Results tagged “stephansavoia”

A Giant hooked up to a shock device, numerous wedding proposals and an American Idol audition all added to the collective fun know as “Media Day” at the Super Bowl. What else can you expect when nearly 5,000 reporters have to shake out stories from 200 or so football players and coaches.

When Super Sunday rolls around, there will be a lot of questions that will be answered. Will the Giants stop the undefeated season of the Patriots? How will Eli Manning perform in the biggest game of his career? And how Tom Brady's foot be? While there are clearly lots of other questions, one question that isn't so obvious is...who's the hotter quarterback. Is it the boy from New Orleans with Southern charm? Or is it the quarterback from California's Bay Area with the supermodel girlfriend?

As admirable as the Jets' effort has been during the second half of their lousy season, don't count on it staying there the final two weeks. Sunday's game against the Titans will mean nothing to them -- though Tennessee needs to win it to have any shot at the playoffs -- and who knows if the Jets will be motivated after their grudge match with the Patriots last week. Their season right now is about watching young players like Darrelle Revis.

The Patriots and Jets didn't have the worst weather in the league Sunday, but they still had plenty to complain about. Rain and wind didn't stay the Patriots from improving to 14-0 with a 20-10 win over the Jets in Foxborough, Mass.. It did help the Jets keep the game close and easily cover the record 27-point spread, for those who care about those things.

The spread opened at 27 points. It's recently settled at 24 1/2 points, which, if held, would be the largest ever for an NFL game. More went into that spread than a terrible team playing an unbeaten one on the road. The Patriots have been running up the score on opponents all year, and everyone thinks they're doing it to teach the league a lesson after it was exposed -- on the word of jets Coach Eric Mangini -- that New England was recording the Jets' defensive signals during a Week 1 win in the Meadowlands.

When they lost in Cleveland two weeks ago, the Jets all but removed their margin of error for the rest of the season. They looked as impressive in this week's 17-14 win over the Patriots as they looked listless in that defeat in Cleveland. Chad Pennington played aggressively, made huge plays on third downs, and the Jets defense shut down the Patriots to hold on in the fourth quarter. Kevan Barlow capped a clinical second-quarter drive that included a conversion on a fourth-and-one gave the Jets a 7-3 lead, and allowed them to play more sensibly on offense.

There is a lot of pressure heading into the 2005 football season on Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning. Coughlin must show that his authoritarian style can translate into wins and Manning must show that he deserved to be drafted first overall based on his talent and not his last name. Both coach and quarterback showed glimpses of promise last year, but this is the year they must build on it.