Well, the Jets eeked one out, defeating the Buffalo Bills to snap a two-game losing streak and keep alive some hope of making the playoffs.

It was a near thing, though, in a home game that I had expected they would win convincingly. Mark Sanchez threw four TD passes, a personal record, but despite that he looked anything but impressive, He also threw an INT, and at least two other balls that could and should have been intercepted. And the vaunted Jets D stopped the Bills on their last drive with less than a minute left in the game.,.. but that was deceptive two. Two different Bills receivers dropped game-winning TD passes on that drive, elsewise I would be gnashing my teeth and tearing out my hair right now.

Gang Green got lucky,

Luck never lasts in the NFL, however. The Jets really need to start playing much much better if they’re to have any hope to sneaking into the dance, let alone winning a playoff game.

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Life is meaningless and full of pain.

sigh

Why do I watch football?

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Life is magical and full of joy!

Two sweet victories today for my NFL stalwarts.

New York Jets 27
Buffalo Bills 11

New York Giants 24
New England Patriots 20

In the morning game, Gang Green thoroughly whupped the Buffalo Bills. They’ve been doing that for a few years now, but this year’s Buffalo squad was supposedly to be different, and had the home field advantage besides, so I was anxious about this one. And the first half made me nervous, I must admit. The Jets were shutting down the Bills, driving up and down the field, and dominating the time of possession… but none of that was translating to points on the board. That situation ALWAYS makes me nervous. Ten minute, eighty yard drives are well and good, but unless they end in a TD or at least a FG, they count for nothing, and in the NFL the worm can turn at any moment. The Jets enjoyed a 3-0 lead at halftime, not nearly enough considering how they’d owned the half.

Thankfully, the second half was a different story. The D stayed tough, and Mark Sanchez and the offense finally started finishing some drives with scores. Buffalo’s last hope expired when Gang Green’s defense stopped them on fourth and inches late in the fourth quarter. This victory belonged to Rex’s defense, I thought… but Plaxico Burress deserves some kudos as well. Plax has really been coming on these past two games.

The Giants/ Pats game, in contrast, was a real nail-biter. Not the crispest game ever played, no. Both teams committed way too many ghastly turnovers and way too many costly penalties. But you can’t say it wasn’t exciting, especially the second half.

The first half featured even less scoring than the Jets game, and halftime ended in a 0-0 tie when the Patriots blew a chance to tack on a late field. The G-Men looking like they were taking control in the third quarter, and seemed on the point of pulling away to a two score lead when they had second and goal from the 2 yard line… until an inexcusable delay of game penalty pushed them back five yards. The Eli threw a horrible interception in the end zone, and that worm I mentioned up above turned with a vengeance. Tom Brady drove the length of the field, and instead of being up 17-3, Big Blue found itself in a 10-10 tie.

Then things really got exciting. As the clock wound down, the game took on an eerie similarity to the Giants/ Patriots Superbowl. The Pats took their first lead with a FG, but Eli and the Giants answered, and Eli tossed a TD to Mario Manningham in the corner of the endzone… the same corner where Plaxico Burress caught the winning TD in Superbowl 42. That made the score 17-13; the final score in the Superbowl was 17-14. Echoes, indeed.

Only… when Plaxico caught that TD, there were only 39 seconds left on the clock. Not enough time for Tom Brady to work a miracle (though, damn, he came close on that one long pass). This time, Manningham caught the go-ahead TD with 3 minutes left on the clock. When I saw that, I broke off my cheering long enough to turn to Parris with a frown. “Too much time,” I said. “They left Brady with too much time.” And then Manningham compounded the situation by getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting the Pats defender, a truly bone-headed move, since it gave the Pats great field position after the kickoff.

And sure enough, Brady wasted no time in taking the Patriots right down into the red zone. But maybe he should have wasted some time… when he threw a fourth-down TD to his tight end, to put the Patriots up 20-17, there was still a minute and a half left. “Too much time,” I said said. “They left Eli too much time. We have a chance.”

