Tag: New York Giants (Page 37 of 55)

      Florida finishes No. 1 in polls, Utah No. 2

      January 9, 2009 /

      The final votes are in and to the shock and dismay of approximately zero people, the Florida Gators are college football’s No. 1 team. The undefeated Utah Utes are No. 2.

      Urban MeyerThe Gators received 48 first-place votes and 1,606 points in the poll released early Friday, after they beat Oklahoma 24-14 in the BCS national title game.

      Utah, the only team in major college football to go undefeated this season, got 16 first-place votes and 1,519 points.

      “I thought we had an outside chance,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said in a telephone interview with the AP. “There was enough national sentiment, I thought we might get the No. 1 slot. It wasn’t to be.”

      Florida won its third AP national championship and second in the last three seasons. Steve Spurrier and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel led the Gators to the 1996 title.

      No. 3 USC received one first-place vote. Texas was No. 4, and will have to settle with finishing ahead of fifth-ranked Oklahoma.

      The Utes from the Mountain West Conference swept through their regular season, while Florida and Alabama from the SEC, Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and Southern California from the Pac-10, jockeyed for position in the national title chase.

      The Mountain West does not have an automatic bid to the BCS — it’s not considered a strong enough league to deserve one — but the Utes earned their way in.

      Utah was seventh in the final regular-season poll, but that perfect record looked much more impressive after the Utes beat Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl last week.

      The Pac-10 should do the right thing and bring Utah and BYU (or TCU?) into its conference. Then they could have a conference championship game and Utah and BYU (or TCU?) could show how good they really are.

      Imagine if the NFL had the same system college football has. We wouldn’t have had the opportunity to witness one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time when the Giants beat the Patriots last year, because the Giants would have been ranked No. 6 in the polls.

      College Football, NFL

      Gary Myers lays kiss of death on Giants

      January 7, 2009 /

      Gary Myers of the New York Daily News puts the crimp on the Giants this weekend, writing that there’s no way the Eagles will go into East Rutherford and knock off the G-Men.

      Eli ManningThis will be an NFC East slugfest Sunday at Giants Stadium because it always is.

      Giants 23, Eagles 13.

      It should be noted that last year, right here in your Daily News, I not only predicted each of the Giants’ four playoff victories, including the huge upset of the Patriots in the Super Bowl, but had the margin of victory just about on the nose each week. Just wanted to point that out.

      The Giants were the best team in the NFC all season despite losing to the Eagles and Cowboys back-to-back in December. But when they faced their only must-win of the season on that Sunday night against the Panthers in the battle for the No. 1 seed in the 15th game, they rallied to send the game into overtime and then won it.

      This is a tough-minded team. Doesn’t mean the Giants are sure things to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but they do have a lot of heart, and it’s going to take a near perfect game from the Eagles to knock them out of the playoffs.

      The Giants are the best at finding a cause that doesn’t even exist and not letting go. Even after winning the Super Bowl and going 12-4 and being picked by many to run through these playoffs and win it all again, they still feel disrespected. It’s ridiculous, of course, but it works for them.

      Fair enough, but let’s take a look at the facts:

      A) The Giants haven’t played a complete game in over a month. (Week 13 in a 23-7 victory at Washington to be exact.)
      B) Eli Manning hasn’t passed for over 200 yards since Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg.
      C) The Eagles have the third best defense in the NFL, including the fourth best run defense.
      D) Philly has already proven they can beat the Giants in New York.

      I’m not saying it’s a slam-dunk Eagle victory, but this is no time to be predicting wins days before the game.

      One last thing Myers might want to chew on is that Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote before the Falcons’ playoff game last week that they would beat the Cardinals in Arizona. He poured a big cup of jinx all over the Falcons and I’m afraid Myers might have just done the same thing to the Giants.

      NFL

      The Eagles aren’t the matchup the Giants want

      January 4, 2009 /

      Brian WestbrookTom Coughlin and the New York Giants aren’t going to admit it (at least not publicly), but the Philadelphia Eagles weren’t the matchup they wanted for their first playoff game.

      Thanks to Donovan McNabb’s 300-yard passing day, Brian Westbrook’s 71-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass and Jim Johnson’s blistering defense, the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in their Wild Card playoff game Sunday at the Metrodome.

