According to Calvin Watkins of FanHouse.com, former Cowboy LB/DE Greg Ellis will be signing a 3 year contract to become a Raider later today. Financial terms were not disclosed.

There were many who thought that Greg Ellis may become a Raider (or at least hoped). I was not among those people. He does not fit the mold of the type of player this Raider team has been focusing on this offseason.

Ellis is the type of player the Patriots were thought to have interest in. He is over 30 (He'll be 34 in August) and is somewhat of a "tweener" which works great in the Patriots' 3-4 scheme. Plus the Patriots are in the market for a DE/LB these days so it seemed like the obvious fit.

• NY Post - Paul Schwartz interviewed LB Michael Boley.......read
• Newsday's Tom Rock on WR Steve Smith...........read
• The Daily News' Tim Smith says RB Brandon Jacobs wants to get into Boxing promotion.....read
• Michael Eisen of Giants.com is reporting that WR Hakeem Nicks is throwing out the first pitch at tonight's Mets-Phillies game at Citi Field.....read
• Mike Garafolo on Jesse Armstead opening a car dealership in NJ.....read
• Pat Traina says Guy Whimper's days may be numbered.......read

Is it too early to write an article like this? Of course it is.  Before you read this, assume you are a jury an I am the judge and I just instructed you to apply facts - not emotion - to your verdict.

The best team in the AFC is the New England Patriots. The best team in the NFC is the New York Giants. Should everything hold true to form, these two clubs will meet in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami on February 7th, 2010.

New England

The plain truth is the Patriots have been accused of many things (and rightfully so), which has led to most non-Patriot fans despising them like some kind of movie villains. That doesn't change the fact that they won 10 games without the best player in football - QB Tom Brady - last season.

Brady's comeback from reconstructive knee surgery is being called 'miraculous' by most medical experts. He'd waaaay ahead of schedule and looking like the Brady of old.  That's good news for the Pats and bad news for the rest of the AFC.

Making the Case For the Patriots

Brady will rejoin his merry band of receivers (Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Benjamin Watson), his celebrated offensive line and a new-look backfield that contains Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor and Laurence Maroney. The Pats also signed WR Joey Galloway and TEs Alex Smith and Chris Baker as free agents. Other enhancements are 3rd round draft choice WR Brandon Tate, the re-signing of RB Patrick Pass and the trade for Eagles' WR Greg Lewis. 

I think they have enough offense....don't you?

On defense, Rodney Harrison is gone, as are Mike Vrabel and Ellis Hobbs.  Coming in are CBs Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden, LB Tully Banta-Cain and draft choices S Patrick Chung, DT Ron Brace and CB Darius Butler. That's on top of already talented unit that claims DEs Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Jarvis Green; LBs Tedy Bruschi, Jerrod Mayo, Adalius Thomas and Pierre Woods; DT Vince Willfork and safeties Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders.

I think they have enough defense, too.

The AFC East is an improving division, but when you look at it, the only team with a steady QB is New England. The Jets are relying on untested Kellen Clemens and rookie Mark Sanchez. The Bills have Trent Edwards, who isn't bad but he's about to be Terrellized. Let's see how that works out. The Dolphins happen to have a legit starter in Chad Pennington, but they also have Chad Henne and Pat White in the wings.  Conventional wisdom says Pennington is just a placeholder until one of these guys is ready. Controversy awaits.

New Jets coach Rex Ryan has taken a couple of pokes at Bill Bellichick this off season. Word to the wise, Rex: shut up. Terrell Owens has devoured Buffalo, they may as well concede now. Miami could be in for a relapse after such a drastic turnaround last year.

The AFC has some battle-tested teams, but the Patriots are the most battle-tested. The Steelers and Colts are always competitive but they are not as aggressive in the free agent market as the Pats. That puts them at a disadvantage. The Chargers have quite a few internal questions and since they haven't reached a Super Bowl are wondering if they are snake-bit.

Prediction: New England will win 13 games and the AFC Championship. Papa Tom will be Comeback Player of the Year - and MVP.

New York Giants

No one gives the Giants any credit for anything. They could win four straight Super Bowls and morons will keep picking against them. My advice to the Giant detractors: brace yourself.  They're coming.

