Blogs – Page 227 – Keefe To The City

Feb 1, 2012

Giants-Patriots Will End a ‘Friendship’

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on Feb. 1, 2012. Super Bowl XLVI might be too much for me to handle. The magnitude of the game, the storylines for the main characters and the

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on Feb. 1, 2012.

Super Bowl XLVI might be too much for me to handle. The magnitude of the game, the storylines for the main characters and the impact the result will have on New York and Boston might be too much for anyone to handle. So that’s why with a game as important for the history of two franchises and two rival cities, I felt there was only one thing to do.

As he does for every big New York-Boston game in every sport, Mike Hurley of CBS Boston joined me for an epic email discussion to talk about what’s at stake on Sunday in the biggest Super Bowl ever.

Keefe: Where do I begin? I think Super Bowl XLVI is pretty much the climax of our friendship (if our relationship can be considered a “friendship”). I say it’s the climax because this is it. One of us is going to experience the glory of a championship on Sunday night and the other is going to be on life tilt and likely questioning why they even like sports in the first place. I don’t see how we will be friends on Monday. My Giants and your Patriots are meeting in the biggest, most important and most significant Super Bowl in Super Bowl history. That’s not a stretch at all. It really is. There’s so much at stake in this game, for the quarterbacks and coaches involved, and for the fans and the two rival cities. That’s why I don’t know where I should begin, but I think I just might have the place: Feb. 3, 2008.

It’s a day you have said never happened. You have claimed that the 2008 calendar went from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4 in the city of Boston even though it didn’t anywhere else, the same way that Boston celebrates the third Monday of April (Patriots’ Day) by people skipping work and class and getting hammered while the Red Sox play at 11 a.m. and the Boston Marathon takes place as the rest of the country endures a normal Monday. (I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I love Marathon Monday, and I’m thankful for the four years it allowed me to play afternoon beer pong rather than sit in a media law class.)

Feb. 3, 2008 will forever be part of the Top 5 Sports Days of My Life. It might be No. 1 and it’s hard to say that anything can ever rival it unless maybe the Yankees come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Red Sox in a future ALCS, and trail by four runs with two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 before coming back to win the series in walk-off fashion. Then we’ll have to talk.

Super Bowl XLII is important on so many levels, but it’s even more important to me because it made up for the 2004 ALCS. It salvaged my college career in Boston and let me graduate on a winning note after having to watch the Red Sox win twice while living there. For you, it ended the “Perfect Season,” added to the Patriots’ championship drought, gave Tom Brady and Bill Belichick Super Bowl losses and pretty much devastated your life.

Immortality was stolen from Brady and Belichick in Arizona and the Giants’ win prevented us from having to hear about the 2007 Patriots as the best team ever forever. Instead, the Patriots celebrated their colossal failure by hanging a banner in Gillette Stadium to commemorate the perfect regular season. And fortunately they haven’t gotten the memo that it’s a terrible reminder and an embarrassment to New Englanders as it continues to hang at the stadium.

Take me back to Feb. 3, 2008, before I even knew you. Tell me about Mike Hurley during and after Super Bowl XLII and how that game has changed and shaped the way you think and feel about the Patriots. Part of me thinks this is a bad place to begin and that you might have a Rambo-like flashback and drive to New York City right now with a bandana tied around your forehead and dual bullet belts wrapped around your torso with an AK-47 in your hand in search of me, but I’m willing to take that chance.

If you need any help conjuring up some memories of Super Bowl XLII, maybe this will help.

Hurley: Hello, Neil. How are you? If you just told me in that long and winding email, I am sorry but I didn’t read it. I made it through the first paragraph before I blacked out.

I did catch the end though, so we can start there. In February 2008, I was just a young buck trying to make my way in sports media as an intern at WPRI in Rhode Island. I was in the Pats’ locker room, holding microphones in the middle of massive scrums in front of players’ lockers before they left for Arizona. I looked at these players and thought, “Will the Patriots win by 20 points? Thirty points? Should the Giants even fly to Glendale? That’s a lot of hotel money that would go to waste.”

Then the game started, and FOX showed the greatest quarterback in history, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., on the sideline, not playing, a full seven minutes into the game, while the third-best Manning brother (go Cooper!) drove his team for a painstaking 60 some-odd yards and took nearly 10 minutes to do it. I knew then that I wouldn’t see the blowout that I had previously expected, but I still thought the Patriots would win. They had to win. They were the best team ever. Yeah, they played a couple of vanilla playoff games in the January cold at home, but in Arizona, they’d go back to the five-wide shotgun offense that allowed them to beat teams 150-7 all season long.

But they didn’t, and it was painful, but I said to myself, “Whatever, it’s time to grow up. I’ll just become a media guy and not care about stuff like this anymore, because what’s the point?” I believed it, too, and I went to sleep with no problem. But then I woke up around 2:30 a.m., and the entire game replayed in my head from start to finish. Every. Single. Play.

That was the last time I watched Super Bowl XLII, and I hadn’t even watched a highlight (besides the helmet catch and Plaxico touchdown) until last week. I’ve now had to Google “Super Bowl XLII box score” a dozen or so times in the past week and a half, and it’s killed me every single time.

What’s killed me even more is that 16-0 banner hanging at Gillette. I don’t know why they didn’t just print a banner that said “We lost one time to the Giants,” because that’s all I see when I look at that thing.

Keefe: Media Day came and went without really anyone saying anything that can be considered bulletin board material. Unless the Giants want to hang up the transcript of Rob Gronkowski using the word “day” 49 times in one sentence and somehow get pumped about it. There weren’t any real “guarantees” but rather a lot of “expect” and “hopefully.” And to my dismay, Tom Brady didn’t laugh sarcastically at anyone on the Giants.

Brady is the biggest sports star in Boston and it’s no surprise that you wear his jersey to bed and have a Fathead size cutout of that picture of him shirtless holding a goat on your bedroom wall. And because Tom Brady is who he is, and has done what’s he done, the Patriots are favored by three points in the Super Bowl and no one really feels confident betting against arguably the best quarterback in the history of football. But in reality he might not be the better quarterback in this game. (That’s right I said it.)

Tom Brady is the Patriots. Everyone is favoring the Giants in almost every matchup on the field, except every argument always comes back to, “Well, the Patriots have Tom Brady.” And yes, TB12 has the three rings, but he also has had a lot of inconsistent games in the playoffs in recent years and most recently as the Patriots’ win over the Ravens. Did Brady pick apart an 8-8 Broncos team that ran a high school offense at Gillette Stadium? Yes. But aside from six-touchdown performance against a team that didn’t belong in the NFL playoffs, he really hasn’t played a good postseason game (and by good, I mean a game where you say, “Tom Brady won that game for the Patriots”) since the 2007 divisional round against Jacksonville and before that he hadn’t been good since 2006 wild-card round against the Jets. I’m sure you’re aware of all of this.

There is a common idea that “Tom Brady can’t have back-to-back bad games in the postseason,” but he can, and he has. I feel like Bostonians aren’t worried about Brady in this game and aren’t even considering the possibility that he might be average or worse like has been in eight of the 12 Patriots playoff games since their 2004 Super Bowl win over the Eagles.

How worried are you that Tom Brady might come out on Sunday and look like the Tom Brady that threw no touchdowns and two interceptions (and another two that were called back because of penalties)?

Hurley: I’ll look past your little “Manning is better than Brady” bit that you tried to sneak in there, mostly because it made me laugh too hard. Say whatever you want about Brady, but even if he were missing a leg and his left arm, he’d probably be able to avoid losing twice to the Redskins in the same season. He definitely wouldn’t throw four interceptions.

But there is reason to have some concern over Brady heading into Sunday. He was pretty bad against the Ravens, with the missed pass to wide-open Rob Gronkowski and the Lardarius Webb interception sticking out. Those mistakes were on Brady, but in terms of the overall numbers, you have to give credit to the Ravens’ defense. It was a unit that allowed just 11 passing touchdowns all season long and had 15 interceptions, so the Patriots knew the best way to score would be on the ground. Brady took care of one of those himself, too, thereby creating this photo that should become legendary in Boston sports history.

All that said, I don’t wear Tom Brady underoos, or whatever you suggested. I’m actually as harsh a critic of Brady as you’ll probably find in Boston. I believe he’s among the greatest of all time, and I still think he’s better than most of the quarterbacks in the league right now, but in no way is this the same quarterback that was in his prime four years ago. He’s certainly capable of having bad performances in back-to-back games … I just don’t think he will.

The Giants’ defense is horrible. The Patriots’ defense gets all the bad press, but the Giants’ defense is just as bad and maybe a little worse. Did you know the Giants allowed 25 points per game this year, and the Patriots allowed just 21.4? Did you know that despite that horrific New England secondary, the two teams allowed opposing QBs to throw for the exact same passer rating (86.1)? Or that the Patriots had more interceptions (23) than the Giants (20)?

Brady is going to have a day. He learned his lesson in the Super Bowl That Never Happened that he’s going to need to get rid of the ball quick, and the offense will game plan against that ferocious New York rush.

So no, I’m not worried at all that Brady will struggle on Sunday … unless is Plax is playing defense.

Keefe: Why isn’t Ray Lewis playing up near the line more on the touchdown in that picture? Did he just concede the touchdown and think, “Well, I’m going to try and break Tom Brady in half after he scores?” This is as much of a mystery to me as Lee Evans not holding onto the ball and the Ravens not calling timeout before the potential game-tying field goal.

