Superbowl 42 Champions; The New York Football Giants

The New England Patriots threw the Superbowl away, and the Giants picked it up and took it home.  I mean, could Brady have played more like dogshit?  Could that line have collapsed more under the Giant’s defense?  The Pats failed over and over and over to capitalize on mistakes.  The Giants defense pummeled Brady and got pressure any time they felt like it.  Meanwhile the Giants offensive line held like it was made of steel.

How many times did Brady overthrow, or throw to the wrong side of Moss?  How more wide open could Randy have gotten even through double coverage?  How much more could Welker do?  And Maroney can’t run if NO ONE BLOCKS.

Brady played like he couldn’t be bothered.  Matt Light played like he weighed 165.  And instead of the Pats capitalizing, the Giants played like they were the undefeated team.  Eli Manning moved the ball almost at will, and it was the sheer grit of the Pats D that kept the score as low as it was.

Plus, and there’s no other way to say this, Belichik pulled a total dick move by running out on the field and then running away down the tunnel.  All he did was make all the press and Pats haters right about him.  If Tom Coughlin had done that, you can bet that it would have pissed Bill off to no end.

The Patriots had every opportunity to win this thing.  The defense played like crazy but for fuck’s sake, Tom’s gotta score.  He needs to learn to move.  Eli got held by no less than three Patriots pass rushers, escapes and throws a huge pass downfield.  Tom?  Stand there and gets hit, or throws it away over and over.  I’m standing by my boys, but they deserved to lose that one, and they deserve the drumming they are gonna take in the NY sports press.  Not only that, but the Giants deserved to win.

Son of a bitch.  So much for the NFL setting the Pats up as the golden boys, though.  Anyone who believed that was barking mad.

Dear Bill,

Work on that O line.  You need some younger, faster, stronger, bigger bodies in there.  Age & wisdom only take you so far in today’s NFL.  It ain’t like the old days.  Also, keep Gisele the fuck away from games.  It didn’t work for Romo and it ain’t gonna work for Tom either.

Signed,

A disappointed fan

Posted by JimK at 11:22 PM on February 03, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL New England Patriots Giants

Pats.  PATS.  Pats.  Go Pats!

Over at Right Thinking, there’s a post about the big game tomorrow.  I figured I’d reproduce my comments here as well.  feel free to expound upon what you think will go down tomorrow in the comments.

My comment (not really going out on a limb with any of this, but here it is anyway):

Moss is a factor for exactly the reasons mentioned in the post. They have to cover him on every play. The Pats have been totally rope-a-doping everyone in the second half of the season with Moss.  He pulls double and triple coverage deep, and meanwhile Welker is so fast across the middle that Brady can dump 10-15 yard passes to him all day long.  He’s the real star of the receiving squad.  I love that little bastard.  :)

Meanwhile Maroney, Faulk and Gaffney are catching passes like they are all starting receivers (well, Gaffney is, but you get my point).  Plus Maroney can move his ass on the ground.  As can Faulk and Evans when needed.

I say Pats win 35-21 with Maroney and Welker providing the lion’s share of scoring.  If Wes doesn’t get in the end zone, he will make the lion’s share of first down made in the air.

BTW, who would have ever imagined that Randy “Mouth Almighty/Inmate Number 643100923” Moss would be so well-behaved and such a low-key player in the latter half of the season?  The man is a changed human being.  Belichick is some kind of swami or some shit.  )

As for Big Blue...I give them respect.  Eli is playing WAY above his pay grade these days.  He has all the tools to be in the same category as his brother in the future. They can move the ball, but Eli might crack and manage his time poorly as he is wont to do, being a bit young and somewhat easily rattled.  Plus the Pats can hold the Giants to FGs and the opposite isn’t true.  The Pats are that machine that stumbles but never falls, and they can capitalize on mistakes like no one else since Montana led the Niners.  Giants make one mistake and the Pats can score 7.  Two mistakes equal 14, and so on.  Asante Samuel will be hunting Eli’s passes all day.  One of them is coming down for the Pats, you watch.  :)

Speaking of D, I hope they play Rodney as a pass rusher.  He can scare the shit out of Eli if he plays pressure right behind the old men (Vrabel and Seau).  He always seems fairly ineffectual when he plays midfield or deep.  When they use him like another linebacker he makes plays.

At least this has every chance of being a good game.  I’m really looking forward to it.

