hated rival, the Dallas Cowboys, to end that team’s season while capturing their own divisional title for the first time in three years.

When the Giants took care of the Jets, they also eliminated one more hated divisional rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, who were suddenly getting back into the NFC East race with the Giants and Cowboys.

In a span of just two weeks, the Giants’ most two bitter rivals, and a third shared-city rival were all sent packing by the Giants while they were making postseason plans.

The common thread among the three teams that the Giants jettisoned from playoff contention is that they all talked a big game, but none could back it up.

None except the relatively quiet, non-descript, go-about-their business while trying not to make too many waves, NFC East champion Giants.

That’s a tribute to Coughlin, who as an example of his character, stood by his principles, even with the division – and his job – on the line, when he benched running back Ahmad Bradshaw for the entire first half in Dallas after Bradshaw missed a curfew.

Note to Ryan: that’s how you take control of your football team, even when in the case of Coughlin, his team seemed to be quitting on him by not showing up against, and losing to, inferior opponents earlier this season, and in collapses during past seasons under Coughlin.

Coughlin’s Giants are generally boring in that way. HBO’s “Hard Knocks” loved the Jets, but would be calling for the Giants perhaps last of any NFL team.

Every team and coach has their own style. But, while the Giants are in the playoffs, the Jets are embroiled in turmoil, chaos, finger pointing, and infighting.

And, as the Cowboys are supposedly still America’s Team (although a recent poll says it’s now the Green Bay Packers), with their lavish Dallas Palace of a stadium, larger-than-life persona, and supposed Super Bowl-caliber talent year after year that usually fails to win a playoff game, they’ll be watching the Giants represent their division against the Atlanta Falcons in a wild-card playoff game in New Jersey on Sunday, wishing it was them in the Giants’ place.

Additionally, as the Giants were making one huge fourth-quarter comeback after another to save their season, the Eagles, the team that told everyone in the preseason that it was a “Dream Team,” was routinely blowing the fourth-quarter leads that doomed its season.

Part of the reason for those events were that after wide receiver Steve Smith left the Giants to go down the New Jersey Turnpike to do little in the way of helping the Eagles this season, second-year wide receiver Victor Cruz emerged as the eye-opener that would go on to set an all-time club record for receiving yards (1,536) while recording the most touchdowns (five) of at least 65 yards in a season during the Super Bowl era.

Yet, with reason to boast much more, the worst Cruz has done in the way of being brash so far has been his exhibition of a harmless post-touchdown salsa dance.

Holmes, in contrast? His way of celebrating was to mock the Eagles and draw a costly personal foul penalty for taunting after he scored a touchdown that at the time had the Jets in a game in Philadelphia that they would eventually lose badly, late in the season.

Typical of the difference in mentality, not only of Holmes, but of the hollow bluster from three Giants’ rivals who each had their seasons ended by New York as the Giants quietly prepare to do their talking on the field, and try to keep extending their own season this week.

The Jets held the football for 36 minutes, but did little with it in the 89 plays they ran. The Jets’ “ground and pound” gameplan went nowhere. They gained only 3.7 yards per play. The Giants, who got the memo that the NFL is a quick strike league, only had the rock for only 24 minutes.

The Jets tried to move the ball with short passes, but the Giants’ defensive line was savvy – getting their arms up to disrupt Sanchez – and batting down five passes at the line.

The Jets received loads of help from the officials, too, getting back two lost fumbles (one actually went for a TD) after the plays were reversed by replay. This could have been a blowout.

The Jets took an early 7-0 lead, but only after they were bailed out by the Giants on a 4th-and-4 play by a penalty (12 men on the field).  Sanchez’ bang-bang sideline pass to RB Shonn Greene fell incomplete and had nothing to do with the Giants having an extra man in bounds.

