Catching Up With The G-Men

In their final game of the 2008 season, the Yankees fell to the Red Sox 4-3 in 10 innings at Fenway Park. It was the only time in the previous 14 years that combination of events wouldn't have meant a heartbreaking loss in Game 7 of the ALCS, but since only one of those teams was going to the postseason, it didn't much matter how the game ended.

Earlier that day, Mike Mussina had won his 20th game of the season for the first time in his career so in the later game, Joe Girardi gave most of his regulars the day off. Sindey Ponson was the starting pitcher and the line up featured Cody Ransom, Wilson Betemit, Juan Miranda and eventually, Chad Moeller. The Yanks had played their last "meaningful" game of the year a week earlier, when they closed down the Old Stadium against the Orioles.

At that point, the Giants had begun their Super Bowl Title defense 3-0 and were sitting through a very early bye week. The fact that the G-Men had just pulled off a miraculous championship run and started off the new 2008/9 season on the right foot, it was easy to move past the forgettable campaign the Yankees just completed. Plus, it was apparent since the middle of August that a postseason berth was unlikely for the Yanks, so the process of detachment had begun long before October began.

While the Giants actually started off with a better record this year than last (5-0 to 4-0), it was apparent that the 2009 version wasn't as balanced as the previous year's.

Just as the Yankees were heading out to Anaheim for Game 3 of the ALCS, the Giants took their perfect record into the Superdome and watched Drew Brees and the Saints walk (or more appropriately, pass) all over it.

As the Yanks continued the march to the World Series, the Giants dropped two more games; a tough one to the Cardinals that took place at the same time at Game 6 of the ALCS and a blowout at the hands of the Eagles.

Although Big Blue is still in relatively good position to make the playoffsat 5-3, it's apparent that they are not the offensive force they were last year. Much of their success in 2008 revolved around their seemingly unstoppable rushing attack which netted them an average of 157 yards per game (5.0 yards per carry) last year.

The rushing attack has slowed to 141 YPG (4.4/attempt). Much od this can be tied to Brandon Jacobs', who had seen more carries per game, but gained fewer yards 83 to 68. His average per carry has dropped a full yard and looks to be lacking the explosiveness he had last year. Ahmad Bradshaw has kept the running attack afloat by averaging 5.3 yards/attempt and picking up and gaining nearly as many yards as Jacobs despite receiving 63% as many hand-offs.

Bradshaw has helped replace Derrick Ward in the ground game, but hasn't been able to imitate him on the screen passes and dump-offs that netted Ward an extra 25 yards a game at 9.4 yards per catch. These short passes were an effective third option the Giants offense employed last year, but have been largely absent 8 games in 2009. However, the rest of the Giants passing game has been a pleasant surprise.

Despite all the hand wringing over the wide receiving corps coming into the season, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks each have 4 touchdowns and are on pace to combine for nearly 3,000 yards receiving. Eli Manning is averaging more yards through the air than he did last year (or any other year of his career), but that might be more of an indictment of the running game since he already has almost as many interceptions (8) as he did last year (10) and the schedule is only half over.

Defensively, the Giants have been slipping as well. They didn't allow any team to score more than 35 points against them last year but the Saints and Eagles both eclipsed the 40 point barrier in the last three weeks. Jerry Reese made steps to shore up the defensive line with the additions of Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard but Canty has appeared in a grand total of one game while Bernard has been a relative non-factor in the 7 he's made it into. Their other major defensive free agent acquisition, Michael Boley, has played in only 3 games at linebacker.

The secondary is the Giants' most glaring weakness on either side of the ball. Kenny Phillips' season-ending injury was the most devastating, as his absence paved the way for "Bad, Bad C.C. Brown". Due to his flagrant suckitude, Brown has been relegated to third safety duties in favor of Aaron Rouse, a waiver wire pick up from the Packers. Cornerback Aaron Ross hasn't played a game all year with a hamstring injury and won't start today.

The Giants also have an uphill climb remaining. In addition to playing the second half of their divisional schedule, they'll face the Falcons at home and the Broncos and Vikings on the road.

More immediately, they'll try to snap a three game losing streak at the Meadowlands today against the Chargers before a much needed bye week.

In baseball, it's foolish to make a big deal out of one regular season game, but not in the NFL. If the Giants lose to (4-3) San Diego today at 4:15, they will likely have to win at least 4 but probably 5 of their remaining 7 games to make the playoffs. That will be a tall order considering those opponents are currently a combined 14 games over .500.

Conversely, if they manage to pull this one out, they'll be 6-3 heading into the the bye week on a positive note and will have two weeks to prepare for the match up against the Falcons, a team they are likely to be fighting for a Wild Card spot with.

