Finally in the Red
By Superfan
Let me start by saying congrats to Tom Coughlin for winning his 50th regular season game as the Giants head coach on Sunday. Any coach couldn’t have asked for more than what the Giants showed against Tampa Bay, and it was fitting that such a dominant victory would be the Coach’s 50th with the team (126th overall). A truly outstanding performance in each phase of the game. And given the crazy drama suffered by all Gmen fans last week, this made for an especially enjoyable viewing experience. No drama, no migraines, no near-ulcers – no worries. Hopefully this will continue in our next couple match-ups.
Let’s break down just how successful we were last Sunday against Tampa Bay, given what the team really needed to focus on/improve upon. Above all, we hadn’t scored a red zone touchdown all season. In Tampa Bay, we did just that on our first two drives. Our defense was badly weakened due to injury, and new faces needed to step up. Well, our secondary got 1 pick and held Byron Leftwich to only 22 yards passing, while their running backs managed ten. Of course Tampa Bay isn’t what anyone would consider a “premiere offensive team,” but shutting any offense in the NFL down like that still says something. Lastly, our running game hadn’t been what Giants fans had come to expect in the first couple games, but they certainly turned that around Sunday, rushing for over 200 yards as a team. Over a hundred of them came from my boy, Mr. Ahmad Bradshaw. I’ve been saying for years how good this guy could be if he only got the necessary carries, and he proved me right. Atta boy! This with our star offensive lineman, Kareem McKenzie, sidelined for most of the game. And Steve Smith, your nickname is “the 3rd down maker.” Every time it’s 3rd-and-more than five, the ball goes his way, and he always seems to make a play. What a great option for any quarterback to have. Not to mention the team only committed five penalties all game. All-in-all, I’d say that was about as completely dominant a performance as you can get in this league. Well done, Gmen.
It was a fun day of football viewing for me, as I went over to my cousin Larry’s house to watch the game with my buddy JJ, the three of us watching football (and a little baseball) before getting ready for Yom Kippur services that evening. My cousin’s got DIRECTV Sunday Ticket, so we were able to jump from the end of the Gmen blowout to the dramatic finishes of the Jets and Vikings wins. When those were over, we switched over to ESPN to watch the Yankees clinch the division at home against the Red Sox. What a great day for a New York sports fan! Of course, I wouldn’t be a true NY fan if I didn’t feel at least a little skeptical about how great of a day it was (almost too good – some part of me knows something’s bound to happen to one of them).
It was very comforting to see that the back-ups were able to take care of business on defense with Phillips, Tuck, Canty, and Ross out (to name a few). This is a great sign, because we should be able to play well these next two weeks and keep those guys rested (except for Phillips, of course, who’s on the IR) as we prepare for a big match-up against the Saints. The loss of Phillips, which was announced last week, was a tough one to swallow for all Giants fans. A couple years ago, it happened to the linebacker core. Last season, it was the loss of Osi on the defensive line that hurt our defense for the season. This year, it’s Kenny Phillips and the secondary. It’s like the injury bug has been moving its way from front to back through the defense. Hopefully, this mean’s there’ll be no more positions to get weakened on the defense next season. This team has played well despite major injuries in the past, and there’s no reason to believe that shouldn’t continue this year (as was clearly demonstrated on Sunday).
As is the case with all Giants blowout victories, it’s comes with a certain negative to accompany all the positives – it’s a lot harder to write about a team when all things are clicking. Not to sound cynical, that’s just the way it is. So, let’s get to other issues worth talking about:
• One of the most underrated moves of the NFL offseason was Adam Schefter moving from NFL Network to a certain 4-letter network. I used to not be able to stand watching anything football related on that channel, but the addition of Adam alongside Chris Mortensen not only makes them more tolerable, but in fact informative. The NFL Network, on the other hand, lost a great on-air personality. Also, there’s nothing like hearing Chris Berman say “the geeeeeeee-men” while recapping a Giants game during “The Blitz.”
• The Jets are absolutely for real, as is Mark Sanchez. Mark Sanchez looks about as poised as any other QB in the league right now, and their defense is scary. I’m just glad we only had to play them in the pre-season this year.
• I didn’t think it was possible, but the Browns have gone from bad to worse. No only is their talent-level not there, but now they have player-coach conflicts galore off the field, something that wasn’t really a problem with this team last season. The Jets get a new coach, and get exponentially better, while the Browns get the Jets old coach and somehow get even worse…hey, I’m just saying…
• Regarding the whole “twitter” thing – I’m not just mad that players are airing their dirty laundry for the world to see on Twitter, but I’m especially mad that the media’s giving it so much attention! Why is every channel acknowledging all this tweeting?! It’s bad enough to focus on off-the-field issues instead of analyzing the games themselves, but to make special reference to social-blabbering technology?? That has absolutely nothing to do with professional sports in any way, and therefore has no reason getting constant on-air references. Save that garbage for TMZ, please.
Well, another week down, another Giants victory in the books. Don’t get too comfortable, though - despite their record, Kansas City’s always a tough place to play. The players and coaches know that, and won’t be taking the game too lightly I’m sure. Keep those e-mails and facebook messages coming, to gmensuperfan@gmail.com and “Gmen Superfan,” respectively. Until next week, GO GMEN!!
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