EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - While the rest of the football world cares only about the fact that Brett Favre didn't play, there actually was a Giants-Vikings game this past Monday night. And, for the second straight week, we ran away with the win (pun intended). After all the travel madness our Gmen had to endure over the weekend, they came out a little flat (to be expected), but turned things around pretty quickly. A quick little rant I'd like to get out of the way early – during the post-game analysis last night, I heard several people say that we won in dominating fashion, despite having little offensive production. Yet again proving that all the NFL "experts" deem worthy, when it comes to offensive success, is a team's ability to throw the ball. According to them, having two separate players with over 100 yards rushing and a touchdown each doesn't count as a productive offensive output. Wow.
I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that the Giants' victory was even mentioned. I get it – the streak's a big deal. Which it is. But the season's still going on, the guy's not even playing, and his team was just eliminated from the playoff race. Can't we wait for all the "Brett Favre's the greatest thing to happen to pro football since they put laces on the ball" hoopla to go on once the season's over? On that note, based on what he said about Tom Brady last week and Brett Favre Monday night, I think Trent Dilfer must give amazing best man speeches.
Facing the Elements…in a dome?
By now I'm sure everyone's seen the clip of the Metrodome roof collapsing under the snow's weight early Sunday morning. Unbelievable footage. What's more unbelievable is that this isn't the first, but the FOURTH time that it's happened! So that means that three previous times this has happened, and someone must've said, "Well, we probably should do something about this. But until somebody ponies up the dough to build a new stadium, we'll just leave it alone. I doubt it'll happen again." Shame on you, Minnesota, for caring so little about your team and its fans by allowing them to continue to play in a joke of a stadium. For that matter, I wonder what the support was initially when they pitched the idea for the Metrodome to the city of Minneapolis? "I realize you guys play in a cold-weather city, but we feel that an inflatable roof would be perfect! Wait, you think accumulated snow will be a problem? Come on, it's just frozen water! Has rain ever hurt a dome? Snow's the same thing, only colder!" Yikes. Now for the fourth time you've proven that the city doesn't deserve to keep that team.
Meanwhile, the Giants showed us all how professional and classy organizations carry themselves in times of great adversity. They got diverted from Minneapolis to Kansas City, and spent the night in an airport hotel, hoping to maybe play in the afternoon but most likely Monday night. The next day, they found out they weren't going to play in Minnesota after all, and instead would face the Vikings at Ford Field Monday night.
And we hardly missed a beat. Forget about Eli's two early picks. They were bad throws, and big mistakes. But we made up for them quickly. With the defense playing as well as it did, they became moot points. With a more mobile quarterback under center and arguably the best running back in the game lined up behind him, our defense held them both down all game, intercepting Tarvaris Jackson once, sacking him four times, and holding AP to just twenty-six yards on fourteen carries. Forget about Brett Favre not playing – THAT should be the story of the game. I've heard Big Blue Wrecking Crew, and I overheard Justin Tuck, during his post-game interview, refer to the D as "QB killers." Don't know if either or both of those nicknames will stick, or if they've been used before, but this year's defense DEFINITELY needs some sort of cool nickname to be remembered by. On that note, while it may have been overlooked, we once again knocked the starting quarterback out of the game (ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS).
We've been doting on them, so let's continue – our offensive line is ON FIRE. Yes, Eli got sacked Monday night. Once in six games. I'm okay with that. David Diehl's presence was definitely felt, and our rushing game, for the second straight week, amassed over 200 yards. Looks like Earth and Fire are back, and even without Wind, look to be all the running elements we need to succeed. They're helping us do exactly want we do best – grind out the clock and punish opposing defenses. This is exactly the kind of dominating play that helped lead our magical run a few years ago. And remember – Eli wasn't exactly lights-out until it mattered most. Let's hope he gets hot at the right time again this year. Finally, I take back many of the bad things I said about Matt Dodge earlier this season. He's come into his own in the last few weeks, and has been absolutely BOOMING the ball when he's had to, and has also done a nice job of placing punts when he's had to.
For the most part, that was a great team win. Let's not forget – when it counted, Eli fired in some great passes, especially his strike to Boss in the end zone at the end of the first half. What a brilliantly run two-minute offense to end the second quarter.
A Mess of a Viewing Experience
Trying to watch Monday night's game was one of the more stressful and taxing experiences of my life. At work, around 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), I began searching all sorts of websites I might be able to use to watch the game. The popular one, which I can't name for obvious reasons, requires some sort of plug-in to watch anything. So I was stuck going between the gamecast on nfl.com and texts and instant messages from friends and family. But no office with a TV on to run into, since Fox would rather air a repeat of House than show the Giants-Vikings game nationally (or maybe ESPN threw a stink about not wanting their national audience messed with…who knows – bottom line, someone dropped the ball). So, with work going on in the background, not really able to pay attention to any of it, I found out they finished early. Around 5:30 my time I BOLTED OUT OF THERE! This was about three minutes after Brandon Jacobs scored on 3rd and goal.
From work, I raced over to Beth's place. She has Sunday Ticket. I was driving from downtown Hollywood to Brentwood. There's no fast way to do that. Regardless, I managed to find the game on the radio, listened to our epic two-minute drill to end the first half, and made it to Beth's just as the second half got underway. Literally, JJ opened the door for me as soon as Bulluck made the pick.
The rest of the game was pretty fun to watch. Beth made us tacos, and the Gmen made us smile. Of course, there's the burden of having to listen to Troy Aikman announce the game, and it's amazing how, even though we blew them out, he looked for every possible avenue to put us down. Amazing. To keep things fair, can't he just go to CBS and do AFC games, and let FOX take Phil Simms? Even when Phil announces Giants' games, at least he's unbiased. Troy's just awful.
But I digress. The game was great to watch, and I don't just mean seeing Brett Favre on the sidelines in street clothes before and after EVERY SINGLE PLAY. Ahmad's run that put the game away was huge, and I couldn't get over how impressive our defense looked all game long. Even though the game was all but over near the end of the fourth quarter, they still didn't take a bit of pressure off. If you're a Giants fan, you should feel pretty excited about them right now.
Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week:
- I can't believe what happened in the Cliff Lee circus. What a turn of events. Screw you, Philly.
- No excuses for what Sal Alosi did on Sunday. Strange that the Jets took so long to make a statement and take action, even stranger that he still has a job.
PHILLY WEEK IS UNDERWAY
I don't have to tell any of you what a huge game we have coming up on Sunday against the Eagles. We've gotta make a big statement at our house, and I think we will! We've lost Steve Smith and some other guys are banged up. Regardless of who's out there, the Gmen will be ready. We have to be. It's Philly week!!!! GET READY!!!! To talk all things Gmen, you can e-mail me at gmensuperfan@gmail.com, and you can find me on Facebook under the name "Gmen Superfan." I'll be at the game on Sunday, and can't wait to add to the home field madness!! Until next week, GO GMEN!!
Written by Superfan