Posted by JimK at 04:07 PM on February 02, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL New England Patriots Giants

Conference championship game day

Just so’s you all know, no Rock of Love tonight as it is NFL conference championship day.  My predictions: Tomlinson and Rivers are both starting.  All this “Rivers is questionable” is a lame effort to get the Pats to prepare for Volek, which will backfire as they will be prepared for both.  Pats 38, Chargers 24 unless (or rather, when) Rivers goes out on that knee, then Chargers 17.  I refuse to call LaDainian Tomlinson “L.T.,” by the way.  There was and will ever be only one L.T..  So the kid has a stupid first name.  Learn to pronounce it and call him by it.

As for the NFC...I predict Green Bay: freeze pops, Giants: block of ice.  Seriously.  Have you seen the weather report for Lambeau?  It’s minus 3 right now with 15mph winds.  It’s only gonna get colder.  Looks to be a low-scoring game full of pulled muscles, dragon breath and giant propane heaters.  I’ll be honest, I kind of want to see the kid pull it off and lead the Giants to the big show.  On the other hand, how many more times will Favre get a shot at it?  No hate for The Pack in my heart.  I think the Pats can beat either of ‘em.  In the end I see Eli folding under the pressure and the bitter cold and the Pack winning, 21-14.  Or 17-10.  I don’t think it’s Eli’s year yet.

I’ll be wearing my Welker jersey, and we have paid homage to the Vrabel image on the calendar, with some advance homage to Matt Light (February’s photo).  I’ve done all I can do for the Patriots.  The rest is up to them.  :)

*UPDATE* EIGHTEEN AND OH!  Maroney had one ever-loving hell of a game.  Pats proved once again, they can beat you in every way there is.  Brady had an off night and they still made things happen.  Chargers put up a fight but failed to convert inside the 20, and that meant 3 point instead of 7.

Can I make one more observation about a flaw in the Pats organization?  Why does the defensive coordinator insist on using Rodney Harrison in the secondary?  Every time he played inside or rushed the passer he made big plays.  Every time he hung back over the middle or floated into the secondary, he was kind of useless.  Play him inside!  Harrison and Seau make a monster rushing combo.

OK, off to watch the Ice Bowl.

*UPDATE*

Wow.  Hell of a battle.  Giants deserved that win for certain.  Looks like I need to eat my words, it *is* Eli Manning’s year.  Even if they lose, it’s a pretty great accomplishment to get this far.  Fuckin’ Giants.  I should hate them.  I want to hate them...after all, in my heart of hearts I’m a Bills fan.  I should wish death upon every human that has worked or ever will work for the organization.  Somehow I just don’t.

Saw the moment with Favre and Manning after the game.  Can someone tell me who replaced Bret Favre with the really old-looking dude and exactly when that happened?  That has no bearing on my age, right?  I exist outside of time.  Bret got older, but I didn’t.  That is the way it works right?

Right?

I bet everyone’s looking forward to playing in the sun.  Go Pats.

Posted by JimK at 02:31 PM on January 20, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL New England Patriots Chargers Giants Packers

A Tale of Two Brothers

Eli and the Giants are in.  Peyton and Indianapolis are out.  I know who’s gonna be the big hero at the next family gathering.  ;)

Chargers got robbed left and right by HORRIBLE officiating, but managed to overcome having to play against both the Colts and the officials.  They deserved the hell out of that win.  Both teams beat the ever-loving hell out of each other.  As mercenary as it is to say, that bodes well for the Pats next week.

I’ll give the Colts fans their due; good Lord they are not only loud, but color-coordinated.  It’s really intimidating to look up and see tens of thousands of people wearing home colors.

I’m not a superstitious guy except when it comes to football.  I firmly believe that I personally am a jinx to any team I like.  If I watch a game live and I really favor a team, they will lose.  I can TiVo a game and watch it late, but my team always falls apart at the exact moment I started watching the pre-recorded part.  Unless...both of us wear a team jersey and have touched the Pats calendar upon each entry into the kitchen.  Thank you, Vrabel! (Jan 2008’s photo is Mike Vrabel.)

Seriously. 

Anyway, I think Tony Romo has brought a curse down upon himself.  Never should have started with Jessica Simpson, definitely should not have gone to Cabo on his off week.  He did not play well.  Oh well.  Too bad, so sad.  At least the Colts put up one hell of a fight, and would have deserved the win had they gotten it.  Dallas made a crap-ton of mistakes and let a team that isn’t as good as them (on paper anyway) get one over.

