SuperFan: Giants vs. Saints (11/29/11)

Limping Into The Fourth Quarter

By Superfan

I’m getting sick and tired of this. I’m getting sick and tired of the Giants playing a decent-to-good-enough September and tearing through October, getting everyone’s hopes up and their imaginations running wild about what the rest of the season might hold. Then getting into November, closing in on the final stretch, and falling apart. It’s as though the team thinks they only have to show up for half a season and their good 1^st-half record will somehow magically carry them into the playoffs. Then they show up without any heart, without any discipline, without any toughness, without any pride, and they drive us fans crazy. The only consistency I’ve seen out of the New York Football Giants the past few years is their inability to play at a high level for a full season.

All that being said, there is still over a quarter of the season left to play, including two against the Cowboys. Plenty of time and opportunities to make the second season, but if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing, that won’t happen. Let’s rehash the worse of our past two miserable losses.

Not Worth The Effort

Monday Night Football on the West Coast. A football fan’s worst nightmare. After an entire day of dropping not-so-subtle hints at work about that night’s game, my bosses let me take off around 5:30, which allowed me to listen to the first quarter in the car.

JJ met me at my house and we turned it on just in time to watch the Saints effortlessly drive the field to take a 7-0 lead to start the second quarter. It wasn’t much better from there, as we listened to Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, and Ron Jaworski all but crown the Saints victorious just before halftime, when they took a commanding 21-3 lead. Aside from a comical moment that they provided us with the teleprompter (if you DVR’d it, go to the 11:20pm EST mark, you’ll be glad you did), there was little else about the broadcast worth writing home about. Nothing like watching your favorite team get their behinds handed to them in front of a national audience. Then again, that’s turning into a trend for us these past couple of weeks, isn’t it?

Bayou Beat-Down

There was a time, not too long ago, when our defense was one of the most feared defenses in the league. And I don’t want to hear about injuries. We’ve gotten our top draft pick back, so we have one cornerback and two veteran linebackers on IR. If that makes us unable to play any kind of respectable defense, then it simply means we didn’t do our job building depth at key positions. And what happened to our pass rush? They were supposed to be the ONE THING that wouldn’t falter! Drew Brees had ridiculous time all night to find his receivers. There was one play were it looked like we might get a sack in the middle of the third quarter, but Brees got away from two guys and scrambled out to his right. Despite there being two defenders closing in on him as he approached the line of scrimmage, Antrel Rolle decided to abandon his assignment watching the short route to come after Brees as well, leaving Pierre Thomas wide open to receive a short desperation pass to convert a first-and-fifteen. To top it off, Coughlin decided to challenge the play thinking it was an illegal forward pass, but anyone who watched the replay could clearly see it was a bad decision.

Eli came away with good numbers, though a lot of that was garbage due to their defense playing prevent with a huge lead. But I don’t put this on him. He had one bad throw in the first quarter that was picked off. But it’s not his fault his star wide receiver, Hakeem Nicks, had several significant drops. Not to mention Danny Ware and Victor Cruz. Ramses Barden made some nice catches on balls thrown his way, but had a strange play where he seemed to fall down without being touched and could have gotten up to run with the ball but didn’t. Jacobs ran with a little bit of fire, and got a rushing touchdown, but with the huge deficit most of the game there were hardly any opportunities for him to do much.

The one positive from this game was Da’Rel Scott. He has some potential it seems as a return man. If he could’ve managed to keep his legs from outrunning the rest of his body Monday night, he would’ve had some great chances to break big returns. I feel he will in time with more experience.

No game balls this week. Just a bad game all-around.

Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week

· Saw The Muppets over Thanksgiving weekend. LOVED IT. Thank you, Jason Segel, for bringing them back to us and doing it right. Just a fantastic movie-going experience. The soundtrack is also great.

· As bad as it feels to be a Giants fan, at least we’re not Chargers’ fans. So much for Norv Turner being an offensive guru. They looked really, really bad. I can’t fathom this whole Tebow thing. Someone has to show up against them and show them what a real defense looks like. Detroit’s the only team who’s done it so far…

· Speaking of Detroit, wow Suh. Dirty, dirty, dirty. On Thanksgiving, no less. I know you were upset about Nickelback. We all were. Still no excuse.

· Ever since I joined Twitter I’ve noticed all these Tweets from Giants’ receivers talking about appearances they’re making for autographs or whatever at malls and stores and stuff. I understand if it’s something the whole team is doing or sponsoring, especially if it’s for a charity, but I have a problem if it’s just their agent or manager scheduling separate events for profit. Maybe they should worry less about making public appearances and more on CATCHING THE FOOTBALL AND PREPARING FOR THE NEXT WEEK’S GAME!

