I Can’t Figure Them Out!

The Giants crushed The Redskins last night 31-7. The G-Men now stand at 8-4 tied with the Eagles for the best record in the NFC East. The season has been strange for the G-Men. The Giants have ridden a roller coaster this season, and I can’t figure out if this team is for real.

The expectation prior to the start of this season was not great. Most power ranking had the Giants at the middle of the pack and most people predicted the G-Men finishing around 8-8. I agreed with that prediction. The season started out bad. After two losses in the second and third week the Giants feel to 1-2. Many were calling for Coughlin’s head and questions began about who would be in the Giants locker-room at the end of the season. Jacobs got so frustrated during a game that he threw his helmet in the stands!

Then, the Giants figured things out. They rattled off five straight wins. Analysts and announcers were hailing the Giants as the best in the NFC and perhaps the best in the NFL. Ahmad Bradshaw was emerging as a premiere running back in the league. But, I think it was the Giants D, particularly the pass rush that was so great during this winning streak. The Giants were knocking out Quarterbacks like Mike Tyson at the beginning of his career. Two great knockouts were when the Giants knocked out Cutler, and then took out Romo for the season. Simply stated, the Giants D seemed scary.

But, then came two bad Divisional losses. The first loss was terrible! The Giants got pounded by a 1-7 Cowboys team after a coaching change. Then, the Giants lost another close Divisional game to the Eagles. Bradshaw seemed to be fumbling the ball every other play and looked like Tiki Barber early is his career. The defensive was not imposing and the Giants looked like they were exposed as frauds. The Giants were 6-4.

Now, the past two weeks the Giants look great again. The Giants beat the Jaguars and trounced the Redskins.

It’s been a strange season in that there don’t appear to be any dominant teams, especially in the NFC. The Eagles looks tough but certainly beatable. The Falcons have the NFC’s best record but most are not sold on them. The Bears are 9-3 but have looked bad at various points in the season. The Saints look good but great. At this time last season the Saints and Colts were both on the verge of undefeated seasons. The Saints were easily the class of the NFC and the Colts the AFC. This season, who knows? Because of the uncertainty of who’s top dog, I would not be surprised about anything that happens for the remainder of the season. I could see the G-Men getting housed coming down the stretch of the season and not making the playoffs. I could just as easily see the G-Men making a magical run to the Super Bowl. I hope it’s the latter.

The New Ricky Vaughn

The past few seasons I have loved to watch Brandon Jacobs. What made Jacobs great was his huge 260 pound frame, strength, and ability to run through people. I used to love to watch two or three guys trying to bring down Jacobs and Jacobs just carrying these people along like pre-school children. But, something terrible has happened to Jacobs and he now wants to be a finesse runner. His big ass is tiptoeing around trying to dance around defenders and it does not work!

Every week I feel like jumping into the TV and yelling at Jacobs “Stop! You’re not Barry Sanders!” The finesse style of running only works when you have speed and agility, and Brandon, foot speed did not get you to this point.

Not many people have seen Major League 2, but essentially the story is about Ricky Vaughn, a Major League Baseball pitcher, who made his career on a fastball in the first Major League changing himself in Major League 2. In the first Major League Ricky has a hard fastball and throws wild. Ricky had just been released from prison prior to joining the baseball team. Ricky is essentially a thug. Ricky is dubbed the “Wild Thing” because of his image as well as his wild pitching style. Now, in Part Deux, Ricky is dating some model, and she wants Ricky to think about his career. She makes him wear designer suits and insists that he have a nice haircut. She essentially domesticates Ricky. The girlfriend insists that he had a curveball and sinker to his pitching arsenal to add longevity to his career. Ricky gives the pitches stupid names like the “Eliminator.” Anyway, when Ricky throws these pitches people hit home runs left and right. Ricky realizes that he must return to his “Wild Thing” days and lose his new squeaky clean image. He goes back to being tough and throwing the fastball which works. So, it’s time, Brandon follow in suit of Ricky Vaughn, put your shoulder down and knock people over! Pick up 4-5 yards per carry by knocking people on their asses! Become the “Wild Thing” again!

I understand why Jacobs wanted to make a change. It’s got to be hard taking those hits and just lowering your shoulder into contact. But, in the words of my grandfather “That’s what you get paid to do!”