      Had the Vikings won, the Giants would be hosting the Arizona Cardinals next weekend – the same Arizona Cardinals that have played like complete crap on the East Coast all season. But thanks to the Philly’s victory, the G-Men “lucked out” and get the sixth-seeded Eagles. They luck out by getting a team that has already beaten them once at Giants Stadium, has a seasoned playoff quarterback in McNabb, a secondary that rivals any defensive backfield in the league, and will face a defense that blitzes more than Chris Berman stutters through a highlight.

      Even though the Eagles have largely been inconsistent this season, they aren’t your typical sixth-seeded playoff team. That said, Philly has to do a better job against the run next week because unlike the Vikings, the Giants have a quarterback in Eli Manning that can make plays in the passing game.

      The Eagles allowed Minnesota to rush for 148 total yards and were gashed by a 40-yard Adrian Peterson touchdown run. If they can’t stop the Giants’ dynamic rushing game, Manning will likely strike for big plays via the pass. Philly definitely has the edge in terms of their secondary vs. the Giant wideouts, but it won’t matter if the Eagle safeties have to sell out to stop the run every play and leave the corners on an island. Eventually Manning will pick them apart.

      Again though, there’s no doubt the Giants would have rather faced the Cardinals and allowed the Carolina Panthers to take their chances with the Eagles. But with Philly’s win, fans are treated to an NFC East clash with everything on the line. And what makes this matchup even more compelling is that both of these teams know each other so well. It’s going to make for a great week leading up to the contest, and the game itself will likely live up to expectations.

      Next weekend couldn’t get here soon enough.

      NFL

      Vegas odds favor Giants and Titans for Super Bowl

      December 29, 2008 /

      According to Las Vegas oddsmakers, the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans have the best chances of squaring off in Super Bowl XLIII February 1.

      Las Vegas sports books favor the New York Giants over the 11 other teams in the NFL playoffs to win the Super Bowl, giving 2-to-1 odds on the NFC’s No. 1 seed to repeat as champions.

      The Tennessee Titans are the favorite among AFC teams to win a title at 4-1.

      Oddsmaker Mike Seba of Las Vegas Sports Consultants says the Giants have the easiest road to get to the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, while the AFC teams are more evenly matched.

      The Giants would have to beat either the Arizona Cardinals or the Atlanta Falcons to reach the NFC championship game. The Cardinals are the biggest longshots for the title at 40-1; in the AFC, the Miami Dolphins have 30-1 odds.

      Before the season, the two teams that opened with the longest odds to win the Super Bowl were the Dolphins (250-1) and the Falcons (200-1). Now they’re both in the playoffs.

      The two preseason favorites — the New England Patriots (2-1) and Dallas Cowboys (7-1) — failed to reach the playoffs.

      It’s kind of crazy that oddsmakers feel that the Eagles (the sixth seed in the NFC) have a better shot of winning in the Super Bowl than the NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals.

      Apparently their victory over the Seahawks on Sunday wasn’t enough to make oddsmakers confident in the Cards.

      NFL, Super Bowl

      Tarvaris Jackson or Gus Frerotte – who will start for Vikes in playoffs?

      December 28, 2008 /

      Tarvaris JacksonThe Minnesota Vikings needed a last second 50-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell to beat the New York Giants’ scrubs 20-19 on Sunday, but nevertheless, they are the 2008 NFC North Champions.

      With the win, the Vikings clinched the No. 3 seed in the NFC and will play either the Cowboys or Eagles. The question now becomes, who will line up under center for Minnesota come next week?

      Tarvaris Jackson had another solid day, completing 16 of 26 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown. He did throw one interception, but outside of that solely turnover he protected the ball well. In four games since replacing the injured Gus Frerotte, Jackson has completed 57 of 89 passes for 740 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception.

      Regardless of whether or not Frerotte will be healthy enough to play next week, Jackson has earned the right to start. There seems to be a notion in sports that players shouldn’t lose their jobs because of injury, but the only thing Brad Childress and the Vikings should be concerned with is which quarterback gives them the best chance to win.

      As of right now, that player is Jackson. His teammates have gotten into a rhythm with him under center, he’s played well and most importantly, he hasn’t made a ton of mistakes. It also helps that Adrian Peterson (who better learn to hang onto the football) is running like a man possessed right now, and takes a lot of pressure off of Jackson’s shoulders.

      It doesn’t make a lot of sense to toss Frerotte back into the fire when he hasn’t played in over three weeks and his backup is playing quite well. Jackson should be the choice under center next week for Minnesota.

      NFL

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