NFL FanHouse http://nfl.fanhouse.com NFL FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif NFL FanHouse http://nfl.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Hungry Broncos Shove Giants Asidehttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/27/hungry-broncos-shove-giants-aside/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/27/hungry-broncos-shove-giants-aside/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/27/hungry-broncos-shove-giants-aside/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Broncos beat GiantsDENVER -- When one team is angry and the other appears content, when one team can stay on schedule and the other is scattered, and when one team insists it is all about attitude when the other team mentions altitude, well, you get the pounding the Denver Broncos put on the New York Giants here at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium on Thanksgiving night.

The Giants were carved and shredded, 26-6. The Broncos made them look silly.

When there was a battle between receiver and defensive back, the Broncos won it. When there was a tussle to see which team would win the bruising running game, the Broncos won that, too. You pick it, Denver dominated it.
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Denver (7-4) had lost four straight games coming into Thursday, while the Giants (6-5) had snapped a four-game losing streak last Sunday when they beat Atlanta. This drubbing came out of the blue, according to Giants coach Tom Coughlin. He looked puzzled, hurt over his team being pushed around as if every one of his players were on roller skates.

The Giants gained three first downs in the first half, 38 total yards and trailed 16-0 at halftime. By game's end, the Broncos had outrushed the Giants 138 yards to 57, and had forced three Giants turnovers.

The effort came after the Broncos players had called a players-only meeting earlier this week.

"It was a real powerful meeting,'' said Broncos cornerback Ty Law, who played in his 200th regular season game, only the 11th NFL cornerback to do so. "You know, I just got here (Law signed as a free agent prior to Week 9), so, I didn't know if I should speak up. But then I figured, I've earned the right to speak in this league whenever I want and I am always going to call it like I see it. I think we were doing a lot of talking on the field in the last few games and we decided to cut that.

"We came out with passion and energy -- and together, in one single effort, where we were more punishing."
- Broncos CB Ty Law "You have to play your way to where you want to go in this league. A lot of times you have a clear-the-air meeting like that and it goes through one ear and out of the other, especially with younger players. It looked like it stuck. We came out with passion and energy -- and together, in one single effort, where we were more punishing.''

Maybe a Giants players-only pow-wow is in order now.

The Broncos set out to contain New York receiver Steve Smith, who finished with 71 receiving yards, and tight end Kevin Boss, who had just 22. They were intent on mauling the Giants running game. And quarterback Eli Manning would not be allowed to sit in the pocket -- the plan was to keep his feet moving, rush him, hit him, make him uneasy. Manning was sacked three times and did not throw a touchdown pass.

The Broncos outplayed the Giants individually and collectively. Brandon Marshall made a couple of stellar one-handed grabs on the Giants secondary, and Brandon Stokley scored on a 17-yard catch early in the fourth quarter -- on the play, he was the third receiver stacked to the right, came out of that cluster and did not find a single Giant near him for most of his catch-and-trot into the end zone.

What is alarming about this game for the Giants is the lack of physical play, the way they were outhit for four quarters. Even though the Giants won the third quarter, 6-0, the staple of this game was the way safety Brian Dawkins, linebackers D.J. Williams and Elvis Dumervil, offensive tackle Ryan Clady and so many other Broncos laid the wood on the Giants.

That is supposed to be the Giants calling card.



Coughlin said his team has been talking about this for some time now, how they are becoming a team that is toying with a primary ingredient that has long made the franchise special.

He said everyone involved with the Giants thought this was "going to be the night [they returned to that style], but it wasn't.''

This is a huge concern for the Giants, because it has now happened too many times this season. They have had too many games where, physically, they were simply shoved aside. Their line play on both sides has become inefficient.

"This just isn't us at all, to play this way,'' said cornerback Terrell Thomas, who made a third-quarter interception, six tackles and was one of the few Giants who rose his game to match the Broncos. "It was Thanksgiving night and we picked this game to show the nation watching that Giants football was back. And then we didn't even bother to show up. I don't know, we just didn't play Giants defense or offense.

"We've got some things to figure out.''

The Broncos can advise them on the blueprint -- it is not all about talk. It is about passion and energy and commitment. About attention to detail and desire.

All things the Broncos found in ending their ugly four-game slide.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels offered timely perspective.

"We don't have guys that get down,'' he said. "The last four weeks in our building haven't been a funeral. We have great work ethic, great resolve. You want to put yourself in position after Thanksgiving to be able to compete to make the playoffs and that's what we hopefully have done. We have to play well from now on out, and we know that's the situation that every team is in, and we are embracing that situation.''

Hungry Broncos Shove Giants Aside originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Thomas GeorgeFri, 27 Nov 2009 02:10:00 EST Broncos Snap Skid With Rout of Giantshttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/26/broncos-get-back-on-track-roll-giants/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/26/broncos-get-back-on-track-roll-giants/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/26/broncos-get-back-on-track-roll-giants/#commentsFiled under: ,

Brandon StokleyDENVER (AP) -- The Denver Broncos still have their troubles with the red zone and yellow flags. The dark cloud that hung over them during their month of misery, though, is gone.

Kyle Orton drove them on six scoring drives, Matt Prater kicked four field goals and safety Brian Dawkins led a ferocious defense 48 hours after calling a players-only meeting, and the Broncos beat the New York Giants 26-6 Thursday night.

Elvis Dumervil dumped Eli Manning twice, extending his NFL-leading sack total to 14. Dumervil's second one came in the fourth quarter and resulted in a fumble that sealed Denver's first win since Oct. 19.
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Hosting their first Thanksgiving game since 1963 in the AFL, the Broncos returned to the physical style of play that marked their 6-0 start and ditched the sieve that was their defense during their four-game skid.

Behind three takeaways, the Broncos (7-4) halted their freefall and pulled within a half game of AFC West leader San Diego. New York (6-5), which snapped its four-game losing streak on Sunday, fell two games behind Dallas, which beat Oakland earlier Thursday, in the NFC East.

The Broncos outgained the Giants 213-38 in the first half but settled for field goals on three drives, including their first two trips inside the Giants 10-yard line as they continued their monthlong red zone struggles.

That led to an embarrassing mistake by the NFL Network, which accidentally aired a profanity from Broncos coach Josh McDaniels.

After reaching the 7, the Broncos settled for Prater's 22-yarder and a 3-0 lead.

Their second trip inside the Giants 10-yard line turned into a game of flag football as tight end Daniel Graham, left tackle Ryan Clady and center Casey Wiegmann all were whistled for false starts, and the Broncos sent out Prater for a 32-yarder that made it 6-0.

Coming out of a commercial break following that second field goal, the NFL Network showed a clip of McDaniels yelling at his players on the sideline saying, "All we're trying to do is win a [expletive] game!''

The vulgarity was clearly audible to viewers, and announcer Bob Papa immediately apologized to viewers.

In an interview with The Associated Press and the Denver Post, Eric Weinberger, executive producer of the NFL Network, apologized to viewers and McDaniels for the "terrible mistake.''

"It was on delay. We wish we would have caught it and bleeped it,'' Weinberger said. "We apologize for ever airing anything like that, absolutely, especially on Thanksgiving.''


Weinberger added, "Everyone [watching on TV] thought it was live because it was in live speed and it looked live. It came out of the truck. Honestly, we would never go live and raise audio levels on anyone live. On the sidelines, we would never do that. We came out of break and rolled it. It's a mistake. We are sorry.''

"It's the NFL Network,'' McDaniels said with a shrug and a smile. "Doesn't surprise me.''

McDaniels has shown emotion on the sideline before. He often tells his players and assistants to listen to the message and not the way it's delivered. He'll fist-up like Tiger Woods one game and curse to his guys the next.

"We're not in this business to do that,'' Weinberger said of the network's blunder. "We're in this business to show sports and to show the most emotion that we can show. And the guy is an incredibly emotional, passionate guy.''

Denver finally capitalized on its good field position after Dawkins recovered a fumble by backup running back Danny Ware, who was playing because Ahmad Bradshaw was inactive with a foot injury, at the Giants 38.

Brandon Marshall's leaping one-handed 28-yard catch set up Knowshon Moreno's 1-yard TD run that made it 13-0, and Prater added a 47-yarder to give the Broncos a 16-0 halftime lead.

The last time the Giants had gone into the locker room at halftime without any points was Jan. 8, 2006, in a wild-card playoff game against Carolina.

Lawrence Tynes kicked field goals of 39 and 52 yards in the third quarter to pull the Giants to 16-6, but Brandon Stokley's 17-yard TD catch from Orton made it 23-6 and Prater added a 24-yard field goal.

"We didn't have any tempo and we didn't make any plays,'' Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. ""We keep talking about winning the physical battle and controlling the line of scrimmage. We thought this would be the night and it wasn't.''

Moreno ran for 88 yards on 19 carries and would have had 34 more yards were it not for holding calls against the usually dependable Graham.

While some of the frustrations and faults linger - they committed eight penalties Thursday night - the Broncos, who entered November without a loss, saw to it that they didn't exit the month without a win.

Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said he wasn't worried after the team's fifth loss in six games.

"No, we've got a lot of talent and we know at some point it's going to pick up,'' he said. "We've got to really get our engine going for the next couple of weeks.''

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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Broncos Snap Skid With Rout of Giants originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>FanHouse NewswireThu, 26 Nov 2009 23:37:00 EST Slumping Broncos Search for Answershttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/slumping-broncos-search-for-answers/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/slumping-broncos-search-for-answers/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/slumping-broncos-search-for-answers/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Chris SimmsThe five stages of grief are being played out in NFL-mad Denver, where Broncos fans -- teased into believing a stunning 6-0 start had canceled out the challenges of a first-year head coach, new quarterback and assorted volatile team personalities -- are well into the process of re-evaluating a season gone horribly wrong.

Broncos players, many of whom came away from Sunday's disheartening 32-3 AFC West home loss to the San Diego Chargers embarrassed, confused and bickering, know they have to regroup in a hurry.

This was a short week, and a Thanksgiving Day game at Invesco Field looms against the revitalized New York Giants (8:20 p.m. ET). Both teams are 6-4, a game behind their division leaders, the Cowboys and the Chargers, respectively.

Both have been subjected to pride-swallowing four-game losing streaks.

Unfortunately for Denver, the run of futility is ongoing (New York broke its losing streak with a Week 11 overtime win over Atlanta). And unforgiving fans, many of whom streamed out of last Sunday's rout in the third quarter, don't figure to be empathetic if the Broncos lose control of another contest.

Or lose control among themselves.

Flashback to Sunday night: Wide receiver Brandon Marshall, not renowned for his self-control, went facemask-to-facemask with rookie Knowshon Moreno after the running back fumbled at the Chargers' goal line. Moreno responded with a two-handed shove and near-bedlam broke out.

Before kickoff of that game, rookie head coach Josh McDaniels, 33, got chippy with a Chargers defensive player who engaged him in some pre-game smack. McDaniels responded by saying that the Broncos "owned" the Chargers.

Sure they did, a month ago in San Diego, when the Broncos established themselves as a second-half power, outscoring opponents 76-10 in the final two quarters during their six-game winning streak.

"It's all fun and games. We didn't look much into it," said Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips, who got his revenge by forcing a fumble when Broncos backup quarterback Chris Simms dropped back on his first pass attempt. "As a coach, I hope he has that [confident] mindset.

"But to say you own us? You beat us one time. How much has he really done in this league? He had a team 6-0, and how he's looking up at us, in second place."

Did the Broncos grow arrogant and complacent during the 6-0 run? Is McDaniels in over his head? Denver fans are certainly wondering those things. The coach, for instance, tried and failed with a curious onside kick attempt midway through the third quarter. That bit of cunning gave San Diego the ball at midfield and allowed Chargers coach Norv Turner to perform some trickery of his own: a flea-flicker from Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates was tossed to LaDainian Tomlinson for the running back's 147th career touchdown.

It's hard to believe the Broncos once maintained a 3 1/2 game division lead, for so much has changed. The Broncos' once top-ranked run defense is now 18th in rushing yards allowed per game (115.3) and no longer dominates opponents up front -- the Chargers ran for more than 200 yards against them. Quarterback Kyle Orton, battling a severely sprained left ankle that took more abuse when he took over for a struggling Simms in the second quarter, is likely one sack and pileup away from being sidelined indefinitely.

And there is this bit of ignominy hanging over McDaniels -- if the Broncos lose, he will have eclipsed longtime Denver coach Mike Shanahan, and not in a good way. In his 14 seasons as Broncos head coach, Shanahan never lost five consecutive games.

In Denver, where the Broncos are playing host to their first Thanksgiving Day game since 1963, it's Mile High time to regain some footing on the NFL season, and composure within the city's favorite team.

"We have to check it now," defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "We have to come down fierce with it and with a hard fist. We're a blue-collar team. We're not filled with 10 or 12 Pro Bowl guys. The first six games of the season, we won games together, guys going out and putting it on the line. It wasn't always pretty and it's not going to be pretty.

"We have to find a way to claw back and get back into the game. Defensively, we have to do that. Guys are passionate. I understand. But you have to be smart about it."

Slumping Broncos Search for Answers originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Brandon MarshallDenver BroncosJosh McDanielsKnowshon MorenoKyle OrtonNew York GiantsShaun PhillipsVonnie HolliidayNancy GayWed, 25 Nov 2009 22:30:00 EST Return to Denver Stirs Powerful Emotions, Memories for Giants' Veteranhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/return-to-invesco-field-stirs-emotions-memories-for-giants-vet/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/return-to-invesco-field-stirs-emotions-memories-for-giants-vet/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/23/return-to-invesco-field-stirs-emotions-memories-for-giants-vet/#commentsFiled under: ,

Rich SeubertEAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- The last time the Giants played at Denver, the game coincided with the opening of Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Only one current Giants player was a part of that game.

He will never forget it. Nor the shock and tragedy that soon followed.

Guard Rich Seubert was a 22-year-old undrafted rookie free agent from Western Illinois University when he signed with the Giants prior to the 2001 season. He and the Giants, eight months off a Super Bowl XXXV loss to Baltimore, opened that 2001 season on Sept. 10 at Denver, a 31-20 loss.

Afterward, the Giants flew home to New York and arrived only a few hours before the Sept. 11 terrorist airplane attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers in Manhattan.
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Seubert's subsequent introduction to the NFL would unfold in poignant ways.

Seubert, now 30 and a nine-season veteran (all with the Giants), will join his New York teammates in Denver on Thanksgiving night for a game against the Broncos -- the first time he or the team has played there since that night eight years ago.

Recently, Seubert talked with FanHouse about the emotional start to his career, the trying experiences surrounding Sept. 11 and how all those memories continue to linger with him.

The following are Seubert's comments, in his own words:

"I grew up in Marshfield, Wisc., small town, never thought I would be drafted, even though people were telling me I had a shot. When I wasn't, my agent told me three teams were interested: San Francisco, Miami and the Giants. I was convinced that coming to New York would be more like Wisconsin than the other two cities. And the Giants had Jim Fassel as head coach and Jim McNally as the offensive line coach. I liked them both, and McNally was regarded as one of the game's greatest teachers among linemen. So, I chose New York.

"The first meeting, the first practice, I was lost. I kept working. And on the final cut day, my Giants roommate and I were in the room when the phone rang. Neither one of us slept that night. Neither one of us wanted to answer it. I finally did. They asked for him. I had made it. I was a Giant.

"We go to Denver for the season opener, and I played on the kickoff and field goal teams. I remember the stadium being big and beautiful. It was pretty loud. We didn't play as well as we would have liked. We let them christen the place pretty good.

"We flew home and landed around 4 or 5 in the morning. I lived in a basement apartment in Saddle Brook, N.J., at the time, so, I went with my roommate back there and we crashed. Soon, the phone is ringing off the hook. Both of our parents were trying to reach us. I was told to turn on the TV. I could not believe what I was actually watching. We went to practice on Wednesday, not knowing if there would be NFL games and, of course, they would be canceled for that weekend. At practice, you could see the smoke from the buildings rolling across the sky. Everybody was scared. We just, as a team, tried to figure out what we could do to help.

"We ended up taking a ferry from Jersey City over to Manhattan to a dock near the site. The firefighters and police officers working down there were housed on boats at this dock. We boarded the boats as a team with supplies. We talked to them. We tried to encourage them. Mostly, we just listened. We were a bunch of big football players who felt helpless.

"Nearly everyone that we talked to had lost somebody in the attacks. Family or friends lost. Nobody wanted to stop working down there in the recovery, even though they were exhausted. I knew, after that, I would never see Sundays or my life the same way.

"I know we're going to Denver on a business trip on Thanksgiving. We are going there to win a game. But for me, it's more."
 "We thought flying home after that loss was a pretty lousy feeling. Then you experience tragedy and safety in the same event and you realize a few things -- what if we had flown back at the same time as the attacks? The veteran players, guys who had been here longer, took it real hard. I was a young man who was just getting to know the city. I had just played my first NFL game in Denver. But it didn't matter -- it forced everyone to become a leader in some way. Everyone on our team was invested.

"Nine years later, it's still so sad. I still think about all the people injured and killed and there is nothing that can be done to change it. I know we're going to Denver on a business trip on Thanksgiving. We are going there to win a game. But for me, it's more.

"I was at a charity event recently. I met a Giants fan who told me that he was at the game in Denver in 2001. He said he got some tickets and it was the thrill of his life to see us play there that night. He also said he worked in the towers. He would have been in those towers that day.

"He feels thankful for Giants football. He said it saved his life. And he said he is coming to Denver for the Thanksgiving game on Thursday night. He said he does not know how he could be anywhere else with us going back there for the first time since. I understand what he meant.''

