Talk about flying high.

I mean, what a day. Aside from a Superbowl victory, the only thing that could possibly be sweeter than the Cowboys’ humiliating loss in the morning game is the impossible win by the Jets in the late game… and getting both… well, there are no words.

A great day for Brett Favre and all the hornheads up in Minnesota. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were not merely beaten, they were really most sincerely beaten. Spanked. The Purple Gang outplayed them on offense, defense, special teams, coaching, every way one team can outplay another. Given the fact the the Vikes crushed my beloved Giants in their last regular season team, it was loverly to see them do the same to the Cowboys when it really, really counted. Maybe Minnesota really is that good.

And the Jets game… Keyshawn Johnson was the only one of the talking heads on ESPN who picked them, and so far as I know it was the same on the other networks. No one gave them a chance. Everyone already had the Chargers penciled in to face to Colts for the AFC crown.

Well, here’s what I say to that

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The Jets/ Chargers game was supposed to be the weekend’s biggest blowout, and instead turned out to be the only close contest of the divisional game. Gang Green played some incredible defense, and had just as much offense as they needed. Yes, San Diego contributed mightily to their own demise. The battle-seasoned veteran QB threw twice as many picks as our rookie Mark Sanchez. The running back who stole LT’s nickname was a non-factor.

San Diego’s bone-headed penalties undermined them repeatedly on offense. The worst was that after-the-play head butt, though all those false starts didn’t help (it was their stadium, by rights the Jets should have been the ones false starting). The much-discussed kicking-the-challenge-flag penalty was boneheaded as well, but actually did not hurt much, since San Diego went on to get the touchdown anyway. The three missed field goals were huge.

And the coaching needs to get some of the blame. Norv Turner is already getting roundly criticized for the onsides kick, and justifiably. It was a bad call. But I also think his decision to try and kick a field goal at the end of the first half was a mistake. Kickers are known to be fragile, and Kaeding had already missed one field goal (much shorter)… which had to have awakened ghosts of the one he missed the last time the Jets played the Chargers in the playoffs, a miss that cost San Diego that game. So with time about to expire in the first half, Norv summons him back onto the field to attempt a 57–yarder… when 57 yards was his career long. Too much risk there, for too little reward. When Kaeding missed that one too, it had to have seriously messed with his head. Having missed the first two FGs, he was in no shape to kick the crucial third one near the end of the game… and, indeed, he missed it.

(Parris and I helped as well. Every time Kaeding lined up to attempt a FG, we made hex signs at the screen and yelled BOOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA as he made his approach. We also booga’d the Cowboys kicker in the morning game. Hey, we had a great day with our hexes).

Of course, none of this would have mattered if the Jets had not played so hard. The Chargers stuffed their run for the whole first half, but they never abandoned it. They just kept pounding, pounding, pounding, and finally San Diego cracked and Shonn Green burst through for the crucial touchdown run. Oh, that was sweet.

This is the kind of football I love. Hard-hitting defense, a running game, low score. I’ll take that any day over the glorified Madden Game contests like Green Bay/ Arizona.

And now the Jets return to Indianapolis to face the Colts again. Heehah. Talk about irony. Talk about poetic justice. Beware, Dr. Frankenstein. The monster you created is coming back. I hope all your guys are really well rested.

Everyone will pick against the Jets this week too. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Well, the Ravens had their wings pulled off by Eli’s Big Brother. So much for great defense trumping great offense. Mistakes and penalties compounded Baltimore’s problem, and a defeat turned into a rout, but the Colts would have won anyway. So there will be no final game in the Meadowlands to see off Giants Stadium. Sob.

On the other hand, it was splendid to see the Saints romp. Somewhere in Pottsville the ghosts of the Maroons are having a party, and toasting the strength of Drew Brees’ arm.

Two more games tomorrow. Go Jets! Go Vikings!

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Four more playoff games this weekend.

Of course, the Jets game is the one that concerns me most. Gang Green goes up against the Chargers this week, a very tough assignment. It should be a classic confrontation of offense against defense. San Diego will be heavily favored… but hey, the Jets have prevailed as a heavy underdog before… most recently, the last time they went to San Diego for a playoff game. Here’s hoping Rex and boys can do it again, and knock off the mighty Bolts, Philip Rivers, and that running back who stole LT’s nickname.

In the other AFC game, Colts versus Ravens would normally be a tough call for me. Once upon a time, I used to love the Baltimore Colts and their great QB, Johnny Unitas, still the best ever to play the game. Deserting Baltimore for Indy was a crime, however, and killed whatever lingering affection I had for the organization. Still dislike the Irsays, I must admit, but in recent years I’ve come round again. It’s hard not to cheer for Eli’s Big Brother, and I admired Tony Dungy too; a much classier coach than his archrival, Evil Little Bill. (Of course, Dungy is gone this year). Against all that, we have the Ravens. Great D, and I like great D. But I don’t like Ray Lewis, for reasons I’ve stated in earlier posts. I also like ravens (see my books) and Edgar Allen Poe. All of which would have left me on the fence for this one. The deciding factor? The way the Colts laid down those last two games. Yes, it helped my Jets, but I still think it stinks. You play to win the game… or should. So I’m hoping that the football gods will punish the Horseshoe Heads for that, and let the Ravens smack them down.