Yes, the Giants’ defense was horrible. That’s right … was horrible. That was before the defensive line got healthy and the linebackers weren’t taking turns missing games due to injuries. The Giants lost most of their defense in preseason, and still managed to get it together enough times during the season and down the stretch to reach the Super Bowl, so I have to give them credit and you should too.

The Patriots are sort of similar in that it took them most of the season to figure out how to defend against the pass and how to prevent points on every drive. The problem is even if the Giants’ secondary plays as bad as they did for a lot of the season, they still have a great pass rush, and probably the best in the game, which can cancel out the bad secondary. What do the Patriots do well on defense? Hope that receivers don’t hold on to the ball tight enough or long enough in the end zone so they can knock it down? And the interception number is hard to put any faith in when the Giants played the hardest schedule in the league and saw Brady, Rodgers and Brees among others in the regular season. But, hey, if you’re content with the Patriots’ regular season numbers including four games against Mark Sanchez and Chad Henne/Matt Moore, then I guess we have come a long way from when you expected more from the Patriots.

Let’s be honest here … both teams hit massive, and I mean massive parlays to be playing in this game on Sunday. The Giants needed Tony Romo to overthrow a wide-open Miles Austin. They needed Victor Cruz to score a 99-yard touchdown against the Jets and change the momentum in a must-win game. They needed to beat the Cowboys again in Week 17 to make the playoffs. They needed the Falcons to win and the Lions to lose in Week 17, so that they could face the Falcons instead of the Lions in the wild-card round. They had to go to Green Bay and beat the Packers who hadn’t lost in Green Bay since Oct. 17, 2010. They needed the 49ers led by Alex Smith to miraculously come back in the final minute against the Saints and eliminate the Saints because if the Giants had to go to New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game, they weren’t coming back. Then in the NFC Championship, they needed the 49ers’ backup punt returner to let a punt go off his knee to give the Giants great field position to score then they needed the refs to prematurely blow the whistle on an Ahmad Bradshaw fumble, and then they needed the same backup punt returner to fumble in overtime. To cap things off, they needed Steve Weatherford to handle a snap on the game-winning field goal that included a slippery and soaked ball that had to be held in the mud.

The Patriots’ parlay didn’t last as long, but it was every bit as ridiculous. They needed the 8-8 Broncos to knock off the Steelers (one of only three teams to beat the Patriots in the regular season) in order to play the much lesser opponent in Denver at home. Then they needed the Ravens to not notice Julian Edelman covering Anquan Boldin for the majority of the game. They needed Joe Flacco to throw a brainfart interception to destroy a great drive. They needed John Harbaugh to not go for it on fourth-and-1, but later go for it on fourth-and-6. They needed Lee Evans to incredibly not hang on to the ball in the end zone. And finally they needed a combination of the Billy Cundiff not being ready because he didn’t know what down it was and the field-goal unit rushing on the field, and Harbaugh going into the offseason with a timeout to spare for Cundiff to miss a chip shot. I can’t sit here and say the Patriots shouldn’t be in this game like some people are because going by that logic then the Giants shouldn’t be here either.

We talk all the time about how many insane things have to happen to win a championship. I should know. I needed Mike Carey to take an extra millisecond to find his whistle on a near Eli sack and then for the ball to land in the middle of four Patriots stuck to David Tyree’s helmet for the Giants to win Super Bowl XLII. It’s amazing to me that the Patriots ever won three Super Bowls in four years when you think of the one-game elimination format and how every single snap can change the outcome of a season.

It’s been a while since things had to break right for the Patriots to get where they are. Would you say the last time they needed this many things to break just right was during their 2001 run? Where does this Patriots team stack up for you in the Tom Brady Era?

Hurley: You say so many things in these email exchanges — many which make you look like a stupid person — that I can’t possibly respond to all of it. I’m sure you’re right though. The Giants only faced Hall of Fame quarterbacks and the Patriots only faced bums. Seems reasonable.

Regarding whether or not the Patriots needed to catch more breaks this season than any other since ’01, the answer is absolutely not. Like you said, every single champion needs tons of breaks. So as not to bore everyone to tears, I’ll run through what the Patriots needed to win those three Super Bowls:

A comeback in the snow, The Tuck Rule, an absolutely impossible kick in the snow, a Drew Bledsoe touchdown pass, a Troy Brown lateral to Antwan Harris on a blocked field goal, the lack of penalty in 2001 for punching a quarterback in the face, a dropped Drew Bennett pass, a few Peyton Manning brainfarts, a John Kasay kick out of bounds, and a big pile of Donovan McNabb’s vomit.

What was crazy is that despite all of those fortunate breaks, everyone in New England expected the Patriots to win every single year for the next three seasons. That obviously didn’t happen, but it helped everyone appreciate just how special that little run is.

I do agree that a ton has gone right for the Patriots this season, namely that the AFC was as weak as I ever remember it being. The best team (Pittsburgh) was too banged up to win in January, so it left a free-for-all. So it left the Patriots, who I feel are much closer to mediocre than they are great, to take advantage and make it to the Super Bowl and play the Giants, who to me are in that same class. And yet, what makes it so great is that we’re all anticipating one of the best Super Bowls ever.

In terms of where this team stacks up in the Tom Brady era, I’m a little biased. I’m more of an old-school football fan. I miss defense. I love 6-3 games. I miss when players were allowed to hit each other. I miss watching the Patriots’ defensive backs be bullies. I miss Romeo Crennel calling in the signals from the sidelines with his big red jacket on. I miss the underdog Tedy Bruschi breaking down and tackling all-world running back Marshall Faulk in the open field. You know?

So as fun as it is to watch Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker run roughshod over opposing defenses, I’ll always miss the defense-first Patriots. This year’s team, you’ll probably notice, is, umm … not a defense-first team.

Keefe: I do say a lot of things, but most of them are true, and we both know that. (That’s not a joke or sarcasm. Ask A.J. Burnett and Boone Logan). But one thing I was wrong about was Tom Coughlin.

I never said that Coughlin should be fired midseason and I don’t think I said definitively that he should be fired after the season (at least not in writing, but maybe in a tweet). I did say that the Giants would fire him after the season if the team didn’t make the playoffs, and he was 5:41 in Dallas away from that happening. Now he’s being compared to Bill Parcells, everyone is guessing how long his extension will be for and there are debates as to whether or not he will be in the Hall of Fame. The Giants’ turnaround is remarkable, but Coughlin’s turnaround in the public eye and in Giants history might be more amazing.

It’s weird because the same thing sort of happened with Bill Belichick. No, his job status and legacy weren’t in question, but everyone was ripping his general managerial decisions and questioning his draft strategies. His young defense was getting dominated and lit up and after the Patriots lost back-to-back games to the Steelers and Giants, a lot of people wondered if the Hooded One’s reign was slowly coming to an end.

But here are the Patriots, back in the Super Bowl with a supposedly terrible young defense that just shut down the Broncos (maybe not that hard) and the Ravens (maybe not that hard either but it happened), and about to face one of the best offenses in the game. No one is complaining about Belichick’s roster and personnel decisions now.

Were you one of the ones to question him during the year? When did this young defense finally begin to understand his coaching style and his system and turn it around?

Hurley: I love Tom Coughlin, I really do, but I did find more than a little bit of humor when everyone was talking about him getting fired, when just a few short weeks earlier, his players lifted him above their heads in the visiting locker room in New England. It was very Rex Ryan, regular-season Super Bowl of him, which was funny, but I’m not completely sick, so I’m happy things turned around for him.

I don’t remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what I thought of Belichick three months ago, but I do think you’d have to be nuts not to wonder how a defense with Julian Edelman taking serious snaps was going to compete in the (wait for the emphasis) National Football League. Between Phillip Adams and James Ihedigbo and Nate Jones and Sterling Moore, you had to wonder how exactly the Patriots were even competing, let alone winning. That was always a question mark.

I didn’t bash Belichick though because I think this past offseason was perhaps his finest ever in finding free-agent talent. No, not in Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth, but in Brian Waters and Andre Carter. Waters has been outstanding at right guard, and if it weren’t for his steady play, the loss of center Dan Koppen in Week 1 would have been catastrophic. Carter was just an absolute monster and provided some serious veteran leadership for the rest of the locker room to follow. It definitely took a while to all come together, but the team ended up getting the job done.

Oh, and you can’t really crush a guy for his draft decisions when he snags Rob Gronkowski in the second round and Aaron Hernandez in the fourth round, thereby creating a completely new dynamic for Tom Brady’s offense.

Keefe: A day after the championship games, you told me the Giants were going to win the Super Bowl. The same person who is pro-Patriots everything and the same person who ripped apart (and rightfully so I guess) the Giants in every picks column this year and whined about having to watch the Giants on FOX in Boston told me that the Giants would beat the Patriots. I’m not sure if it was your attempt at a joke or a reverse jinx or maybe you had a few too many Bud Lights in you when you told me this, but I couldn’t believe it.

Fast forward to Tuesday when you tell me that the Patriots are going to beat the Giants. I knew it would come eventually. I knew that you weren’t going to go into this Super Bowl and pick the Giants to win, especially after what they did to you four years ago. If the ’72 Dolphins or ’85 Bears were playing the Patriots this weekend I wouldn’t expect you to pick them over your Patriots. You told me that you re-watched the Week 9 game and that the Patriots are going to win by 11 points, so maybe you can explain what you saw and expect for those reading this.