All of the cancerous, parasitic and self-absorbed elements of this team are gone. The Giants are a cohesive, well-oiled, deep and hungry bunch who are quietly waiting for the season to start.

Making the Case For the Giants

On offense Eli Manning appears to have matured into a leader. He is throwing spirals now, too. In workouts he has looked like a different player.  Eli has become "Very Peyton-like" one observer told me. This will be his time. He will begin to dominate now. I am one of Eli's biggest critics, so if I'm telling you this, its got be true.

The rushing combination of Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Danny Ware and Andre Brown is one of football's best and they are running behind the NFL's top offensive line. Teams have to physically and mentally prepare for Jacobs, who seeks out contact and can wear opponents down over the course of a game. The others offer a change of pace, usually after Jacobs softens the opponents' defense and usually rip off a a few big plays to ice games.

The receiving aspect of the offense has come under fire by many a pundit and self-proclaimed expert. Trust me when I tell you that this unit will be considered a strength. Just remember this part - Plaxico, who?  Remember when the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup without Mario Lemieux?  Think along those lines....

The defense suffered a letdown last year, but is ready for a resurgence. With Michael Strahan in retirement and Osi Umenyiora shelved with a knee injury, the Giants' vaunted d-line rotation was not as effective.  This season, they stocked up nicely. Free agent veterans Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard will join All-Pro DE Justin Tuck, a bulked-up Umnenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka and Barry Cofield to create a formidable front.

They will be supported by a linebacking crew anchored by redemption-filled Antonio Pierce, Michael Boley, Danny Clark, Bryan Kehl and a powerful rookie - Clint Sintim.

The secondary is stocked with high-round talent: CBs Corey Webster, Aaron Ross and Terrell Thomas and S Kenny Phillips.  Along with safeties Michael Johnson and CC Brown and corner Kevin Dockery, this unit has the potential to become a highly productive one. 

The NFC East is a rough road to travel on each year.  This year, the Eagles put the finishing touches on their offense - which promises to be a high-scoring one. They did so at the expense of their defense though.  They did not add any significant parts through free agency or the draft. plus they lost their captain S Brian Dawkins to free agency. In addition, the club may be without their legendary coordinator - Jim Johnson - who took a leave of absence to undergo cancer treatments. Best wishes to him, he is a good man.

Dallas is claiming they are better with this ridiculous 'addition by subtraction' crap they've been spewing in the media.  They lost a ton of players and didn't draft this year until Day Two.  Hard to beleive they are going to be better.

Washington did what they do best. They threw money around like drunken sailors in free agency again. They grossly overpaid for Albert Haynesworth and D'Angelo Hall. Then they drafted a natural DE in Texas' Brian Orakpo to replace Jason Taylor and are trying to make a linebacker out of him.  Yikes.

The NFC was won by Arizona last year. My advise to Cardinal fans - I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl because you may not get there again for awhile. This season it comes down to two teams: New York and Philadelphia. This time the Giants will prevail.

Super Bowl XLIV will pit a vengeful Bill Belichick against the team that ruined his perfect season two years ago.  Regardless of his intent, the Giants just might be favored this time around. Do you think the reconnaissance of the Giants has begun yet in Foxborough?

Brad Gagnon at The Score put out an interesting challenge on his blog last week, calling on sports fans to answer, Who's the team of the decade?

My answer is obvious, but not just for the reasons you might think.

Brad makes a great statistical case for the Patriots over at his place: they have won the most Super Bowls (3), are tied for the most conference titles (2), tied for the most division titles (6), have the best regular season record (102-42), and the best playoff record (14-3). They also own the first perfect regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and before that, a streak of 21 consecutive regular-season wins, more than that if you count the playoff games in between.

Then Brad has to go and sully my glowing feelings of pride by noting, correctly, "It's safe to say that the Pats would've had this thing locked up had they beaten the Giants in Super Bowl XLII."

Furthermore, he points out, on a purely statistical basis, the Pittsburgh Steelers could rival the Patriots' record in the postseason if they win the Super Bowl this year. "Consider New England to be the team of the first half of the 2000s, while Pittsburgh's the team of the second half," he concludes.

