Another division game, another win. The Giants took care of business again. With their 36-31 victory, they remain undefeated against the NFC East (3-0), and stay atop the conference with an 8-1 record. They made some mistakes that kept Philadelphia closer than they should have been, but the Giants just keep on winning, no matter what way they do it.
The Good 
The rushing game won this one for the Giants. No matter who was carrying the ball for the Jints, the Eagles couldn’t stop him. Brandon Jacobs ran over, through and around the Philly D. It usually took about six defenders to bring him down. He bulled his way for 126 yards on 22 carries, and made it into the end zone twice. Derrick Ward bounced off would-be tacklers for 53 yards. And Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 38 yards in the fourth quarter. Madison Hedgecock and the offensive …

If the Cowboys were a wounded animal, they would have been shot and put out of their misery. The Giants scored five touchdowns and trounced their division rival, 35-14. They knocked Dallas into last place, while upping their record to 7-1.

The Good

The Cowboys have a plethora of injuries. Tony Romo has a broken finger. Jason Witten has a broken rib. Pacman Jones is suspended. Tough luck. Boo hoo. Whenever the Giants kick the Cowboys ass, it’s always sweet. From the opening drive to the final whistle, Big Blue gave Dallas a complete and dominating smackdown. And they could have actually played a lot better. For the Giants, everything starts with their defense. The only chance the Cowboys had was if Marion Barber had a big day. But he could only scrape together 54 yards, and the Giants D held Dallas to a total of 81 yards rushing. And whatever QB Dallas put on the field looked pathetic. Brad Johnson threw two interceptions and was pulled after the first …

The Giants and Steelers slugged it out in an old-fashioned, blue-collar, black-and-blue smackdown. And Big Blue smashmouthed their way to a 21-14 victory.
The Good 
The Giants defense pressured Ben Roethlisberger all game long. They sacked him five times. They knocked him down 16 times. They intercepted him four times. They deflected numerous passes. And they told him if he ever shows his face in Jersey, there’s more where that came from. They held Pittsburgh to 249 total yards. And just over half of those came on five plays. The Steelers went through the Giants like Swiss cheese on their first drive of the game, going 60 yards on four plays for a touchdown. And in the third quarter, Pittsburgh had a one-play scoring drive, converting on a 65-yard TD pass. That’s two scores on five plays, and a total of 125 yards. The rest of the …

This week’s winner was hard to choose from. The Jets lost. The Giants won but didn’t play particularly well. The Rangers went 1-1-1. The Islanders are the Islanders. And is there anybody out there who even knows that the Devils exist? It seems like we dodged a Hot Stove Player of the Week curse, though. Aaron Voros didn’t pull an Eli Manning. He scored two goals on Saturday in Detroit, negating the Hot Stove jinx. This week’s prize is a product called the Stadium Pal. Click here to find out about the best friend a man could ever have. As always, the winner can pick up his prize at his own time and expense.
Winner 
Chase Blackburn: We’re going to give the defense it’s due this week. It’s not as flashy as finding the end zone, scoring goals or being called for offensive pass …

It was a slopfest at the Meadowlands as the Giants defeated the bumbling 49ers, 29-17. There were a total of 24 penalties for 214 yards, fumbles, interceptions, a blocked field goal, a safety and even the refs were blowing calls. But the Giants won, recovering from last week’s disaster, upping their record to 5-1. It was their fourth home victory of the year, which already surpasses their total of three from last season.

The Good

It was a good day for the defense. They finally forced some turnovers, with Mathias Kiwanuka recovering a fumble and Justin Tuck knocking the ball out of J.T. O’Sullivan’s hands, which led to a safety. Michael Johnson picked off two passes for his first career interceptions. They only gave up one touchdown and a field goal, with SF’s other TD coming on a blocked field goal. The down-field coverage was good for most of the day, with the exception of a handful of receptions where the 49ers’ receivers seemed to be wide open. The good …

“We were out coached”
“We should have stayed with the run”
“We should have passed more”
“We should have blitzed more”
None of the above statements were said by New York Giants’ players after they were dismantled by the Cleveland Browns last week, 35-14. Granted the Giants didn’t lose a playoff game, and having a Superbowl ring tends to give players some perspective. But it’s a positive sign that the Giants didn’t revert back to their finger pointing ways after getting outplayed for 60 minutes on Monday Night Football. Usually when the media writes about players being a “distraction” or a “cancer in the locker room” versus being a “true leader” …

The Giants came into this game ranked first in total offense, first in rushing offense, first in points per game, first in yards per carry, first in sacks, second in points allowed per game, second in passing defense and third in total defense. That’s all going to change after last night’s brutal 35-14 loss.

