Thursday, December 28, 2006
Since I can’t sustain one coherent thought …
-) I’m pretty convinced that the Giants are the most interesting team in the NFL this year. Not the best (hard to be at 7-8) or the most disappointing (Panthers) or the most likely to commit a felony (Bengals), but there’s a lot there. They start 6-2 against a brutal schedule and fall into a tailspin; they lead the NFL in personal fouls despite having a coach that preaches discipline; sustain an unconscionable number of injuries to big-time players like Toomer, Pettitgout and Strahan; blame the media for their meltdown (this is when I turned on them); dealt with Eli Manning playing like the 28th best quarterback in the NFL while the draft picks the Gints traded to get him (which became Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding) all become Pro Bowlers; and had the whole Tiki Barber retirement thing.
That’s the stuff of the Karl Malone-Shaq-Kobe-Glove Lakers. What a disaster. And they still control their fate (well, unless the Packers win and 10 other things go right) for the playoffs. They could lose 27-7 as easily as they could win 41-10. I have no idea, but I do know that Gints-Skins is the Game of the Week, which is crazy for a 7-8 team and a 5-10 team. They play Saturday night and the postseason fate of four other teams (which means whether we should care about four other games on Sunday) rests in the balance. With all apologies to Big Thunder, the Rog and Joe D’s parents, here’s hoping the Giants lose, if only to make Sunday more interesting.
-) Interesting Giants tidbit courtesy the NY Times. The Giants have played eight games against the five teams that have clinched playoff berths in the NFC so far. That’s unbelievable. Not that they’ve done much to create their own luck, but this team has not caught a break this year.
Also interesting, the Patriots will likely host either the Broncos or Jets in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams have already won in Foxboro this year.
-) The Bengals now qualify as the most disappointing team in the AFC. It should probably be the Steelers, but at least the Steelers haven’t routinely embarrassed themselves and the league with multiple arrests. And there is way too much talent on that Cincinnati team not to be in the playoffs.
-) I’m very worried about the Jets-Raiders game. I really have no reason to be, since Oakland can’t score, but the Jets have had much bigger meltdowns than this in the past. That said, if the Jets make the playoffs, Mangini has to be Coach of the Year. Sean Payton will get it, and he’s definitely worthy of the award, but 1) the NFC is awful and 2) despite an easy schedule, the Jets just aren’t that good but Mangini has them winning routinely. This team going 10-6 is way behind any best-case scenario I had for the season.
-) Also nervous about the Yankees and Barry Zito. One, the Mets really need a non-geezer as a bridge between Pedro-Glavine-El Duque and Humber-Pelfrey-Maine-Perez, and two, I really like Zito and don’t want to see him in pinstripes.
That’s the stuff of the Karl Malone-Shaq-Kobe-Glove Lakers. What a disaster. And they still control their fate (well, unless the Packers win and 10 other things go right) for the playoffs. They could lose 27-7 as easily as they could win 41-10. I have no idea, but I do know that Gints-Skins is the Game of the Week, which is crazy for a 7-8 team and a 5-10 team. They play Saturday night and the postseason fate of four other teams (which means whether we should care about four other games on Sunday) rests in the balance. With all apologies to Big Thunder, the Rog and Joe D’s parents, here’s hoping the Giants lose, if only to make Sunday more interesting.
-) Interesting Giants tidbit courtesy the NY Times. The Giants have played eight games against the five teams that have clinched playoff berths in the NFC so far. That’s unbelievable. Not that they’ve done much to create their own luck, but this team has not caught a break this year.
Also interesting, the Patriots will likely host either the Broncos or Jets in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams have already won in Foxboro this year.
-) The Bengals now qualify as the most disappointing team in the AFC. It should probably be the Steelers, but at least the Steelers haven’t routinely embarrassed themselves and the league with multiple arrests. And there is way too much talent on that Cincinnati team not to be in the playoffs.
-) I’m very worried about the Jets-Raiders game. I really have no reason to be, since Oakland can’t score, but the Jets have had much bigger meltdowns than this in the past. That said, if the Jets make the playoffs, Mangini has to be Coach of the Year. Sean Payton will get it, and he’s definitely worthy of the award, but 1) the NFC is awful and 2) despite an easy schedule, the Jets just aren’t that good but Mangini has them winning routinely. This team going 10-6 is way behind any best-case scenario I had for the season.
-) Also nervous about the Yankees and Barry Zito. One, the Mets really need a non-geezer as a bridge between Pedro-Glavine-El Duque and Humber-Pelfrey-Maine-Perez, and two, I really like Zito and don’t want to see him in pinstripes.
# posted by EJ @ 9:49 AM 