But I disagree with that. Even if the Steelers were to win this year's Super Bowl and dominate the second half of the decade on paper, there's simply no way for them to dominate the zeitgeist of the decade the way the Patriots have.

That's what we're really talking about when we're talking about the team of the decade - like Time Magazine's Person of the Year, it's not who's been the most successful or the most liked, but the most influential and / or emblematic. We're talking about the first team that will spring to mind when you think of the decade, for better or for worse, and there's a lot more to that than wins, losses and rings.

Even if the Pittsburgh Steelers establish another dynasty in the salary-cap era, it'll still be just that: another one. The Patriots were the first to do it, when it was thought to be impossible.

They began the decade in the spotlight with the controversial defection of Bill Belichick to New England from the New York Jets. Before he'd ever set foot on the field in Foxboro, Bill Belichick was at the center of attention in the league, and he's hardly left it since.

The next year, the Patriots ended a 42-year-long championship drought (read: the entire history of the franchise) in an improbable run featuring the rags-to-riches story of Tom Brady, and the parallel drama of Drew Bledsoe as he recovered from devastating injury. Once again, they were the source of controversy after the Tuck Rule game. They went on to become the underdog of Super Bowl XXXVI.

It went beyond the stories on the field, though. Playing in the first Super Bowl to be held since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, as the league's Super Bowl DVD from that year puts it, "the team flying highest was wearing red, white and blue." Bob Kraft also captured the sense of identification between team and country with his line after the upset victory: "Today, we are all Patriots."

And so on, through the dynasty years. It wasn't just that they won - it's that they won with a new style, a new scheme, and incredibly shrewd player development. They were called a "model franchise". Other teams openly aspired to mimic their success.

As if all the wins and the cultural resonance weren't enough, the Patriots were also at the center of the NFL's greatest rivalry of the last decade. It was a trifold rivalry - between two teams, the Indianapolis Colts and the Patriots; between two head coaches in Tony Dungy and Bill Belichick; and between the two premier quarterbacks of the decade, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. These two teams have played the most contentious, fraught series of playoff contests in the AFC over the last 9 years, and when Peyton Manning finally got his day in the sun, he had to go through the Patriots in the AFC Championship first.

Of course, I'm biased. I know there are people out there who would despise the idea of another superlative attached to the Patriots. People who absolutely can't stand the entire franchise, and all it stands for.

But in the end, that's what really seals this for me.

The Patriots are the touchstone team of this decade, not just because they have been successful or loved, but also because they have also been hated and failed. Throughout the perfect regular season, when the records they were breaking weren't making headlines, SpyGate was. I heard that season, on this blog, from fans I never normally hear from, like Baltimore Ravens fans. Suddenly it was important to everyone in the league whether Bill Belichick was a cheater.

The controversy spread to envelop the St. Louis Rams, an otherwise obscure former Patriots video assistant named Matt Walsh, a Boston beat reporter named John Thomase, and his newspaper, the Boston Herald, after Thomase broke news on the eve of the Super Bowl against the Giants alleging the Patriots had videotaped a Rams walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. While Walsh eventually failed to supply any evidence, the repercussions of this bombshell lasted well into Spring Training the next year. A $100 million lawsuit was filed in New Orleans over the alleged cheating in the championship game. Senators in Washington got involved. Eventually, the Herald was forced to print an embarrassing public retraction and apology for fanning the SpyGate flames.

The Patriots media juggernaut has another dimension, too, and another face: Tom Brady. Open this week's Sports Illustrated and you'll find him inside the cover in a two-page ad for bottled water. Open one from a few weeks ago and you might spy him in a Stetson ad. Pass by People, Us Weekly and the like on the newsstand, and there's Brady, his wife, his ex-girlfriend, and his baby, being gabbed about and debated over to rival the SpyGate controversies. People who don't watch football have an opinion on him and his family. He is a crossover star, instantly recognizable, on a par with the likes of Derek Jeter and Brett Favre. I can't think of anyone from this decade's Steelers who's earned that description.