Given the year the Yankees are coming off of, I'm not going to be crushed if the Giants turn in a disappointing campaign. But another trip to the playoffs would most certainly help bridge the gap until pitchers and catchers report. And a win today would be a big step in the right direction. Let's go G-Men.

Happy Trails, Plaxico Burress

It was only a matter of time.

"I am an optimist, and I believe most situations can be worked out," general manager Jerry Reese said in announcing the decision. "We hung in there as long as we could in hopes that there could be a resolution to this situation other than the decision we made today to release Plaxico.

"It wasn't to be, so now we have to move on. Like everybody else here, we want nothing but the best for Plaxico, and we are appreciative of the contributions he made to this franchise."

Amen, Jerry.

For the moment, I'm going to try to forget about the fact that this all could have been easily avoided if Plaxico wasn't a paranoid fuck-for-brains who thought carrying a gun in his sweatpants into a nightclub in Manhattan was a good idea.

Just remember the good times, friends:


After the NFC Champsionship in Green Bay:



And of course:

Breaking News: Mike Francesa Sh_t Himself

If you were listening Mike'd Up, you may have noticed that Mike Francesa took an unexpected break. They went to a commercial, and were about to come back from break when there was a pretty long silence. It was probably over a minute long, and only ended when they started replaying an interview with Jerry Reese that had taken place earlier in the show. When it ended, Rich Ackerman came on and said something to the effect of "Mike is feeling under the weather and has gone home. Maybe a touch of the flu".

I think we all know what that means.

/nods at the title

//looks back at you

///smirks

(h/t Cliff, as I do not listen to WFAN, but will gleefully accuse any of their hosts of shitting their pants)

Jerry Reese, I Am Available

The Sporting News has a rather earth-shattering revelation, via the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh of the Bengals is the top free agent on the New York Giants' wish list, according to The Sporting News.

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While Houshmandzadeh is a reliable receiver, TSN noted, "there is no way to find a comparable replacement to Plaxico Burress, as 6-5 receivers with speed and a huge wingspan are almost impossible to find. Burress faces a serious legal battle and possible jail time as a result of illegal gun charges."

If you were one of the six people reading this blog a month and a half ago you may recall this post. No? Perhaps this one from a week later.

I threw out the possibility of TJ Houshmandzadeh, who is going to be a free agent, because the Giants won't have to give anything up besides money and cap space. Up until this season, Housh has taken a backseat to the artist formerly known as Chad Johnson. TJ caught 905 of the 2672 yards thrown for by Bengals QBs in 2008, and has had more touchdowns than Ocho in each of the past three years. But he's 6'1", 199, and 31 years old.

Come on Jerry Reese, you know you need a guy with no experience in professional sports and a sometimes vulgar sports blog on your staff. You can find my email address on the left side of the site. I look forward to hearing from you.

/pats self on back

//toots own horn

Drew Rosenhaus: Gentleman, Scholar

Via three consecutive posts from Ralph Vacchiano (the only person I link to about the Giants) "super" agent and colossal douche Drew Rosenhaus sent a letter to all 32 NFL teams announcing that three of his clients, Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin and Plaxico Burress are available via trade:

Rosenhaus, who has represented Burress since he signed with the Giants four years ago, sent an e-mail to all 32 teams earlier this week in which he indicated Burress could be acquired via trade, according to three people informed of the contents of the e-mail. The people, who requested anonymity because the e-mail was not to be discussed publicly, said it was a list of Rosenhaus' free-agent and draft-eligible clients as well as three players he deemed trade-able. All three are wide receivers: the Cardinals' Anquan Boldin, the Bengals' Chad Johnson and Burress.

Minor detail: He didn't have permission from any of the teams to do so, because no team would ever want to have their hand tipped like that. Have you even heard of a team sending out such a letter?

And what team is going to trade for Plaxico Burress? I'm not sure if you are familiar with the legal process, but there is a really good chance that he'll be spending next season or three in jail. If the Giants could potentially get a draft pick or two from a team stupid enough to acquire a injury prone wide receiver with a $35M contract and an impending prison sentence, by all means, Jerry Reese, do it. But why would Drew Rosenfuckface be promoting that agenda?

Let me just say in general that as an agent I can do whatever I want. Let me clarify the rules. Teams cannot talk to an agent about a player who is under contract, but there’s no limits on what an agent can try and do to help his client. You know, the bottom line is that I get paid by my clients to advance their agenda, not the teams’ agendas. And there’s no rule that prohibits me from talking to teams about any of my clients. I’m going to do my job. That’s the bottom line.

Oh! So the player can sign with another team, negotiate a new contract and he can get a piece of the commission. Naturally.