The Jets other TD came courtesy of the Giants as well.  In the fourth quarter, the Jets went on a 15-play drive, culminating with them fumbling the ball away at the goal line. The Giants, instead of turning to the run, inexplicably passed on the first play. The ball caromed off WR Hakeem Nicks’ chest and into the hands of Jets LB David Harris’ arms.

Sanchez would score five plays later, but not after the Jets were aided for a third time by a call on the field being reversed after review. On 1st and 20, Giants’ DT Linval Joseph slapped the ball from Sanchez’ hand while he was attempting to pass. The Jets fell on the loose ball. The officials ruled the play a fumble on the field but reversed it after review, calling it an incomplete pass. Based on the angles presented, a case could be made for either side.

On 3rd and 12, the Giants chased Sanchez into running for a 2-yard gain. Antrel Rolle was flagged for holding on the play, giving the Jets a first down on the one-yard line. Sanchez snuck in on a bootleg the next play. They would not score again.

Tom Coughlin even took one for the team yesterday, getting his knee taken out on the sideline, but he remained true to form refusing to surrender.

“I got it on the knee but I think it is up higher,” the coach said. “You can imagine what the players said when they went by, ‘No toughness, no championship.’ I said, ‘You are exactly right.’”

He was asked if he was going for an MRI.

“I am not going anywhere or checking anything,” Coughlin answered staunchly.

The Jets were too concerned about who was the better team in New York, forgetting there are 30 other cities they would have to master as well if they are ever to return to a Super Bowl. In the end, it’s about execution, and the Giants – in spite of having EVERY review go against them – managed to capitalize on enough Jet mistakes to make them pay and most likely send them home for the postseason.

“They did a lot of talking and we let our play do the talking for us. We will just leave it at that,” said Giants safety Kenny Phillips.

From Geico SportsNite:

Jason Pierre Paul sacked Jets QB Mark Sanchez twice yesterday (Getty Images)

by Jon Wagner

The New York Giants proved they’re New York football’s finest. Now, they’ll have a good chance to finish with the much greater reward of a division title.

For the Giants, it was a perfect way to close the calendar year. With a single victory, they ended the season of one rival, put another’s in serious jeopardy, and gained momentum for a first-place, regular season finale showdown with a third.

After spotting the New York Jets (8-7) an early 7-0 lead, the Giants (8-7) scored the next 20 points, and ultimately, the final nine points, to beat their co-tenants for a fifth straight time, 29-14, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday.

The Giants’ victory puts the Jets’ postseason hopes in peril. To make the playoffs, the Jets will need to win at Miami, and have both Cincinnati and Tennessee, and either Denver or Oakland lose next week.

Meanwhile, the Giants also eliminated the NFC East preseason favorite Philadelphia Eagles (7-8) from postseason

contention despite the Eagles completing a season sweep over the Dallas Cowboys (8-7), who could either be without starting quarterback Tony Romo, or with Romo at less than full strength when they visit the Giants on New Year’s Day.

The winner of that game will be crowned NFC East champions and will host a first-round playoff game the following weekend, while the loser will have to wait until next season. Dallas is hopeful that Romo, who bruised his throwing hand in a home loss to Philadelphia shortly after the Giants earned their city bragging rights against the Jets, will be healthy enough to salvage their season at the Meadowlands.

As for the battle of New York (and New Jersey), in the first meaningful game for both the Giants and Jets in twelve regular season meetings, it was the Jets looking like they might actually back up the boastful words of head coach Rex Ryan, whose mouth once again wrote a check that his team couldn’t cash.

Ryan followed his early season Jets Super Bowl victory guarantee by declaring earlier in the week that the Jets were the best team in New York.

Initially, the Giants were making Ryan’s words ring true, as they started the game with three punts while amassing just 20 total yards, and going three-and-out on their first two possessions.

They also allowed the Jets to get the game’s first six first downs, gain 65 of the game’s first 73 yards, and take an early lead.