Return to Denver Stirs Powerful Emotions, Memories for Giants' Veteran originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Rich SeubertThomas GeorgeMon, 23 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST Despite Win, Giants Are Still in Troublehttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/win-shmin-giants-are-still-in-trouble/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/win-shmin-giants-are-still-in-trouble/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/win-shmin-giants-are-still-in-trouble/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Eli Manning and the Giants' offense did everything it could to win the game, even as the defense tried to give it away.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Man, you really gotta love that NFC East. Up here in the swamps of Jersey on Sunday, the Giants played as little fourth-quarter defense as possible but still pulled out a 34-31 overtime victory over a Falcons team that refused to play any defense all day. Meanwhile, back in Texas, the Cowboys waited until the last possible second to show up and beat the Redskins. Some kind of inspiring day for the teams at the top of a division that was supposed to rank among the NFL's best. And while the Giants' players and coaches said all the right things here (a win is a win, after all, and they hadn't had one in a month and a half), the most insightful thing anybody said came out of the mouth of defensive end Justin Tuck.

"We got the win and that's great," Tuck said. "But I don't like how we finished this game at all."

Technically, they finished it fine. They won the OT coin flip, marched down the field against the black-and-red tissue paper the Falcons are using for a defense and kicked the winning field goal. But Tuck was referring to the way the Giants' defense finished the fourth quarter, with Atlanta scoring two touchdowns in the final 6:07 of regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime. That's the part of the game that should alarm Giants fans as they size up the season's final six weeks.

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"I am concerned," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said when asked about his defense. "I think we are capable of playing better. The first half and into the third quarter was fine and then they seemed to be able to move the ball in the air against whatever we were in. We've just got to keep working."

As Coughlin said, the Giants did a nifty job against Atlanta QB Matt Ryan and tight end Tony Gonzalez for the first three quarters. They got good pressure on Ryan and ran all kinds of looks to neutralize Gonzalez, more than once dropping Tuck or another defensive lineman into coverage against him. But when it came time to stop the Falcons from moving the ball down the field, a Giants defense that couldn't stop anybody during the four-game losing streak that led into last week's bye looked woeful.

"We knew, when it was a one-touchdown difference (with 6:07 to go), we had to keep the ball on offense," Coughlin said. "We didn't."

But that's kind of harsh, Coach, to put that on the offense. The Giants outgained the Falcons 456-352 in total yards in this game. On that final series, Brandon Jacobs was out of the game with a knee injury (he said afterwards he was fine and could have re-entered the game in OT if necessary) and the Giants did still move the ball 27 yards and run 2:01 off the clock before punting the ball back to Ryan. Hanging Atlanta's game-tying drive on the offense for giving them back the ball makes it sound like you're giving short shrift to Eli Manning and his 384 passing yards.

That wasn't it, though. Coughlin actually had high praise for Manning, saying, "When he is playing with that kind of confidence, the whole team really rides right along." What Coughlin was really saying when he said the offense had to keep the ball (whether he meant it or not) was that he didn't trust his defense to get the stop. And that's a problem.

"It's something we've definitely got to rectify," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "The last two games, that's happened to us on the most important drive of the game -- against San Diego to lose the game and (Sunday) to tie it up."

Which is why everybody was watching that overtime coin flip so closely.

"Once we won the toss," linebacker Michael Boley said, "I had no doubt in my mind Eli and our offense were going to take the ball down the field and score."

Problem is, if Atlanta had won the toss and elected to receive, the Falcons would have been fully justified in having the same exact feeling.

Now look. The Giants did win the game. They are 6-4 and a game behind Dallas in the East. The Cowboys obviously have their own problems, and the Eagles theirs. Heck, if the Redskins had held on against Dallas, they'd only be two games out of first in the supposedly big, bad NFC East. The Giants are by no means in a place from which they can't come back and make the playoffs.

But I say the emperor has no clothes. They're not going to face a roll-over defense like Atlanta's every week. They go to Denver on Thursday night, where the Broncos are going to need a win badly. Then the two weeks after that feature tough divisional games against the Cowboys (who ran for 250 yards against them in a Week 2 loss) and the Eagles (who own them and know it). The Giants are going to have to figure out a way to stop somebody somewhere in the next month, or they are going to find their season in serious trouble.

It's not going to be easy. They still haven't replaced injured safety Kenny Phillips (hence the defensive ends in pass coverage, etc.), and to hear the players in the locker room talk they're very concerned about how they're going to replace injured linebacker Antonio Pierce.

For a day, the Giants got to feel like winners, which they badly needed. ("It's been miserable around here for a month," Coughlin said.) But with a defense like the one they're running out there on a weekly basis, that's a feeling they're going to have a hard time finding again for much of the rest of 2009.
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Despite Win, Giants Are Still in Trouble originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>antonio pierceatlanta falconseli manningjustin tucknew york giantstom coughlintony gonzalezDan GrazianoSun, 22 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST Report: Falcons Without Michael Turnerhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/report-falcons-without-michael-turner/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/report-falcons-without-michael-turner/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/22/report-falcons-without-michael-turner/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants will play a very important game Sunday afternoon. Both teams are part of a 5-4 logjam in the NFC standings. The winner of this tilt is in a very good position to make the NFC playoffs, and the Giants are in desperate need of a win after four straight losses.

The Falcons will reportedly be missing a key player in the game Sunday, as running back Michael Turner will be inactive.

The news comes from ESPN's Rachel Nichols and John Clayton, who say Turner will be inactive. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the Falcons' loss to Carolina last week. Those injuries can be quite tough to bounce back from, and apparently Turner will miss at least this week.

Nichols reports that Jason Snelling will start in Turner's place, as No. 2 back Jerious Norwood is still battling a hip injury. Snelling, a late-round pick in 2007, will be making his first NFL start. He has rushed for 183 yards so far this season, while catching 14 passes. He has three career touchdowns.

(Pat on the helmet: PFT)

Report: Falcons Without Michael Turner originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>jason snellingjerious norwoodmichael turnerBruce CiskieSun, 22 Nov 2009 11:25:00 EST Giants Lose Antonio Pierce Indefinitelyhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/giants-lose-antonio-pierce-indefinitely/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/giants-lose-antonio-pierce-indefinitely/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/giants-lose-antonio-pierce-indefinitely/#commentsFiled under: ,

antonio pierceEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely after an MRI exam on Friday surprisingly revealed a bulging disk in his neck.

The Giants said their defensive captain underwent the test in New York and was examined by team physician Dr. Russell Warren and Dr. Frank Camissa, chief of the spinal surgical services at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The 31-year-old Pierce originally sustained a burner when the Giants played Arizona on Oct. 25. He had very little discomfort until practice this week, when the club's medical staff scheduled the MRI exam.

"I'm shocked with what I heard from the doctors this afternoon," Pierce said in a statement released by the Giants. "I had no idea that what happened a few weeks ago could keep me off the field. I didn't think it was that serious.

"I'm going to do everything the doctors tell me to do so I can get back out on the field as soon as possible."

The Giants (5-4) will host Atlanta on Sunday. New York, coming off its bye week, has lost four straight games.

Pierce, in his ninth NFL year and fifth with the Giants, has 55 tackles one sack, and one forced fumble in nine games this season. He was looking forward to trying to help New York snap its losing streak on Sunday against the Falcons (5-4).

"This game means a lot to us," Pierce said earlier Friday. "For one, we need a win to get out of this four-game slump and, two, it will help us in the playoff hunt. We are tied for one of the wild card spots and you always want to win the head-to-head battles."

Pierce played in 15 games last season after appearing in all 16 contests each of the previous two seasons. He has led the Giants in tackles for the last three seasons and missed only four regular-season games since leaving the Washington Redskins to join the Giants.

He spent much of the past year in the spotlight after helping former teammate Plaxico Burress when the wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a New York nightclub.

Pierce drove Burress to the hospital and then took the gun that Burress used back to his home in New Jersey, later arranging to get it back to the wounded receiver's home. Pierce testified before a grand jury, which declined to indict him for his role in the incident.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Giants Lose Antonio Pierce Indefinitely originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Antonio PierceFanHouse NewswireSat, 21 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST Philip Rivers Redeems Self in 'Eli Bowl'http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/rivers-redeems-self-in-eli-bowl/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/rivers-redeems-self-in-eli-bowl/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/rivers-redeems-self-in-eli-bowl/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Philip RiversWith 3:30 left in the game and his team trailing by three points, Philip Rivers had a chance.

He had a chance to win in New York with much of the nation watching. He had a chance to best Eli Manning, a man who refused to play for the Chargers and was eventually swapped for Rivers and another draft pick (which turned into Shawne Merriman). He had a chance to prove he was a winner, despite the fact that his team hasn't helped him win a ring yet. He had a chance to prove he belonged in the same conversation as the game's elite, and that he's just as qualified a quarterback as Eli.

