Tagged: New York Giants

Big Blue feeling blue

I spoke with Ross Tucker and Howard Cross during two separate podcasts about what’s been ailing the Giants since their 5-0 start. Tucker shared his take during our weekly Football NYC Podcast, while Cross suggests they stop believing the media generated hype about who they should beat in the debut episode of the Big Blue Podcast.

The Giants are on their bye before hosting the Atlanta Falcons November 22.

In Eli we trust

manning250.jpgThe New York Giants signed Eli Manning to six-year contract extension earlier today, making him one of the highest-paid players in the league. I am very happy to know that he will be my quarterback for the foreseeable future. I know that this new deal will strike up debates over whether or not he deserves this kind of money, but here are my reasons as to why the Giants absolutely did the right thing by rewarding him with this contract.

? Already has won a Super Bowl title and was the MVP in the biggest game of his career. Let’s also not forget that he drove the Giants in the final minutes to beat a team that had not lost a game that season

? Has shown that he can win games on the road. Just look back at the run the Giants had in the 2007 season or the games in Arizona and Pittsburgh last season.

? Handles himself like a gentleman off the field. He plays in the biggest city and media market in the world and we never see him in the headlines in a negative way.

? Plays his best late in the game. Do not take this for granted; we have seen many quarterbacks that cannot function as well when the game is on the line.

? His teammates know that he is their leader. When Tiki Barber went on TV and made a statement about Eli’s leadership, all of his teammates rallied behind him and have been supportive of him after good performances and bad ones.
 
? Four years as a starter, four trips to the playoffs. The most important quality that a quarterback can have is the ability to lead his team to victory.

I know that sometimes Manning can frustrate Giants fans with his accuracy, and I am in no way saying that he is the best quarterback in the NFL. But the fact of the matter is that this is where the market is at right now. Before you know it, another quarterback will be getting a bigger deal in the near future. The bottom line is that Manning is a very good player who has the potential to become even better. Statistically, he has been going in the right direction every year since he has entered the league. He is a hard worker who stays out of trouble and never looks to be in the limelight. I am very happy for Manning and look forward to the next six seasons with him leading my football team.

Good Luck, Amani

toomer250.jpgJust read that Amani Toomer signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. As a Giants fan, I wanted to wish him the best of luck for the upcoming year (except, of course, when they play the Giants.) He is the all-time leading wide receiver in Giants history and over the last 13 seasons has made some memorable plays for them.

Personally, I will never forget the touchdown catch he made against the undefeated Denver Broncos in 1998. When the Broncos played the Giants in 2005, he once again caught the game-winning score with .05 seconds left, capping off a terrific final drive. I also loved the performance against the Cowboys in the divisional playoffs two seasons ago with two big first-half touchdowns. Most recently, his fourth-down catch against the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers last season in the final quarter of the game in Pittsburgh stands out to me.

Amani was a gentleman off the field and never gave me a hard time when asking for an interview or a quick sound bite no matter what the mood was after a win or a loss. He was a quiet presence (especially for an NFL wide receiver) amongst some very big personalities like Michael Strahan, Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey. And let’s not forget the manner in which he acted when Plaxico Burress signed with the Giants, supplanting him as the No. 1 receiver. Amani was a pleasure to work with for my six seasons with the Giants and I was so happy for him when he was able to win a Super Bowl ring.

If you have any Amani Toomer memories that stand out, please let us know.

Jets score with Sanchez pickup

jetsblog_042509.jpgDay one of the 2009 NFL Draft is now over and the Jets wasted no time making the first big move of the day when they traded up to the No. 5 spot to grab Mark Sanchez.  I have always said that in the weeks leading up to the draft there are all smokescreens created by teams so other teams cannot determine what players they are really interested in.  Now in this situation we did hear that the Jets were one of the few teams that would make a move for Sanchez but there were more aggressive teams such as the Redskins and Broncos who were expected to make a trade to get him.  I like Sanchez, he comes from a winning program and seems to be a guy that other players would rally behind.  He does however only have16 starts but I look at it this way, Matt Cassel came out of the same program and never started a game in college.  Rex Ryan also came from Baltimore were he saw rookie Joe Flacco lead his team to the AFC championship so he will have no problem letting Sanchez start from day one.

Usually the rule of thumb with a rookie quarterback is that the fans have to be patient for a year or two and wait for him to develop, but in the last couple of years we have seen guys like Flacco and Matt Ryan have immediate success and other young quarterbacks like Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger win Super Bowls so well see how long the Jets and their fans can be patient with Sanchez. Overall I like the move because they didn’t really have a solid starter in the first place.

On the other hand, the Giants made news by not making news.  Over the last month there was so much speculation that they would trade for either Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin and the first day of the draft came and went with no such move.  Now that’s not to say that they didn’t get what they were looking for because they quickly decided on Hakeem Nicks when it was there turn in the first round.  Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he was the guy they wanted all along because we just don’t know, but what I will say is that he is just the type of player that they were looking to get in Edwards and Boldin.  He is big, physical and may just be the most NFL ready receiver in the draft. Now after today you wouldn’t think that Cleveland plans to trade Edwards, but they did select not one but two wide receivers in the second round.  So well see where Mangini goes with this one.