Love them or hate them, if you're a football fan, you've spent a lot of time this decade thinking about and arguing about the Patriots, no matter what team you root for. They've been the underdog, the model franchise, the dynasty, the fallen heroes and the villains, all in a few short years. When we look back on this decade with all its turmoil, only the Patriots will embody it all. 

Campbell finished the 2008 season ranked 19th in passing yards, sandwiched between Carolina's Jake Delhomme and Jacksonville's David Garrard.

That was enough to drive Redskin owner Daniel Snyder mad...for Jay Cutler and Mark Sanchez, both of whom would have single-handedly overcome late season breakdowns on the offensive line and the slow development of rookie wide receivers. Apparently.

Washington's maneuvers raise a question. How does Jason Campbell compare to other NFC East quarterbacks at the same point in their development?

Mark him down for third place.

Campbell has started 36 games. In 2008, he completed 62.3 percent of his passes, with 6.4 yards per completion. He threw 13 touchdowns and six interceptions for an 84.3 QB rating. He has a 16-20 record as a starter.

Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb started his 36th game during the 2001 season. In that year, McNabb completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 6.6 yards per attempt. McNabb threw 25 TD passes and 12 interceptions for an 84.3 QB rating. He was 24-14 as a starter by the end of the season.   

Tony Romo has started 39 games for the Dallas Cowboys. His 61.3 percent completion rate for 2008 extends a three year decline in performance since 2006. His 7.7 yards per attempt, while impressive, also marks a steady decline from his 2006 high (8.6 Y/A). Romo threw 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for a 91.4 QB rating. He is 27-12 as a starter.

Eli Manning started his 36th game for the New York Giants in 2006. In that season, he completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt. Manning tossed 24 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions for a 77.0 QB rating. Manning did not complete over 60 percent of his passes, or exceed a QB rating of 80, until the 2008 season. By the end of the 2006 season, Manning was 20-19.

Donovan McNabb benefited from the stability of a strong coaching staff and a powerhouse team in 2001. Eli Manning also benefited from a stable coaching staff. His biggest coaching adjustment came in 2006, when his quarterback coach, Kevin Gilbride, was named offensive coordinator under head coach Tom Coughlin.

Tony Romo won the starting job when head coach Bill Parcells finally tired of veteran Drew Bledsoe. When Parcells left the Cowboys in 2007, owner Jerry Jones tailored the entire offense, from talent to coaching, around Tony Romo.

Jason Campbell famously never had consecutive years in the same offense under the same offensive coordinator until this year. Teams making the changes that Washington did from 2006 to 2008 seek stability with a veteran quarterback. Washington's turmoil stumped Mark Brunell. Jason Campbell got his start in the depths of a ruinous 2006 season.

His development tracks with Eli Manning, except for throwing touchdowns. Jason Campbell's paltry touchdown production opens the door to Daniel Snyder's dissatisfaction. A normal progression by Campbell this year could lead to 64 percent of passes completed, for 3500 yards, 20 touchdowns, 10 INTs, and a QB rating of 89.0. Washington might win nine games with that performance.

That could make Campbell the third best quarterback in the NFC East. But that won't satisfy Daniel Snyder.

Donovan McNabb enters 2009 as the best of the Beast quarterbacks after Philadelphia's strong offseason. The Eagles loaded their offensive line with the addition of tackles Stacy Adams and Jason Peters. DeSean Jackson has a year under his belt at wide receiver.

The Eagles boosted talent at the position by drafting Jeremy Macklin. Rookie running back LeSean McCoy is expected to supplement Brian Westbrook.

Tony Romo is second best on this list. Everyone focuses on the departure of Terrell Owens. Here's what that really means; the Cowboys will rely less on the passing game and more on its ground attack with Marion Barber and Felix Jones.

Beast teams win on the ground in December. Less dependence on Romo will lead to better results for the Cowboys.

Eli Manning finally achieved a top tier performance in 2008, but the Giants struggled late without Plaxico Burress. Until New York resolves that issue, the Giants and Manning are question marks going into 2009.

For Jason Campbell to lock his place in Washington, or ensure a starting role elsewhere, he must be a league top three quarterback. That means he has to throw 30 touchdown passes, regardless of the play of the offensive line or of Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly. Thirty touchdown passes should lead to 10 or 11 wins and a first round playoff bye.  