To me, the Giants are the better team. They got healthy and hot at the right time and are following the 2007 blueprint (as Disney-esque as it seems, all the similarities are there). They already beat the Patriots in Foxboro without Hakeem Nicks, David Baas and Ahmad Bradshaw (I know you think Bradshaw doesn’t count). Now the Giants are even better than they were then and playing the Patriots at a neutral site this time. Umm, yeah…

I love the questions being asked about whether or not the Giants can stop Rob Gronkowski (if he’s healthy) and Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker. I’m pretty sure I watched the Giants beat the Patriots with those three in Week 9. And aside from tight end, the Giants are superior in every part of the game, and without Gronkowski or without him at 100 percent, I’m not sure the Patriots are superior anywhere. But I guess watching Julian Edelman and Chad Ochocinco catch passes will be fun. Though it won’t be as much fun as watching Edelman play defense against the best wide receiver trio in the league.

It was fun being your “friend.” I’m sorry our friendship had to end this way.

I’m going with Giants 21, Patriots 17.

Hurley: I’ll admit, I was very down on the Patriots after that Ravens game. How could you not be? And I looked at what the Giants had done in the past five games, and I looked at the two teams, and I couldn’t honestly say that the Patriots were the better team. Like many others, I thought the Giants would be four-point favorites, and I was stunned to see they were 3.5-point underdogs.

I’ve done a lot of thinking since then, and I re-watched that Week 9 meeting at Gillette. I was at that game, but I forgot most of it. And as I watched, I couldn’t help but think the Patriots looked to be the superior team. It was ugly, and the Giants, of course, won the game, but I watched as the Patriots simply outplayed the Giants.

You said you’re “pretty sure” you watched the Giants beat Welker and Gronkowski in Week 9, but Welker had nine catches for 136 yards and Gronkowski had eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown say otherwise. Hernandez had four catches for 35 yards and a touchdown, too. Where the Patriots lost that game was in turning the ball over. They did it four times. You should never still be in a football game when you turn the ball over four times, but the Patriots led by three points with 1:36 left on the clock. That speaks to the Patriots being a much better team that day.

Considering that the Patriots only had 17 giveaways all season, I think it’s safe to assume they won’t repeat those mistakes this time around. If they hold on to the ball, that alone should make the difference in winning or losing.

Yes, the addition of Bradshaw into the equation makes no difference, because the Giants are the worst running team in the NFL and every single time Kevin Gilbride calls for a handoff on Sunday it will be a win for the Patriots. Nicks is a big addition, but Kyle Arrington can stick with him enough to limit a breakout game. Victor Cruz was the biggest problem in Week 9 and he will be again in the Super Bowl. He’ll rack up a ton of yards, but the Patriots will keep him out of the end zone, just like they did last time. And field goals aren’t going to win this game.

I agree that it’s sad that our relationship has to end, though I feel that way for different reasons.

Patriots 34, Giants 23.

Blogs • Giants

Jan 23, 2012

Giants Never Make It Easy

I watched the NFC Championship with my roommates and wrote down my thoughts during it. Here’s the Retro Recap of the Giants’ 20-17 overtime win over the 49ers.

I said prior to the start of the playoffs that the Giants were playing with house money and that I wouldn’t be upset with whatever happened during the playoffs since no one expected them to get this far anyway. I lied.

Sunday night I took a time machine and went back to January of senior year of college. All the way back to the year 2008 (Conan O’Brien “In the year 2000” voice). It felt like four years ago as I watched the Giants go on the road and win another playoff game and another NFC Championship Game in overtime that would send them on their way to play the Patriots, who won earlier in the day (just like they did four years ago).

I watched the NFC Championship with my three roommates: Red and Dave, who are both Giants fans, and Matt, who is an Eagles fan who would spend the night trying to will the 49ers to victory from the couch. Here is how the night unfolded starting just after 6:30 p.m. and not ending until 10:35 p.m. Four hours of physical and mental exhaustion that left me feeling like I ran the New York marathon twice in the same day.

6:41 – I get a text message from Red from the other side of the apartment. It reads: “Biggest game of the effing year.”

6:58 – On their first possession of the game the Giants dodge a bullet when Eli is sacked and fumbles, but Kareem McKenzie falls on it to keep the 49ers from having incredible field position. Nothing like a good scare from the Giants to open the NFC Championship!

6:59 – Alex Smith throws the ball into the line on first-and-10 from his own 27. There’s the Alex Smith we all remember from before the win over the Saints.

7:00 – Vernon Davis goes 73 yards for a touchdown and then auditions for the Saturday Night Fever remake in the end zone before jumping up on a camera stand to fold his arms and stare at the field. Flags start flying everywhere. Ed Hochuli tells us that there’s a 15-yard penalty for the celebration, but that they are reviewing the play to see if he went out of bounds. If he did go out of bounds then the penalty is enforced from where he went out. If it’s a touchdown, the penalty is enforced on the kickoff. My question is how is the penalty enforced where he went out if he did? If the touchdown technically didn’t happen then didn’t the penalty technically not happen? The NFL really needs to review some odd rules in their book over the summer. But don’t get me wrong, I’m happy it’s going to be enforced no matter what.

It looks clear to me that he stepped out, but I have a feeling it doesn’t look clear on the TV under the hood.

7:04 – Ed Hochuli can’t even explain what happened on the review to see if Davis went out of bounds. He sounds like Boston’s Mayor Menino reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance” as he fumbles around for the right words to tell us that there wasn’t conclusive evidence because conclusive evidence doesn’t exist when it comes to the Giants. I’m glad I just got my first beer of the game. It looks like we have a Bill Leavy situation on our hands again.

The one guy who can’t beat you is Vernon Davis and he just did for 73 yards as the call on the field stands despite what looked like conclusive evidence that he did step out of bounds. The Giants need to make the 49ers put together an actual drive down the field. They can’t allow the one big play to kill them.

Joe Buck tells us that Mike Pereira told him that the Lambeau Leap is grandfathered into the league.

7:08 – Is there any team in the league with worse kick and punt returners than the Giants? I have the answer for you. No, there’s not. (That sequence would be a lot funnier for you if you listened to Rex Ryan talk about Terrell Suggs with Mike Francesa on WFAN on Friday.)

The Giants should be using Victor Cruz or Hakeem Nicks on kickoffs and punts in the playoffs. This is the playoffs! This isn’t Candy Land.

7:10 – Hakeem Nicks falls awkwardly on his shoulder and runs off the field and is now headed to the locker room. Anyone need a beer? To make things better though, Troy Aikman, M.D. is telling us his diagnosis of Nicks without any information.

7:11 – A first down on second-and-5 via the run for the Giants. The good news is it’s a first down. The bad news is this means Kevin Gilbride will think it’s OK to keep running the ball into 49ers line.

Gilbride verifies my thought as Bradshaw gets the ball again on the next play and might have gained one yard if he’s lucky.

7:13 – Brandon Jacobs is worthless. He’s worthless. Fourth-and-1 on the 49 and he can’t get three feet.

Earlier in the day my roommates and I were watching Super Bowl XLII highlights from the final drive when Jacobs converted the huge fourth-and-1. I said if we needed that play in 2011, he wouldn’t get it. Sure enough he doesn’t just hours later. The Giants turn the ball over on downs.

7:15 – The apartment is dead silent. I don’t think Dave has said a word so far and just looks extremely worried like he’s waiting for a phone call from his girlfriend on the results of a pregnancy test. Matt has been quiet the entire game though I know he’s desperately rooting against the Giants in his head. Red has been the most talkative of the three, but it’s usually to go on an expletive-filled rant after the Giants run the ball. The last words said in the apartment were from Red when he said, “Good start” after Jacobs was stopped. Giants fans!

7:16 – Osi Umenyiora just had a chance to turn the game around, but couldn’t handle the fumble in the rain. Wet or dry, isn’t it amazing how many guys have trouble trying to recover a fumble that’s in their hands? Everything is going wrong for the Giants early on. Red just broke the silence with one of his rants.

7:17 – Here’s a scary thought: This game feels a lot like the Giants-Dolphins game in the rain in London in 2007. Sure, the Giants won that game 13-10, but the entire game was sloppy.

7:20 – Here’s a fun fact: Jacobs is 8-for-16 in his career on fourth-and-1.

7:21 – The first quarter ends and it was as bad of a first quarter as you could ask for. The Giants recovered a fumble of their own, missed the chance to recover a 49ers’ fumble and failed on a fourth-and-1. On top of that, I only had one beer in the quarter. The Giants aren’t the only ones that need to pick it up.

Everyone is still quiet in the apartment. Dave is speaking softly and giving off the vibes of an inevitable loss. I can see the steam and fire coming out of Red’s ears and head. Matt is sitting back and relaxing since his football season ended a long time ago. Fly Eagles Fly!

7:24 – The Giants start the second quarter off with a 36-yard pass to Victor Cruuuuuuuuuuuuz. Turning point of the game?

(I hope it rains for the next week in San Francisco and that this rain isn’t just bad luck on the one day the Giants have to play there. I can’t stop thinking about the midge game from the 2007 ALDS.)