The Giants then used both of their picks in the second round to address other areas of need.  They selected linebacker Clint Sintim from the University of Virginia and expect him to make an immediate this season.  He has started 48 games in a row and has emerged as a very good pass rusher.  The Giants rounded out the day by selecting offensive tackle William Beatty from Uconn.  He is a guy that was projected to go earlier in the day and will provide some backup on the O-line this season.

Giants forced to play waiting game with Burress

burress_250_040109.jpgMarch 31 has come and gone, and the Giants still have no answers on the status of their star wide receiver.

Plaxico Burress’ case has been adjourned until June 15 and the Giants will be forced to make a decision soon, because it looks more likely that Burress will not be participating in the 2009 season.

The Giants have made it clear the last couple of weeks that they would indeed welcome Burress back to the team if and when he clears all of his legal hurdles, but the problem is that they know that they can not afford to go into the upcoming season without having a clear cut No. 1 wide receiver. All of the receivers on the Giants roster are young and have a good upside, but none of them can command the double coverage that Burress does. Domenik Hixon is a good receiver and has shown flashes of his physical skills, Steve Smith is a very good third-down possession receiver, Sinorice Moss is quick but inconsistent, David Tyree is coming off an injury and Mario Manningham has talent but is young and unproven. In the next couple of weeks it will be crucial for the Giants to address this situation whether it is through the draft or a trade.

It would be easy for me to say that they should just make a trade for a star wideout like Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin, but I don’t know what the price would be for either. Boldin has been in contract negotiations with Arizona for two months now and every day the story seems to change about his trade status. We did, however, hear whispers that the Giants inquired about Edwards, but I don’t think a move for anyone would be made until we’re closer to the draft. The Giants have shown no interest in Torry Holt, or any free agent receiver for that matter, so it will basically come down to a choice between a trade or a high draft pick to fill the position.

I see the Giants using one their first two draft picks on a receiver, but I would only be guessing if I said who it will be, so I’ll leave that up to Mel Kiper Jr. and the other draft gurus to debate.  In my opinion, both Boldin and Edwards would be a better option than an unproven draft pick because they are still young and have shown that they can play at a Pro Bowl level. The bottom line is that this is a tough situation for the Giants because Burress is such a hard player to replace and his destiny is out of his own hands.

How a Giant loss led to a Super win

xliii.jpgThe Super Bowl smoke has finally cleared and after a fun and exhausting fourth quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the first team to capture a sixth Lombardi trophy.

As the final score indicated, Pittsburgh was obviously the better team on Sunday, which shouldn’t have surprised anybody. As I said repeatedly on my Football NYC Web cast, the Steelers were the better team all season long; they were dominant in their division and played tough in all four of their losses. On Sunday, the keys to them winning the game were the same reasons they were there in the first place.

A) Defense, Defense, Defense – All season long, the Steelers were the top defense in the NFL, led by two of the best playmakers in the league with Troy Polamalu and the defensive player of the year James Harrison, who made one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history.
 
B) Follow Your Leader – Big Ben is really starting to remind me of John Elway. I’m impressed by his never-say-die attitude and mental toughness; plus it’s nearly impossible not to say “wow” when he’s making plays out of the pocket, which we saw a couple of times on Sunday. He has two Lombardi trophies so far in his short career and has clearly established himself as a man that you would want to lead your team if the odds were stacked against you.

C) Mental Toughness – The Steelers never complained about having the toughest schedule ever created, and they never made excuses when many of their players went down with injuries. After Larry Fitzgerald’s touchdown catch gave the Cardinals the lead late in the fourth, we didn’t see any panic on the Steelers’ bench; instead we saw players rally behind their quarterback, make plays and history.

I, along with most of America, was very impressed with the winning drive at the end of the game. But I wasn’t surprised, as I thought back to a road trip that I took earlier in the season.

In October, I traveled to Pittsburgh for their game against the Giants. (By the way, if anyone has not been to the Steel City for a game try to get there, its one of the best sports towns I have ever visited.) It was a rewarding trip for me since the Giants did win the game, but afterward, I remember going back to my hotel room and watching all of the news reports on TV (after all, the city basically shuts down for the Steelers games). Being a New Yorker, I fully expected to hear reporters and fans trashing the team (especially Ben Roethlisberger who had a terrible game with four interceptions). But that was not the case at all. Instead of being critical, the local media basically gave the Steelers credit for keeping it close against the champs, despite all the injuries that were plaguing the team at the time. Boy, how is that for night and day when comparing it to the New York media after a Giants or Jets loss? Eli Manning was the MVP of the Super Bowl last year and he couldn’t even get a free pass when it ended badly for the Giants this season.

The interviews with the players were no different. They knew they had a great opportunity to win the game but came up short. They looked towards next week and focused on the positives. In the end, what I took away from that weekend in the Steel City was that the fans, the media and most importantly the players all had an optimistic feeling about his season. Even after a tough loss they kept their composure and concentrated on the positives rather than dwell on the negatives and we all saw the results on Sunday.