EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The most exciting thing that happened at New York Giants minicamp Wednesday was a press conference to announce Timex as the naming-rights sponsor for the team's new training facility here -- the "Timex Performance Center." It's a beautiful complex, but unless you're the ones pocketing $35 million from the deal over the next 15 years, this wasn't exactly the stuff of big headlines.
That's fine with the Giants, who got their fill of headlines at last year's minicamp.
Coming off a Super Bowl championship, the Giants convened last year amid loud, obnoxious Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress contract controversies. Neither of those players was on the team by year's end, but they were here a year ago, and they were making it noisy. This year ... not so much. And Tom Coughlin couldn't be happier about it.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- He looked good on the field, and he did fine in the press conference, which were the two parts of Hakeem Nicks' first day at New York Giants rookie minicamp that we got to see. To the scriblling, twittering, inquiring group of media that gathered at Giants Stadium this morning to check out the new guys, Nicks looked just like a first-round pick is supposed to look. He was quick, skillful, athletic and surprisingly polished.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin liked what he saw on the field, too. But that wasn't the only place Nicks was impressive on his first day as a pro. Coughlin also liked what he saw of the rookie out of North Carolina in the morning meeting.
Plaxico Burress has yet to make his way through the legal system, but assuming he's a free man this fall, the Giants will gladly welcome him back. General manager Jerry Reese told the New York Daily News that he, head coach Tom Coughlin, and the rest of the organization are "on board" with keeping Burress around -- as long as he's willing to follow the team rules.
You know, the same team rules he so thoughtlessly disregarded right up to the moment he shot himself in the leg last November.
The play of Super Bowl XLII was easily the catch made by David Tyree, holding onto the ball for dear life between one hand and his helmet. The Giants would go on to slay the giant and knock off the previously undefeated New England Patriots. Let us pause for a second and think about what would have happened had Eli Manning not even made that throw. He broke away from what appeared to be a sure sack. What if he didn't?
Terrell Owens is 35 years old and has a $3.1 million roster bonus coming his way in June. Those facts, coupled with the perception that he's not the easiest guy to work with, probably have everything to do with speculation that the Cowboys might release him in the coming months.
Last week, the Dallas Morning News' Jean-Jacques Taylor wrote that the organization faced some serious offseason questions, particularly of the "Do we have anybody on staff who can control T.O.?" variety. The obvious answer is: "Bill Parcells," but I'm pretty sure that ship has sailed (or has it?*)
That said, as MDS pointed out at the time, "We should be clear that Owens is in no way, shape or form similar to [the recently released] Pacman [Jones]. Owens is both a much better player on the field than Pacman and a much better person off the field than Pacman. These are not similar situations."
It was a defensive struggle Sunday at Giants Stadium. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles making more plays on both sides of the ball. They beat the NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, 23-11 to advance to their fifth NFC Championship game under head coach Andy Reid.
The Eagles led for most of the second half, but didn't put the game away until the fourth quarter. It was then that the Giants' chances were destroyed by their inability to either convert short-yardage situations or trust their struggling quarterback to make plays.
Eli Manning is going to be ripped in the New York press for his performance in this game. He should be. But he didn't have the ball in his hands on either of the game's biggest plays.
With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.
If you want to see my picks (and I have no reason why you would), click here.
Saturday Games
Baltimore at Tennessee (4:30 PM EST): I think that whole "don't trust your rookie quarterback on the road" stuff is tossed out the window when your defense is scarier than that Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy.
Riddle me this. What makes Joe Flacco, the undisputed question mark for the Ravens, any worse than Kerry Collins, the undisputed question mark for Tennessee? Check the stats.
With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.
The 1s
St. Louis (2-13) at Atlanta (10-5): If Atlanta takes care of business here, they could be facing the Arizona Cardinals at home in their first playoff game. Could a scenario get any better for a rookie quarterback? Hey Matt Ryan, I know it is the playoffs and all, but this is one of the worst sports franchises in the history of football. Also, they've won just one game since Veterans Day.
If this shakes out, Ryan might be the most blessed kid since the one Mary conceived.
It would be easy for me to sit here and discuss the virtues of playing hard all 16 games and how that overtime win at home last weekend still wasn't enough momentum for the playoffs -- not to mention the fact that the Giants will have a bye next week anyway and that everyone keeps discussing how hard they played in Week 17 last year.
I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'm going to tell you that the Chicago Bears are not near the playoff team the Minnesota Vikings are at this point. The Giants should be wanting a victory this weekend over the Vikings -- and hoping for a Bears win as well -- because the Vikings could be a scary NFC Championship game foe. That third week in January is one game for the chance to go to the Super Bowl.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The most exciting thing that happened at New York Giants minicamp Wednesday was a press conference to announce Timex as the naming-rights sponsor for the team's new training facility here -- the "Timex Performance Center." It's a beautiful complex, but unless you're the ones pocketing $35 million from the deal over the next 15 years, this wasn't exactly the stuff of big headlines.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- He looked good on the field, and he did fine in the press conference, which were the two parts of 
In anticipation of Cardinals-Steelers, FanHouse takes a look back at some forgotten 
Terrell Owens
It was a defensive struggle Sunday at Giants Stadium. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles making more plays on both sides of the ball. They beat the NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, 23-11 to advance to their fifth NFC Championship game under head coach Andy Reid.
With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. 
C'mon, 