Following a Giants’ punt to start the game, a careless penalty by the Giants helped the Jets go 53 yards on ten plays during the Jets’ opening possession, for the game’s first score.

As the road team playing in their own building, in front of a crowd that was estimated at only about 55-60 percent in favor of the Jets, the Giants lacked their usual figurative 12th man. By mistake, they put an actual one on the field and that cost them dearly, as they were flagged for having too many men on the field on an incomplete screen pass on 4th-and-4 from quarterback Mark Sanchez (30-59, 258 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 5 sacks) to running back
Shonn Greene (14 carries, 58 yards; 3 catches, 20 yards).

The Jets capitalized just five plays later, taking a 7-0 lead on the first career score by seldom-used, undrafted rookie running back Josh Baker (1 catch, 5 yards, TD; no carries), who walked into the end zone on a five-yard screen to the left from Sanchez with 7:56 left in the first quarter.

The Giants’ defense, which struggled severely in recent weeks, but which stepped up against the Jets, forced punts on each of the Jets’ next two possessions, the second of which set the Giants up at midfield.

Quarterback Eli Manning (9-27, 225 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) then completed a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, one of six different Giants with one catch in the game. Three plays later, Manning connected with wide receiver Victor Cruz (3 catches, 164 yards, 1 TD) for 29 yards to give the Giants a 1st-and-goal at the Jets’ 2-yard line, but the Giants were forced to settle for a 21-yard field goal by kicker Lawrence Tynes, which cut the Jets’ lead to 7-3, with 11:51 remaining in the opening half.

The Jets then punted twice and the Giants once before a huge turning point followed.

A Jets punt downed at the Giants’ 1-yard line nearly became disastrous for the Giants when former special teams captain Chase Blackburn (in his second go-around with the team) inexplicably tried to dive between a few Jets with no realistic chance at advancing the ball. Blackburn nearly touched it before the Jets did, which could have given the Jets’ offense a first down inside the Giants’ five-yard line.

Instead, Manning completed a short pass to Cruz, to the right, three plays later, which Cruz broke for a game-breaker.

Answering some trash-talking about him from the Jets’ secondary leading up to the game, Cruz, the Giants’ leading receiver this season, who is likely to make his first Pro Bowl, refreshed the Jets’ memory about what a great playmaker he’s capable of being.

Cruz was first noticed as a rookie last season, when he burned the Jets for three touchdowns and some spectacular, highlight reel catches in the Giants’ preseason win during the first professional football game ever at the current stadium which both New York teams now call home.

This time, Cruz caught Manning’s pass at the Giants’ 11-yard line before planting his foot and losing one of his critics – cornerback Antonio Cromartie (3 tackles, 1 PD) – to break back out toward the right and up the sideline on a 99-yard touchdown pass.

It was the longest pass play in Giant history and the longest defensive play allowed in Jet history, but more importantly, it gave the Giants their first lead – one they wouldn’t relinquish – 10-7, with 2:12 left in the half.

The play also accounted for 16 more yards than the Giants had on their previous 25 plays combined, to start the game.

The Giants appeared to extend their lead three plays later, when rookie wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (5 catches, 36 yards) was ruled to have fumbled a ball that was picked up and returned 29 yards for an apparent touchdown by cornerback Aaron Ross (3 tackles, 1 PD).

Replays were inconclusive, although certain angles showed that Kerley’s right elbow might have landed on the cleat of safety Antrel Rolle (7 tackles) rather than on the turf, before Kerley fumbled, after being dragged down by Rolle.

Nevertheless, the call was reversed and the Jets were able to move 55 yards to the Giants’ 19-yard line, but defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, another young Giant in addition to Cruz who is likely to make the Pro Bowl, sacked Sanchez for seven yards on third down, giving him a team-leading 15½ sacks for the season.

Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin then iced kicker Nick Folk with a time out, and Folk responded by missing a 44-yard kick wide left as the half ended.