And we did. The closing seconds stopped my heart a couple of time, and REALLY brought back that old SuperBowl deja vu. An incredible catch by the new Giants tight end Jake Ballard (who has made me forget all about Kevin Boss) reminded me of the Tyree miracle catch, and when Ballard caught the winning TD with seconds left, it was once again in the same corner of the endzone where Plax made his catch.

And this time they only left Tom Brady fifteen seconds.

Whew!

This was a big, big victory for the Giants. The Patriots had not lost at Foxboro since Calvin Coolidge was in the White Hosue, I think. And the G-Men did it without Ahmad Bradshaw, their best running back, or Hakeem Nicks, their best wideout. But Brandon Jacobs ran like the old Brandon Jacobs, and Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard stepped up big time. I love these guys. Both of them came out of nowhere, but they come up big in crunch time.

So the Giants maintain their two-game lead in the NFC East. Now all they have to do is do it again next week… and the week after… and the week after that… and the week after THAT… and… well, the schedule is a meatgrinder, no doubt, but I’ll worry about that later. Right now I’ll just enjoy this win.

As for the Jets… they’re now in a three-way tie for the lead in the AFC East, and next week they get the Patriots at home. Should be intense.

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The Giants win another one… but just barely, by the skin of their teeth, and against the lowly winless Dolphins (sorry, Janice, but your new owner was a fool to let the Tuna go).

Winning these close games certainly beats losing these close games, but just once I’d like to see the G-Men blow out one of these supposedly “weaker” teams, so I don’t have to gnaw my knuckles in the final minute of the game, as the clock winds down. Parris keeps threatening to buy one of those home defibrollators. Maybe she should. One of these weeks the Giants or Jets are going to kill me, I swear.

Anyway, Eli looked great this week, as did his WRs. Good games from Manningham and Nicks, and this new tight end, Ballard, is making me forget all about Kevin Boss. And Victor Cruz… that kid’s a keeper. Great catch and run today for the winning score.

On the other hand, the running game looked awful, especially when Ahmed Bradshaw went out. I know Brandon Jacobs is just coming off an injury, but boy, did he look bad out there today. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Ahmed came back in. The defense sputtered badly in the first half, letting the Fins convert one third and long after another, but they stepped it up second half, shutting down the Miami O. And once the G-Men finally took the lead they turned into the Big Blue defense I remember. Great play by Corey Webster as CB, and of course the pass rush remains outstanding.

So now the Giants are 5-2, solidly in the lead in the NFC East. I wish I could say I feel optimistic about their chances going forward, but I don’t. They’ve been winning, but not nearly as convincingly as I’d like, just barely squeaking by against one weak team after another (and LOSING to the Seahawks!) And Miami was the last soft spot on their schedule. Next week they enter their midseason meatgrinder. If they want to keep winning, they are really going to need to step it up… not just one notch, but three or four.

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Now THOSE were the Jets I’ve been looking for all season.

Good solid win over a strong San Diego team today. The Chargers won the first half and enjoyed a halftime lead, but in the second half the Jets D stepped up, shut down the San Diego offense, and intercepted Philip Rivers twice in the 4th quarter to seal the win. (And what the hell was Rivers thinking with the fourth down throw with eleven second left? Game’s over if he throws it out of bounds. So he throws it out of bounds. Hokay. Rivers has a great arm, but sometimes you have to wonder about his head).

Another great game by Darrell Revis, and the Jets O finally got in gear as well. Plax! Plax!! Plax!!!

The Jets finally got their running game going, but I’ve got to worry about their RBs going forward. Shonn Greene had his best game of the season, but then got hurt, though he did return to the action. Tomlinson did not. After starting against his former team, he finished on the bench. If we’re down to Joe McKnight the rest of the way, well… McKnight has flashed some moves this year on kickoffs and punts, but I’m not sold on him as an every down back.