Hey Drouche, you are a cut-rate football version of Scott Boras, except even more annoying and without the blue chip clients. Chad Johnson changed his name (except couldn't put it on the back of his jersey) and caught six passes for -8 yards last season. Plax literally shot himself, is awaiting trail and missed several games due to injuries and suspension. Boldin had the slight built-in advantage of playing on the opposite side of the field from Larry Fitzgerald last year. So I'm sure Drew's expectations for what a team is going to have to give up for 'Quan are reasonable:

There was a big trade this season for Roy Williams. The wide receiver went from Detroit to the Dallas Cowboys and that compensation involved a first-round pick, third-round pick and sixth-round pick (and a seventh next year). So you have to use that. Any time you see a front-line, No. 1 receiver, a Pro Bowl receiver, being traded, you have to look at the Roy Williams deal as a landmark for what the compensation would be.

I know it's difficult to count to two, but NEITHER OF THOSE GUYS ARE FUCKING "NO. 1 RECEIVER[S]", YOU INCOMPREHENSIBLE MORON. Have you heard of Larry Fitzgerald and/or Calvin Johnson? Because those guys are the #1 WRs on their respective teams. Also worth nothing - Roy Williams (5 years in the NFL, 1 Pro Bowl). Why good does it do to drive up your client's trade value? Does Drouche automatically get to sign one of the draft picks?

And by the way, Jerry Jones, how is that Roy Williams trade working for you, anyway? Can a glaringly terrible trade still serve as a benchmark? It was dumb at the time and looks even stupider in hindsight. I hope both of these asshats get trampled by a circus elephant.

Go Get Him Jerry

Via The National Football Post, Anquan Boldin will not accept any offer from the Cardinals and wants to be traded:

XTRA’s Mike Jurecki, who said he talked to Boldin over the weekend, said Boldin instructed his agent to tell the Cards he would not sign any new contract (the Cards are expected to still make a new proposal) and that he wants to be traded.

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But it is the Boldin situation that will be front and center. Again, he is under contract for two more years, so if he declines to sign any new deal, the Cards could just hang on to him and not trade him. Boldin’s only recourse will be to disappear for the entirety of the offseason — not a great deal with a new offensive coordinator coming in. We’ll see how it develops.

This can only be good news for the Giants. He's publically backing the Cards into a corner and that is going to lower his value on the open market because teams know they have to move him now. I've adressed this situation previously, if you are so inclined.

Justin Tuck For D-Coordinator

I'm only half kidding. Have you ever heard this guy talk about football? He says all the right things, works incredibly hard and is never satisfied. He was also at the Knicks game last night that we are about to do a photo retrospective about, and if we weren't in the 200 level I would have ran on the floor when they interviewed him at halftime and hugged him.

I was watching "Inside The NFL" the week after the Steelers' game and he said the following on the sidelines (the only reason I still have this is because I transcribed it and emailed it in to the Max Kellerman show but they never read it on the air... fuck them):

Before the game:

• "Everybody saying, you know, 5-1, Roethlisberger vs. Eli. You know what? F____ the quarterbacks. That ain't what's gonna win this football game."

And right before right before the drive when they got the safety, he said"

• "I just heard their snapper is out. James Harrison is their back up snapper... Let's make them punt the ball right out huurrr!"

Prescient on both counts!

Your move, Jerry Reese.

Coughlin: Easy There Jerry

Again, from Ralph Vacchiano, Coughlin had this to say when confronted with Jerry Reese's quote that Plaxico could "absolutley" return to the Giants:

You know what? I'm not ready to say that. I'm not ready to say that because we need to sit down and think about it and talk about that and see what the circumstance might be. And I told everyone, I told the world, that Plaxico is a member of our team and I am concerned about him, for his well-being and that of his family. But the issues that I have to think about are that there are 52 other guys in that locker room as well."

Let's not forget that Plaxico goes to trial in March and by the time the season rolls around, this could be a non-issue because he's wearing a different uniform all together. He retained Benjamin Braffman, who got P. Diddy off of his 1999 gun & bribery charge stemming from an shooting in a Manhattan nightclub, but the three year mandatory sentence still looms.

I think if you are a Giants fan, you should be concerned for him. Only a few weeks before the incident, ESPN The Magazine had a cover story called Living Scared which talked about the increasing occurence of crimes against athletes including Sean Taylor's death, the Darrent Williams shooting and the robberies of Eddie Curry and Antoine Walker. Only a week before, teammate Steve Smith had been robbed at gunpoint outside of his house, which is something I'd imagine Burress was aware of.