And on the first play of the series, Rivers threw an interception. What happened next, though, rallied San Diego to a 21-20 win and defined the essence of Rivers as a player.
More: Check Box Score | Saints Stay Perfect | Atlanta Downs Washington

Tom Coughlin, apparently deciding Rivers couldn't get the job done, played for a field goal by running up the middle on second-and-14 and third-and-9. The Chargers would get the ball back with just over two minutes to play and trailing by six. You didn't even have to see Rivers to know about the fire in his belly. They don't think I can do it, he surely thought.

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You see, Rivers doesn't take care of the ball like Kyle Orton. He's not a student of the game like Peyton Manning. He doesn't have a rocket for an arm or excessive mobility. He doesn't rack up Drew Brees-like stat-lines. He doesn't have the quiet leadership of Ben Roethlisberger or the postseason resume of Tom Brady. One thing about Rivers, though, is that he's a fighter.

And when he gets angry, he fights even harder. Judging from his career 37-18 record entering Sunday's game, he's also a winner.

The Giants' decision to give Rivers another chance was tantamount to a slap in the face of Rivers. Just like when the Chargers had to "settle" for Rivers. Just like when no one thought the Chargers could win a playoff game in Indianapolis. Just like countless other times when people told Rivers he wasn't good enough.

As usual, he responded.

Rivers took the Chargers 80 yards in 1:36, and he didn't even need a timeout -- finding Vincent Jackson in the corner of the end zone for the game-winner with just 21 seconds remaining.

"It's a big emotional win," Rivers said. "The link between me and Eli is always going to be there. So yeah, it's a little special. Any time you play against a team that won the Super Bowl, it's fun. [The trade] didn't weigh into my mind and my thinking, but I bet it was there."

After the pass, Rivers sprinted upwards of 50 yards backward on the field, facing the Giants sideline, screaming in joy (and probably some lingering anger). Whether you consider it fire or foolishness, it's Rivers. That's what he does. He uses his emotion on the field and lets it come out when he's conquered his opposition. In this case, he beat Coughlin, the Giants and -- from a certain point of view -- Manning.

"We had a chance and you can't leave that team in the game,'' said Manning, who was 25 of 33 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. "You can't leave that team an opening. They are good and talented and if you have a chance to end it, you have to end it.''

The Chargers are now 5-3 and trail the Broncos by a game and a half in the AFC West, but they came out of New York with plenty of swagger and momentum. Just like their quarterback.

Philip Rivers Redeems Self in 'Eli Bowl' originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>eli manningEliManningphilip riversPhilipRiversMatt SnyderSun, 08 Nov 2009 20:15:00 EST Brian Westbrook Reportedly Out Sundayhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/brian-westbrook-reportedly-out-sunday-night/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/brian-westbrook-reportedly-out-sunday-night/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/brian-westbrook-reportedly-out-sunday-night/#commentsFiled under: , ,

All indications out of Philadelphia this week were that running back Brian Westbrook would play on Sunday night against Dallas, a little less than two weeks after suffering a Grade 3 concussion. The situation appears to have changed, though.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Westbrook will not play against the Cowboys so he can have another week to recover from his rather serious head injury.

Westbrook was hurt in the Eagles' Week 7 Monday night win at Washington, when he slammed his head into Redskins linebacker London Fletcher's knee on a running play. Westbrook lost consciousness and said later that he had no memory of the play.

He did participate in Eagles practice this week, but sat out Friday in what was dubbed a precautionary decision.

If Westbrook's out of the lineup, the Eagles will once again turn to rookie LeSean McCoy to carry the load. That would out fine for Philadelphia last week -- McCoy rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, fullback Leonard Weaver pitched in 75 yards rushing and a TD, and the Eagles routed the Giants, 40-17.

Philadelphia plays at San Diego in Week 10.

Brian Westbrook Reportedly Out Sunday originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Chris BurkeSun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST With Yankees Done, Pressure's Really on the Giants Nowhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/with-yankees-done-pressures-really-on-the-giants-now/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/with-yankees-done-pressures-really-on-the-giants-now/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/with-yankees-done-pressures-really-on-the-giants-now/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Eli Manning and the Giants can't count on the Yankees to keep New Yorkers' minds off their problems anymore.It's not that the Giants' three-game losing streak has gone unnoticed. It's just that, with all the excitement over everything the Yankees have been up to, New York sports fans have had other things on their minds. Yes, they're aware, vaguely, that the Giants' defense hasn't been able to stop the Saints, Cardinals or Eagles the past three weeks. And they have seen a headline or two about Eli Manning suddenly looking much more mortal than his contract and his championship pedigree say he should. But the panic meter hasn't moved too much over all of this, because New York is still one of the few American towns in which football can take a backseat to baseball. And for the past few weeks, for very good reason, New York has been a baseball town.

That all changes this weekend. The San Diego Chargers hit town -- another dynamic offense surely licking its chops over a chance to take its turn at the Giants' battered ego and secondary. If the Giants lose again, they're looking at a 5-4 record heading into their bye week, which would mean two solid weeks of tabloid and talk show debate on the issue of "What's Wrong With the Giants?"

Right now, there are a lot of answers to that question. Injuries have left the defense extremely vulnerable to attacks in the middle of the field. Brandon Jacobs hasn't looked like his old self and Ahmad Bradshaw's been playing through an ankle injury, so the running game hasn't been as reliable as they expected it to be. And Manning, who has his own foot injury, looks skittish in the pocket.

These are problems the team isn't denying. The Giants know things are going to stay difficult. The schedule they played during their 5-0 start included games against the Redskins, Chiefs, Buccaneers and Raiders, and they knew all along it wasn't going to be that easy all year. Looking beyond their Week 10 bye, they can see the Falcons, Broncos, Cowboys and Eagles waiting -- four more strong offensive teams in a row before they get a Monday night breather in Washington four days before Christmas. If the Giants are going to get this thing right, they're going to have to do it without the schedule's help.

"You've got to be a man about the good and the bad," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said earlier this week. "When things happen like this, you just have to learn from it somehow, some way, and eliminate it, and maybe the next locker room will be a cheerful one."

Coughlin has plenty of players who have won the Super Bowl. He knows the character of his team and is counting on that to be one of the things that pulls it through this stretch. But there are other, more concrete issues that the Giants must correct if they're going to return to their preseason role as one of the league's Super Bowl favorites.

Scouts who have seen the Giants the past three weeks point to two standout issues -- a shorthanded defense thanks to injuries and the surprisingly uneven play of Manning -- as the reason they're losing. We'll take them in that order.

Major injuries to Giants defensive players include defensive tackle Chris Canty, linebacker Michael Boley, cornerback Aaron Ross and safety Kenny Phillips. None of those guys has been playing, and their absence, the scouts say, shows up in opposing game plans that are taking advantage of opportunities in the middle of the field. Canty's absence leaves them weaker in the middle of the defensive line, Boley's in the middle of the linebacking corps and Phillips' in "center field," where a safety is needed as the last line of defense against a long pass play or a breakaway running back. Or even, in Sunday's shocking first-drive case of the Eagles' Leonard Weaver, a breakaway fullback.

"Obviously there was a breakdown up front, but you certainly never anticipate the ball going that length, because that's why you have three levels of defense," defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan said of Weaver's 41-yard touchdown run. "Totally shocking. It's not that the ball is never going to break the line of scrimmage, because guys are getting blocked and stuff, but you certainly never expect it to go the distance like that."

So changes are being made. Canty and Boley have been practicing this week, and both are expected to play Sunday. That'll help, but Phillips' injury is of the season-ending variety, so help is not on the way at safety. Coughlin announced that Aaron Rouse will start at safety this week in place of C.C. Brown, who clearly has not been up to the task of replacing Phillips. And there's a chance that a cornerback (Terrell Thomas, most likely) could get some time at the safety spot, though for strategic reasons Coughlin declined to address that possibility when asked about it.

As for Manning, this is one of those cases where nobody really knows how much the plantar fasciitis he's had for the past month is bugging him because Manning's the kind of guy who plays hurt. From the scouts' standpoint, the belief is that Manning is a different quarterback when an opposing defense moves a safety into the box. They say it's as if he forgets what he's supposed to be doing, gets jittery in the pocket and begins to force throws and make questionable decisions.

This is confusing, because teams have been putting eight in the box against the Giants since the preseason, focusing on Jacobs and Bradshaw and daring Manning to beat them through the air, and earlier this year Manning and the passing game looked great. But as the scouts point out, that was against some pretty weak competition, and it's possible that the strong teams the Giants are playing now weren't scared off by the success Manning and his young receivers had against the dregs of the league in the first five games.

Coughlin said after Sunday's game that he thought Manning was having some mechanical problems, specifically pushing off that injured back foot, and apparently some work was done this week in practice to address that.

"Yeah, I think that was over the past three weeks that happened a few times with the foot," Manning said. "I don't remember it occurring last week. I was conscious of it to make sure I was pushing off. You stop using your legs, it affects your elbow, your arm gets tired or starts getting sore, so I have been better. My body feels better this week. I feel stronger and more confident in what I'm doing."