7:27 – Eli is 5-for-6 on third-down conversions. Hakeem Nicks catches a pass at the 49ers’ 8-yard line. The camera shows a close-up of Jim Harbaugh huffing and puffing his cheeks the way Mark Teixeira does when he’s running down the first-base line. We get it. Somehow Brandon Jacobs just picked up a first down.

7:28 – The Giants are still in the huddle with six seconds left on the play clock. Now they’re forced to burn a timeout because of either miscommunication or confusion. If this happens in the second half I will lose it. (No, I haven’t lost it already.)

Commercial break: Reese Witherspoon is an absolute smokeshow in the trailer for This Means War.

7:32 – TOUCHDOWN, GIANTS! Eli finds Bear Pascoe (how many people in the world just asked, “Who the hell is Bear Pascoe?” the way Verne Lundquist asked, “Who the hell is Happy Gilmore?” High fives and applause and celebratory expletives fill the apartment.

7:36 – Alex Smith tries to rebut Eli’s touchdown pass with a bomb to Kyle Williams, but overthrows him by about 15 yards. Joe Buck got a little too excited for the attempt. I hope Buck isn’t beginning to judge long pass attempts the way that Michael Kay and John Sterling judge long fly balls and home runs.

7:38 – A third-down penalty on Aaron Ross gives the 49ers an automatic first down. What would a Giants game be without a terrible play or decision from Aaron Ross? I’m not sure since it’s never happened.

7:40 – A mini fight breaks out and a flag flies. A Giants player was on the ground and getting taunted/hit, but I’m sure there will be a 15-yarder on the Giants somehow.

Nevermind. The flag is on Vernon Davis for pushing Michael Boley for really no reason at all. Where’s Mike Singletary to bench Davis and send him to the locker room when you need him? Oh, right. He was fired because his franchise quarterback couldn’t win games for him.

7:43 – Alex Smith is doing nothing and I mean nothing in the way that Tom Brady did nothing today. Luckily he has Frank Gore on his team who can’t be stopped right now. I have a great feeling every time the 49ers drop back to pass.

Chase Blackburn makes a huge play on Gore. It’s insane that Blackburn was sitting on his couch prior to the Giants-Packers regular season game and then re-signed with the team only to intercept Aaron Rodgers in that game and then start every game the rest of the way. I can only imagine how much better the team would have been if he had been on the team from the start of the year.

7:49 – How about Candlestick Park? It’s 2012. How is this stadium still hosting major sporting events?

7:52 – Third-and-2 for the Giants at their own 48. I say, “Don’t get sacked.” Eli gets sacked.

7:59 – The Giants stop the 49ers on third-and-7 and use their last timeout of the half. Eli will have the ball with 1:36 left and no timeouts. If the Giants can score here and then score to open the second half I can finally relax. Eli Manning in the two-minute drill is the closest thing to No. 42 in the ninth inning when it comes to New York sports.

8:04 – Cruz has three catches (and been the intended target four times) on this drive for 43 yards. He looks like he is breathing heavy and could use a Gatorade. The same goes me.

8:06 – Eli has a brainfart and calls timeout, but the Giants don’t have any timeouts left. Ed Hochuli is here to explain more rules by definition to us.

An unbelievable pass and catch from Eli and Cruuuuuuz to get the ball to the 49ers’ 13. Eli spikes it on third-and-2 and here comes Lawrence Tynes. Maybe he doesn’t need a Gatorade.

8:07 – Six seconds left in the half and Tynes is in for the field goal. He already almost missed an extra point. Please don’t miss this.

8:08 – Tynes drills it and the Giants take a 10-7 lead into halftime. Eli always gets points at the end of a half.

8:24 – Joe Buck opens the second half by telling us the Packers are already in the Super Bowl, which is what he had wished for. But hey, Packers … Patriots … same thing.

8:25 – Ahmad Bradshaw stops and tries to cut back in the rain once again. He has now done this on every carry today and has been stopped as he soon as he tries to cut back on every cut back. I’m not sure if he is aware of the effects of rain and mud.

8:27 – Run, run, incomplete pass. Well, having the ball to start the second half didn’t matter as the Giants punt right away.

8:30 – Alex Smith just got sacked by three Giants simultaneously, but it looked and probably felt like eight Giants. I wish Jay Alford were one of them.

8:33 – You have to love NFL rules sometimes. A five-yard penalty for the Giants on third-and-14 for the 49ers gives the 49ers an automatic first down. Why is Ed Hochuli reading the definition of every penalty on every call? Is this now mandatory after the officiating job that Bill Leavy did last week in Green Bay?

8:36 – It’s third down for the 49ers and Joe Buck is saying that Osi Umenyiora isn’t lined up in the neutral zone as he is just praying for a penalty. No penalty is called. Sorry, Joe.

8:37 – Whenever the 49ers have to punt, I just pray that it goes out of bounds or that Will Blackmon just goes down immediately once he catches it. The word “fumble” follows Blackmon around like a stench.

8:40 – Victor Cruz with back-to-back catches. He now has 10 catches for 142 yards. I would like to take this time to thank Steve Smith for not re-signing with the Giants.

8:41 – Eli is forced to throw it away because of the blitz, as the offensive line is doing nothing to protect him. There isn’t a Patriots fan who isn’t praying the 49ers win this game.

8:43 – Kyle Williams almost breaks free for a touchdown on the punt return. Hey, the 49ers have a wide receiver returning punts, why can’t we? Will Blackmon is the luckiest man in the world when it comes to being employed. (Well, outside of Boone Logan.)

8:45 – Frank Gore breaks free for 24 yards after the catch. On the following play, Smith finds Davis for a 28-yard touchdown. The one that can’t beat you has beaten you twice in the same game. Inexcusable. Is this Miguel Cabrera in the 2011 ALDS?

8:52 – The apartment is dead quiet. It might be time to ask anyone if they want to order a pizza. Pizza always makes people happy.

8:56 – The Giants punt again. If I entered the game with a 10-out of-10 on the Confidence Scale, I’m at a steady 3 right now.

Troy Aikman says the Giants have played a good defensive game aside from the two big plays they gave up for touchdowns. That’s like a pitcher saying he had a great game except for the two mistake pitches that resulted in a pair of two-run home runs.

8:58 – The 49ers go three-and-out. I’m done drinking. I need to be completely focused on this game. I’m already starting to think about Red’s confidence heading into the game and his guarantee that the Giants will win and the inevitable jinx he might have caused.

8:59 – There’s no urgency with the Giants the way there wasn’t for most of the regular season. It’s the team’s biggest problem and has been in the Tom Coughlin Era.

9:03 – The Giants are forced to punt again. Dave ordered a pepperoni roll from the store downstairs because he wanted a tin of Skoal, but didn’t want to miss the game, so he had to order the roll to meet the $10 minimum for the guy to walk upstairs and deliver him the tin. Dave just knocked the pizza roll off the coffee table before having a single bite (he knocked an entire beer off the table during the Patriots-Ravens game) and the side cup of sauce is everywhere and the entire roll is on the ground. He looks at the Giants’ situation on TV and looks at his roll on the ground and exclaims, “I can’t catch an effing break.” Red is covering his mouth to hold back laughter. I might just go to sleep right now. Dave puts the roll back on the plate and starts cutting it up to eat it anyway. I think this might be the turning point of the game.

9:08 – Here come the officials since everyone in America tuned in to watch them. A 15-yard penalty is called on Chris Canty for a push after the whistle. This is the NFC Championship Game, right? This is the second half of the game that decides who goes to the Super Bowl, right? So, now we’re not going to let athletes near the end of an emotional game decide the game themselves? Oh, OK. I was ready for the season to be over with 5:41 left in Dallas in Week 14. I’m beginning to think I would have been better off if it was.

9:12 – Gore opens the fourth quarter by turning what would have been a loss of one yard into a game of six yards.

9:15 – I wasn’t worried for really any of the Packers game. That game was against the 15-1 defending champions in Lambeau Field where they had lost in years. But in the fourth quarter, I’m sweating out a Giants-49ers game worried about Alex Smith making one more pass to dagger the Giants’ season. Is this real life?

9:16 – The 49ers punt and during the commercial break, Red begins to give Knute Rockne-like speech to the apartment. “THIS IS IT RIGHT HERE! WE HAVE ONE QUARTER! ONE QUARTER!” I feel like Les Miles is sitting on the other couch yelling at me. Either Red should be getting called for an interview for the Colts’ head coach opening or he might want to stop drinking tonight.

9:17 – Is Ahmad Bradshaw wearing dress shoes? Why is he so slow? Eli gets sacked again.

9:25 – Devin Thomas might have just saved the season by picking up the ball on what looked to an innocent play, but the replay shows the Giants’ punt went off the knee of Kyle Williams and after reviewing the play, the ball should belong to the Giants. (I say should because we all watched the Giants-Packers game).

Giants ball!

9:28 – Ed Hochuli apparently hasn’t gotten to use his microphone enough, so he turns it on to call an untimely holding penalty on the Giants. It’s third-and-15 for the Giants now from the 49ers’ 17.

TOUCHDOWN!!! Eli to Manningham on third-and-15 and the Giants take a 17-14 lead! High fives and hugs and screams all around.

9:31 – Is Lawrence Tynes the only kicker in the NFL that can’t reach the end zone on kickoffs with the new kickoff rules? 8:34 left in the game.