The Good

The Giants are still in first place. Their plane didn’t crash on the way home. John Carney didn’t miss an extra point. And Derrick Ward (101 Yards on 20 carries) and Steve Smith (nine catches, 94 yards) actually played well. That about wraps it up.

The Bad

This is going to take awhile. Where did this game come from? Is this what happens when Plaxico Burress is on time for every meeting? The hapless Browns dominated the game every way possible and turned the Giants into the hapless Giants. When Eli Manning wasn’t handing Cleveland the ball, the Browns offense was breezing up and down the field. The Giants defense …

In the wake of the New York Giants’ 44-6 destruction of the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5, their biggest strength was revealed: Depth. Not many people doubted the Giants would beat Seattle. Some even thought Dominik Hixon, Plaxico Burress’ one game replacement, would play well. However, not many predicted that Sinorice Moss would look like a viable wide receiver. Or that starting right tackle Kareem McKenzie would leave with an injury and the offensive line would not miss a beat. Other teams may have more talented starting line-ups, but no team in the NFL has a better 53 man roster than the Giants.

On both sides of the ball, Big Blue has viable reserves that can step in and contribute. Many people have heard of Justin Tuck, but have you heard of Dave Tollefson? He’s a back-up defensive end in his second year in the league out of Northwest Missouri State. He has 2 sacks this season while …

Here is the first-ever Hot Stove Player of the Week. Every week we’ll (ok, me) pick the New York player who performed the best over those seven days. With only three games to choose from this time (one Giants and two Rangers), the decision wasn’t all that hard. The lucky winner will be the recipient of some old expired coupons from Beefsteak Charlie’s that I found in my wallet. The presentation will take place in my backyard tomorrow when I finish mowing my lawn (travel expenses to be paid by the winner if he chooses to participate).
Winner 
Eli Manning: The Giants quarterback led a beatdown on Seattle that hadn’t been seen since Frank the Tank kicked James Carville’s ass in the great debate of 2003. The win was a total team effort, but Manning was particularly great. He completed 76% of his passes (19 for 25), including …

After reading the transcription of Plaxico Burress’ conference call, we get a pretty good idea of the fantasy world that the Giants receiver is living in. He has no regrets and didn’t lose any sleep over being suspended for a game for supposedly driving his 21-month-old son to school (Has he skipped a few grades? What school does a one-and-a-half-year-old go to?) without making a phone call to the Giants to explain why he wouldn’t be coming to work that day. He’s been fined at least 40 times for showing up late, not showing up at all or showing up at the wrong team’s practice facility. To say he “doesn’t get it” is an understatement.
The Giants just signed Burress to a long-term contract so he’s not going anywhere. He doesn’t make a jerk of himself like, say, Jeremy Shockey; he’s just living in an alternate universe to the one you and I live in. To get …

When David Carr’s playing in the fourth quarter, it means something’s really, really wrong or something’s really, really right. For the Giants today, things went really, really right. They blew Seattle off the field, by a score of 44-6. Big Blue totally dominated the Seahawks on both sides of the ball.

The Good

The Giants rolled up 523 total yards (342 in the first half; the most in the NFL this year, and the most for the G-men in 17 years), to Seattle’s 187. They rushed for 254 yards (Seattle had 74), and passed for 272 (to Seattle’s 113). The Giants also had the edge in first downs (27 to 13) and time of possession (36:28 to 23:32). In the past, the Giants couldn’t buy a win after the bye week. This time it was no problem. And no Plaxico Burress on the field? No one even noticed.

Eli Manning led an offense that was a relentless machine. Their first drive of the game was all of four plays, but …

A bad thing happened to the New York Giants during their bye week.  I’m not referring to Plaxico Burress’ one game suspension and rumors that he may have violated the NFL’s code of conduct policy.  Losing Burress is a big blow, especially if it is for more than one game. But what I’m talking about could be bigger than the Giants losing their star wide receiver.  I’m referring to how, without playing a game last week, the Giants got the “respect” that they’ve been complaining that haven’t been getting since Superbowl XLII ended.   With the Dallas Cowboys losing to the Washington Redskins last week, the Giants have been crowned (for this week anyway) by the media as the best team in the NFL.  Big Blue currently ranks first in ESPN’s power poll.  Foxsports.com also has them as the top team.  Sports Illustrated’s Peter King said they are the best team in the league at the quarter season mark, and even King’s colleague Paul Zimmerman ranked the Giants number one.   This is bad …