I’m not going back to the gym until Tuesday, but there’s a certain Dallas-loving trainer I can’t wait to see....

Posted by JimK at 10:44 PM on January 13, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL Playoffs FOX New England Patriots Giants Cowboys

17 and 0

Seventeen.  And.  Oh.

Jags came on strong and took some early risks, but they made big mistakes in the third and fourth, and like always, the Pats were there to capitalize.  Rodney Harrison must have heard my calls for some better linebacking, because he had a hell of a game.  Randy Moss threw another great block for a running back...I’m still amazed that he’s come along as such a team player under the Pats program.  He’s been heavily covered by everyone for the last two months, and he’s been just doing his job and running the routes, throwing blocks and not talking crap.  And how about Faulk?  And Maroney.  And Welker.  I love that guy.  How dumb are those Dolphins anyway?

In fairness, the Jags were like, one or two plays and one mistake away from having a much, much better game.  They played well.  There was a time on 4th and 2 when they should have gone for it, it cost them later by forcing them to go for a 4th and 8, but they did well.

Now we watch tomorrow for the Colts/Bolts result.  I think I’d rather see the Pats play the Chargers, but I do kind of respect Indianapolis, so I may quietly root for them.  besides, it’ll mean more if the Pats get to beat Indy for the AFC title.  :)

BTW, we were supposed to go see Rob Zombie tonight but I caught something from Donna that kept me chained to the bathroom.  I guess if I couldn’t see Rob, watching the Pats play great kind of makes up.  Jojo went...was it good?

Posted by JimK at 12:05 AM on January 13, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL Playoffs FOX New England Patriots Jaguars

NFL Playoffs

Last night’s Jags/Steelers game was great, and either team would have deserved the win...Garrard’s run for first down late in the fourth was the game-winning moment, no doubt.  Officiating was horrible at best.

So I pop the Bucs/Giants game on.  The compression on the national Fox station is so bad it’s unwatchable.  The audio is way, way to loud.  I switch to the local Fox and the audio is fine and the picture is a little crunchy, but not awful.  What;s up with the national feed?  It looks like Motion JPEG crushed by 80%.

Anyway, call this the NFL thread for the weekend.  Comment away as the day wears on!

*UPDATE*

Man, Eli Manning is equal parts potential and panic.  He looks great sometimes, then he does really dumb stuff and gets flustered.  I suspect he needs another year cooking at backup, but hey, it is what it is.  He’ll either rise to it or fall apart.

*UPDATE*

So, like, why the Titans looking so good (at halftime anyway)?  I thought they had about a snowball’s chance in hell?

*UPDATE* (Monday)

Titans fell the hell apart there at the end.  Tough break.  So it’s Chargers at Colts and Jags at New England.  Everyone expects it to be Colt/Pats for the AFC title with the haters calling it for Indianapolis and Pats fans believing that the machine will work. Can the Chargers somehow upset the favored Colts?  That D looked aggressive and fierce at times.  I’ll be honest, I’d rather see the Pats facing San Diego instead of the Colts.

As for the NFC?  Dallas, Dallas, Dallas and maybe the Pack.

I missed watching pro football.  I didn’t really realize it until I started wanting to watch games that had no effect on the Pats.

Posted by JimK at 03:20 PM on January 06, 2008
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: NFL FOX

Patriots vs. Eagles

Well, I think everyone can stop crying about the Pats “running up the score.” If you don’t want to see a rout, act like the Eagles did and shut down Randy Moss.  Make big plays.  Don’t play timidly.  Don’t fear the Pats.  Play aggressive.  Make things happen.  Humiliate the handicappers...the spread on this game was a whopping 24 points.  I’d bet on a high school team against an NFL team if you gave me 24 points!

The Pats may have won, but barely.  Wes Welker and Asante Samuel won that game for them.  Shut down Moss and Welker and you’ll have a good shot at beating them.  Now everyone can stop whining.  ;)

Can you believe how hard they crushed Moss?  He had nothing in the second half.  At all.  Welker, on the other hand, seemed to be Mr. 1st down which was pretty handy.  Pretty exciting game.

Posted by JimK at 01:12 AM on November 26, 2007
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Categories: Television,  NFL
Tags: Patriots football NFL