That's got to show up Sunday against the Chargers, or things are going to start getting ugly around the Giants pretty quickly. They have a couple of things working in their favor. San Diego is not a strong run defense, so they should be able to lean hard on Jacobs and Bradshaw and keep some of the pressure off of Manning. San Diego is also traveling across the country for the game, and the Chargers have a reputation as not being among the toughest of the NFL's teams. So it's possible that an angry bunch of Giants will rise up Sunday in the swamps of Jersey and take out their frustrations on another disappointing would-be contender and head into the bye at 6-3.

The Giants had better hope that's what happens. Because they don't have the Yankees to shield them anymore. If they lay an egg this week ... well, it's all anybody's going to be talking about.

With Yankees Done, Pressure's Really on the Giants Now originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>aaron rouseAaronRousecc brownCcBrownchris cantyChrisCantyeli manningEliManningmichael boleyMichaelBoleynew york giantsNewYorkGiantstom coughlinTomCoughlinDan GrazianoSat, 07 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST Football, Baseball and Brotherly Love - Philadelphia Is Sports Heavenhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/football-baseball-and-brotherly-love-philadelphia-is-sports-h/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/football-baseball-and-brotherly-love-philadelphia-is-sports-h/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/football-baseball-and-brotherly-love-philadelphia-is-sports-h/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Alvarez is a lifelong Philadelphian with a Cole Hamels haircut and a vintage maroon Phillies cap who spent his Sunday in a parking lot. Alvarez didn't have tickets to the Eagles-Giants game in the afternoon. He didn't have tickets to the Phillies-Yankees World Series game at night. What he did have was a parking space for his truck, a seemingly bottomless supply of beer and enough slightly slurred wisdom to know that there was no place he would have rather been than this particular parking lot on this particular day, surrounded by his fellow Eagles and Phillies fans.

"They got flat-screens over there," Alvarez said, waving his beer can in the direction of a nearby RV. "Everybody's grilling food. I've made a ton of new friends. What more could you want?"

This was around 5:30 pm, an hour and a half after the Eagles had finished throttling the Giants and about three hours before Joe Blanton drilled Alex Rodriguez in the back with a first-inning fastball. It was the chilly intermission of one of the great days in Philadelphia sports history. An NFL rivalry game in the afternoon and then, across the parking lot, a World Series game under the full moon. Big, bad New York teams the opponents in both. Sure, it ended in disappointment, with the Yankees coming back to win the baseball game, 7-4, to take a 3-1 lead in the World Series. Still, for a day this city got to feel like the center of the sports universe. And the beauty part was, pretty much everybody behaved themselves.

That may be the most amazing thing about what's happened here, in a sports town famous for having booed Santa Claus and having taunted Michael Irvin as he lay injured on the artificial turf at old Veterans Stadium. Somewhere along the line, as the Eagles began consistently fielding playoff teams and the Phillies somehow turned into a mini-dynasty, Philadelphia sports fans appear to have shed some of the anger and bitterness that always defined them. Now, they find themselves able to look around on a day such as this and appreciate how special it is.

"I think the town feels like there's a lot to appreciate," said Joe Butkus, who was grilling in the drizzly morning with a mixed group of Philly and New York fans. "Look around. How can you not love this?"

Alvarez told a story of when he was a young boy at an Eagles game at the Vet. It was a cold, icy day, he said, and fans were walking the concrete ramps to the exits at the end of the game, and a woman in a Giants jersey fell and injured herself. As Alvarez tells it, the Eagles fans that day offered no sympathy -- just walked right past her and said, "That's what you get for wearing the wrong colors."

"That's what it used to be like," Alvarez said. "But we're polite now. We have that old reputation, but really, we're a lot more polite now than people say."

Of course, just as he was saying that, a guy walked by wearing a Michael Vick Eagles jersey and carrying a stuffed dog with bandages around its head and legs.

Didn't exactly help Alvarez make his point.

"You're always going to get a couple of nuts," he said.

And, of course, there were on both sides. A fan in a Yankees jersey got into a fight with two minutes left in the first half of the Giants-Eagles game, prompting loud boos and a "Yankees suck" chant from a crowd that had no reason all afternoon to be anything but deliriously happy. A guy in an Eagles jersey, lugging a cooler, tore through a crowd of anti-Vick protesters shouting obscenities and telling them to go away. And even the tamer interactions were designed to let the visitors from the Big Apple know who was boss.

"A guy with a green beard told me, 'You're in for a long day,'" said Vince Gilligo, who came from Hamilton, N.J., wearing a Giants cap.

Considering the setting and the circumstances, the proceedings leaned hard toward harmony. Gilligo was walking peacefully around the packed parking lots with his friend, Chuck Costello, who was decked out in Phillies gear. Tom Gussen and his son Maxwell parked their car early, while the lot was still somewhat empty, got out and started throwing a football around -- father in his green Stewart Bradley Eagles jersey and son in a blue Eli Manning number. Jose and Stephanie Torre, New York natives who now live in Northeast Philly, grilled side-by-side -- him in his Gaints garb and her in her Eagles wear, talking trash with smiles on their faces.

Kenny Kortright was part of a crew of Giants fans who drove in from Long Island. They were just going to the football game, not both. Kortright is a Mets fan, so this year's World Series matchup is a special sort of personal pain for him. After some soul-searching, he said he decided to root for the Yankees, because the Met fan in him sees the Phillies as "arrogant" and he likes too many of the players on the Yankees -- Teixeira, Sabathia, Jeter and Rivera to name a few.

But Kortright and his pals were in town to see the Giants, and as of 11 a.m. they were feeling pretty good about things.

"I'm gonna say 40-17, Giants crush em," Kortright seriously predicted.

And then of course the Eagles won, 40-17, dominating the visitors from the outset and turning the parking lots into a place where Eagle fans could drive by Giant fans flapping their arms out the window and taunting.

"I got the score right," Kortright said between games. "But wrong team. Very disheartening."

In a way, the lopsided football score contributed to the peace that pervaded the late-afternoon portion of the tailgate extravaganza. With an outcome so decisive, what arguments were there to have? What, exactly, was there for the Giants fans to say?

"Go Yankees?" Larry Riefenberg offered.

Oh yeah. Larry Riefenberg. Of Danbury, Conn. If there was a dude who summed up this day, it was our man Larry. He and his friends rented an RV, hired a driver and left at 6 a.m. They hit no traffic and pulled into the parking lot between Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park around 9:30. They set up their grills and their beer coolers and their washer-toss game and settled in for a tailgate with their Philly-based attorney friends, who got them the tickets. As of 11 a.m., Riefenberg and Co. only had tickets to the football game, but they were at work on making it a doubleheader. As soon as they arrived, they connected with a ticket broker and began negotiating a price on some World Series Game Four tickets.

"Got to," Riefenberg said. "How many times do the stars align to where you're going to have a football game here and a World Series game 100 yards away?"

At 5 p.m., with the sun starting to go down and the chill starting to bite, Riefenberg snapped his cell phone shut and said, "We're in. We got 'em." He and two of the other guys in the RV had scored their Series tickets. They knew they were going to the game.

They didn't know much else, though. Like, where they were going to stay after it was over. Or how they were getting home. See, the rest of the RV crew was heading home. The vehicle pulled out of the lot at 6 p.m., bound for Danbury, with three of its original passengers grinning happily as they swigged Bass Ale and marveled at their good fortune. Riefenberg's friend, Arnie, was bemoaning the fact that he was now required to spend as much ($350) on his wife's birthday (Tuesday) as he did for his ticket. And there was some chatter about those little nagging issues of how they were going to find their way back to Connecticut. But all of that was drowned out by the fact that these guys were going to the World Series, and they were fired up about it.

"How can you not?" Arnie said, open arms raised to the red brick baseball stadium across the street from the RV's spot. "I mean, it's right here!"

Right here in the sports complex section of South Philadelphia. Which, for this Sunday at least, was the sports capital of the world.

Football, Baseball and Brotherly Love - Philadelphia Is Sports Heaven originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>new york giantsnew york yankeesNewYorkGiantsNewYorkYankeesphiladelphia eaglesphiladelphia philliesPhiladelphiaEaglesPhiladelphiaPhilliesworld seriesWorldSeriesDan GrazianoMon, 02 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST Eagles, Donovan McNabb Dismantle Struggling Giantshttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/eagles-mcnabb-dismantle-giants-40-17/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/eagles-mcnabb-dismantle-giants-40-17/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/eagles-mcnabb-dismantle-giants-40-17/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Next week there will be a game between the two best teams in the NFC East, and it's not going to involve the defending division champion New York Giants. In beating the Giants to a pulp Sunday, 40-17, the Eagles -- and the Dallas Cowboys, who beat Seattle at home -- have sent the G-Men back to third place. New York has now lost three straight games, while the Eagles won their second in a row after an embarrassing loss in Oakland.

