A strong, convincing win by the Giants today. Of course, it was against the Rams, and the Rams look truly pathetic so far this year. But then again, I thought the Skins looked wretched last week against the G-Men and this week they managed to upset the Saints, one of the trendy picks for this year’s NFC title… so maybe it’s the Giants making these other teams look bad, at least in part. Anyway, Eli Manning looked very sharp, the defense stuffed the run again and harassed the qb as if Strahan and Osi were still on the field (Justin Tuck looked awesome), and the three-headed running tandem of Jacobs, Ward, and Bradshaw is a real beast. So it’s 2-0, and next week the Bengals come to town. So far, so good.

The Jets game, on the other hand… sigh….

Even without Brady, the Patriots still seem to have our number. As Tom Jackson said in the postgame commentary on ESPN, “if not now, when?” I have to wonder.

I blame the playcalling, at least in part. They’re not letting Favre be Favre. Too much playing close to the vest, playing not to lose. Against the Patriots, you can’t set up the pass by establishing a running game. The Jets should know that by now. Against the Patriots, you need to set up the running game with the pass, by stretching the field. And they should have gone after Cassel much more aggressively.

It was especially disheartening watching Lamont Jordan gash the Jets with one strong run after another, exactly the way he used to gash other teams when he was Curtis Martin’s backup on the Jets. I always liked Lamont, and was sorry when the Jets lost him. I hate to see him in a Patriots uniform.

So… win one, lose one.

And beyond the Jets and Giants, there were some incredible games in the NFL this weekend. I’ve got to say, I’m glad I’m not a San Diego Chargers fan. Losing is one thing. Losing the way the Chargers lost these past two weeks would kill me. I thought the end of the Panthers game was amazing, but the finish of the Broncos game… aaargh…

And next week the Jets have to go to San Diego, where the Chargers will either be (1) reeling or (2) really fired up. Urk.

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