Neither team could do much offensively for most of the third quarter as the Giants punted three times in a row, and the Jets punted four straight times, making it eight consecutive punts for them since their first-quarter touchdown.

Before the Jets’ last punt of the period, cornerback Corey Webster (7 tackles, 2 PD) appeared to have created a turnover, but a pass that was clearly caught by wide receiver Santonio Holmes (4 catches, 50 yards) and was popped loose by the hand of Webster and was mistakenly ruled an incomplete pass.

But, the Giants then went 81 yards in just four plays as Manning found Cruz for a 36-yard gain up the right side, and the Giants’ backfield took the ball into the end zone from there.

Running back Brandon Jacobs (7 carries, 42 yards) ran 28 yards to the left on the next play, to post just the third run of at least 20 yards this season for the team with the league’s worst rushing attack, but which slightly outgained the Jets’ running game, 115-105.

Jacobs’ compliment, running back Ahmad Bradshaw (15 carries, 54 yards, 2 TD) scored on the next play, running 14 yards up the middle, to push the Giants’ lead to 17-7, with 13 seconds left in the quarter.

Three plays later, the Giants did get a turnover, as Sanchez, under pressure from defensive end Justin Tuck (4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 PDs) was looking for Kerley, who stopped on his route. Sanchez ended up throwing over the middle right to safety Kenny Phillips (1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 PD), who returned the ball 31 yards to the Jets’ 14-yard line to set up a Tynes 36-yard field goal that increased the Giants’ lead to 20-7, with 13:18 left in the game.
The Jets then answered with their longest drive of the game (13 plays, 73 yards) but only to lose the ball after center Nick Mangold made a bad snap against his leg, leading to a fumble recovery in the end zone by rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams (5 tackles, 1 PD, 1 FR) for a touchback.

Manning gave the ball right back on the next play though, as he was intercepted by linebacker David Harris (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 PD), who caught a ball off of Nick’s hands and returned it 20 yards to the Giants’ 11-yard line.

The Giants’ only turnover of the game proved costly just four plays later, as Sanchez took advantage of a third-down holding penalty on Rolle to get his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, on a run from a yard out, to pull the Jets to within 20-14, with 7:17 remaining.
Each team then went three-and-out before the Giants punted again, pinning the Jets at their own 1-yard line.

Defensive tackle Chris Canty (3 tackles, 1 sack) then sacked Sanchez in the end zone on the next play, as Sanchez completed the ball to offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson in desperation, but not until after it was ruled that Sanchez’s forward progress was stopped. Canty was awarded with a safety to extend the Giants’ lead to 22-14, with 2:13 left.

Folk then attempted the almost never seen onside free kick, which went out of bounds at the Jets’ 19-yard line.
Bradshaw scampered into the end zone on the next play to close the scoring and make the Giants the Kings of New York, even if they won despite being on the short end of some key statistics.

The Jets had twice as many first downs (22-11), ran 34 more plays (89-54), and controlled the ball for over 13 minutes more (36:06 – 23:54) than the Giants, and Manning had by far, a season low in completions while Sanchez set career highs for both attempts and completions.
Thanks largely to Cruz’s touchdown however, it was Manning who got more out of his completions, nearly doubling Sanchez in yards per attempt (8.3 to 4.4).

In addition to being a season saver, the Giants’ win might also be seen as a victory for class over arrogance, and in some ways, like the big brothers keeping the little brothers in their place.

Ryan placed great importance on the game, not only for his teams’ playoff hopes, but because he desperately wants his team to eventually be the main team in New York. For both reasons, he admitted earlier in the week, “I have to win this game,” while at other times, he fired unprovoked verbal shots at the Giants, including the idea that the venue for Saturday’s contest would eventually be known as JetLife Stadium.
Coughlin, simply responded with his motto, “Talk is cheap, play the game.”

