For the second straight week, the New York Giants were horrendous. In their pathetic 41-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, they proved that they need to rebuild. It’s easy to accuse Eli Manning, but I’d put more blame on offensive coordinator Bill Sheridan. The Giants looked confused on each of their drives so it’s no surprise that the Minnesota Vikings defense shut them down. Their only score came on a one-yard run by Danny Ware early in the fourth quarter. Still, Manning wasn’t completely absent as he did manage 141 yards on 17 of 23 attempts. With this defeat, the Giants fail to make the playoffs for the first time in four years. Their fans deserved a solid effort but the Giants just didn’t seem to care.

As for the Vikings, they straight up abused their opponents. Not only did they show up on defense, but their offense was even more impressive. Brett Favre posted possibly his best game of the season, repeatedly finding receivers Sidney Rice, Visanthe Shiancoe, and Percy Harvin. Gradually picking apart an uninspired Giants defense, Favre went 25 for 31 on attempts for 316 yards and four touchdowns. His passes to Rice were a sight to behold. Rice really worked for both of his touchdowns, running interesting routes to fool the coverage.

The Vikings will now await the results of today’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallsas Cowboys. If the Cowboys beat the Eagles and clinch the NFC East, the Vikings will get the buy in the first week of the playoffs.

Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey still has a bitter taste in his mouth from his days as a Giant, writes the New York Daily News. The Saints will host the Giants this Sunday at the Superdome.

Shockey gets his shot at revenge when the undefeated Saints and Giants meet Sunday in the Superdome. The defense should expect plenty of yapping from him. The Giants were thrilled to dump Shockey, who had become a divisive malcontent, and Saints coach Sean Payton, his offensive coordinator with the Giants in his rookie year, was glad to hand over second- and fifth-round picks right before training camp in 2008.

Shockey had been one of the faces of the franchise. But whether it was a bruised ego when the Giants won the Super Bowl without him or a feeling he was disrespected by management or money, it was clear his act had grown stale in New York and he forced his way out of town.

Shockey told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in yesterday’s editions that he had a “bitter taste in my mouth,” from his Giants days. “It’s just something that if you cross me once – it’s hard enough to gain my trust as it is – and if you lie to me and if you say something behind closed doors between that person and myself …

“I needed change in my life,” he said.

He had a blowup with GM Jerry Reese during a minicamp in June of ‘08 and that made it impossible for him to return. He is happy and healthy in New Orleans after he was injured for much of last season, playing in 11 games and catching 50 passes with no TDs. In the Saints’ 4-0 start, he leads the Saints with 18 catches and also has two touchdowns. He is the third receiving option for Drew Brees after Marques Colston and Reggie Bush.

One of the things that always stood out to me about the Giants’ Super Bowl run a couple years ago was that Manning had so much success in the playoffs without having Shockey at his disposal. That was just one example of why individual players – no matter how talented they may be – will never be more important than the team.

Shockey has little right to be bitter with the Giants and he should just be happy with his new surroundings. Payton loves him in New Orleans, which is a perfect fit for his skill set. He should use his motivation in helping his team win this Sunday and not let his anger cloud his focus.

It may be a tad premature to write this given that he’s only in his third year, but it’s getting harder and harder not to tab JaMarcus Russell as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in NFL history.

Al Davis was blinded by Russell’s arm strength three years ago. Russell might be able to throw the ball the length of the field, but his pocket presence his atrocious and his work ethic is abysmal. When he drops back to pass, it’s clear he doesn’t know where to go with the ball and how to read a defense.

In the Raiders’ 44-7 loss to the Giants on Sunday, Russell completed just 8 of his 13 pass attempts for 100 yards, was sacked six times and lost three fumbles. He simply cannot function in an NFL offense and relies too much on his natural ability to get by. If he doesn’t start putting in the work and learning how to read defenses, he’s never going to succeed and he’ll be out of the league in a couple of years.

Russell is a prime example of why it’s so important for teams to evaluate the intelligence of players. That will never happen with Davis because he’ll always put talent above all else, but draft evaluators are dreaming if they think they can teach work ethic and football smarts. Russell can make all the throws, but he doesn’t have the awareness to get the ball out on time or to deliver it to the right spot. One would think that he would compensate for that by working harder, but he doesn’t.

If Russell doesn’t show vast improvement this season, the Raiders can’t wait to start developing another quarterback. He’s regressed every year he’s been in the league and he’s not going to start succeeding overnight. I realize the Giants have a great defense and make a lot of quarterbacks look bad on Sundays, but Russell can’t even accomplish basic functions. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing the Giants or Rams, if he doesn’t understand the basics the Raiders will continue to spiral into football purgatory.

According to a report by the San Jose Mercury News, Giants’ minor league prospect Angel Villalona is the prime suspect in the shooting death of a man in the Dominican Republic.

The news devastated Giants officials, who have invested significant time and money in the 19-year-old first baseman. Villalona’s $2.1 million bonus was a franchise record when the Giants signed him in 2006. He was considered one of baseball’s elite power-hitting prospects, and his signing signaled a shift in priorities to rebuild the farm system.

Dominican police told the Associated Press that Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was fatally shot at a bar Saturday night in the coastal city of La Romana. Villalona will appear in court today and could face up to 20 years in prison.

Not sound insensitive after a man lost his life, but in keeping things related to sports this would be a massive blow to the Giants if Villalona were guilty of this crime. We’re talking about an organization that is completely devoid of hitting prospects outside of catcher Buster Posey and Villalona has drawn comparisons to Miguel Cabrera. (Outside of the fact that Villalona has shown little to no plate discipline so far in the minors.)

But let’s not jump to any conclusions. This could be a misunderstanding and Villalona had nothing to do with the shooting. We’ll have to wait for more details to emerge.

As far as the Yankees and Cardinals are concerned, they are on a collision course for the World Series, as they are putting large amounts of distance between themselves and their closest competitors.

Today we got more proof of the beauty behind an athlete’s battle against time. Last week, I wrote about Tom Glavine and a shoulder injury which may end his 22 year career. On the other side of the coin, there’s news today about an even older pitcher still getting the job done. As reported on Yahoo! Sports:

Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against his former team, and the San Francisco Giants held on to beat the Diamondbacks 2-0 on Sunday.

“Sometimes you have to put blinders on when it comes to certain teams,� Johnson said. “I just wanted to pitch well. It’s nice to go out there and feel like I’m contributing after the last two starts.�

Johnson, who allowed one hit in seven innings, was perfect through four. He faced the minimum through six and stranded Augie Ojeda at third base after the shortstop doubled to open the seventh.

A no-hitter through seven is nothing to scoff at, even if it did happen against a team not especially known for their hitting. It’ll be interesting to see how the now 1-2 record of Johnson grows, and how soon it’ll be before he reaches his 300th win (his win today puts him at 296). Again, from Yahoo! Sports and Brian Wilson, one of Johnson’s Giants teammates:

“It was beautiful,� Wilson said. “It was a nice day and Randy was out there dominating. He proved he can still do it.

“You watch him working the hitters, working the count and you realize not all of us can go out there and do that.�

I’ve never been much of a Randy Johnson fan, but regardless of what team he’s on now I think it’s worth our while to keep an eye on a future hall-of-famer before he’s finished actively playing ball.