I haven't given much attention to the New York Football Giants this year. For one main reason. Since mid-October, they've stunk. I did decide to tape their game today against the 13-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. They almost pulled it out, ultimately falling short 33-30. A few notes on this game.
1) The Giant secondary is so banged up, it's not even right. They have lost four safeties this year. I mean Terry Cousin, who was signed to play cornerback on passing plays had to play safety. He got eaten alive by receivers like Hines "Ketchup" Ward and Antwaan Randle-El. Ben Roethlisberger threw 5 passes for over 34 yards. That can't happen.
2) Initially, the Giants defense did a solid job limiting Jerome Bettis when they needed to. They stopped him on the 2 yard line at the end of the first half twice. But they finally wore down. They just gave up too many big plays not because of bad coaching or bad gameplans. It's a simple lack of talent. Gibril Wilson, Michael Strahan, Barrett Green, Keith Washington, Norman Hand, and Omar Stoutmire are all injured defensive starters.
3) Willie Ponder. Now really try to think about this. (Thank you, thank you :) That opening kickoff touchdown return was beautiful to watch. He even slipped a tackle by Troy Polamalu, the excellent Steeler linebacker. He had around 260 kickoff return yards, which set a Giant record for kickoff return yards in a game. That tells you two things. One, he's quick and intelligent. Two, the Steelers scored too many times!
4) The officiating. Now, see, this is why I will never be a play-by-play announcer. I have never believed in criticizing officials or blaming them for losing a game. Those old farts were so twisted in the wind towards Pittsburgh, I wonder how many Christmas cards Bill Cowher sent them this past week. In the first half, Polamalu was not penalized for hitting Tiki Barber a good 4 yards outside the field after Barber had run out of bounds. Then, five minutes later, on 3rd down for the Steelers, about 5 Giants sacked Roethlisberger. Brent Alexander gets penalized for unnecessary roughness because they were too aggressive in their tackling. I can't explain it in print, but even Phil Simms said the hits seemed to be on the same level. Nonetheless, the drive continues, and Pittsburgh scores a touchdown. 17-14 Pittsburgh leads.
5) Missed Opportunities. Third quarter, down by 6. First and goal from the 4. First play, Barber goes nowhere. Second down. Shockey nearly scores and gets the crowd going. He slams the football, his helmet comes off. That's the Shockey Giant fans want to see. Third and 1. You need a score here. Eli calls timeout. They come back. Run with Tiki up the middle. LOSS OF THREE! And they have to settle for a field goal and they trail by 3, instead of leading by 1.
6) Great job by Eli. He looked very poised this week. The offense did a very good job against one of the best defenses in the NFL. Tiki ran well. Shockey was his lovable obnoxious self.
7) I know it ultimately didn't matter. But what the hell was Tom Coughlin thinking? Fourth quarter. Tiki scores a touchdown, Giants lead 30-26 with 8 minutes left. Tommy, what are you doing going for two points? What was he thinking about? What do you have to gain? 32-26, or 31-26 is basically the same thing. You take the lead, kick the ball, don't give the Steelers any chance to get momentum back. On the conversion attempt, they sack Eli and you know that offense got pumped after that sack. They go down the field (7 plays, 67 yards in 3 minutes) and score the game winning touchdown.
As my opponent in the fantasy playoffs was playing the Pittsburgh defense, I'd like to say great job by the Giant offense. But the Giants finally looked like they wanted to play football. That's the key. They were excited to play. And this was a very exciting game. You could point blame at different places as to why the Giants lost, but the Steelers were just better. But look on the bright side. New England is still only in 2nd place for home field in the AFC playoffs. I'll have my Jet report ready by Monday.
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