A performance like that would entice teams to offer first round draft picks for Campbell, a development that should please Daniel Snyder.  

Alex Trebek : This player from the University of Wisconsin was a Mackey Award semifinalist in 2006.

John Fennelly: Who is Travis Beckum?

Alex Trebek: Yes, it was his first year as an offensive player, too. Not bad.

That leads me to think...who exactly is this kid who's name is so eerily close to that of the character played by Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver?

Here's what we know:

He's an exceptional athlete. He started his college career as a defensive player and then switched to tight end in his junior year.

He was named second-team All-American. As a senior, he broke his leg and fell off the radar of many pro scouts.

But not everyone's radar screen went dark. No one seems to fall off the Giants' radar these days.

Jerry Reese took Beckum with the second of his two third round selections (No. 100 overall). It wasn't a total shock, but right then and there everyone from the guy who sells the peanuts to John Mara felt a shiver.

Another steal?

Perhaps. Beckum is what is commonly known as "a tweener:" a guy who is too big for one position and too small for another. In his case, Beckum is 6'3", 240 and is too big for a WR and tad too small for a TE.

Will he be an H-back perhaps? Kevin Gilbride, the Giants' OC says no, because the Giants normally do not use the H-back formation in their offense.

"I see him as a bigger Steve Smith," said Gilbride in an interview with Giants.com, "He creates a problem for defenses matchup-wise."  That's right.  A slot receiver. Beckum will be the hinge that the Giant offense has lacked.

Defenses will need to put a safety on him (who will be too small) or a linebacker (who may be too slow).  Either scenario strengthens both the passing and running attacks.

Gilbride also alluded to the fact that Beckum has great YAC (yards after catch) potential, which would garner even more attention from defenders.

So my Saturday just got a little better after listening to Gilbride, brimming with enthusiasm over the new weapon in his arsenal.

When Giants fans are asked 'What is your favorite Giants' team of all-time?', you'll get different answers from different age groups.  The elders will point to the glory days of the 1950's of Sam Huff and Frank Gifford. The Baby Boomers will tell you about Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, while the youth will rattle off more current names such as Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, and Eli Manning.  

When I was a kid, the Giants were doormats.  From 1964 through 1980, "Big Blue" did not qualify for the postseason. "So what?" you say.  Many teams were doormats during that period...Yes, but the Giants had traditionally been contenders.

During the 1978 season, fan frustration had reached its pinnacle. "The Fumble" was the final stake through the hearts of Giant fans. They began to demand changes.

They boycotted games, burned tickets in the parking lot and even had a plane fly over the stadium towing a banner behind it that read "15 Years of Lousy Football--We've Had Enough".  It was time for co-owners Wellington Mara and his nephew, Tim, to put their personal differences behind them and work together to salvage the family business.

That happened in 1979 with the assistance of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. He suggested the Giants hire an overlord to rebuild their club, both on--and off--the field. The man they brought in was George Young, who had achieved success at every level of the football business. 

He came in and shook the dust of the rugs, so to speak.   He hired a new coach--Ray Perkins--a disciplinarian he knew as a player from his Baltimore Colts days.  Perkins began to shape up the club while Young started to accumulate talent.

1979 and 1980 were not the successful campaigns the franchise and the fans had hoped they would be.  They finally had a franchise quarterback--Phil Simms--but he could only do so much. He was literally thrown to the wolves and it would be years before he would develop.

The offense had very few playmakers. The defense had several. The best--and most valuable--player on the team was punter Dave Jennings.

My Favorite Year

Entering the 1981 season we were all painfully aware that the Giants had not been to the playoffs since 1963. That was the season that President Kennedy was assassinated. When Ronald Reagan was shot on March of 1981, Quija-board toting Giants fans came out of the woodwork and began to predict good things for the team. 

The Giants had the second overall choice in that April's NFL Draft by virtue of their 4-12 record in 1980. When the Saints took the Heisman Trophy winner, RB George Rogers of South Carolina, with the first selection, the Giants wasted no time in taking North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor.  

