- With Philly on the horizon, it’s obviously the one team of all the NFC opponents I didn’t want to face. The Giants are the better team, and I think they’ll win on Sunday but it will be a slugfest for sure. The biggest matchup problem, in my estimation, is the Eagles OL versus the Giants DL. Last year, the Giant defense was based on a pass rush. This season, the pass rush has slowed as the season has progressed, and that is directly attributed to a few reasons. First, the Giants hadn’t had a bye since Week 3. Last year, they had the bye smack in the middle of the season. Secondly, the loss of Osi (as I’ve said before) is starting to show itself. And this week, Osi would be the perfect weapon versus the Eagles. Osi combines power and outside speed, and as I saw last week, the Eagles struggle with that type of pass rush. Both Kiwi and Tuck are more straight ahead, power rushers and both John Runyeon and Tra Thomas match up well with guys like that. It showed in the first game and definitely in the second game versus the two teams. I’m hoping that the off week will be a factor. The Eagles traveled, played a physical game, and will be traveling again. The Giants will be fresh.
- I love the NFL Network, but was pretty annoyed at a comment made by analyst Jamie Dukes. Dukes was commenting on the Panthers and talked about how they “dominated the Giants”. Come again? The Giants ran for a mind boggling 300 yards and won the game. If you want to talk about how Carolina was impressive and could have won themselves, that’s one thing. But dominate? Talk about irresponsibility.
- All the love for Ed Reed kinda irked me over the weekend. In particular, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said he’s the one player he’d take to start an NFL team (minus a QB). Ed Reed is a tremendous safety, particularly at returning picks. He’s also all the second best safety in football. Say hello to Troy Polamalu. He hits and tackles better than Reed, and ball hawks just as good. Watch a Steelers’ game. He’s everywhere, and always in your picture.
- The Giants made a change in how they manage their Ticket Exchange program. The Exchange was a great way to get unwanted tickets from season ticket holders at just above cost, in many cases the same week of the game. You could print the tickets at home, and had a chance to sit in different areas of the stadium. But now the seller is allowed to set their own price and tickets were going for more than triple their face value for this weekend’s game. Was this an attempt by the Giants to help season ticket holders pay for their PSL’s? This latest stunt, along with PSL’s, continue to be examples of sports pushing out the common fan. Sad indeed. The one excellent vehicle the Giants established for reselling tickets has gone down the drain. First the waiting list goes by the wayside with PSL’s, and now this.