And if the Jets and Ravens should both win… hey, the AFC championship would be played in Giants Stadium. One last hurrah for the old gal. That would be swell too.

Over in the NFC, I’m rooting for the Saints over the Cardinals. I mean, no brainer, how can you root against the Saints? New Orleans is a great city, and deserves something great after the last few years. I love New Orleans. Arizona, not so much. Besides, the Pottsville Maroons still must be avenged.

And of course I’ll be pulling for the Vikings over the Cowboys. The Vikes have played in four SuperBowls and lost all of them, so they’re overdue (though not as due as the Saints or the Jets). And I like Brett, who was once a Jet, however briefly. Besides, the other team is the Cowboys. Jerry Jones, George W. Bush, arrogance and evil. Down they go! Die, Cowboys, die!

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Playoff football. Nothing like it.

Needless to say, I loved the morning game. I was rooting for the Ravens to win, but I won’t pretend I ever expected anything like the whuppin’ they put on the Patriots. It’s always nice to see Evil Little Bill get elimimated, so we can be treated to another one of his mumbling monotone press briefings, where he says nothing at all. (Win or lose, I much prefer Rex, who shows signs of being an actual human being, with emotions and a sense of humor and everything). It would have been a much closer game if Welker had not been injured, doubtless (I actually kind of like Welker, though he killed the Jets the last time we played the Pats. It still baffles me why the Dolphins traded him to New England for a bag of old socks, just as it puzzles me why the Raiders would give Randy Moss to New England for one of EVil Bill’s old sweatshirts. Must be some sort of evil power) — but the way the Ravens were playing, they would still have won. Brady looked… dare one say it… mediocre.

The afternoon game was… ah… exciting. And unexpected. I really expected the Pack to handle the Cardinals easily. This is same stuff Arizona pulled last year : winning a sub-par division with such erratic and uninspired play that no one took them seriously, only to come alive suddenly in the post-season. Anyway, Warner played an amazing game. Rodgers was very good too, once he settled down, but those passing stats of Kurt’s are mind-boggling. I have to give the Packers credit for an amazing comeback. They looked dead half a dozen times, but just kept kicking dirt off their faces and clawing back out of the grave. And the ending had as much irony as it did drama.

All in all, great football entertainment, though somewhere in the distance I can hear the wails of weeping cheeseheads. An all-time record for scoring in the post-season, I hear. From my point of view, the wrong team won. I guess the Pottsville Maroons will have to wait another week for their curse to kick in.

That being said, I have to take issue with the commentators who are called the Arizona/ Green Bay shootout a “great game.” That it wasn’t. Exciting, yes. Entertaining, definitely. Good football? No. Neither team brought a defense. Up and down the field, up and down, up and down, pitch and catch. On the rare occasion where a defender actually defended against a pass, he’d get flagged for illegal contact or pass interference. It was a basketball game, is what it was. The sad result for decades of fiddling with rules to give the offense every advantage. Myself, I think they’ve gone too far, and wish they’d go back, if not to the rules of 50s, at least to those of the 70s. Let the cornerbacks defend, goddamn it.

These rules changes make it almost impossible to compare players from different eras, at least by using stats. The stats for modern players are grossly inflated.

Anyway, the Cardinals go on, the Pack goes home, the Patriots are done… and now the Jets have to face the Chargers, while the Ravens get the Colts. On paper, the Jets don’t have much chance against San Diego, but as this weekend’s games have proved, anything can happen.

What would be really cool would be if the Jets and Ravens both won. Long odds, I know… but if it happened, Giants Stadium would host one more NFL game before being demolished. The AFC Championship. And wouldn’t THAT be cool?

Hey, a boy can dream.

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So the Jets went to Cincinnati to play the Bengals in the first round of the playoffs. This time no one was lying down, Cincinnati had all its starters and played hard.

What can I say? Only this

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The kid quarterback came through, the running game kicked ass, and the Gang Green defense hung tough. They gave up way too many yards to Cedric Benson, but made Carson Palmer look like the rookie, not Sanchez. And Revis shut down Ochocinco once again, despite the refs helping out Ocho with several truly bogus calls against Darrell.

Next week will be much tougher. I’ll just savor this one for a while.

The evening game… well, that was distressing. Philadelphia let down the Green Team badly. How can the Eagles play so well against my Giants whenever they meet, and stink up the place against the hated Cowboys three times in the same season???

Dallas looked unstoppable. But they are still evil. The sight of Jerry Jones laughing and grinning and slapping high-fives with W almost made me gag. The worst owner in sports and the worst president in my lifetime yukking it up.

Sigh. Well, there are still a lot of games to play…

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Wild Card Weekend is almost upon us. No, I’m not talking about SUICIDE KINGS this time — although this weekend would be a great opportunity to go out and buy it — but about the NFL.