Still, that didn’t stop the Jets (who with control of the entire stadium as the designated home team) from stooping to covering four logos commemorating the Giants’ Super Bowl appearances outside of the Giants’ normal home locker room, which the Giants used on Saturday (the Jets use their own home locker room in the stadium).

The logos were covered with black curtains, which were taken down Jacobs and Tynes, at the request of the Giants.

A Jets official restored the curtains and placed a security guard in from of them to prevent further tampering.
Yet, even after the win, Coughlin, who sustained a minor knee injury when Jets’ linebacker Aaron Maybin hit running back Danny Ware late, out of bounds, sending Ware careening into his head coach, humbly deflected a question about gaining city bragging rights, saying, “I am not going to get into all of that.”

Ryan, who seems to not believe half of his own bluster sometimes, but who is outspoken simply to take attention and pressure off of his team, admitted after the game about the Giants, “They were the better team today, and they’re the better team this year. Clearly, I was wrong.”
That didn’t stop Giants’ co-owner John Mara from candidly saying, “Given everything that was at stake, and all the noise that has been coming out of Florham Park [the Jets’ training facility in New Jersey], yeah, it means a little more.”

But, it will only continue to mean a lot if the Giants finish the regular season as well as they ended the game against their intra-city rival, as the clash for New York supremacy gives way to a win-or-go-home clash for the NFC East crown with Dallas next week.

That game has been flexed from its regularly scheduled start time of 1 pm ET to a Sunday Night Football national telecast on NBC, at 8:20 pm on January 1st.

photo credit: Getty Images

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

And so it was when a mediocre team played against another mediocre team in a must win situation, one of the two teams must win. The NY Giants prevailed. But let’s be honest and objective about this contest- both teams s*cked. Dropped balls, penalties, dead ball fouls, crazy plays, screwball turnovers that weren’t and were, insane playcalls… there was a lot of bad football out there. The Giants came out on top, proving that yes indeed, they are the best football team in NY. This is not something I’d be bragging about a whole helluva lot.

The Good

1) Victor Cruz is just fantastic. With the Giants slumbering through the first half with a FG (which was set up by a 28 yard pass catch and run by VICTOR CRUZ), the Giants found themselves down 7-3 at their own goal line on 3rd down and 10. I figured incorrectly that the Giants would run the ball out just so that the punter would have a few yards to move. Instead, Gilbride goes shotgun (one of three times we saw shotgun that I went apesh*t) and passes to Cruz for a ~12 yard completion. Except Cruz darts away from Wilson plus Cromartie, runs down the sideline, hops over an attempt at a shoestring tackle and scampers 99 yards into the end zone for a TD. Brilliant. BRILLIANT. This play broke open the game, awoke the Giants, changed tempo, and the Jets never recovered. It should be noted that Cruz figured in the second TD drive, getting the big, 37 yard pass play that set up the Jacobs and Bradshaw runs. And Cruz also came within a fingertip of another TD catch where Eli overthrew him in the endzone.

I’m not done talking about Cruz. Do you realize he passed Amani Toomer‘s 2002 NY Giants single season receiving yards record of 1,343 yards with 3 catches for 164 yards, now with 1,358 yards for the (15 game) season?! This guy, in his first full season, breaks the all-time franchise record! He’s 25 years old. So his future is very bright.

2) It’s another game, it must mean Jason Pierre-Paul was busy. 2 sacks for 15.5 on the year.

3) Running game in H2. After running for 6 yards in H1, they ran for 110 yds in H2. Bradshaw ran over S Pool. Excellent.

4) Rex Ryan can eat some crow. I like him as a coach but he talks way too much. Shut the F up, stop talking about how your team is going to win the Super Bowl and just prepare your team to play. With your team at 8-6 going into the game, you are trash for talking.

5) The Eagles are eliminated. Good riddance, dream team. Nightmare this. Another country who we no longer have to hear from.