This in no way excuses him for carrying a gun in Manhattan. Steve Smith's situation probably would have gotten a whole lot uglier if he was packing. As it was, he gave up a cell phone, some cash and a little jewlery. He's probably got insurance, and if not, that stuff is pretty expendable. If Plax was afraid, he should have gotten a bodyguard or pooled together with A.P. for a full security detail. He just siged a $35M contract, so I think he could have dropped a little scratch if he legitmatley feared for his life and still really felt the need to go out.

I don't think he brought the gun to play the role of Mr. Big Shot and be a tough guy in the club. I can sit here and call it ridiculous (which I pretty much did), but nobody knows how real the threat floating around in his mind seemed, except him. The guy has some issues. I'm guessing he's too proud to sit down with a therapist and make any headway, but he could probably use it.

He made a really dumb mistake and luckily no one else got hurt. I hope one awful decision doesn't ruin his whole life, but his time with the Giants has come and gone.

Jerry Reese Does Not Fear Wounded Ducks

On the heels of a very poor performance in the playoffs against the Eagles, the Daily News says that the Giants are close to signing Eli Manning to an massive extension:

Based on interviews with several agents and personnel people, Eli Manning appears to be in line for a seven or eight-year contract worth $110-$120M with $40M in guarantees. That would make the 28-year-old the eighth quarterback to top the $100M barrier, and would put him near the top with Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb (12 years, $115M), Cincinnati's Carson Palmer (nine years, $118.75M), and former Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick (10 years, $130M).

Brett Favre (10/$100M) and Big Ben (8/$102M) have inked deals at that level, while big brother Peyton signed a 7 year deal worth $98M in 2004, keeping him just on the outside that barrier, and Tom Brady took a sweetheart deal to stay with New England for six and $60M.

Still, that upper tier of the $100M QB Club looks a whole lot more like the group of MLB pitchers who have eclipsed that barrier than you'd like it to. Palmer and Vick especially have not lived up to their contracts, while McNabb has probably played to his $9.6M AAV overall, but has not won a Super Bowl and has had some terrible lows in Philly. Simarly, Mike Hampton, Kevin Brown, and Barry Zito all woefully under preformed their deals. This is excluding Johan Santana who is off to a good start, but still has six years left, and of course Sabathia has yet to earn a dollar of his mega deal.

Not everyone is a fan of Eli's. Before the Super Bowl victory last year, there was certainly a disproportionate amount of hatred, blame and venom spewed in his direction. If Asante Samuel came up with that near-interception on the final drive of the Super Bowl, that might still be the case. But because of David Tyree and the defensive line, people like Max Kellerman exault his clutchiferousness, and heap him with inordinate praise.

His current deal expires next year and I can understand the reasons the Giants have for locking him up. But what other team is willing to make a play for Manning in that financial stratosphere? There are plenty of teams with a need at QB (Lions, Vikings, 49ers, Bears, Bucs, Chiefs, Sehawks, and possibly the Jets and Rams), but what are they going to pay for him? No free agent QB has ever got $100M from a new team.

Since Eli is experienced in the Giants' system and has established himself in New York, maybe he is worth that much to the organization. He's shown steady improvement over his five years in the Meadowlands, with both increasing completion percentages and QB Ratings. Last year's playoff run was one of the most inspiring storylines I've watched unfold in my years as a sports fan. This year, he had 21 TDs to only 10 picks.

But you only really have to pay him more than he is worth to other teams. Right?

It's just an oddly timed decision. Maybe the organization wants to show some solidarity towards the face of the franchise in the aftermath of a tough loss. Is Eli really going to hold out or walk away from the Giants though? He has shown he was capable of exacting some pretty strong leverage with his demand to be traded from the Chargers when he was drafted. I guess he has a pretty damn good agent...

You Surprised?

Cause I'm not.

Giants GM Jerry Reese admitted Sunday that the Giants were a different team without Plaxico Burress. He also said that Burress "absolutely" could return to the Giants next season.

Funny how the tune changes, isn't it?

If/When the Giants lost this postseason, no matter how, when or where this was inevitably going to be the one tipping point that every pundit was going to point to. Writing (or reading) anything about how much this affected the Giants is pretty low on my to do list at this point. Probably right about here:

To Do List:

• #1,908,987,094 - Pop a couple of Percosets and take a toaster bath
• #1,908,987,095 - Talk about Plaxico Burress

But really quickly... There are other guys on the free agent market this year. You think TJ Houshmazadeh might want to leave Cincinatti? The Giants probably needed a better #1 reviever than Domenik Hixon, but it doesn't have to be Burress. He's a special player, but there is going to be a ridiculous amount of baggage if somehow he avoids going to jail.

It's been real, Plax. Good luck with insane level of paranoia that you have, which led you to believe that carrying a loaded handgun into a nightclub in Manhattan via the fucking elastic band of your sweatpants was even remotely close to a coheret thought. FUCK.