9:38 – Kendall Hunter follows Smith with an 18-yard run of his own down to the Giants’ 15. The 49ers have 149 rushing yards. The Giants have 57.

9:39 – Joe Buck tells us that the 49ers were 30th in the league in scoring in the red zone during the regular season. If this isn’t a Michael Kay moment, I don’t know what is. I’m expecting a 49ers touchdown now. The 49ers run a bizarre play that Aikman says he saw them run earlier in the week in practice, but he thought Smith was just “goofing around” in practice when he ran it.

9:41 – The Giants hold the 49ers to a field goal as David Akers blasts a 25-yard field goal. Akers would never miss against the Giants. Never. Who do you think we are? The Patriots? The Giants don’t get breaks like that. 5:39 left. Tie game. I can’t breathe.

9:46 – An amazing three-and-out for the Giants. I need an inhaler and I don’t have asthma.

9:48 – Alex Smith is sacked on third-and-7 at the 49ers’ 28 by Mathias Kiwanuka and Osi Umenyiora on the biggest play of the season to date.

9:49 – Aaron Ross is now returning punts? Umm, WHAT?!?!?!?!

9:51 – You know the silly NFL rules I hate? I take it back. “Forward progress” saves the Giants’ season as the officials blow an early whistle prior to a Bradshaw fumble, and the Giants are still alive.

10:01 – Eli is getting lit up. His jersey is complete brown from the mud and he looks like a mess. If you just turned on FOX you would think they’re airing Saving Private Ryan starring Eli Manning. Is anyone going to protect him? Anyone?

10:03 – The Giants are forced to punt with under a minute left. Punt it out of the end zone! Don’t give Williams a chance to return it. I have lived through this story once before and I don’t want to again.

Weatherford gets a low snap (timely!) and only gets it to the 49er’s 22. Williams brings it up to the 49ers’ 36. The 49ers are essentially two solid passes away from David Akers’ range. Please kneel the ball, San Francisco! PLEASE!

10:08 – Thankfully nothing happens. I have been standing up and rocking back and forth mixed with jumping up and down for the last 20 minutes, and now we’re going to overtime. Things are only going to get worse.

10:11 – Hochuli explains the overtime rules in 22 minutes with an intermission halfway through. The Giants call “tails” and it’s tails! Tails never fails! (Except when it’s heads.)

10:12 – I asked Red if he would sleep outside tonight on the street to have the Giants win this game. He says, “100 percent. I would just bundle up.”

10:13 – Here we go!

10:16 – A pass intended for Jerrel Jernigan on third down with the season the line? No big deal. Jernigan only had zero catches during the regular season. The Giants punt right away. So much for winning the toss.

10:18 – JPP with a huge tackle on Gore for a loss of two yards on second-and-10, and I immediately go into my own version of JPP’s celebration.

10:20 – It only took Tom Coughlin … well it took Tom Coughlin a long time to realize that Will Blackmon is a waste of a return man. The problem is that Aaron Ross is now the return man. You never want a guy as a return man who doesn’t touch the ball throughout the game. It’s a recipe for disaster. And you also never want to start changing your return man in the NFC Championship Game. All of this coupled with the fact that Aaron Ross is Aaron Ross makes me think something very, very bad is going to happen in overtime.

10:23 – A 49ers’ timeout allows for me to catch my breath and compose myself during the commercial break.

10:26 – Third-and-3 at the 49ers’ 46 and Eli is sacked for a loss of 10 yards. Devastating. Just devastating.

10:27 – AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! KYLE WILLIAMS FUMBLES THE PUNT! DEVIN THOMAS! DEVIN THOMAS! DEVIN THOMAS!

I just did a combination of the Jeter fist pump with the Joba 360-fist pump with the Cervelli fist pump with the Posada hand clap with the Anisimov snipe and I finished it with Theo Fleury’s goal celebration from Game 6 of the 1991 playoffs by rolling around on the hardwood floor to celebrate the 49ers’ turnover. Monster.com has at least two new accounts being created tonight between Kyle Williams and Billy Cundiff.

10:31 – Please don’t fumble, Ahmad Bradshaw. Please don’t fumble.

10:32 – FOX shows the graphic for the Giants’ field goal unit to show you who is to blame if the Giants can’t make this 26-yard chip shot. Either FOX is trying to conjure up memories of the 2002 playoff game here with Trey Junkin or they watched the Patriots-Ravens game and know that a lot of people are googling the Ravens’ kicker’s name and they don’t want to give Google more traffic if the same thing happens here.

10:33 – The Giants just let the play clock run out and a delay of game penalty is called on them. How is this possible? No Giants’ win can ever be easy. Not one. FOX shows a replay of Eli pointing out the clock to Coughlin and telling him to call a timeout and Coughlin just stands there in a daze and allows it to happen. The 26-yard attempt is now a 31-yard attempt.

The 49ers call a timeout to ice the kicker after Coughlin just basically iced his own kicker. My heart can’t take this.

10:35 – HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT! (Gary Thorne voice.) Tynes drills the field goal and then takes off the other way running like he did at Lambeau Field fours years ago.

Now this “four years ago” thing just needs to continue two weeks from tonight.

Blogs • NFL

Jan 20, 2012

Giants Will Win And Championship Picks

Two down. One to go. That’s all that’s left for the Giants to return to the Super Bowl. One win. One win! I never thought the Giants would be here. No one did. How could

Two down. One to go. That’s all that’s left for the Giants to return to the Super Bowl. One win. One win!

I never thought the Giants would be here. No one did. How could you when they were 9-7 and losing games to Rex Grossman (twice) and Charvaris Whiteson and Vince Young? I just wanted a shot at the playoffs. I just wanted some meaningful January football for the first time in three years. I didn’t expect anything if they got in. I just wanted that chance to get in the playoffs and hope that something could happen if they did get in.

The comparisons from 2007 to 2011 are eerie, but true for the most part. The paths have been the same, but the Giants teams haven’t been. That postseason they beat the Buccaneers 24-14, the Cowboys 21-17 and the Packers 23-20. Three wins by a combined 17 points. This postseason they have knocked off the Falcons 24-2 and the Packers 37-20. They have won two playoff games by a combined 39 points, and have scored just seven fewer points than they scored in those three playoff games in 2007.

This is a much different Giants team that’s just happening to do it the same way that team did. The team isn’t built around the running game and the defense anymore. Earth, Wind and Fire is long gone and Perry Fewell is the second defensive coordinator since Steve Spagnuolo left after the ’08 season (I try to forget about the Bill Sheridan experiment). It’s already been four years since the Giants shocked the world, but these last few weeks have made it feel like it was just last year by bringing back and reviving glorious memories. These last few weeks have also made the “What Should Have Been” season of 2008 hurt a little less, as the franchise has rebounded from the disappointing 2009 and 2010 seasons.

After the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2007 and then went 12-4 in 2008 and locked up the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, I thought they would compete for the Super Bowl every year for the next decade the way the Patriots have since 2001. And I still believe the Giants would have won the Super Bowl in 2008 if Plaxico Burress didn’t go to The Latin Quarter that night, and I don’t think I’m the only one.

In 2008, the final four teams were the Cardinals, Eagles, Steelers and Ravens. The Giants beat all four of those teams in the regular season. The Cardinals ended up winning the NFC (the Giants beat them 37-29 in Arizona in Week 12). In the playoffs, the Cardinals won at home against the Falcons, won in sunny Carolina in the divisional round and then beat the Eagles back in Arizona. But during the regular season, the Cardinals lost every outdoor game they played on the East Coast. They lost 24-17 in Washington. They lost 56-35 to the Jets at Giants Stadium. They lost 48-20 in Philadelphia. They lost 47-7 in the snow in New England. (They also lost 27-23 in Carolina, but we won’t count that since it’s not cold there, even if it does help my case.) They went 0-4 in northern, cold weather, outdoor stadiums and lost by a combined 175-79 (an average loss of 44-20). So, yeah if Domenik Hixon isn’t the Giants’ No. 1 receiver against the Eagles in the divisional round, and the Giants beat the Eagles (like they would have with Plaxico), then the Giants host the Cardinals in Giants Stadium on Jan. 18, 2009, and the Giants play the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

The Giants were on top of the world as defending champions and looking primed for another Super Bowl run before Plaxico’s big mistake. They were built for consistent success in the league, and visions of a dynasty filled my head. The way ’08 ended and the way ’09 and ’10 went, I wondered if the Giants would ever get back to the playoffs, which was a long way from thinking about a dynasty. It was second-half collapse after second-half collapse mixed with dagger losses and questionable coaching and general managerial decisions. But that all changed a few weeks when Tony Romo overthrew Miles Austin, and now the Giants are one win from getting back to where they should have been three years ago. They are one win from trying to salvage the lost time of the last three seasons.

Last week I turned to the greatest football motivator ever in Coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights to help prepare for the Giants-Packers (Who cares if he’s not real? I still don’t believe he’s not real. That’s right I believe that Kyle Chandler is an actual high school football coach and not just some guy that’s an amazing actor.) Since last week went about as good as a playoff game could go for a 9-7, 8-point underdog on the road against the 15-1 defending champions, I figured we had to go back to Coach Taylor for the NFC Championship Game.

“I say if we do our best we will have success. And that we own the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter is ours.”