Leading the way for the Eagles was Donovan McNabb, who barely broke a sweat in destroying the Giants' patchwork secondary. He completed 17-of-23 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He continues to show a strong chemistry with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek, who combined for 11 catches, 186 yards and three scores.
More: Check Box Score | Cowboys Batter Seahawks | Rams Get It Done

Not having starting running back Brian Westbrook wasn't a problem for Philly, either, as fullback Leonard Weaver got loose for a 41-yard touchdown and shifty rookie LeSean McCoy added 82 yards and a 66-yard touchdown on 11 carries.

Eli Manning had a rough day for the Giants, completing just 20 of his 39 passes while throwing two interceptions. He was missing Mario Manningham and you have to give the Eagles' defense credit for playing a nearly flawless game against a quality opponent. Still, Manning was clearly the second-best quarterback on the field Sunday.

As I alluded to earlier, the Eagles square off against the Cowboys next week in a battle that will determine the division leader in the very competitive NFC East. The Giants will look to stop the bleeding against the Chargers at home.

So, let's see: the Eagles beat the Giants, Pearl Jam is playing The Spectrum and Game 4 of the World Series are all in one day in Philadelphia. While it may not always be sunny there, Philly is a pretty solid place to be on November 1, 2009.

Eagles, Donovan McNabb Dismantle Struggling Giants originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brent celekBrentCelekdesean jacksonDeseanJacksondonovan mcnabbDonovanMcnabbeli manningEliManningjeremy maclinJeremyMaclinleonard weaverLeonardWeaverlesean mccoyLeseanMccoymario manninghamMarioManninghamMatt SnyderSun, 01 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST NFL FanHouse Week 8 Chat Recaphttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/nfl-fanhouse-live-chat-week-8/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/nfl-fanhouse-live-chat-week-8/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/nfl-fanhouse-live-chat-week-8/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


He's back, and it's stealing all of the headlines. It's going to be a highly emotional Sunday for many NFL fans, as former Detroit Lions defensive lineman James Hall makes his return to the Motor City as a member of the St. Louis Rams.

Oh, and Brett Favre is back in Green Bay. Not sure if you've heard about that one.

NFL FanHouse Week 8 Chat Recap originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brett favrejames hallBruce CiskieFri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST Studious Hakeem Nicks the Early Star of Rookie WR Classhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/studious-hakeem-nicks-the-early-star-of-rookie-wr-class/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/studious-hakeem-nicks-the-early-star-of-rookie-wr-class/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/studious-hakeem-nicks-the-early-star-of-rookie-wr-class/#commentsFiled under: ,

Rookie WR Hakeem Nicks is impressing people with his talent and work habits with the New York Giants.It was the fluke catch of the week. Sunday night at the Meadowlands, Giants rookie receiver Hakeem Nicks caught a tipped pass that had been intended for Mario Manningham and carried it all the way to the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown against the Cardinals. It was a shake-your-head play -- the kind the defense can write off as an excusable miracle, a bizarre bounce, nothing more than pure luck.

But they say luck is the residue of design, and the people who know Hakeem Nicks say that design is a huge part of his game. Coaches and teammates past and present describe Nicks as an intensely studious, hyper-prepared player who obsesses over his playbook and game scripts and would rather talk about route-running than anything else. Knowing Nicks means knowing that the seeds of that Sunday night play were planted years ago at Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., where a coach named Tommy Knotts drills 16- and 17-year-old kids on something even NFL coaches struggle to get across -- the importance of film study.

"I was fortunate enough to play for a high school that was No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation," Nicks said. "And our coach, that was his big thing -- understanding the importance of the film. I didn't look too far down the line with it, but it definitely prepared me for the college game. I felt like I had a head start when I got there."

A starter as a true freshman, Nicks blossomed into a superstar at the University of North Carolina. This past April, the Giants selected him with the No. 29 pick in the NFL Draft. At the time, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said the team had received positive reports about Nicks not just as an athlete but as a hard off-the-field worker and a leader in the meeting room because of his study habits and his knowledge of the game.

"He's an attentive young guy that wants to be good," Coughlin said last week. "Anybody that wants to be good and is willing to pay the price, I normally like."

Since overcoming an early season injury, Nicks has moved quickly up the Giants' depth chart, emerging as a reliable target for Eli Manning and something of a co-No. 2 receiver with Manningham behind Steve Smith. He's caught a touchdown pass in four straight games, and among a rookie WR class that includes six guys taken in the first round, he's creating a blueprint for how to succeed in the NFL as a rookie receiver.

"It's about going out there and doing everything perfectly at full speed, and he's learned that already," Manning said. "That gets you on the field."

Wide receiver is not a position at which it's easy to have success right away in the pros. Giants fans remember the frustration of watching Amani Toomer take two or three years before he knew his routes. No less a light than Jerry Rice struggled to adjust at the beginning. But when you watch somebody like Michael Crabtree sit out for months over a contract dispute and then have the debut he had Sunday, or somebody like Jeremy Maclin have the impact he's had already in Philadelphia, you can identify the common thread and the keys to speeding up the learning curve. These guys are playbook savants with killer study habits and an appreciation of the extent to which preparedness can help them success. Hakeem Nicks is the ultimate example.

"Hakeem has the passion and the drive to be good," North Carolina head coach Butch Davis said in a phone interview this week. "So it's easy for him to buy into the mindset that if you want more, you have to do more. He really embodies all that stuff, and you see it in the mindset that you've really got to be a film-room junkie."

The biggest problem rookie receivers face in making the jump from college to the NFL lies in the deceptiveness of the defenses they face -- the length of time for which secondaries will disguise coverages, giving away as little as possible until the last split-second before the snap. Speed, athleticism, great hands ... first-round WRs have all of these things. The physical part of the game isn't the toughest part of the adjustment. It's figuring out what defenses are going to try and how to attack them once you have the information. The thing that makes Nicks successful is that he has the information.

"He's big on knowing what the defender's going to do, because he's studied it and he can tell you in a New York second," North Carolina receivers coach Charlie Williams said in a phone interview. "Hakeem is going to be on the same page as that quarterback, and he knows he's going to be able to beat you."

Example. Two weeks ago, in garbage time of a blowout loss in New Orleans, David Carr had taken over for Manning as quarterback. Nicks ran a go route and found the defense in a Cover 2. Carr said most receivers, finding that, will give up on their routes. But he and Nicks had been talking all game, watching the Saints' defense and realizing that the safety was "tight" in the Cover 2 -- meaning he'd be late in getting over to the numbers to cover Nicks if he kept running as fast as he could. Which he did, and Carr hit him for a touchdown.

"He was flying, because he knew he had a chance," Carr said. "And that's something a lot of guys wouldn't do, even older guys."

For Nicks, that touchdown came right out of a midweek film room.

"That definitely came from film," Nicks said. "The coaches put a lot of emphasis on that when we watched (the Saints) on film."

The trick, of course, is to remember it on Sundays. But when you're the kind of guy who walks out of the film room and keeps talking -- all week -- about what you learned in there, you're the kind of guy who remembers on Sundays.

"This guy, every time you walk up to him off the field, the initial conversation is about some kind of route he ran that day," Carr said. "You have to get through that, then you can talk to him about what's going on in his life. But he'd rather talk about something he saw on the film. It's almost like it's ingrained in him somehow, like he learned at an early age that he's got to do his job right."

He did. And as he's grown older, Nicks has maintained and strengthened his belief in the connection between the work he does off the field and the success he has on it. His teammates and coaches marvel and appreciate.

"It reiterates to the other guys on the team how important it is," Williams said. "Now some of our young guys are starting to get it -- what it takes to be a pro -- because they have a living example of somebody who did it the right way, who paid attention to the right things and now he's playing for the New York Giants on Sundays. That's invaluable for a coach."

Back at Chapel Hill, Williams and Davis would tell their kids to watch the tape of Nicks' miracle catch from Sunday night. The play was for Manningham, half a field away from where Nicks was running his route, and Nicks knew that. He knew where all of his teammates and all of his opponents were supposed to be on the field, and he raced over toward Manningham's side, thinking he could maybe make a helpful block. As he ran over, he saw the ball in the air, and so he took it, and he ended up with a touchdown. Lucky play? Sure. But a receiver who hadn't paid attention all week might not have been in position to be so lucky.

"He's got great football instincts, and that's mainly the result of the work he puts in," Davis said. "That doesn't surprise me, that he got a touchdown because he was hustling over to make a block."

Didn't surprise Nicks either. He's just doing what he's been doing since high school. It's still working because Nicks never stops working.

"I think I'm just me being me out there," Nicks said. "It's just built in me to go hard every play. I like working hard and outworking my opponent."

