• Here’s my recap of last year’s painful loss in Seattle. It’s long, so if you’re going to read it, I suggest printing it out. As terrible of a loss as that was, however, this is pretty funny.
  • Ok, so we’ve seen this one a hundred times in the past couple of days, but it doesn’t really get old.
  • “There’s some teaching examples in those first three phases in all quarters,” says Tom Coughlin. Ernie Palladino hits the nail on the head in this article. It’s “teaching” if you win; it’s “tearing someone a new one” if you lose.
  • Palladino on Trent Cole’s nad-kick (apparently, McKenzie was trying to help Cole up), Gibril Wilson’s big game (Gibril made that stop on Buckhalter on 4th and 1, although Pierce deserves credit for busting that play up), the Akers incident on the opening kickoff, and the injury situation (which includes James Butler’s sprained MCL and Shockey’s chronic ankle problem. Hopefully, he plays this week, doesn’t do any further damage, and rests over the bye week.)
  • Mike Garafolo on Shockey’s ankle injury. Colonel Tom said that Shockey was in the same amount of pain last week, but came back to play. I didn’t know this, but apparently Shockey was playing through a broken sternum and a separated shoulder last season. Also, the O-Line was embarrassed about their performance, but as Dave Diehl says, “You can always make corrections. You can’t correct a loss.” And Chad Morton had cramps, which is why R.W. replaced him returning punts. Morton hasn’t looked good so far though – will we come to regret cutting Willie Ponder?
  • Good item in Garafolo’s mailbag. You have to scroll down a bit to see it, but he says that, according to some Giants defensive players he talked to, the offenses that the Giants have faced have dictated a less aggressive approach, which has made it more difficult for LaVar Arrington to have an impact. While I take issue with Lewis’ scheming against the Eagles, it’s good to know that there’s at least a reason that LaVar’s been quiet. Garafolo says that it some games, he’ll be blitzing practically every down. That should be fun.
  • Garafolo on the Akers brawl. Akers says that he was pushed into Way, and that it wasn’t really his fault. I tend to agree with him here. Jacobs pushed him in the back, and Akers had to brace himself for the contact with Way. Great job by the Giants lumping him though.
  • The G-Men are exhausted but feeling good. Here’s the Strahan quote that’s been in all the papers: “It almost feels better than if we had gone in there and blown them out. And to be honest with you, this team at this point needed something to bring us together, and maybe this is what we needed. There seems to be a lot more togetherness in a struggle than when things are going well.” Amen.
  • Tremendous call by Michael Waxenberg on the Big Blue Blog:

The reality is that the Giants’ offensive line is more adept at run-blocking than pass protection. When an opponent builds a lead and stuffs the run – as Philly did against a bruised and tentative Tiki Barber – the line will struggle. Nobody is more adept at managing that snowball effect than Jim Johnson. The Eagle DC scripted a brilliant gameplan, denying Tiki his first cut and badgering Eli Manning relentlessly. Yet the Giants hung 30 points on his defense, who looked completely gassed at the end, and won the game. That’s a pretty good silver lining.

  • That Eli is one cool cat, writes John Branch. Kareem McKenzie on Eli: “He’s exactly how he seems. He just takes things in stride.” And Plax on the Easy Man: “You can never really get him flustered. That’s what I like about him.” Eli’s completion percentage this year: 66.2. Now we just have to protect him.
  • Good piece by David Picker in the Times about penalties, and how players pretty much get away with whatever they can. Bob Whitfield, for instance, “said he often grabbed an opponent’s limb or finger and pulled as if it were a drumstick on a turkey.” Yeesh. Chris Snee was candid, saying, “I hold when I can. Just don’t make it that obvious. I mean, you’re not going against amateurs.”
  • Vinny DiTrani with a short, on-point report card of all the Giants units against the Eagles. The rush-defense stepped up big in the second half, and Andy Reed compounded the problem for his team by staying conservative.
  • Everyone loves Well Dressed Amani Toomer. He was so exhausted from the game that he collapsed on the last play with cramps and needed to be carried off the field — it took four IV bags to get him normal again.
  • The Giants D needs to clean it up. Colonel Tom’s assessment: “It’s really not doing their jobs. If you look at one play, you’ll have someone out of position, or someone not involved in the coverage the way he’s supposed to be, or the pass rush not taking place where it’s supposed to be.” (Gotta love Colonel Tom’s grammar.)
  • Excellent blogging by Ralph Vacchiano. He points to some areas of concern (pass rush, secondary, pass protection, penalties) and then, in a previous post, looks at some of the game’s many key plays. He also makes a very necessary point about the media coverage of Eli:

How many times is Eli Manning going to “grow up,” or “come of age?” Can we all just please just agree that he’s a very talented young quarterback, capable of brilliant games and capable of mind-numbing interceptions? Not every bad throw is a regression and not every 300-yard game is a coming out party.