A lot of people think this game will come down to the fourth quarter, but I’m hoping it doesn’t. I’m hoping the Giants come out like they did against the Packers, get on the board early and never look back. But if the Giants can’t follow my simple strategy or if Ed Hochuli takes a few pages out of Bill Leavy’s ref manual and decides that he will do everything in his power to send San Francisco to Indianapolis then this game might come down to the fourth quarter, and I like our chances in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter is ours.

Eli Manning is the two-minute drill and he’s the fourth quarter. Sure, “Flood Tip” needed a lot of things to go right to be successful, but it was a perfect throw to the corner of the end zone from the Packers’ 37 where Hakeem Nicks had gained position on the Packers defense. And it’s not like we haven’t seen Eli orchestrate incredible and memorable drives at the end of either half. (The drive before halftime against the Cowboys in 2007 divisional round was the biggest non-David Tyree play of that postseason.) It just so happens that Eli passed his brother and Johnny Unitas for the most fourth-quarter touchdowns in a single season in NFL history (take that, Tom Brady). So, yeah if this thing has to go down to the wire, we have the best possible quarterback for the job.

Then there’s Alex Smith, who is responsible for the 49ers’ miraculous comeback in the final minute against the Saints last week. And while it was fun to watch and while I’m thankful that he knocked out the Saints (so that the Giants wouldn’t have to go to the Superdome this weekend) it was still one drive.

There’s already talk about Alex Smith being an “elite” quarterback, and I feel like I’m taking crazy pills like Mugatu in Zoolander. Eli won a Super Bowl. He beat the undefeated Patriots. He had been to the postseason four times before this season and now has six postseason wins and a Super Bowl. He has been selected for the Pro Bowl twice and has done all of this in New York under the biggest microscope in the world with arguably the best quarterback in the history of football as his older brother. It has taken him beating a fourth-quarter touchdown record held by his brother and Unitas and a second playoff win in the Yankee Stadium of football to get non-Giants fans to believe in him.

Alex Smith has been in the league for six seasons and has won one playoff game, and has played in one playoff game. He has had five seasons of .500 football or worse in the league and has played in all 16 games of a regular season just twice. He’s responsible for the head coaching revolving door in San Francisco, and despite a 13-3 record this season, he’s 32-34 in his career.

Look at the situation Mark Sanchez is in. He’s 25 and has played in the league for three years. In his first two seasons, he led the Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship Games. Now after an 8-8 season and missing the postseason, his job status is being questioned and sports radio is being filled with questions like, “Is Mark Sanchez the right quarterback for the Jets?” and “Is Mark Sanchez a starting quarterback in the NFL?” So once again, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”

Smith is two years older than Sanchez. He has played in the league for three more years than Sanchez and has accomplished far less than the Jets’ franchise guy, who despite what Woody and Mr. T say, might not even be the team’s starter in 2012.

Let’s not forget that Alex Smith was the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft. The No. 1 pick! That means the 49ers thought he was not only the best available quarterback, but the best available player in the entire draft. If Smith had been drafted No. 1 by the Jets and put in Mark Sanchez’s situation and put up the numbers he has put up in San Francisco, he would have either quit or been released by now, and probably wouldn’t be allowed in the tri-state area.

Somehow Sanchez is viewed as a loser who can’t win the big game while Smith is now being treated like someone who has done anything at all in the league, and there’s actual debates about him moving up to the top tier of quarterbacks because he won a single playoff game in six years. Sometimes I hate football.

“Gentlemen, there has been a lot of talk about expectations. Expectation of what we should be able to do, to win. People are expecting … people are expecting quite a bit. I see us winning out there tonight. I have no trouble seeing that. That is not what I’m expecting. I expect you boys to go out there and not take this team lightly, because I promise you … they are gonna come at you with everything they’ve got. I expect you boys to execute. I expect you boys to play football.”

I have tried to keep the hype on the Giants quiet, and I have tried to keep my confidence about this Giants team in the playoffs and this game on Sunday to a minimum. But it’s really hard to not see the 49ers, the perennial underachievers under Alex Smith and look at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis and not think the Giants have an unbelievable chance of getting there.

The problem is exactly what this quote talks about in “expectations.” I think I have mentioned it in everything I have written about the Giants since they started this miracle run almost a month ago, so why not talk about it again?

The Giants aren’t good with expectations. Actually they suck with expectations. When they came back to beat the Cowboys, everyone thought they would go on this special run since they had their signature close loss to the undefeated Packers (just like the Week 17 loss to the Patriots in 2007). Instead they came out and got lit up for the second time during the season by Rex Grossman and the Redskins. Then they were playing a must-win game against the Jets, and came out sluggish before Victor Cruz’s touchdown changed everything.

They were given a decent shot at beating the Falcons at home, but people expected them to lose. They weren’t really given a shot to beat the 15-1 Packers in Green Bay, and people expected them lose big (Las Vegas opened them at 9-point underdogs. The line moved to 7.5 and then back to 8 before the game.) But now they are still alive after fending off everyone counting them out, and they have done enough to make believe in them with the majority of people now picking them to win in San Francisco this weekend.

“Right now y’all are in control of your destiny. You remember that.“

For the Giants to be where they are, a lot of things had to fall perfectly.

Tony Romo had to overthrow Miles Austin on third down in Dallas (This was the most important because with a first down, the Giants’ season is over). Then the Giants had to complete the comeback.

The Giants had to beat the Jets, which it didn’t look like they would before Victor Cruz’s 99-yard touchdown.

The Giants had to beat the Cowboys again, this time at MetLife Stadium

The Falcons had to win in Week 17 and the Lions had to lose so the Giants would play the easier opponent of the Falcons in the first round than the Lions, who didn’t appear to be a good matchup for the Giants.

The Giants had to beat the Falcons.

The 49ers had to beat the Saints, so that if the Giants beat the Packers, the Giants wouldn’t have to play the Saints in New Orleans were the Saints were 9-0 this year (including the playoffs) and outscored opponents by an average of 41-19, and had already beat the Giants in Week 12.

The Giants had to go on the road and beat the 15-1 Packers who had lost one game with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback since Nov. 28, 2010 and won four playoff games and a Super Bowl in that time.

So, here we are. Everything and I mean everything has broken just right for the Giants to be playing this Sunday in San Francisco. They have gotten help around the board for the possibility to play the lesser 49ers for a chance to go to the Super Bowl, and they have to know this, and they have to do their part in completing the massive parlay they hit to get here.

And my picks for the NFC and AFC Championships…

New York Giants +2.5 over SAN FRANCISCO
I think I have said what I need to say.

Giants 31, 49ers 16

Baltimore +7 over NEW ENGLAND
Everyone is talking about the Tom Brady Revenge Tour? What Revenge Tour? Is he a punk rock band? Is winning one playoff game against the .500 Broncos at home considered “revenge” for losing in Denver to a completely different Broncos team six years ago? Is going 13-3 in the regular season with zero wins against teams with winning records considered revenge?

I love Patriots hype. It’s my favorite kind of hype in sports. People are still expecting the Patriots to win and people are still picking them to win it all. It reminds me of the Yankees from 2001-2008. Everyone still believed they were the Yankees, but as they got more and more separated from their 2000 championship, people began to pick against them. We still haven’t gotten to that point with the Patriots even though it’s been seven years since they won the Super Bowl.

The Patriots don’t have a defense though not many teams in the league do. But the Patriots have zero defense. We saw it all year long. The problem is we didn’t see it last week because the Broncos offense is so bad. So, there’s Vince Wilfork and Rob Ninkovich and Brandon Spikes dancing around and going nuts, and Gillette Stadium rocking as the Patriots won their first playoff game since the 2007 AFC Championship Game. And that’s what everyone’s last image of the Patriots currently is. It’s Tom Brady throwing for six touchdowns, their defensive line rocking Tim Tebow’s world and the most convincing of playoff wins with a 45-10 score. The Patriots didn’t prove anything last weekend other than that they can beat a first-year starting quarterback and the option at home in a playoff game coming off a bye. Congratulations!

But you know who has a defense? The Ravens. They have had the best defense in the league for the last 12 or so years, and if they had a real quarterback during that stretch they would have won at least one other Super Bowl since 2000.

You need a defense or a pass rush or something to win in the playoffs the way you need starting pitching in the playoffs. There’s a reason the Yankees didn’t win for eight years. You can’t let Jon Lieber and Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright and the Ghost of Roger Clemens start playoff games and think you’re going to win. And there’s a reason the Patriots haven’t won the Super Bowl since they turned their team from a defensive juggernaut into an offensive one.

Feb. 5, 2012 will be a rematch of Jan. 28, 2001.

Ravens 24, Patriots 21 (“We’re only going to score 21 points? Haha. OK. Is Plax playing defense?”)

Last Week: 2-2
Postseason: 5-3
Regular Season: 118-129-12

Blogs • Yankees

Jan 18, 2012

Goodbye, Jorge Posada

The closest I have ever come to meeting Jorge Posada was on Oct. 17, 2004. How do I remember the date? Because it was the night the Yankees lost Game 4 of the ALCS. I

The closest I have ever come to meeting Jorge Posada was on Oct. 17, 2004. How do I remember the date? Because it was the night the Yankees lost Game 4 of the ALCS.