Studious Hakeem Nicks the Early Star of Rookie WR Class originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>butch davisButchDaviseli manningEliManninghakeem nicksHakeemNicksnew york giantsNewYorkGiantsnorth carolina tar heelsNorthCarolinaTarHeelssteve smithSteveSmithDan GrazianoThu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST Suddenly Slumping Giants Slip Back to NFC East Packhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/suddenly-slumping-giants-slip-back-to-nfc-east-pack/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/suddenly-slumping-giants-slip-back-to-nfc-east-pack/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/suddenly-slumping-giants-slip-back-to-nfc-east-pack/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Things haven't been as smooth as they were supposed to be for Eli Manning and the Giants.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- This was to have been the Giants' get-right game. Sure, New Orleans beat them up last week, but the Saints are an undefeated team that was coming off a bye week and playing at home. The Giants spent the week shrugging off that loss and promising to be better this week at home against the Cardinals. The defense promised more blitzing and less trepidation. The offense promised to be sharper. To a man, the Giants were certain they'd come up with a big win Sunday night over the reigning NFC champs...and then they lost.

"For whatever reason, we've had two weeks in a row now where one area has not performed very well," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "So, back to the drawing board."

And back, whether they like it or not, into a three-team NFC East tussle where there's no clear favorite -- not even them.
More: Cards Flip the Script on Giants | Eagles Look to Close in on First Place

Through five weeks, the Giants stood 5-0 and appeared to be in control of the division. Preseason predictions about the Eagles as a serious threat and the Cowboys as sleeper faded. The Giants weathered injuries, showcased their depth and simply crushed second-rate opponents such as Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland. Safety Kenny Phillips went down. Defensive end Justin Tuck played hurt. Brandon Jacobs dealt strangely with some confusing an undefined emotional issues regarding his running style versus Ahmad Bradshaw's. But it was all okay, because the Giants looked like a team built to handle all of it.

But with Week 7 just about in the books, the picture looks a lot different. The Giants are now 5-2. The Cowboys are 4-2. And once they plaster the sad-sack Redskins tonight in the Eagles will be 4-2 and ready to host the Giants next Sunday in the first game of a NY/Philly football/baseball doubleheader sure to set records for profane Northeast sports fan trash talk.

"Am I concerned?" Tuck asked. "I'm not the kind of guy who gets concerned in Week 7. The last time we lost two games in a row this early in the season, we ended up being Super Bowl champs."

There remain enough players in this Giants locker room from the 2007-08 title team that they feel they can trade on that. The Giants carry themselves with a champion's confidence because, well, a lot of them are champions. They're entitled to the perspective that comes with that.

The problem is, this year's Giants team has yet to prove anything. The 5-0 record was a mirage. They opened with a shaky win over a terrible Washington team. They gave up 250 rushing yards to the Cowboys in Week 2 and would have lost but for a couple of dumb late Dallas decisions. And then they rolled three of the worst teams in the league. Now that they're playing teams like New Orleans and Arizona, the shortcomings are showing up:

-The young receivers, Mario Manningham in particular, still drop too many passes. Teams continue to crowd up front to stop Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, daring Eli Manning to beat them in the passing game. Sunday night, Manning couldn't do it. Sometimes he struggled with his reads with safeties in the box. Sometimes he hit a guy in the hands and saw him drop it. Three times, he couldn't get the play off in time and got called for delay of game. Other than a miracle play on which rookie Hakeem Nicks caught a deflected pass and ran it in for a 62-yard touchdown, the passing game did nothing Sunday night. And the running game, thanks to an aggressive Arizona defense that was determined to stop it, remained stuck in the mud.

-Teams are able to gain yards down the field against the middle of the Giants' defense. Phillips' absence is being felt, as are those of defensive tackle Chris Canty, linebacker Michael Boley and cornerback Aaron Ross. The defense made more plays Sunday than it did the week before in New Orleans, but it didn't do enough to stop the Cardinal receivers and, perhaps more distressingly, rookie Cardinals running back Beanie Wells.

-The punting game was off! 84-year veteran Jeff Feagles had a rotten game, averaging just 34.3 yards per punt. Coughlin took the blame for that, saying he instructed Feagles to make sure to kick the ball out of bounds and away from Cardinals return man Steve Breaston, but Feagles said he always tries to kick the ball out of bounds and needs to do a better job.

It's all part of a weird and surprisingly substandard vibe the Giants are giving off the past couple of weeks. After two years as a dominant NFC force, they have looked lately like a team that still has a ways to go before we can call it a Super Bowl contender.

"We have to find a way to rebound and get back to where we were at the beginning of the season," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "This was a game we should have won."

The Cardinals, who have won the NFC title more recently than the Giants have, beg to differ. And the Giants' next six games are against the Eagles, Chargers, Falcons, Broncos, Cowboys and Eagles again -- teams whose combined record is 20-9. The Giants suddenly look vulnerable. They've succeeded in turning the NFC East into a real race when they didn't have to. And they enter Week 8 of the NFL season with just as much to prove as any other team in the league.

Suddenly Slumping Giants Slip Back to NFC East Pack originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>ahmad bradshawAhmadBradshawbrandon jacobsBrandonJacobsdallas cowboysDallasCowboyseli manningEliManningnew york giantsNewYorkGiantsphiladelphia eaglesPhiladelphiaEaglestom coughlinTomCoughlinDan GrazianoMon, 26 Oct 2009 12:05:00 EST Cardinals Flip Script on Giantshttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/cardinals-add-defense-and-a-running-back-to-their-bag-of-tri/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/cardinals-add-defense-and-a-running-back-to-their-bag-of-tri/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/26/cardinals-add-defense-and-a-running-back-to-their-bag-of-tri/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Beanie Wells and the Cardinals defense out-muscled the Giants at the Meadowlands on Sunday night.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They flew all over the field all night, racing to the ball, harassing the opposing quarterback with a variety of aggressive blitzes. The defense was disruptive, deep and energetic, and the main reason its team won the game. All of this was to be expected, of course...just not from this particular team.

On this night, it was the Arizona Cardinals beating the New York Giants at the latter's own game, forcing four turnovers and out-muscling Big Blue 24-17 on national TV in the swamps of Jersey.

"We definitely fed off our defense tonight," Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner said.
More: Check Box Score | Standings

Teams that go to the Super Bowl don't generally fly under the radar, but these particular defending NFC champion Cardinals seem to have done just that in 2009. They lost two of their first three games, dumping a division game to San Francisco in their opener and getting throttled by the apparently invincible Colts in Week 3. Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said last week he felt his team struggled in the early part of the season with their own expectations -- that his players felt too much pressure to live up to the title of NFC champs.

But since the Week 4 bye, things have gone extremely well for Arizona. The Cardinals have won three in a row, the last two on the road, each win more impressive than the one that preceded it. This one Sunday night against the Giants moved the Cardinals back into first place by themselves in the NFC West and stamped them as a legitimate threat to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl for a second year in a row.

"When something bad happens to us," Warner said, "we respond."

Most impressive, though, is the fact that they seem to be better now at the areas in which they were deficient last year. Sure, they still live to throw the ball. They are a pass-first team, and they dare you to try to outscore them. But with star receiver Anquan Boldin banged up and an angry Giants defense staring them down across the line, Arizona knew it would need to be multi-dimensional to win this game.

Enter the defense, anchored by linebacker Karlos Dansby and aggressive, opportunistic safeties Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle. They intercepted Eli Manning three times, sacked him three times and hassled him all night, forcing delay-of-game penalties and keeping the Giants' offense from ever getting on track.

"We have to give credit to them," Manning said. "We had too many third-and-longs and not enough positive plays. Too many three-and-outs."

Music to the ears of a Cardinals defense that's used to playing in the shadows of a high-flying offense -- and doesn't feel it should have to.

"Everybody wants to talk about how much we score, how much we pass, but we really feel like we have one of the best defenses in the league," Boldin said. "They're aggressive and they make plays when the plays are there for them to make."

Last week in Seattle, the Cardinals put the Seahawks to sleep with a variety of pressure packages that overwhelmed a shredded offensive line. This week, the Giants' offensive line was slightly undermanned (right tackle Kareem McKenzie was injured and did not play, breaking New York's NFL-record streak of 38 consecutive games with the same offensive line and quarterback starting together), but there was no way the Giants could lay the blame on that. Rookie right tackle Will Beatty wasn't the only lineman who got beaten by a swarming Cardinal defense that seemed to show up in the backfield on every play.

"Oh no, no, they brought people from all over," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "They are a pressure defense. I'm not exactly sure who was at fault or if there was anyone who was at fault. There was pressure all night."

On the other side of the ball, Arizona showcased a new weapon. Rookie running back Beanie Wells ran for 67 yards on 14 carries -- 10 more carries than starter Tim Hightower got. Wells used a vicious stiff-arm to aid his first career touchdown run in the second quarter (and liked it so much he kept using it, with varying degrees of success, for the rest of the night). His totals weren't eye-popping, but for a rookie coming off the bench for a team that called 36 passes and 22 runs, they were significant, and bear watching going forward.

"Beanie did a great job of running downhill, getting some yards after contact, keeping the pile moving," Warner said of Wells. "I think we've seen that since day one, what he can do with the ball in his hands."

