It's not that the Giants' three-game losing streak has gone unnoticed. It's just that, with all the excitement over everything the Yankees have been up to, New York sports fans have had other things on their minds. Yes, they're aware, vaguely, that the Giants' defense hasn't been able to stop the Saints, Cardinals or Eagles the past three weeks. And they have seen a headline or two about Eli Manning suddenly looking much more mortal than his contract and his championship pedigree say he should. But the panic meter hasn't moved too much over all of this, because New York is still one of the few American towns in which football can take a backseat to baseball. And for the past few weeks, for very good reason, New York has been a baseball town.
That all changes this weekend. The San Diego Chargers hit town -- another dynamic offense surely licking its chops over a chance to take its turn at the Giants' battered ego and secondary. If the Giants lose again, they're looking at a 5-4 record heading into their bye week, which would mean two solid weeks of tabloid and talk show debate on the issue of "What's Wrong With the Giants?"
NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- This was to have been the Giants' get-right game. Sure, New Orleans beat them up last week, but the Saints are an undefeated team that was coming off a bye week and playing at home. The Giants spent the week shrugging off that loss and promising to be better this week at home against the Cardinals. The defense promised more blitzing and less trepidation. The offense promised to be sharper. To a man, the Giants were certain they'd come up with a big win Sunday night over the reigning NFC champs...and then they lost.
"For whatever reason, we've had two weeks in a row now where one area has not performed very well," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "So, back to the drawing board."
And back, whether they like it or not, into a three-team NFC East tussle where there's no clear favorite -- not even them.
NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.
As Round 1 of our single-elimination fight tournament involving NFL coaches nears its end, let us recap the action we've seen so far. To view the entire bracket or learn what we're talking about, kindly click on the links below.
NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.
NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.
Consider this hypothetical: what if two coaches met in a dark alley and threw down in a no-holds-barred brawl? Who would emerge victorious?
First, some background: back when I was in high school, when my friends and I were pretty creative in finding ways to avoid actually paying attention in class, we'd create brackets (think NCAA Tournament) where we'd pit our teachers against each other**. Whoever we thought would win in a fight advanced to the next round. It always ended with our offensive line coach against our wrestling coach in the finals and a huge argument as to who would come out on top.
Anyway, last week, the Back Porch staff somehow ended up discussing whether Rex Ryan or Tom Cable would win in a old school playground scrap. I passed along the above information, and shortly after that, an idea was born -- NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament.
(Update, Oct. 10: The Giants did not activate backup QB Rhett Bomar off the practice squad by the Saturday afternoon deadline, meaning just Eli Manning and David Carr are active at quarterback for Sunday -- a good indication that Manning will play).
After suffering a plantar fasciitis injury last weekend against the Chiefs, it was really up in the air whether or not Eli Manning would be able to play this Sunday at home against the Oakland Raiders. After Friday's practice, though, Eli's chances of playing look pretty solid.
After practice, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin told media members that Manning did about "half" of the team activities and he was "absolutely" encouraged by what he saw from his veteran signal-caller. Whether or not Manning will play is still considered a game-time decision, but Coughlin said he was "hopeful" that No. 10 is going to be suiting up to play the Raiders.
In any case, Stafford and Sanchez will start Sunday in New Orleans and Houston as the NFL season finally gets under way after what seems like an eternal offseason.
There are other QB story lines the first week (although folks often forget there are 21 other guys on the field).
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Giants didn't like quarterback Andre Woodson enough to keep him on their team when final roster cuts were made Saturday. It's unlikely that the Redskins like him much better. Yet the Redskins signed Woodson on Sunday. Why? Giants coach Tom Coughlin thinks he knows exactly why -- so the Redskins can ask Woodson everything he learned in Giants training camp in advance of Sunday's regular-season opener between...yup, the Giants and the Redskins.
"Why is he in Washington right now? That's pretty obvious, why he's there," Coughlin said with a wide grin after Giants practice Monday. "We'll see. There's no question that's what's going on, but we'll see what transpires. It works both ways a little bit."
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They were in full smoothing-over mode, and the Giants do it well. You can't be successful in New York without knowing damage control. In less than 24 hours, the "Osi Umenyiora Leaves Practice" story had become, very convincingly, a "Families Have Disagreements All the Time, No Big Deal" story. Umenyiora was contrite, joking about (though not revealing) the size of his fine, laughing about the "Wanted" and "$1 million reward" posters his teammates had hung up in the locker room. A dispute between him and new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan? Overblown. Trivial. Nothing to see here.
And they may be right. The Giants could win a lot of games this year. They have enough talent and depth on defense to be dominant, and if they are, nobody's even going to remember that Sheridan is the coordinator now and Steve Spagnuolo was last year.
But if they're not ... well, then when he walked out on practice Monday, Umenyiora kicked open a can of worms that could have -- and should have -- very easily stayed closed.
It's not that the Giants' three-game losing streak has gone unnoticed. It's just that, with all the excitement over everything the Yankees have been up to, New York sports fans have had other things on their minds. Yes, they're aware, vaguely, that the Giants' defense hasn't been able to stop the Saints, Cardinals or Eagles the past three weeks. And they have seen a headline or two about Eli Manning suddenly looking much more mortal than his contract and his championship pedigree say he should. But the panic meter hasn't moved too much over all of this, because New York is still one of the few American towns in which football can take a backseat to baseball. And for the past few weeks, for very good reason, New York has been a baseball town.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- This was to have been the Giants' get-right game. Sure, New Orleans beat them up last week, but the Saints are an undefeated team that was coming off a bye week and playing at home. The Giants spent the week shrugging off that loss and promising to be better this week at home against the Cardinals. The defense promised more blitzing and less trepidation. The offense promised to be sharper. To a man, the Giants were certain they'd come up with a big win Sunday night over the reigning NFC champs...and then they lost.
(Update, Oct. 10: The Giants 
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The 
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They were in full smoothing-over mode, and the Giants do it well. You can't be successful in New York without knowing damage control. In less than 24 hours, the "