I was a freshman in college in Boston and my friend Scanlon and I were walking down the street from our Beacon Hill dorm recapping what had just unfolded in the ninth inning and then the 12th inning. The Yankees were staying at a hotel in Downtown Crossing right down the street from our dorm and we were standing on a corner recapping the events of the loss, knowing that it hurt, but that a 3-1 lead was insurmountable for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox tied Game 4 on a stolen base by Dave Roberts, but that night it was just another stolen base among the many other stolen bases in postseason history. It hadn’t become a play that haunts my life or a scene that’s enshrined as you walk down the hall to the Fenway Park press box. Dave Roberts was still just some 32-year-old veteran the Red Sox acquired at the deadline. Sure, he stole second and scored the tying run in an elimination game, but who cared? The Red Sox’ win in Game 4 was just prolonging the inevitable.

Scanlon and I stood on a street corner in Downtown Crossing while he smoked a cigarette realizing that the Red Sox had Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling lined up for Games 5 and 6 and possibly Derek Lowe on short rest in Game 7 if the series had to go that far. But I reassured a nervous Scanlon that the Yankees just had to win one game before the Red Sox won three.

As we stood on the corner and talked, I remember Scanlon’s face growing with shock as he looked over my shoulder and then at me before giving me one nod to let me know someone was behind me on the sidewalk we were partially blocking. I turned around and standing in front of us was Jorge Posada, who had just gotten out of a cab and was trying to walk down the middle of the sidewalk we were occupying. We moved aside and Posada walked past us without saying a word. He didn’t look mad, but he didn’t look happy. He looked serious and determined, but also worried. Or maybe I only remember him as looking worried since I now know what happened over the next three nights. At the time no one could have known what would happen in Games 5, 6 and 7, but that night after Game 4 with Jorge standing dead quiet right in front of us and waiting for us to move, it was almost like he knew the Yankees were on the ropes, the same way Joe Torre described the feeling of nowhere to turn in The Yankee Years.

I knew I would eventually have to write this. And I know I will eventually have to write about the end of Derek Jeter’s career and the end of Mariano Rivera’s career. (I’m holding out hope that they both find a way to play until they’re at least 65. It’s not that unrealistic for Rivera at this point.)

There aren’t any other franchises or fan bases that have ever had the chance to experience what the trio of Jeter, Rivera and Posada meant to Yankees fans for the last 20 years. The three of them first played together in the minors in 1992, and now two decades and five championships later, the first of the three says goodbye to Yankees fans. So, this is my chance to say goodbye to Jorge Posada.

I was eight years old when Jorge Posada played his first game as a Yankee, 17 Septembers ago. I will be 25 for the start of the 2012 season, the first season without Jorge Posada on the roster since I was in fourth grade.

“The only thing that matters is when the team wins.”

Jorge Posada was the pulse of the Yankees during the 15 of 17 years he played a significant amount of games. He wore the team’s recent result on his sleeve and in his postgame remarks. You didn’t need to see the game to know if the Yankees were riding a seven-game winning streak or if they had just dropped a series at home by watching Posada during the postgame or reading his quotes the following day. He wouldn’t give the vanilla and automated answers that Derek Jeter gives or sugarcoat things like Joe Torre did or Joe Girardi does. Posada was in many ways the voice of the fan, and if things were going bad, he let everyone know almost as if he were the most prominent sports radio caller.

That’s what I loved about Posada. He would tell it like is. A win was satisfying, but that feeling would only last until the next game. A loss was devastating and that feeling would last until the next win. Posada always carried the personality of the fans, or at least the fans that give the Yankees 162 days and nights of their attention and then October, and those that live and die with each win and each loss throughout the season.

“Growing up, I kind of liked the way he (Thurman Munson) played. I didn’t see much of him, but I remember him being a leader. I remember him really standing up for his teammates, and that really caught my eye.”

“If I see a problem (in the clubhouse), I say something right away. I don’t wait two or three days.”

Even though he was part of the Core Four, it always seemed like he took a backseat to No. 2 and No. 42 and Andy Pettitte.

Jeter’s the “Captain” and the face of the franchise, the homegrown wonder and the universal symbol of a winner.

Rivera is the greatest closer of all time, as close of a lock and guarantee that there is in baseball and the king of cool with no emotions and no signs of fading even in his 40s.

Pettitte was the homegrown lefty that won more postseason games than anyone else in the history of baseball, along with Rivera produced the most wins-saves combination for any starter-closer duo in history and was always there for Game 2 of any postseason series.

Posada was the starting catcher for all this time, loved by the fans, showered with “Hip, Hip” chants and the visual leader on the field and in the clubhouse. But outside of the tri-state area it always seemed like he didn’t receive the credit and attention that the other three garnered.

You could make the case that Posada was the most important Yankee of the dynasty since reaching the majors. Think about this: The Yankees have made the postseason every season since 1995 except 2008 when Posada’s season was cut short in July for shoulder surgery.

“I’m a lot older. I’m wiser. I know what to do now, and hopefully, I don’t get in (anybody’s) way.”

“Some of the guys don’t like to come out of the lineup. I’m one of them.”

Eventually people won’t talk or care about Posada’s 2011. Yes, it happened and there were some low points, but it did nothing to impact his legacy with the Yankees or change what he accomplished in his career with the team. His 2011 started great, got bad, got worse, got better, got worse, got better and finished great.

We watched Posada start the year with six home runs in his first 16 games. We watched him go 9-for-72 (.125) in April and 14-for-64 (.219) in May. On June 7 he was hitting .195 before going 22-for-63 (.349) from June 9 to July 5 to raise his average to .241. In August he lost his full-time designated hitter job and became part of a platoon before being benched indefinitely. He returned to the lineup on Aug. 13 against Tampa Bay after a week off and went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs in the Yankees’ 9-2 win at the Stadium. He finished the year by clinching a postseason berth for the Yankees on Sept. 21 in the eighth inning of one of the most emotional moments in the early three-year history of the new Stadium (where he also hit the first home run in the new place in 2009.) He finished his last season by 6-for-14 with four walks in the ALDS, battling every pitch and grinding out every at-bat the way he had so many times before.

No one wants to come to the realization that their abilities are no longer what they once were, especially someone as proud as Posada, who will watch Jeter and Rivera continue to matter for the Yankees along with a new generation. It would be one thing if the Core Four all left at the same time, but for Posada (three years older than Jeter and two years younger than Rivera) to watch his teammates dating back to 1992 in the minors continue to play without him is a lot harder than any of us can imagine coping with.

I’m happy that Jorge Posada took the $117,458,500 or so he made in his career and decided that the only hat he would put on is a Yankees hat. It would have been disappointing to see him with the Indians or the Mariners or the A’s (I’m just naming teams and I’m not sure if any of these teams were actual options), and it would have hurt to see him return to the Stadium to a “Welcome back” ovation before hitting a straight A.J. Burnett fastball into the Yankees’ bullpen.

“I don’t want to be gone. I don’t want to be somewhere else. I consider myself a Yankee.”

I will remember Jorge Posada for his bloop double against the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS that tied it all at 5 and gave me the type of sports high that you only get a handful of times in your life, if you’re lucky.

I will remember Jorge Posada for laying the tag on Jeremy Giambi on the “Flip Play” to save the 2001 season and give Yankees fans an unbelievable memory.

I will remember Jorge Posada for the 293 times in the regular season that he walked to the mound to shake Mariano Rivera’s hand after a save. And I will remember him for taking that same walk and doing that same handshake following all the postseason saves as well.

I will remember Jorge Posada for the two emotional games in 2011. The grand slam game in his return to the lineup on Aug. 13, and the game-winning hit in the postseason clinching game on Sept. 21.

I will remember Jorge Posada for standing in the Fenway dugout during Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS and letting Pedro Martinez he wasn’t going to stand for his antics. I will also remember him for the bench-clearing brawl he started at the Stadium against the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, 2009.

I will remember Jorge Posada for the go-ahead solo home run he hit against the Twins in Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS just four pitches after Alex Rodriguez tied the game with a solo shot of his own as the Yankees tried to end the World Series drought.

I will remember Jorge Posada for his .429 batting average and .571 on-base percentage in the five-game loss to the Tigers when it seemed like he was the only guy who didn’t want to go home while those who have guaranteed contracts in 2012 and beyond failed in big spots.

I will remember Jorge Posada for being part of five championships, for building the team into what it is today and for being a major reason why I enjoy baseball and like the Yankees as much as I do today.

I’m going to miss, “Number 20 … Jorge Posada … Number 20.”

Blogs • NFL

Jan 17, 2012

Big Blue One Giant Step Away

If Tony Romo doesn’t overthrow Miles Austin on third-and-5 with a little over two minutes left in Dallas in Week 14, I’m not as a happy as I am right now or was all day

If Tony Romo doesn’t overthrow Miles Austin on third-and-5 with a little over two minutes left in Dallas in Week 14, I’m not as a happy as I am right now or was all day on Monday or on Sunday night. But because Tony Romo is who he is as a quarterback, I have that same, “Is this real life?” feeling I had during the Giants’ playoff run in 2007. And if this isn’t real life, I don’t want to wake up from it.