6) Darrelle Revis. Understand this- I root for the Jets when the Giants are out of it because I have so many friends and family who root for this team. I have said this before, that I will trade 16 Jets wins for 1 Giant win. And with all of that said, when I watch Revis play, it is art. I appreciate good football, preferrably when it is in a NY Giants uniform. Revis is a pleasure to watch. There is a reason why Eli only had 9 pass completions today and his name is Darrelle Revis.

The Bad

1) Kevin Gilbride’s playcalling was at times atrocious. I really do not want to go through all of the egregious examples of why I detest him, but in this game we saw so many insanities… I could write a bible. Third and 1, THIRD AND 1…. and he puts Manning in shotgun. I can hear ‘Nature’ going apoplectic. If you are going to pass, why not go play action and freeze the line. He did this playcall THREE times that I can recall, using shotgun where it was horrible. The Giants have just gotten a turnover in the end zone off the Sanchez fumbled snap, 1st and 10 from the 20, up 20-7, and there is Gilbride again in …. SHOTGUN! WTF???!!! Ya gotta be kiddin’ me. The world is expecting run, I am expecting run. Just do playaction if you have a hard-on to throw the damn the ball. Yes, it would be unexpected, and I love the unexpected and unpredictable. You can catch the Jets LBers and Safeties biting on run. Instead, we get a tipped ball which is picked off by a non-biting LBer.

2) Mark Sanchez. Please do not tell me, Daryl Johnston, how much better the Giants secondary played today. Sanchez just played worse, which was what we expected when we previewed the game yesterday. In the first half, McKnight has Boley beat by 3 steps and Sanchez misses him. Keller crosses on play action, he is wide open, Sanchez takes forever to get him, the Giants defenders close the gap and woohoo, incomplete pass. Holmes open and overthrown, woohoo. Add at least 4 more batted balls at the line of scrimmage (Tuck2, Tollefson, Joseph) and it was a weaker opponent abdicating. Please, do not schedule any parades just yet for Mr. Fewell.

Summary

Here is a stat to chew on- The Jets had 10 penalties for 95 yards. This should be a reminder that the Giants beat a garbage football team. Hey, at least the Giants played about 40 minutes of football today, which was about 40 more minutes than they played vs the Redskins. Let’s be thankful for small favors.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody!

The win means the Giants will play for the NFC East title next Sunday vs Dallas. The Philadelphia Eagles, who have been hot of late, were eliminated from the playoffs by virtue of the Giants’ victory.

The Giants (8-7) won the battle for New York by throttling the Jets’ running game and forcing the Jets to put Mark Sanchez in passing situations. Sanchez attempted a career-high 59 passes, completing 30 of them for 258 yards and a TD. He threw 2 INTs and avoided several others as he was harassed by Giant defenders all day.

Eli Manning (9-27, 225 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT) hit Victor Cruz on a record 99-yard pass play to get the Giants going in the first half. He seemed out of his element all day, but to fair, he had a few dropped on him and just missed Cruz on another deep pass in the end zone

Cruz’ 99-yard pass play is the longest in in Giants’ history. The previous long was a 98-yarder from Earl Morrall to Homer Jones vs the Steelers in 1966.

Cruz had 164 yards on three catches, giving him 1,358 yards on the year, breaking the Giants’ single-season mark for receiving yards, previously held by Amani Toomer (1,343 in 2002).

The Giants rushed the ball fairly well against the Jets defense, gaining 115 yards on 26 carries. Ahmad Bradshaw had 58 yards and two TDs, including a 19 yarder in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Brandon Jacobs had 42 yards on seven carries.

The defense stepped up and played a terrific game. DE Justin Tuck was back to his old self, and DE Jason Pierre-Paul recorded two sacks. DT Chris Canty had a sack for a safety, which basically iced the game for Big Blue.

Head coach Tom Coughlin was bowled over on the Giants sidelines by RB Danny Ware, who was hit late out of bounds.  Coughlin’s leg was visibly bent back and he was attended to briefly by the medical staff on the bench, but then limped back up to the field for the end of the game.