· It’s official - Jermichael Finley is the biggest fantasy draft bust I’ve ever made. One really good point total all season, single-digit points nearly every other week.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t look likely, but there are some things to think about regarding this week’s matchup against the Packers. In 1998, with Kent Graham at quarterback, an undefeated John Elway-led Denver Broncos team came into our house, and we beat them. They went on to win the Super Bowl that year. In 2008, after losing by just three to them to end the regular season, we faced the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, and beat them. The way we’re playing right now it doesn’t seem likely, but based on recent history, if anyone can keep the Packers from going undefeated this season, it’s the Gmen. Something to think about.

To reiterate, we’re 6-5, not 4-7, despite how things may seem. Our fate is in our hands, with both games left against the Cowboys to take the NFC East. But we have to wake up out of this funk - we’re beating ourselves. If we want this stigma of late season collapses to go away, WE HAVE TO MAKE IT SO! To talk all things Giants, e-mail me at gmensuperfan@gmail.com, find me on Facebook under the name “Gmen Superfan,” and follow me on Twitter under the username “@gmensuperfan1.” Until next week, GO GMEN!!

SuperFan: Giants vs. Eagles (11/21/11)

A Preseason Effort

By Superfan

As proud as I was to be a Giants’ fan the Monday morning after beating the Patriots a couple weeks ago, I’m that much more embarrassed today. To not even show up in what was supposed to be the “soft” part of the currently hellish ordeal that is our second-half schedule is INEXCUSABLE! Just because everyone picked us to win and expected us to do it rather handily didn’t mean it would happen on its own accord. We gave a preseason effort out there, and the result reflected just that. I can’t for the life of me understand why we feel it’s necessary to consistently play down to the level of our competition in games we’re supposed to win, AT HOME no less! This was a horrendous output and a game we’ll have to simply put out of our minds for the rest of this season.

But before we do that, let’s talk about it for a while longer right now. That’ll be pleasant…

The View From Home

JJ, Joe, Vandy, and I watched in the living room, the same place we watched the Giants beat the Eagles earlier in the season. Aside from being appalled and very, very angry most of the time, little else happened.

Save for one tangential argument about the difference between animals acting on instinct in relation to whether or not they’re aware of death. I tried explaining that WE (humans) are the only animal species capable of said awareness, which is kind of what separates us from the rest. Just what I wanted to be having during such a painful viewing experience - a stupid, unnecessary debate about a popularly accepted biological fact.

The one genuinely uplifting moment from the game (Cruz’s TD reception) came as JJ was answering the door for the delivery guy. Good thing Joe grabbed Vandy, because the way we reacted, with the door open, that dog would’ve been LONG GONE.

Angered by the Birds

I can’t believe we let a limping, 3-6, Vince Young-led team into OUR HOUSE and beat us. Just pathetic. Even when we did make big plays, we never managed to take advantage of them. It would’ve been really nice to welcome back Prince Amukamara by converting his clutch first quarter interception into points. But we didn’t. Eli gave it right back with an interception thrown off his back foot.

In the big picture, no one really played a complete game. The offensive line was horrible in run and pass blocking. And unfortunately our offense made no attempt to adjust to their glaring weaknesses. When your line’s giving up constant pressure, and everyone’s dropping everything (Jake Ballard’s going to be in for an especially tough film session this week), you have to call passing plays that give your offense a chance to get back on its feet. Quick-hitters. You don’t continue to call all-or-nothing passing plays that involve long routes that take time to develop. Yes, occasionally we hit a few of them that were caught for decent gains (and plenty more that were dropped). But the problem with those plays is that they leave no room for safe results. If the primary target isn’t hit, Eli is back for so long that he’s forced to take the sack or throw it away. There’s no middle ground there.

The rushing game continues to be tragically non-existent. Brandon Jacobs, you are six-foot-four inches tall and you weigh (according to all official sites) two hundred sixty-four pounds. YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO GAIN ONE YARD ON THE GROUND WHEN WE NEED YOU TO! THAT’S THE REASON YOU’RE HERE!!

Any time we started to build anything on offense, we’d immediately disrupt our own progress with dumb penalties. Just a horrendous game offensively, and still, we had a chance in the end. Imagine if the offense decided to show up for four quarters!