"Another linebacker?" we asked. We already had Brad Van Pelt, Harry Carson and Brian Kelley. "What do we need him for?"  Defensive coordinator, Bill Parcells, who was back in the fold after a year in New England, made the most of what he had and switched the defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4. 

It was the right move.  Taylor started from day one and made an immediate impact.  Giant fans were elated. We finally had something going for us. "Pass that thermos full of Kamikazes down this end of the row, will you?"

Even with Taylor, the Giants were still an average team.  Ten weeks through the season, they were 5-5, but the level of play was rising.  With six weeks to go, the team began to make a run for the playoffs. This time it wasn't a pipe dream.

The 1981 Giants were a combination of hard-nosed players and budding stars, unlike in years past when the team was chock full of has-beens, nobodys and rejects.  It had been an eternity since the team had a player that even resembled an NFL quarterback. 

Simms' guile and talent evoked high hopes amongst the faithful. The running game finally got some oomph, as well, when Young traded for Houston's Rob Carpenter in October. He single-handedly revived the team's offense with his smashmouth style.  WR Johnny Perkins, a five-year veteran of little accomplshment, suddenly emerged as the main receiving threat. 

Then there was RB Leon Neon Bright, an explosive, daring player who caught the ball out of the backfield and returned punts.  You might recall that Bright prided himself in not calling for fair catches. He paid the price many a time.  Needless to say, fans did not leave their seats during a punt play.

The core of the defense was the linebackers, but there were other talented players as well, such as DE George Martin, NT Bill Neill, CB Mark Haynes, S Bill Currier and Beasley Reece, and LB Byron Hunt.  They were playing the Parcells way, too. They would finish the season ranked third in the NFL in total defense.

The key player would end up being the place kicker--Joe Danelo--who made clutch kick after clutch kick and was proficient at denying opponents the opportunity to return kickoffs by kicking the ball through the back of the end zone.

The Run

The 11th game of the season was at the Meadowlands against the Washington Redskins. The game was a close one, as usual.  Joe Theismann was not an easy man to pin down.  He consistently tied the aggressive Giant defense in knots with his elusiveness.

In the second half, Simms was sacked and left the game with a shoulder injury. Scott Brunner, the tall, lanky, second-year man out of Delaware, relieved him.  Brunner managed to put the Giants ahead 27-24 in the fourth quarter on a TD pass to rookie WR John Mistler.  We went wild.  "Hey, we can win this one!"

But it wasn't meant to be.  Theismann rallied the Skins to tie the game on a 49-yard field goal by the last of the traditional straight-on kickers, Mark Moseley, who would then repeat the feat in overtime. The Giants lost, 30-27.  Later, we learned that Simms would miss the rest of the season with a separated shoulder.  We were 5-6.  Hope was fading.

Optimism was hard to find going into week 12. A trip to Philadelphia to play the 9-2, defending NFC Champion Eagles loomed ominously.  Brunner would get the start at QB.  The season had suddenly fallen squarely on his shoulders.  Perkins played it close to the vest and asked the defense to set the tempo.

They responded. The score was tied through three quarters. With Brunner under pressure and looking rusty, Perkins took the air out of the ball.  Carpenter banged through Eagle defenders to the tune of 111 yards.  

The Giants shut the Eagles out in the second half, icing the game on Terry Jackson's interception of a Ron Jaworski pass for a TD.  The 20-10 victory pulled them back to .500 at 6-6.  Optimism made a comeback.

Week 13 sent the Giants across the country to Candlestick Park in San Francisco.  The 49ers were 9-3 and enjoying a renaissance under former Stanford coach Bill Walsh and Notre Dame star Joe Montana.

The Niners took control of the game early and never relinquished the lead. The Giants played admirably, and held Montana in check. He didn't throw a TD pass, but he still cracked the boxscore with a 20-yard scramble for a TD. The final was 17-10. The Giants' playoff hopes took a nosedive.  They needed to win the next three games or the season would be over. No problem, right?

If you've ever been to the Meadowlands in December, you'll know it's not pleasant.  The Rams were facing their first losing season in a decade, and the last place they wanted to be was in the chilly swamps of Jersey. 