There’s this elephant in the room that no one in the tri-state wants to talk about (well at least I don’t), but I think at this point I have to address it. That elephant in the room is that the New York Football Giants are the hottest team in football and one win away from heading back to the Super Bowl. (I’m sure Patriots fans take exception to that after their team blew out a .500 team at home for their first playoff win since the 2007 AFC Championship, and maybe 49ers fans are upset about this claim after their team beat the anti-road warrior Saints, but I don’t care.)

I have tried to keep my Giants hype and confidence to a minimum (and I will revert back to that as the weekend approaches), but right now with the Giants in the NFC Championship Game and Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees at home, I don’t think I can hold back my feelings at least for today. After Sunday’s win, I’m counting down the seconds until 6:30 p.m. this Sunday. I have put sleep on the back burner in exchange for countless hours of watching Giants playoff highlights from 2007 on YouTube like it’s porn, and I’m paying the price now since I’m overtired and in serious need of those caffeine pills that Jessie Spano was using on Saved By The Bell. But I can draft off fumes and the emotional high of a Giants’ playoff win against the 15-1 Packers for at least a few more days as long as I am awake enough to occasionally check in on my friend Tim (the Packers fan from Friday’s column) with a text message or email to make sure he hasn’t resorted to spending his life in bed like Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys until the next postseason.

I think we’re at the same point we were at in 2007 in that the Giants are the NFC team that can win the Super Bowl. I don’t think Alex Smith and the 49ers can beat Tom Brady or beat the Ravens defense in a neutral setting, especially in a dome. And for the sake of humanity, I don’t think anyone outside of New England or the Greater Baltimore area wants to see the Patriots or Ravens win the Super Bowl. Like 2007, if the Cowboys or Packers had played the Patriots in Glendale, well that “16-0” banner at Gillette Stadium would instead be a championship banner and everyday of my life I would have to hear about the Perfect Patriots: The Greatest Team Ever. I don’t think anyone out there wants to hear about the 2011 Patriots: The Team That Revitalized The Dynasty or the 2011 Ravens: The Team That Let Ray Lewis Sail Off Into The Sun As A Champion. Don’t you non-49ers, non-Patriots, non-Ravens fan want the Giants to win it all? Or am I just wrongfully assuming that everyone else is in the sports world that isn’t a fan of those three teams is as much against the Patriots and Ravens as I am?

There will be plenty of time to talk about what this Sunday means, and yes, I will be calling on Coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights again this week to help prepare for the 49ers. But there is still that win from this past Sunday against the “best” team in football that needs to be talked about, even if it was a blowout and even if it was only in the divisional round of the playoffs.

If the Giants end up finishing 2011 the way they finished 2007, then all the columns and books and special edition DVDs that will come from it will look at these three factors as important keys to another historical playoff run.

The Fumble/The Call/The Challenge
Have you ever muttered something to your girlfriend or to your mom out of anger and frustration that you didn’t mean and wish you could take it back? But fortunately for you they didn’t fully hear you or hope they heard you wrong and say, “What did you just say?” and you are given a second chance to review your initial remark and change it? You would have to be an idiot to have this chance to review your words and come back with the same answer. Well, unless you’re Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond or NFL referee Bill Leavy.

I really don’t know how anyone could watch Greg Jennings fumble and think that it wasn’t a fumble. And I really don’t know how the guy whose job it is to watch this play in slow motion from every available angle can watch it and think it wasn’t a fumble. It’s hard for anyone to convince me that the officials in the game didn’t have heavy, heavy money on the Packers’ money line or that Roger Goodell wasn’t pacing in a dark room somewhere trying to figure out a way to get both Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady to championship weekend. I have yet to hear someone say they agree with Leavy’s decision and even though the NFL’s statement didn’t say that Leavy was wrong, it implied it.

Leavy’s call was an embarrassment. It was an embarrassment to him and to all officials and to the league as a whole. Luckily for him the Giants won the game and won it convincingly otherwise he would probably be spending a lot of his time on Monster.com and none of his time in the tri-state area.

I know I shouldn’t be mad about this play because the Giants won by 17 points, but they could have lost the game because of this call. So yeah, I’m mad. When it happened I was casually drinking for the game, but after the call stood, I took my alcohol intake from Wayne Gretzky points per game in ‘1998-99 to his points per game from ’85-86. I’m mad because if a call like that can happen in a game like that, why can’t it happen again this weekend or in the Super Bowl?

The argument that the Hail Mary (we’ll get to that) and the bad call negate each other is a silly one. The Hail Mary was a designed play of genius executed by an elite quarterback and a premier receiver. The bad call was a blown call by an incompetent official whose time under the hood and then announcement of “After review, the call on the field stands” should be used as a Lasik eye surgery infomercial at 4 a.m. on the YES Network. I just need to remind myself that the Giants won. The Giants won!

Packers Choice To Defer/Onside Kick/Go For It On Fourth Down
Mike McCarthy isn’t someone I would want sit at a blackjack table. I just picture him hitting on 12 against the dealer’s 2 on one hand and then staying on 12 against the dealer’s 2 on the following hand. Play with some consistency, Mike. If you’re going to do something one way, then stick with it. Did you not watch the Falcons’ Mike Smith change his thought process and decision making on short yardage situations last week?

The Packers had the worst pass defense in the history of the NFL. That’s right, the history of the NFL. That’s not a long time or anything. But you know what the Packers do have? Maybe the best quarterback on the planet who just came off the best regular season in the history of the NFL and masked the defensive inefficiencies of his team all season.

So … The Packers win the coin toss and elect to defer. That means McCarthy, instead of putting Rodgers on the field with a chance to take an early lead and quickly put a dent in the Giants’ confidence on the road against the No. 1 team, he puts his historically bad defense on the field. (At the time I didn’t think about it that much and was actually upset about the decision because I love getting the ball in the second half.)

But then just six seconds into the SECOND QUARTER after tying the game, McCarthy elects for an onside kick that the Giants recover at the Green Bay 41. Umm, OK? You just tied the game, 15:06 into the game, and now you’re trying an onside kick? McCarthy might as well have had the Lambeau big screen show a personal message from him saying, “Hey Tom, I don’t trust my defense! I trust them so little I’m going to try an onside kick in a tied playoff game and give your All-Pro quarterback a short field to play with!” But just 15 minutes of football before that, he decided to put his defense on the field over this offense? Well, what’s it going to be, Mike?

(Here’s the problem with an onside kick, which I’m not breaking any ground about. If you recover it you’re a genius like Sean Payton in the Super Bowl. If you don’t recover it you’re an idiot. It’s like swinging away on 3-0. You better drive the ball into the gap or over the fence because if you pop it up like Mark Teixeira then you better enjoy answering questions from the media.

But it doesn’t stop there. On fourth-and-5 from the Giants’ 39 with over 13 minutes left to play and the Packers trailing by seven points (not 17 or 27, just seven), McCarthy has his offense go for it (yet another “Eff you” move to his defense). Rodgers is sacked for a loss of six yards, the Giants take over at their own 45 and go down the field and kick a field goal to make it a two-possession game.

Mike McCarthy coached the game and made decisions like you would expect Andy Reid or Norv Turner to in a playoff game. And I can’t thank him enough for it.

Flood Tip
“WHAT THE EFF ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!” That’s what I screamed (along with spilling Coors Lights everywhere and throwing Tostitos at the TV like Chris Kattan as Mr. Peepers on Saturday Night Live) when the Giants went to the line and Eli Manning was out there and not Lawrence Tynes. (Sure, Lawrence Tynes is as inconsistent as McCarthy’s playcalling and already missed one field goal), but with four seconds left on the clock and no timeouts, you’re only going to be able to run one play, and that one play is a Hail Mary. What’s the success rate of for a Hail Mary? That’s not rhetorical. I’m actually wondering. What is it?

But the crazy thing about the play is that when Eli let the ball go and the FOX camera panned to it soaring through the air to the corner of the end zone, Hakeem Nicks looked like the only guy in the end zone. (For any of you that saw the Steve Bartman 30 for 30 documentary, Catching Hell, on ESPN, it looked like the part where they remove everything from the scene of the ball in the air except for Moises Alou to see if he would have caught it. Nicks looked like Alou the entire time). The Packers secondary was behind Nicks and poorly positioned to knock the ball down or slap it down or even intercept it. And of course Nicks catches it and pins it to his helmet and facemask to create yet another 2007 comparisons from the David Tyree catch. (FYI: The last time the Giants scored important points in a divisional playoff game was the last time they were in the divisional playoffs in Dallas. That year turned out pretty well too. I’m just saying…)

The Packers didn’t deserve to win. They turned the ball over four times* (five if Bill Leavy is even semi decent at his job). Aaron Rodgers played like Joe Flacco and Jermichael Finley played like the Patriots’ Reche Caldwell in 2006. Without Leavy and Goodell and an unbelievable camera angle on that fumbled kick return, a 37-20 game would have been more like 50-3. And there’s a very real chance that without a phantom roughing the passer penalty and Leavy’s incompetence, the Packers are held touchdown-less at home in a playoff game after going 15-1 in the regular season.

On my Amtrak ride back from Boston on Monday morning, I had the New York Post sitting on the seat next to me and somewhere on the trip in Rhode Island a guy came up to me and said, “Are you done with that Post?” I said, “Yeah, you can have it.” He replied, “I have to read about my Giants.” A few days ago no one thought any Giants fan would want to read about the Giants on the Monday after Green Bay. Now it’s about wanting to read about the Giants on the Monday after San Francisco.