Unfortunately the myriad of injuries to the defense really showed up in glaring fashion on Sunday. We played hard and held them in check for the first half, but that also had a lot to do with the fact that we were playing a rusty QB who was missing a lot of open receivers and making bad reads. As he started to get settled in, suddenly everyone noticed just how open the middle of the field was for him to work. While it’s a great story for the rookies and they tried hard on Sunday, we really missed Michael Boley. The guys in there were terrible in pass coverage. And don’t get me started on the defense letting STEVE SMITH score a touchdown. Where’s the pride?

On a positive note, Steve Weatherford for the most part looked great. I don’t blame him for the one big return by DeSean Jackson - we had opportunities to tackle him before he broke his big return. Other than that, Steve did a great job pinning them deep most of the game. And Ramses Barden - one pass thrown to him, one catch made (and a good one, too). That’s a far better percentage than any other receiver Sunday night.

Offensive Game Ball - Victor Cruz. Kind of by default. Six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, it’s hard not to give it to him. Especially since everyone else looked so bad. But it doesn’t excuse the drops.

Defensive Game Ball - Prince Amukamara. He didn’t play as well in the second half as he did in the first, but with five tackles and an interception in his first game as a Giant against the hated rival Eagles, he certainly deserves it.

Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week:

· Love that new Modern Warfare 3 commercial starring Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill (with a guest appearance by Dwight Howard). Go get ‘em, noob!

· Not necessarily team-related, so I don’t feel too bad including it here - did anyone else pay close attention to the way the word “MetLife” was lit up at either end of the stadium last night? It looked like it had a greenish tint. The Giants, also known as BIG BLUE, had a home game against the Eagles, whose primary team color is green. WHY WAS METLIFE NOT CLEARLY IN BLUE? That kind of irked me a little.

· On a related note, I was a little perturbed by the premature Christmas holiday coloring of the Empire State Building during the game last night. A little bit of red and a WHOLE LOT OF GREEN. Come on, be aware of the situation, save any and all green coloring for when the Eagles have LEFT TOWN! WHERE’S THE HOMETOWN LIGHT SUPPORT?

· Congratulations to my cousin Zoey on her Bat-Mitzvah this past Saturday - it was a beautiful occasion and you did a great job! Mazel Tov!

· At said occasion I had the privilege of meeting the one and only Larry Merchant - what a great guy to spend some time with. So much great wisdom to share, and how can you not love a guy who had Floyd Mayweather thanking his lucky stars for an age discrepancy?

Final Thoughts

Okay, this was a miserable game. Don’t listen to sports talk radio or watch any recap shows this week. Just put the game out of your mind and move forward. We’re tied with Dallas on top of the division, with two games against them still left to play, and in control of our own fate. We seem to play down to lesser teams but rise to the occasion when we play good ones. Let’s hope that’s the case these next few weeks, starting in New Orleans next Monday night. To talk all things Giants you can e-mail me at gmensuperfan@gmail.com, find me on Facebook under the username “Gmen Superfan,” and/or follow me on Twitter under the name “@gmensuperfan1.” Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and until next week, GO GMEN!!

SuperFan: Giants vs. 49ers (11/14/11)

Missed It By That Much

By Superfan

“Too little, too late. Not enough - whatever you want to describe it as…” - Coach Coughlin

That was a really tough loss to swallow. I’ve had a little time to sit on the loss and think it over, and I’m glad I did. After the game on Sunday I was really, really upset, as I’m sure the whole Giants’ community was. But things aren’t as bad as they may seem. Fortunately, Philadelphia and Washington continued spiraling. Dallas looked very good, which was a little unsettling (only a little, Buffalo didn’t exactly look great). And we weren’t outplayed. We lost a close game to a very good team mainly due to our own mistakes, shutting down their all-pro running back yet falling just short in the end. We’re still 6-3, and we’re still ahead in the division. All that being said, let’s rant and rave and relive Sunday’s loss.

The (Partial) View From Home

Another “Fox Game of the Week,” another game available on the West Coast with Joe and Troy. Well, at least that’s what JJ, Joe, Vandy and I thought until the Falcons-Saints game went into overtime. We didn’t get to the Giants game until after the Giants took a 3-0 lead in the middle of the first quarter. We should’ve gotten to it sooner, but once the Saints made the game-winning field goal the Fox affiliate had to go to a local break. And they say TV has no impact on games…

When we finally did get the game on, it was just in time to see the 49ers drive right down the field to tie it up at three apiece. The first half was very similar to last week’s. Long drives, no touchdowns, tough D near the end zone. Except we could, and should, have opened it up early. On our great opening drive of the second quarter, after the first drive of the game lasted almost the entire first, we were looking very good. Eli hit Cruz for a first down right off the bat. Then a few plays later Eli made a great throw to Mario who made a great catch. What’s even wilder - TROY AIKMAN COMPLIMENTED ELI MANNING! I know, I know, hard to believe. Hey, there are only so many combinations of words in the English language; you had to think Troy would say something nice about Eli at least once in his broadcasting career.