The wind wreaked havoc on both passing games. Brunner was just 5-22. Los Angeles' Pat Haden went 8-21.  The 14th game of the season was a war of attrition. The Giants thankfully came out on top, 10-7.  My feet are still cold from that day.  

The 7-7 Giants traveled to St. Louis to take on the red-hot Cardinals, who were on a four game winning streak. After the Cards broke the ice on a Neil O'Donaghue field goal, the Giants scored 20 unanswered points, highlighted by George Martin's fumble return for a TD. 

Carpenter carried the mail again for the Blue, racking up 147 total yards, while the defense terrorized Cardinal QB Neil Lomax.  The Giants' 20-10 victory brought them to 8-7 after 15 weeks.  If only they could  beat the division-leading Cowboys at home the next week, they would go to the playoffs.

The Meadowlands was abuzz in Week 16. All hands were on deck for the first meaningful game in almost two decades. Not one seat was vacant. The Cowboys were playing for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. For that to happen, they needed a victory combined with a San Francisco loss. 

No matter the stakes, Dallas coach Tom Landry always played to win.  The weather was similar to the Rams game a few weeks before, but with the stakes so high, the cold seemed almost unnoticeable for most of the game. Halftime came quickly. Neither team had managed to score. In the third quarter, Scott Brunner hit TE Tom Mullady, from little Rhodes College, for a TD and the only score of the period.

As the sun set over the stadium, Dallas responded with TD pass of their own--Danny White to Doug Cosbie, and then took the lead 10-7 on a Rafael Septien FG.  The crowd slunk back as if they should have known better.

"We can't beat Dallas" was the sentiment. Only this time the team didn't falter. The Giants drove down the field and tied the game on a Danelo 40-yard FG.  In overtime, Danelo was good again from 35 yards and the Blue was finally on their way to the playoffs.

In the Wild Card game, the Giants traveled to Philly again. Most fans felt it was just nice to have a 17th game for once.  Expectations were low, as we would get an 18th game as well. 

The Giants caught the champs flatfooted and built a 27-7 lead by halftime and held on to stun the Eagles, 27-21 to advance to the NFC Divisional Playoff round. Giant fans who, had been living in caves, or were in comas, began to sprout up everywhere.

The next opponent was the 49ers. It would be the first of many memorable games the two teams would play throughout the decade.  Montana was a bit sharper this time around (20 for 31 for 304 yards and 2 TDs).  Brunner looked like a pro, too, tossing three TD's. 

It wasn't enough.  The Niners led the whole game and knocked the Giants out of the tournament, 38-24.  San Francisco would go on to win the NFC Championship on Dwight Clark's catch the next week, and then top Cincinnati in Super Bowl XVI.

The Giants were embarking a stellar decade, too, but it was that first taste of playoff football that was the most exciting for me.  After 18 years, we were finally in the conversation.

My first live baseball experience was in 1965 when I was four years of age. Shea Stadium was a state-of-the-art palace at the time, not that a four-and-a-half year old boy would know the difference.

The Mets won the battle, but lost the war, as you probably know.

Baseball was fun, but I loved football.

My support for Big Blue goes back further than most. I am one of the few writers on this site that can claim to have attended Giants home games in four stadiums over a period of five decades.

My father was an old New York Giants baseball fan and, by nature, he became a rabid New York football Giants fan. His spectator days go back to the 1940s at the Polo Grounds. By virtue, my brothers and I inherited our love for the football Giants from him.

The Beginning

It was 1967. The Vietnam War had yet to peak. Many American cities were still left to be burned. The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were still alive and well. Woodstock was still two summers away. Richard Nixon was unemployed and, most importantly, I went to my first New York Football Giants game.

I had never seen the Giants play a home game--not even on television.

Keep in mind that Giants home games were rarely televised back then because of the NFL's blackout rule. A team had to sell out--or sell a certain percentage of seats--for the local TV blackout to be lifted. That was impossible at the time because Yankee Stadium held 80,000 seats and there was no way the faltering Giants were getting that many butts up to the crumbling Bronx.