The Giants are out, but the Jets are still in it (it’s good to have two teams), travelling to Cincinnati for a rematch with the Bengals. Needless to say, I’ll be pulling hard for this game to turn out the same way as the last one. Cincy will be playing all their starters this time, so I expect the game will be closer, but I do think the Jets have an excellent chance of winning again and advancing to the next round. Let’s Go Jets!

That’s the game that matters most to me, of course… but it’s no fun watching a football game unless you care about the outcome, so I’ll be rooting for certain teams and against others in the other three wild card games as well.

I hate Evil Little Bill, so of course I will be cheering for the Ravens to upset the Patriots and eliminate them from this year’s tournament. I have mixed feelings about the Ravens themselves. I don’t much like Ray Lewis, but I’ve always been fond of Bawlmer, and of course I am an Edgar Allen Poe fan. But I’d cheer for almost anyone against the Vile BB.

I also hate the Philadelphia Eagles, but not as much as I hate the Dallas Cowboys, so I guess I have to cheer on Donovan McNabb and company. If the Cowboys get eliminated, extending their long drought of playoff victories, Jerry Jones will probably fire Wade Phillips and the Cowboys will start all over with a new coach, which always causes a certain amount of chaos.

So here’s hoping the Eagles win. (Then next week I can cheer for someone else to beat them).

In the Arizona – Green Bay game, my feelings are mixed. I think Green Bay treated Brett Favre shabbily; but then, I’m more a “loyalty” guy than one of those “it’s a business” guys. On the other hand, I love the Green Bay fans, the history and tradition, and the fact that the team is publically owned, rather than being the personal plaything of some asswipe billionaire like Jerry Jones. (More teams should be publically owned). On the Cardinals side, I like Kurt Warner, who was a class act when he was with the Giants, as a mentor to Eli. But I don’t like the Bidwells, or the fact that the Cardinals still refuse to give up the championship they stole from the Pottsville Maroons. Tough call… but Pottsville takes it. May the curse endure. Go Packers!

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Various sources are reporting the Pepper Johnson might be a candidate for the defensive coordinator opening on the Giants, created when Bill Sheridan was released.

That would be a risk, maybe — Pepper doesn’t have the experience of most of the other candidates — but it’s one I’d be glad to take. I have fond memories of Pepper from his days in the Giants defense of the late 80s and early 90s. He was always a fiery competition, a real leader, and the Giants defense desperately needs some fire right now. The last thing we want is another Xs and Os guy like Sheridan. Pepper has never been a coordinator… but neither had Steve Spagnuolo until Coughlin hired him, and Spags was great.

Other reported contenders include Dick Jauron, Romeo Crennel, Percy Fewell, Bob Sutton, and George Edwards. Some of them might be okay… but if it was me, I’d go for Pepper.

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… meaningless and full of pain… but sometimes it gives you an unexpected gift.

The Giants game was a disgrace. Bill Sheridan has to go. How he could destroy the Giants defense in a single year, when he had all the players Steve Spagnuolo had and then some, is a mystery for the ages.

And the Jets… well, yeah, I’m glad they got the W, but really… call me old school, but I believe a team should play hard every week, no matter what. What Caldwell did was a disgrace. A nice late Xmas present for Gang Green, sure, but all the other teams contending for the AFC wild card must be steaming, and Peyton and the other Colts first-stringers looked none too happy on the sidelines either. I would not be the least surprised if the Happy Horseshoes make an early exit from the playoffs after this. Disgraceful.

Meanwhile, back in the Meadowlands, I can only hope that the final Jets home game in Giants Stadium has a happier result than the final Giants home game.

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Well, that was fun. If only every game was like this…

(Maybe it is, if you’re a Colts fan).

These were the Giants I remember. The swarming aggressive D, the sacks, the knockdowns, the hurries, the interceptions, runners tackled at the line of scrimmage. And on offense, long time-consuming drives ending in touchdowns. Eli looked terrific, spreading the ball around. Nicks, Smith, Manningham, and Boss all had big catches, and even Derek Hagan scored a touchdown. The running game was back, especially when Ahmad Bradshaw had the ball. The O line opened gaping holes, and the D line was so relentless that our wafer-thin secondary was never threatened.

Yeah, these were the real G-Men.

I have no idea who those clowns in the Redskins uniforms were.

That fake field goal the Skins tried at the end of the first half had to be one of the most bizarre plays I’ve ever seen. Watching Steve Young talk about it in the postgame was hilarious.

I do feel sorry for Jim Zorn, whose postgame press conference was… well, obviously, no one ever taught the guy Coachspeak. Poor guy is not long for D.C.

But it was a great win.

Now we need two more like it, coupled with a Cowboys loss.

(Or a Packers loss, maybe… but while I know the G-Men have the tiebreaker over Dallas, no one has ever mentioned who wins a tie between New York and Green Bay).

Next week, the Panthers. Who beat the Vikings yesterday. Let’s hope the real G-Men show up.

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