But of course, once we got near the end zone, Eli dumped it off to the underneath route which EVERYONE saw coming and once more we had to settle for three. This is becoming a bad habit. On the ensuing defensive drive several good plays were negated by an absurd cushion we gave them on 3^rd and forever, allowing them to attempt and make a game-tying field goal. Then the onside-kick occurred, which honestly was just a good play on their part, and we held them to three again. After a tough Victor Cruz drop on our next offensive series which led to an Eli interception on the very next play, we got our first big break of the game when a tipped Alex Smith pass led to a Corey Webster pick, allowing us to sneak into halftime only down by three.

Joe left during the second half, and try as we might with different seating arrangements, standing up and sitting down, JJ, Vandy and I could do nothing but watch as the Gmen fell just short in the second half.

Tough Fight, Tougher Flight

As I mentioned earlier, we beat ourselves. Defense held strong in the third quarter, getting two big stops after giving up an initial field goal, and we went into the fourth quarter with our third lead of the game, 13-12. But they also started the fourth quarter with great field position as a result of a bad shank punt by Steve Weatherford. From there, in just over a minute of game clock, the niners tore straight through us to score fifteen unanswered points that included a really ugly interception by Eli and a successful two-point conversion. Yet again, we put ourselves in that hole. It’d be hard for most teams to fight as hard as we did all game, go into the fourth with the lead, immediately watch it slip away in a matter of minutes, and just give up.

Not the Gmen though. Despite helping put us in the hole we were in, Eli stepped it up and led a brilliant drive right down the field, which ended with a great touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks and featured two clutch receptions by Jake Ballard. Only down by a touchdown. Defense needed to step up, and they did, getting us the ball back with plenty of clock. Here’s where things were great and awful all at the same time. All game (and for many of the games this season) the Giants had no problem moving the ball between the 20s. It was what was called once we were in the “green zone” that I think baffles most Giants fans.

The drive had all the makings of a classic Eli-lead fourth-quarter comeback. Two HUGE fourth-down conversions. DJ Ware made plays to gain crucial yards. Eli was on fire. Then, third and two, Gilbride calls a SHOTGUN DRAW to DJ Ware. First of all, if you’re going to run the ball for critical short yardage near the goal line, why run a draw? Second, why run it out of the shotgun formation, which means only more ground for your tailback to cover before even reaching the line of scrimmage? Third, why use DJ WARE?! Nothing against the guy - he’d played hard all game and had a good drive. But with the game on the line, you don’t take it out of your playmakers’ hands! Don’t know what was wrong with Jacobs, but why not at least let the bruiser try for the yards? Personally I would’ve let Eli keep it and finish what he started. The next fourth down try failed when Eli’s pass was tipped at the line, and the game was lost. We’d already made two huge fourth-down conversions, and it looked like (based on the play call on 3^rd down) Gilbride was more than willing to test our luck on a 3^rd fourth down conversion attempt. That third play call was a joke. I know a game can’t be measured by one play, and there were many instances where we could have done things differently for a better result, but that call still really stung. Like I’ve always said, we have all the weapons (and depth) to be one of the most feared offenses in the league. The fact that we play as well as we do despite the horrible play calling says mountains about our talent. If only we called plays that showcased our offensive strengths instead of limiting them, we’d be unstoppable. Yet another case of beating ourselves.

Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week:

· Happy belated Veterans Day, and of course thanks to all the veterans and current men and women in service for everything you’ve done and continue to do. Obviously it goes without saying, but it’s still nice to have those few days a year where we put the trivial stuff aside and recognize those who ACTUALLY MATTER IN THE WORLD. On that note, did anyone catch the Wal-Mart commercial that ran during the games last week? With the mother of the two kids who surprises them (during story-time) when she arrives home unexpected after time away on service? Amazing ad. Hard not to get teary-eyed.

· Anyone else really miss the NBA right now? At all? Me neither.