WAY too many penalties in this game. By both teams. And some of those flags were very dubious. (On both teams). I much prefer officiating crews like the one in last week’s Jets game, refs who will let the players play. This week’s crew seemed intent on stopping the action on the slightest pretext. Yeah, I know, some crews are hardline, some are loose, but this was ridiculous.

As for this week’s other NFL action… I canNOT believe the Dolphins blew a 15-0 fourth quarter lead to Tebow and Broncos. Maybe they really are sucking for Luck. How the hell could they let that one get away? Awful, just awful.

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Both of my football teams won this weekend.

New York Jets 24
Miami Dolphins 6

New York Giants 27
Buffalo Bills 24

A victory is a victory, and two victories is nice… but these two did not leave me wanting to post “life is magical and full of joy.” I still have hopes, but I have fears as well.

The final score of the Jets game on Monday Night Football looks convincing, but that’s misleading. It was a pretty shaky win over an awful opponent, a winless team starting a backup quarterback. And even so, it was far from convincing. The Jets O began the game with four three-and-outs and did not get a first down until midway through the second quarter. The only Jet who truly impressed was Darrell Revis. Revis is the best cornerback in the NFL, almost everyone agrees, and yet the Dolphins came out throwing at him and kept it up all game. Miami squandered at least three TD chances in the first half, and their star receiver dropped balls, ran out of bounds on what might have been a long TD, and gave up a pick-six. I really don’t know if the Jets won the game so much as the Dolphins lost it.

(FWIW, I think Miami may be a top contender in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. I just hope they don’t win it. I suffered through a couple decades as a Jets fan, having to face Dan Marino twice a year. I don’t want to go through that again, should the Fish get this kid who is supposed to be the best QB prospect since Elway. So please, win a few games, Miami. Just so long as one of them is not against the Giants two weeks from now, or the Jets in the rematch. You can beat anyone else you please. Starting with the Pats and Bills).

The real test for the Jets will be next week, when they face the Chargers. San Diego is not Miami. If Gang Green can take them down, maybe they are for real. If not… well, it could be a long season. The schedule from here on is a meatgrinder.

As for the Giants… they defeated a much stronger team in the up and coming Buffalo Bills. Corey Webster had a Revis-like afternoon, the pass rush looked fierce (and will get fiercer when Justin Tuck returns), Ahmed Bradshaw came alive and ran the ball well, and Eli was sharp. Even so, it was a near thing. With the score tied, the Bills were driving deep in Giants territory and were already in range for a go-ahead field goal when Ryan Fitzpatrick threw his second INT to Webster. Great play, Corey. The G-Men are now 4-2 and leading the NFC East, which is pretty good for a team that many people said would finish at the bottom of the division. So they’re in it. But I’d be lying if I said I was confident in their prospects going forward. That lost to Seattle leaves lingering doubts, and they have some tough tough games coming up.

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Life is meaningless and full of pain.

I hate it when both my teams lose.

The Giants loss was especially painful. To the Seahawks and their backup qb… ack… and with victory only eight yards away…

Still love Victor Cruz. Even more so.

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Finally at home again, and able to enjoy both of my football games on my own TV.

Except “enjoy” might not be the operative word for what I saw today.

The Jets game was a horror. Maybe it was two great defenses tearing at each other. Or maybe two awful offenses stinking up the joint. Probably a bit of both. Ack. Fumbles, interceptions, missed tackles, more fumbles… there were a few exciting moments, but the Jets plainly did not want this one, since they kept giving it away. (I don’t think Joe Flacco wanted it either, since he kept trying to give it back). Rex said this was going to be Gang Green’s year, but after last week’s loss to the Raiders and this nightmare, I’m not so sure. And next week they have to go to Foxboro to face the Patriots. That could be ugly. Nick Mangold better heal fast.