He's another weapon, and they've got a ton of them. Larry Fitzgerald (six catches, 83 yards) still plays for Arizona, lest anyone forget. And Boldin picked up 75 yards on a bad ankle. All the characters you remember from the team that led the Super Bowl in the final minutes are still around. But the Cardinals just came into Giants Stadium and won a football game with their defense and a running back.

If you're looking for contenders in the NFC as the halfway point approaches, that makes it worth remembering the team that's actually defending the title.

Cardinals Flip Script on Giants originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>adrian wilsonAdrianWilsonarizona cardinalsArizonaCardinalsbeanie wellsBeanieWellseli manningEliManningkarlos dansbyKarlosDansbykurt warnerKurtWarnernew york giantsNewYorkGiantsDan GrazianoMon, 26 Oct 2009 01:18:00 EST Sunday Night Football Live Chat: Arizona Cardinals vs. New York Giantshttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/sunday-night-football-live-chat-arizona-cardinals-vs-new-york/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/sunday-night-football-live-chat-arizona-cardinals-vs-new-york/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/sunday-night-football-live-chat-arizona-cardinals-vs-new-york/#commentsFiled under: , ,


We have an exciting matchup on Sunday night as Eli Manning and the New York Giants host Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. We'll be chatting about all of the action -- and the rest of Sunday's slate of games -- starting at 8:15 PM ET, so please, stop on by and join us.

Sunday Night Football Live Chat: Arizona Cardinals vs. New York Giants originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Adam GretzSun, 25 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST Richard Seymour: Giants 'Got What They Deserved' in Blowout Loss to Saintshttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/richard-seymour-giants-got-what-they-deserved-in-blowout-loss/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/richard-seymour-giants-got-what-they-deserved-in-blowout-loss/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/richard-seymour-giants-got-what-they-deserved-in-blowout-loss/#commentsFiled under: ,

Richard SeymourAfter the Giants rolled Oakland 44-7 in Week 5, New York linebacker Antonio Pierce spoke rather candidly about the easy victory, saying that the game felt like a "scrimmage" and that "there was no vibe of trying or effort from the Raiders at all from a defensive standpoint."

Not surprisingly, Pierce's comments didn't sit well with the Raiders -- particularly Oakland defensive end Richard Seymour, who enjoyed a little schadenfreude after New Orleans pummeled the Giants in Week 6.

"They got what they deserved this week," Seymour said to the Daily News about the Giants' 48-27 loss to the Saints. "I'm not sure how many points the Saints scored on them, but if I'm not mistaken, it was about half a hundred points. [Pierce]'s got enough to chew on with that."

Whether or not Pierce's bulletin-board fodder deserves any credit, the Raiders' defense -- which Pierce also said lacked emotion and guidance -- stuffed Philadelphia in Week 6, holding the potent Eagles offense to just three field goals in a 13-9 Oakland win.

Oakland's D was so impressive in that performance, in fact, that the Eagles were left scratching their heads after.

"They did some things that we weren't really expecting, some stuff that they didn't really show the first couple of games," Philadelphia right tackle Winston Justice told FanHouse's Nancy Gay. "And we were caught by surprise."

Seymour's comments probably won't land with the force that Pierce's rant did -- the Giants are, after all, still 5-1 and atop the NFC East. They host the Cardinals on Sunday.

Oakland, meanwhile, bumped its record up to 2-4 with the Philadelphia victory. And remarkably, that puts the Raiders within one game of playoff positioning in the AFC as they get ready to host the Jets in Week 7.

Richard Seymour: Giants 'Got What They Deserved' in Blowout Loss to Saints originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Antonio PierceNew York GiantsOakland RaidersRichard SeymourChris BurkeThu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST Cardinals Still Doing It Their Wayhttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/a-year-later-cardinals-still-doing-it-their-way/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/a-year-later-cardinals-still-doing-it-their-way/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/a-year-later-cardinals-still-doing-it-their-way/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals are still working to find a way back to the Super Bowl.When Justin Tuck showed up to watch film of the Arizona Cardinals this week, he was fired up. He knew what he was going to see -- Cardinals QB Kurt Warner sitting behind his line, taking forever to get rid of the ball while a swarm of receivers ran their routes downfield.

"I was licking my chops," said Tuck, the Giants' defensive end. "But then I went in there and...he's not holding the ball as long as he used to. We're looking at an average of 2.2 seconds, which is a drastic change."

You wouldn't think the Cardinals would have to change much, playing in the weak NFC West and coming off a season in which they represented the NFC in the Super Bowl. But starting with an opening-week loss to the surprisingly game division-rival 49ers, the Cardinals found life as defending conference champs to be tougher than they thought it would be.

"The hardest thing that we have had to deal with is expectations," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said Wednesday. "Not necessarily from outside sources, but from our own guys trying to live up to the reputation of an NFC champion. I think that caused us to press a little bit too much early in the season, play a little too uptight."

That was Whisenhunt's message to his team during their Week 4 bye, when they were 1-2 and coming off a Sunday night thrashing by the Colts on national TV. The Cardinals came out of the bye and beat the Texans in a shootout, then went to Seattle last week and posted their most impressive victory of the season so far. Now, as they ready to face the 5-1 Giants on Sunday night in the Meadowlands, the 3-2 Cardinals look a lot more like the team that left the rest of the NFC in the dust last January.

"After our bye week, we've just been trying to get back to playing the way we played last year in the playoffs," Whisenhunt said. "That is with a little more looseness, a little more excitement."

Excitement is, of course, the Cardinals' specialty. They run as pass-heavy an offense as there is in the league, relying on the arm of the veteran Warner and the downfield skills of receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. They rank sixth in the league in passing yards per game and dead last in rush yards per game, and they make no apologies for the discrepancy.

"You have to play to your strengths," Warner said. "If we go into a game and we're having trouble running the ball, we feel good about throwing. It puts more pressure on that part of the game, but we feel we're pretty good at it."

The Giants are coming off a game in which the Saints threw all over their banged-up secondary and kept pressure off quarterback Drew Brees with a variety of play-action calls. But when asked if playing New Orleans can get you ready to play Arizona, they all said the Cardinals' offense is unique. And the main reason it seems to be unique, as simple as this sounds, is the quality of the athletes it uses.

"When they get in their rhythm, honestly I think it's just the receivers that they've got," Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. "A lot of times, when they throw the ball up there, they're covered. And they just make the great plays on the ball. So when you've got guys you can trust like that with a good quarterback, that makes it tough on a defense."

The Cardinals come into this weekend banged up. Boldin is struggling with an ankle injury and didn't practice Wednesday. Breaston has been fighting a knee injury all season. But don't make the mistake of thinking they're going to show up on your TV on Sunday night and start running the ball into the line with Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells. The Cardinals are what they are -- they throw the ball. And then they throw it some more.

"It's a different style, no doubt," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "All four receivers are involved. The tight end is involved. The backs -- Tim Hightower is their third-leading receiver. They have excellent distribution. The ball is spread around real good."

Oh, and there's that little detail about how much quicker Warner is getting rid of the ball than he did last year. An idea at which Warner laughed.

"It goes year to year," Warner said. "If I'm successful, people say I'm getting the ball out quick. If I'm not successful, people say I'm holding the ball too long. I don't feel that I'm doing anything better. Maybe our scheme, maybe the way our receivers are playing helps me get the ball out quicker. I don't have any evidence to say one way or the other."

What Warner and the Cardinals have is a 3-2 record and a level of confidence that is moving in the right direction -- from where it was after the Colts beat them up in Week 3 and headed back toward where it was when they had a lead on the Steelers in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. Will it get all the way back there? No way to know. But one thing's for certain. If they do get back there, the Cardinals are going to do it by throwing the ball.

Cardinals Still Doing It Their Way originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>arizona cardinalsArizonaCardinalsjustin tuckJustinTuckken whisenhuntKenWhisenhuntkurt warnerKurtWarnerlarry fitzgeraldLarryFitzgeraldnew york giantsNewYorkGiantsDan GrazianoThu, 22 Oct 2009 11:12:00 EST Adrian Peterson Shoes, Giants vs. Saints, Mike Ditka: NFL Live Tweethttp://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/adrian-peterson-shoes-giants-vs-saints-mike-ditka-nfl-live-t/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/adrian-peterson-shoes-giants-vs-saints-mike-ditka-nfl-live-t/http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/adrian-peterson-shoes-giants-vs-saints-mike-ditka-nfl-live-t/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Adrian Peterson told ESPN the shoes in his closet are worth $200,000. The shoes in my closet aren't worth $200.

I thought going into today the Saints were the best team in the NFL. Nothing I've seen vs the Giants changes my mind.

Mike Ditka turns 70 today. My favorite Ditka video is here.

Those are among the observations I've made on Twitter during this NFL Sunday, and if you want more observations on all of Sunday's NFL action, follow along below or follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

Twitter Updates on NFL

Adrian Peterson Shoes, Giants vs. Saints, Mike Ditka: NFL Live Tweet originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Michael David SmithSun, 18 Oct 2009 14:25:00 EST