· Having lost a friendly wager to a co-worker regarding Sunday’s match-up, I find myself today forced to sit at my desk with eye-black on and a football in my hand. ALL DAY. I’m not about to sit here and lie to you all and tell you I don’t feel a little bit cool. Come on, eye black makes guys look cool. Admit it.

· Turns out Billy Crystal will host the Oscars in April. That’s cool, but I was REALLY excited about the possibility of the Muppets hosting. HOW COOL WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN?! I hope they at least save two balcony seats for Statler and Waldorf.

· Sunday was a bad day. The Gmen lost, I lost the eye-black bet, got destroyed in fantasy (Julio Jones, Darren Sproles, and Vincent Jackson - TWO POINTS COMBINED), and of fourteen games played I only picked right on THREE of them. Really bad day.

Final Thoughts:

Our situation isn’t as bad as it feels. It only seems that way because we’ve been playing so well lately, and it always stinks to lose. We’ve got plenty of football left to play, and so far we’ve split the toughest part of a schedule anyone has to face in the league this season. But do I have the slightest thought of Sunday’s loss being the start of another epic second-half collapse? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I have faith in the Gmen, and we gotta keep on fighting! IT’S PHILLY WEEK! They’re really going to be looking to put a hurting on us after their last two losses, so we have to be ready for them this Sunday at the Meadowlands. Redemption for last season! To talk all things Giants, e-mail me at gmensuperfan@gmail.com, find me on Facebook under the name “Gmen Superfan,” or follow me on Twitter under the name @gmensuperfan1. Until next week, GO GMEN!!

SuperFan: Giants vs. Patriots (11/7/11)

Doing it Twice is Just as Nice

By Superfan

How’s that for a statement victory?! I can’t begin to express how proud and AMPED I am to be a Giants’ fan this morning. I remember after we won Super Bowl 42 everyone was saying, “Nine out of ten times the Patriots would win this matchup. This was the one time the Giants managed to pull it off.” Well, now we’re two-for-two against them. Care to change that assessment? We did it against all odds - on the road, the first of many really tough games in a really tough stretch, in big, bad New England where opponents simply couldn’t win, with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck doing the game on Fox (maybe the toughest hurdle of all), and we STEPPED UP TO THE CHALLENGE. That was as complete a team victory as you could ask for. We needed guys to step up in the absence of others, and they did! Eli is the comeback kid, plain and simple. Wouldn’t want anyone else behind center when the game’s on the line.

Yes it was eerily similar to that wonderful game in the desert back in February 2008. In both games we had the lead, lost it late to Brady, then marched right back down the field to get it back again. In both games points were few and far between in the first three quarters, then came in bunches in the fourth. And in both games, we came out on top. As Eli said in an interview after the game, “I’d rather be down by three with 1:30 than up by four with 1:30 with Tom Brady and their offense on the field.” At this point, we as fans expect Eli to drive the field and score a touchdown when the game’s on the line. If that isn’t a perfect definition of what makes an elite quarterback, then I don’t know what is.

The View from Home

Being the Fox game of the week was more advantageous than tedious on Sunday. Despite being stuck with the worst team in all of sports commentary, these were the same two guys who voiced our incredible Super Bowl victory over the same opponent. Also, it meant the game was on regionally on the west coast, so JJ, Joe, Vandy, and I all got to watch from the living room. We had another person join us, Justine, who’s a good friend and a good luck charm from previous seasons. She showed up just as the Pats missed that first half field goal, so any suspicions anyone may have had of her showing up and throwing off our good vibes were immediately vanquished.

The game was awesome, but during it was insanely intense and stressful. It was kind of funny because while JJ, Justine and I are going crazy watching on the couch, Joe was off to the side on his laptop, throwing out random tidbits from his Google food searches. They quickly went to pie facts, and every minute or so was a new tidbit about a variety of pies.

These pie facts need their own paragraph. I SWEAR TO GOD he dropped this nugget on us right in the middle of the fourth quarter, after we forced the Patriots to settle for three and take a 13-10 lead:

“So, if a boysenberry is a raspberry crossed with a blackberry crossed with a loganberry, and a loganberry is just a raspberry crossed with a blackberry, then why does a boysenberry need a loganberry in the mix? How is a boysenberry not the same as a loganberry?”

We all kind of sat there, looked at each other, and couldn’t respond. I feel a little bad because at the time I was so into the game that I didn’t appreciate the ridiculousness of it all, but looking back on it, it was pretty funny. Never a dull moment, Joe. Good stuff.