When asked how he felt after the game, Coughlin said, “Never better. Never better.”

The fans were rabid and the Jets were winning the game until the 4th quarter when Phil Simms hit Lionel Manual for a 9-yard TD, which put the Giants ahead, 21-20.

The fans needed their biggest backer – Fireman Ed – to rally the fans and fuel a Jet comeback. The crowd scanned the stadium for Ed, but they could not find him. Someone else was sitting in his seat.

It was me.

Ed Anzalone and his brother, Frank, have been friends of myself and my brother Tom for as long as I can remember. That week, the Anzalone brothers had a family function they could not miss. They gave their tickets to that game to their favorite Giant fans.

Tommy and I were not stupid enough to wear any type of Giants apparel. Not that we were afraid of being harassed, but out of respect for the Anzalones. We didn’t want the other fans to know they gave their tix to Giant fans. (We also took the bus from Runyon’s in midtown that day and planned on hitting the town after the game).

All game long, fans would come down the aisle looking for them, too. It wasn’t like any of this would have gone unnoticed.

The game was one the Anzalones would have loved. Their seats were in the lower tier on the goal line. That is where the biggest play took place. QB Ken O’Brien found WR Al Toon open in the corner of the end zone in a big mismatch. The Giants had backup veteran DB Tom Flynn guarding Toon due to injuries. O’Brien saw that and made the play.

That was a disappointing game for us, but it was not meant to be. The fans around us knew we were not Jet fans, and treated us well due to the fact that we were friends of Frank and Eddie. Hard to believe that was 23 years ago…

Here is a highlight reel from that day…

He blew into New York and staked his claim to the city, not knowing the full lay of the land. He declared to the world that “if you take out one of our guys, we’re gonna take out two of yours.” Which is all well and good from wherever he came from.

But in New York if you talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk – or you’re going to end up walking the plank. You’re own supporters will see to that.

The truth of the matter is that this is football. Every team goes to the draft, signs free agents, yada, yada, yada. Every team has a weight room and big, tough guys. No one is solely scared of talk. In fact, it usually works in the opponents’ favor.

Today, the Giants, with some scary customers of their own, will show the Jets they do not fear them. The Jets will want to play some smashmouth and the Giants will oblige. It will be a war. Watching the way Philadelphia emasculated the Jets last week, I’d say the Giants have a good shot at doing the same.

The numbers in this game (Jets by 3, O/U 46.5) are simply there to tell you that they expect the game to be close and low-scoring. The cold temperatures will help keep the scoring down, but who ends up on top will be the question.

The Giants have lost five of their last six and game they won was in the final seconds on a blocked FG. The Jets have delivered some turkeys as well of late. The Philly lass was disturbing.  That letdown came after three straight wins but before that, they let Tim Tebow beat them in the final minute in Denver.

Here’s some trends for you to chew on courtesy of covers.com…

Giants are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Saturday games.
Giants are 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12 games as a road underdog of 0.5-3.0.
Giants are 6-2-2 ATS in their last 10 games following a double-digit loss at home.
Giants are 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0.
Giants are 18-8 ATS in their last 26 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Giants are 31-15 ATS in their last 46 road games.

Jets are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games.
Over is 4-0 in Giants last 4 Saturday games.
Over is 4-0 in Giants last 4 games in Week 16.
Over is 4-0 in Giants last 4 games as an underdog.
Over is 4-0 in Giants last 4 vs. a team with a winning record.
Over is 4-0 in Jets last 4 games as a favorite of 0.5-3.0.
Over is 5-0 in Jets last 5 games in December.
Over is 4-0 in Jets last 4 home games.
Over is 4-0 in Jets last 4 games on fieldturf.

Want a suggestion? Bet the over and root for the offenses!!! As long as the Giants score more, who really cares?