The Giants… well, the Giants pulled out a miraculous win, though not without a little help from the refs. Eli played well, as did Hakeem Nicks, and it was great to see Osi back in action and wreaking havoc in the backfield. But the game turned on the Victor Cruz reception just before the last of Big Blue’s TDs, when he caught the ball, broke a tackle, then went down (untouched) and popped back up again… leaving the ball behind, on the belief the play was over. The Cardinals pounced on the abandoned ball, claiming a fumble. The refs ruled no, Cruz had given himself up. That ruling was not reviewable, so the G-men kept the ball and Eli promptly threw the game-winning TD to Nicks (a great catch by Nicks, by the way, a pity it is getting lost in the controversy over the Cruz play).

Needless to say, lots of controversy over the Cruz ruling, with detailed discussions on all the postgame shows. Even Eli said after the game that he thought the G-men caught a break there. That’s certainly true. Bottom line seems to me it all comes down to a judgement. The rules do allow a player to give himself up, at which point the ball is dead. Cruz was on the ground, and had plainly stopped trying to advance. He did not “fumble” the ball. He had it, he fell on it, and then he popped back to his feet for the next play, figuring that this play was over. That’s good enough for me.

I really like Cruz, by the way. He’s an undrafted free agent. Joined the team last year, had a sensational camp, then got hurt in the last preseason game and was out for the season. But this year he’s back and making the most of his opportunities. He seems to have great hands, and he fights for the ball and makes the tough catches. It would not surprise me to see him beat out Mario Manningham for a starting job by year’s end. So I’m certainly glad that his mistake did not cost the Giants the game. Something like that can weigh badly on a kid still trying to make his mark.

All in all… four games in, the G-Men are 3-1 and the Jets 2-2. Not at all what I would have predicted before the season. But that’s why they play the games, as Chris Berman likes to say.

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Football is back!!!

And life is… full of joys and pain, ups and downs.

My beloved Jets played the despised Cowboys in the season’s first Sunday night game, and played… ah… not nearly as well as I would have hoped. Though there were high points. Revis, of course. Plaxico Burress looked pretty good for a guy who has been in prison the past two years. Dustin Keller was great, as always, and LaDamian Tomlinson had a few good moments. Even so, the Cowboys came to play, their Rob Ryan D was much tougher than I had expected, and Dallas looked to have the game wrapped up early in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately, their QB is still Tony Romo. Who played really well for most of the game, as he often does, only to commit some truly horrendous mistakes at the worst possible times, as he often does. Thereby losing the game. Which is what happened tonight, giving the Jets a great if improbable victory. I really do need to buy a cardiac defibrillator in Jets green; I swear, this team is going to kill me one of these nights.

Revis deserves a lot of credit for the Jets win. So does Mike Westoff, Joe McKnight, and the Trufant kid who ran in the blocked punt for a TD. Oh, and Jim Leonhard, who ran down what would have been the Cowboys’ game-clinching TD and knocked the runner out of bounds inside the five, setting up the crucial Romo fumble that started the tide to turning.

But mostly of the credit goes to Romo.

As for the Giants… sigh… the less said, the better. They got embarrassed by the Redskins and Rex Grossman, f’r chrissakes. How humiliatin’. It could be a long season for Big Blue.

But hey… football is back!!

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Well, at least I have the Jets. This week.

Gang Green eked one out against Pittsburgh, though they drew it out till the last play, and for a while there it felt as though I was about to have a second dagger thrust through my heart. A good road win against a tough opponent (though not nearly as tough as when Troy is in). The offense looked better than it has the last two weeks (hard to look worse), especially Sanchez. The D did well at times as well… the safety was great… but letting the Steelers drive down the field like that in the final minute left me with my heart in my throat. No way they should make that 3rd-and-24.

As for the Giants game… I am still in shock. Sickening.

I have never hated the Eagles the way I hate the Cowboys, despite them beating us so often these past few years. But I think I’m getting there. Philadelphia replacing Donovan McNabb, a good guy who took a lot of undeserved abuse, with Michael Vick, a not-so-good guy who has not gotten nearly as much abuse as he deserves, has definitely colored my feelings… which makes today even more difficult to swallow. A shattering loss, I fear. I don’t know if the Giants will recover. And Vick… what can you say? Sometimes the bad guys win.

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