Back to the game, when Eli did come in at the end and lead us down the field to glory, I ran right outside and screamed at the top of my lungs. There was almost no one around except one guy way down the road across the street with his dog, who just glanced over and shrugged. But I like to think a little bit of the Gmen magic made it’s way to him and his dog and made their day just a little bit better.

Return of the Road Warriors

As I was saying earlier, that was a complete, bar-setting victory. Everyone who needed to step up and make plays stepped up and made plays. How about Brandon Jacobs? Without Ahmad Bradshaw, he stepped in and played great. He had the one drop and didn’t run for a hundred yards, but he did what was needed of him for us to be victorious. Every yard he gained was a tough yard that wore down whoever tried defending him. He’s the kind of back who needs to get one or two decent gains off the bat to get rolling, get his confidence up, and then he’s a hard man to stop. His first rush was for eight yards. From there, he gained positive yards and broke tackles all day. Not to mention what he did for the passing game. In the third quarter, after Deon Grant made a great play to pick off Brady, Jacobs did a fantastic job in blitz pickup to allow Eli time to find Victor Cruz for a key gain. That drive led to a field goal, the first points of the day for either team.

Eli was great, save for the pick he threw in the end zone (although you have to give credit to Kyle Arrington for making a very good athletic play to bring that one in). Without his center or star wide receiver he played incredibly well. He found all sorts of receivers to help us move the chains on our scoring drives. Jake Ballard had a game he’ll never forget. Ramses Barden was welcomed back from injury with a couple key receptions, including a huge reception in the fourth quarter which led to Eli’s touchdown pass to Mario a few plays later. Da’rel Scott saw some time, and had an important first down run in the second quarter. And how about Kevin Boothe stepping in for Baas, and except for a couple missteps had a very good game overall, keeping Eli upright most of the time.

Defense also was never short of playmakers. Antrel Rolle had a huge third-down tackle on the Patriots first drive of the game to force a punt, which I believe had a large impact in preventing them from getting any early momentum. Kiwi was all over the place with six tackles and a huge interception on the first play of the second quarter off a Michael Boley tip. Michael Boley also made a huge play with a strip of Brady in the third quarter that stunted a potential scoring drive. Even guys like Michael Coe and Mark Herzlich had huge days, with a big tipped pass and a clutch special teams strip, respectively.

Offensive Game Ball - Eli Manning. He’s elite. No more needs to be said - I’m glad he’s our quarterback.

Defensive Game Ball - Michael Boley. See above.

Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week:

· ESPN’s fantasy “experts” are idiots. I’m playing in an ESPN fantasy league this year, and their “point projections” are almost always wrong. To the point of having to do the opposite of what they predict to be successful. I hope they don’t get paid for their expertise.

· Given the events of the last month or so, I have no doubt in my mind that the “Madden Curse” is real. Not only that, but it’s getting worse - not only does it force the player featured on the cover to miss significant time of the season with some sort of injury or illness, but it now also turns him into a bad person.

· Just keeping everyone up to date, in case you forgot how mad and hopeless people were when Kevin Boss left for Oakland -

o 2011 Receptions: Jake Ballard 23, Kevin Boss 8.

o 2011 TD Receptions: Jake Ballard 3, Kevin Boss 1.

o 2011 Receiving Yards: Jake Ballard 395, Kevin Boss 160.

o I know it’s Gmen-related, and this is the Non-Gmen Thought of the Week, but I had to throw this in here somewhere. Front office vision! Props!

· Did anyone catch footage of the Cowboys post-game locker room celebration yesterday on Fox? If you look “closely” (it’s hard to miss) there’s a lovely shot of a shirtless Rob Ryan in the background. That’s for you, ladies.

Final Thoughts:

Enjoy the week, but remember this is just the first of many tough games ahead of us. We have a real doozy coming up, where we’ll be traveling to the West Coast for another “game of the week” showdown, this time against the 49ers. It also means another week of Troy and Joe. I might make the trip up north just to avoid having to listen to them call the game. That really was a huge statement win, but let’s hope our bandwagon doesn’t get too crowded - always prefer the underdog card. Gotta keep this momentum rolling here, show everyone we’re a team to be reckoned with week after week. To talk all things Giants, you can e-mail me at gmensuperfan@gmail.com, find me on Facebook under the name “Gmen Superfan,” or follow me on Twitter under the username “@gmensuperfan1.” HUGE VICTORY! 6-2 ATOP THE DIVISION!! Until next week, GO GMEN!!