First of all, let me say, it’s been a long, long time since I wrote for a blog…outside of work, that is. If you all want to read about internet marketing, check it out (BOOM just scored another backlink to the company site, we’re really moving up the Google rankings now!). Please excuse the search engine optimization humor, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
I had a blog a couple years ago (I think it began in January 2010) and really enjoyed writing for it. The three posts that come to mind were Why Pete Carroll Will Be a Success in Seattle (he’s won the division and a playoff game since *humble brag*), Why People Hate Duke Basketball, and Similarities You Might Not Expect between Daft Punk and Richard Wagner. My two loves are sports and music, so expect some good insight about those two topics, especially. This first post is gonna be about sports.
It was an amazing weekend in football, especially if you’re a Giants fan! The first half of the Giants-Patriots game was lackluster at best. Going into halftime, neither team could points on the board. After watching LSU-Alabama the night before, it felt like it had been weeks since I had seen a touchdown. I was pretty shocked, I was expecting a shootout. The Patriots pass defense was worst in the league going into Sunday and Eli Manning has been having a career year…by far. Eli Manning’s passer rating for the season is 98.8, 18.6 points higher than his career rating entering this year. Also, despite what many people are saying, I think the Giants linebackers and secondary are not good. The Giants have a phenomenal defensive line, but the secondary is weak. I figured Tom Brady, always cool under pressure, would be able to stand in the pocket and find open receivers all day.
While I was wrong about the first half, the two teams proved me right in the second by putting a lot of points on the board. I spent the majority of the second half pacing around my living room and after Brady hit Gronkowski for the touchdown with under two minutes to go, I thought it was over. On a side note, that was an awful play by the Giants, leaving Gronkowski open on fourth down. The Pats had just thrown to him on second and third down AND he’s easily their most popular red zone threat.
But you all know what happened; the two teams that combined for no points in the first half, put up 21 points in the final three minutes, culminating with a touchdown pass from Eli to Jake Ballard that left me yelling “All Hail the New York Giants!” I know this is the last thing that Patriot fans want to hear, but that game reminded me a lot of Super Bowl 42. If you remember back, there was very little offense in the first half of that game and the two offenses took over in the second half. On the final drive, Eli took control, hitting Plaxico in the end zone to win the game. This week, it was Jake Ballard (who unless you are a Giants fan or fantasy football player, you probably don’t know very much about).
It may be because I live just outside of Boston, but to me this game felt much more important than a week 9 game. The thing is, I don’t dislike the Patriots. In fact, I would say they’re probably my second favorite team in the league (largely because they’re such big rivals with the Jets and I cannot stand Rex Ryan). But for some reason, when the Giants play the Patriots, I get really up for the game. It also may be because the Patriots are the winningest team of the past decade, but this year’s Pats team is a far cry from those teams. The defense is not good. Aside from Welker, the wide receivers are not good either (they are pretty great at tweeting though). But with two great tight ends, one of the best QBs ever in Brady and an amazing head coach in Belichick, the Pats are still one of the better teams in the league.
A win for the Giants on Sunday was tremendous for this team. It remains to be seen what happens to this year’s Giants but every game is huge for a team that faces the toughest second half schedule I have ever seen. Their remaining out of division schedule includes San Francisco, Green Bay, New Orleans and the Jets. They also still have to play a dangerous Dallas team twice and the disappointing but talented Eagles. After Sunday I’m very excited about this Giants team but still a realist. The remaining schedule is brutal and I won’t be surprised if they miss the playoffs (not writing off the Cowboys just yet). With a ridiculous number of injuries, this Giants team is overachieving right now, and much of the credit is owed to Eli Manning. I remember hearing ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer say after the Giants beat the Eagles earlier this year that, when a group of guys isn’t given much credit and the team becomes much bigger than the name on the back, it’s a powerful thing. That’s what this year’s Giants are and as a fan, I love it.
I agree that this game was a big one for both teams, especially for Week 9. I think the G-Men are gonna have a tough time winning more than 3 of the games left on their schedule (PHI, DAL, @WAS). Unfortunately, I doubt that will get them to the playoffs in a surprisingly competitive NFC. I think that this game was bigger for the Patriots than for the Giants. The Pats are in a very tough division, and have already lost to the Bills once. They face the J-E-T-S this weekend and I could see them going down to a revitalized Jets squad in a frenzied MetLife (Giants?) Stadium. Their remaining schedule isn't too tough, but this will be another difficult year to get a wild card berth in the AFC.
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