I listened to the home games on the radio. Marty Glickman, the former Olympian was the play-by-play announcer. For those of you who never heard one his broadcasts, you missed out on something special. Glickman had a cadence, similar to that of Marv Albert, but not as pronounced. (Albert was actually a protégé of Glickman's). The color commentator was usually former Giant Al De Rogatis, who would eventually work for NBC in the 70s.

October 8th. Normally the Bronx would be preparing for a World Series game, but the Yankees had fallen on hard times. Instead, the New York Football Giants were hosting the winless, expansion New Orleans Saints at Yankee Stadium that day.

When the time came, my father and I jumped into his friend's car, a Buick the size of an aircraft carrier, and zipped merrily up to the Bronx.

The Bronx was once a thriving, middle-class borough consisting of immigrants from all over the globe. It was composed of tight-knit, strong communities, was very difficult to navigate.

That all changed with the construction of three expressways--The Cross Bronx, The Major Deegan and the Bruckner. These roads were designed to connect New Jersey with Connecticut and Long Island without clogging up the streets of the Bronx and Manhattan, which they did, but the residual effects devastated the region.

The Giants and the Yankees both suffered from the "white flight" of the 1960s . Middle-class families fled the Bronx for the spacious, lung-friendlier suburbs. This, combined with the fact that both franchises had tanked performance-wise, sparked a burgeoning legion of new Mets and Jets fans.

That aside, I had a great time at the game. All my favorites were there--in blue jerseys! Fran Tarkenton and Homer Jones. Tucker Frederickson and Ernie Koy. Aaron Thomas, and my personal hero--No. 40, Joe Morrison. Spider Lockhart was there too.

The Giants almost handed the Saints their first franchise victory, but Tarkenton rallied them to a 27-21 win. All was right with the world.

Every time I smell cigar smoke and stale beer, I think back to that day.

It would be years later that I learned that the five of us only had four tickets. My father greased the ticket taker to let me through the turnstiles.

The Giants had me hooked before that day, but I was totally immersed in Blue from that moment on. I've either gone to, watched, or listened to every Giants game from 1967 to the present.

Moving On

Wherever the Giants played, near or far, I wanted to go. When Yankee Stadium was going through a remodeling in 1974, we went to the Yale Bowl. In 1975, I walked to Shea Stadium (don't be alarmed, I lived in Flushing) to see the Craig Morton Giants fall short in six of the eight games.

When the Meadowlands opened, the first game was against the Cowboys. I'm sorry to report that I was not in attendance. My older brother wanted to go, so you know how those things turn out. I had to work, but I listened to Glickman's call on the radio. The Meadowlands would become a second home to me over the years.

As time went on, I ended up losing my season tickets when my friend's father passed away and the family took them over. That didn't deter me from going to games though. Other friends would take me or I would scalp.

My biggest thrill was being in attendance at the Rose Bowl for Super Bowl XXI, when the Giants defeated Denver for their first NFL Championship in 30 years.

Since then, I've gone to three or four games a year. I like to stay home and watch more than I used to. That's a sign of aging I guess, but the enthusiasm is as strong and as vibrant as that six-year-old kid's was in 1967.

When people want to talk Giants, they seek me out. They know I've seen the highs, the lows and the in-betweens. They know I'll know a player's uniform number from 1973 or where a guy played his college ball or what our record was in 1987.

Whether it's a conversation or question about the Giants' past, present or future, they know that I'll have the right perspective or answer.

And they know that I'll be more than happy to give it to them.

About two tenths of a second after the Darrius Heyward-Bey pick by the Raiders, the negative criticism began pouring in. And oh, how they piled on. When the Raiders second round pick came in, what started out as a feeding frenzy became a massacre. But if these "experts," prognosticators, and analysts are going to pile on the Raiders for making the decisions they make, then someone (me, in this case) must take note of these criticisms, log them in, and check back with them down the road a piece to see if they are willing to be held accountable for their rants.

Quite often it is only the players themselves who will remember the barbs thrown at them by the talking heads. The players will in turn use that criticism to fuel their fire so that, when/if they prove the critics wrong, they can throw it back in their face. This kind of thing doesn't happen often enough, though.

They're the 4th team in a 4-team division. That will make it tough to win 8 games.