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| The Orioles walk-off was a "trending down" yesterday (Star-Ledger) |
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Tampa Bay Rays: Scott Kazmir won for the first time in six weeks and beat his former team. The Angels have been dead for a month and a half but found a way to win the first series any team has won in St. Pete since mid-June. Even better, potential playoff starter, Jeff Niemann lasted just 4 1/3 innings and has an ERA of 14 since returning from a shoulder injury. Could the Yankees take advantage and move 1.5 games up? Trending up.
New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles: Nope. A 3-1 lead evaporates in the 8th and 9th inning as Luke Scott and the Orioles come back against the Yankees and win the game in extra innings, denying the Yankees a much-needed sweep. This occurs on a day when Tampa Bay loses which makes the loss even more devastating to the Yankee faithful. Worse yet, the Yankees had bases loaded and only one out in extras when Lance Berkman rapped into a GIDP. The Yankees woes with runners on continued as they lost a golden opportunity to gain another game on Tampa. Trending down.
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions: Despite a last-gasp effort from the Lions, Philly holds on to win a big road game behind Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy. The Eagles take advantage of a depleted Lions team and improve to 1-1. Trending down.
New England Patriots at New York Jets: Mark Sanchez looked like the Hall-of-Famer in this game as he beat the Pats and Tom Brady with 3 TD passes (his most in the NFL). Although I'm not a Jets fan, this was a big win in an almost "must-win" game for the Jets in the Meadowlands and they came away with the victory despite losing Revis Island (sort of like in a LOST-y way) mid-way through the game. Now 1-1, the Jets are back on the Super Bowl track. Trending up.
Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings: The Dolphins go on the road and beat up on Brett Favre and the Vikings who were booed at times at home. The Dolphins improve to 2-0 in the AFC East which is bad for the Jets but the Vikings fall to 0-2 in a crowded NFC Wild Card contender list so that's good for the Giants. Trending even.
Houston Texans at Washington Redskins: The Redskins are up 27-10 and it looks to be about over when Matt Schaub goes to work, throwing for 497 yards at FedEx Field and throws a game-tying score with 2:03 left in the 4th Quarter. The Redskins make a game-winning field goal only to have the play whistled dead because of a time out before the snap. The next field goal goes wide and Neil Rackers and the Texans make the 'Skins pay when they hit one of their own for a big road win. The Redskins fall to 1-1 with the loss. Trending up.
New York Giants at Indianapolis Colts: The pregame report said that Hakeem Nicks was healthy to play and then nothing went right for the Giants. An embarrassment of a loss on Sunday night left the Giants 1-1 and needing a big home win against the Titans this Sunday at home. The Giants are one of those teams you can truly tell in the 1st Quarter if they're going to win a game and this first quarter told us all we needed to know when the Colts ran roughshod over the Giants defense. Oh, and Brandon Jacobs threw his helmet into the crowd and got into a fight with his coach. Lovely. Trending down.
Overall, it was an up-and-down day for New York sports. Unfortunately, when it comes to the play of the New York teams I root for (the Giants and Yankees), it was more down than up.
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I didn't watch the end of the game, but this is a great point by Joel Sherman:
ReplyDelete"Imagine if Joe Girardi allowed CC Sabathia to pitch into the eighth and ninth innings of a game the Yankees were losing 11-1. How do you think that would be covered? Outrage, right?
So explain to me how Tom Coughlin allowing Eli Manning to play until the end of a blowout loss last night is not treated in the same way? I actually think what Coughlin did is worse. An opposing team can only hit Sabathia’s pitches, not Sabathia himself. With the score 31-7 and 38-7 late and the Giants possessing ZERO chance to win, Manning was still dropping back against a defensive line that was crushing him all game and now had no regard for the run at all, and was just homing in on Manning.
Again, the Giants had no chance to win the game, but if Manning is injured, they could lose a whole season."
Great point, Joel Sherman. If Eli got Bernard Pollard'ed in the meaningless fourth quarter, Coughlin would have been destroyed by the media, and people would be calling for him to get fired. Thank G-d that didn't happen, but it's a legit point.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: why aren't I hearing much about Tom Coughlin's job security? The Giants were completely flat last night, embarrassing themselves on national TV. I know the Colts are a strong team, but Houston beat them by hitting them hard...repeatedly...right in the mouth. The Giants didn't hit anyone last night. Where was the power run game? Jacobs goes down the second anyone touches him. Hedgecock was not plowing through would-be tacklers like the guy on the Texans. And Peyton had all day to throw when he needed to.
The Giants played soft, which is not gonna get it done on the road in Indy on SNF. Ugly game. Uninspired football. Embarrassing performance, not to mention Jacobs' outburst.
How is Coughlin not responsible for getting the troops fired up? The Seattle game was a cupcake win, so the Giants aren't much better than 0-2. I know the 2007 G-men started 0-2 and won the Super Bowl, but this team doesn't feel as hungry. And that's the coach's fault.
I think if the Giants don't make the playoffs, he certainly will be, but remember the Giants are only a few years off of winning the Super Bowl and then getting a #1 seed the year after. It was Carolina who they beat in the first game and they're considered an OK team so it'll be interesting to see where this team goes from here.
ReplyDeleteBut with guys like Osi and Brandon Jacobs unhappy with Coughlin (Jacobs will supposedly request a trade today), it will be interesting to see what happens if this team continues to play poorly.
My typo -- I meant Carolina. But it doesn't really matter, in my opinion. It was not a dominating performance (at home) against a team quarterbacked by Matt Moore that's expected to finish in 3rd or 4th in their division. The Giants also failed to run the ball effectively. 118 yards combined (including 44 yards on 12 carries by Jacobs) is not what the coaches, fans, and media were expecting.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing. This is New York, and football-wise it is a Giants town. They just opened a new $1.6 billion stadium and it's the resurgent Jets garnering all the attention. Now, I'm not saying I expect the Giants to go 16-0 and win another Super Bowl and hush those rabid J-E-T-S fans. But how about hustling and playing hard-hitting, aggressive, inspired football??
I'm just not seeing it, and honestly, last night looked like a continuation of the end of last season...when Coughlin lost control of his team. Remember, last year's Giants gave up the most points in the last few decades of NYG history, the most 40+ point games in NYG history, and finished last in the league in Red Zone TD%. I'm not seeing much improvement, despite their defensive personnel additions (Rolle, Ross, Grant, Pierre-Paul, etc.)
I know we won the SB in 2007 and got a #1 seed in 2008. But this is NY and with a resurgent Jets team + New Meadowland Stadium -- coupled with lousy play at the end of last year and uninspired play at the start of this year -- Coughlin is on thin ice. The fact that there's ongoing Osi/Jacobs mutiny is NOT a good sign.