Results tagged “tomcoughlin”

The last time the Chargers came to New York the result was the infamous “Snowball Game”. While there is no snow in the forecast, Giants fans are in an ugly mood, thanks to a three-game losing streak. In many ways this team is facing its first real crisis point since Week 15 in 2007 when they had to beat the Bills to make the playoffs.

     

The reign is over. After falling to the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday in the divisional playoffs, the Giants fell to the task of trying to make sense of how the game—and the season—slipped away from them.

Plaxico Burress is one of the biggest reasons the Giants won the Super Bowl and is one of the best receivers in the NFL. But his antics off the field are no longer worth the trouble. After last season’s Super Bowl victory, the Giants rewarded Burress with a 5-year/$35 million deal and since contracts in the NFL are not guaranteed, they can choose to terminate that deal at any time. That time should come now.

He played his worst game in quite some time, and now Eli Manning says he suffered a chest injury in Monday's 35-14 whupping at the hands of the Browns. The Super Bowl champ threw three interceptions and looked generally awful throughout the game. That includes the before the hit in the third quarter that apparently inflicted the bruise. Manning should practice with the team and play this week at home against San Francisco. He didn't miss a play Monday, and didn't tell anyone about the injury until afterwards. "He is certainly very good at masking all of that," said head coach Tom Coughlin.

Who says a bye week needs to be boring? The Giants announced today that they have suspended Plaxico Burress for one game, meaning the star receiver will miss the game against Seattle on Oct. 3. Burress apparently missed a team meeting on Monday and then failed to return “several” phone calls. He met with Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese this morning and was told he was suspended. Because the Giants have a bye week, Plaxico is actually missing two weeks with the team and is forfeiting around $235,000 in salary. While suspended, Burress won't be allowed to practice with the team. It seems like a harsh penalty for missing one meeting, but the Giants are clearly sending a message to Burress, who got a big contract extension before the season started, that he needs to live up to that deal on and off the field.

A source tells the Daily News that the Giants have "reached out to Strahan Monday to see if there was any way they could lure him back for a 16th NFL season" now that defensive end Osi Umenyiora is out for the season. Most people think Strahan's return is unlikely--even Giants coach Tom Coughlin said, "His mentality was different last year. The last time I talked with Michael (two weeks ago in Albany) he had accepted his new challenge and was very happy about that." But new Jets quarterback Brett Favre thinks Strahan is the way to go, "If I were a Giant, I'd do whatever I could to get him out and have him back on my team."

A friend described Herbert Simpson, the 30-year-old man nabbed for trying to blackmail Giants coach Tom Coughlin as "slow" and that he was "surprised he could mastermind a plot." Simpson is painted in today's NY Post as an an "overweight, awkward homebody, who lives with his mother." He was arrested Thursday for sending letters to Coughlin pretending to be two women who were former co-workers of Simpson's and would "expose a fictional sexual encounter with Coughlin" if they did not receive $50,000. The two former female co-workers were able to identify the handwriting as that of Simpson, who they said had written threatening letters to others in the past. Simpson is out on bail and has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that a Philadelphia man was charged with "mailing threatening communications" to Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. WNBC reports that apparently Herbert Alex Simpson sent two letters, claiming two women would "expose a fictional sexual encounter with Coughlin" and demanded between $20,000 and $30,000. Simpson allegedly went on to say that if he wasn't paid, he would make Coughlin's life "a living hell by doing something to [his] family.” Neither Coughlin or any of his family members were hurt and Simpson faces two years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Being the sixth-worst team in the NFL has its advantages come April. The Jets had the sixth pick in this weekend's NFL Draft, and, despite hopes that Arkansas running back Darren McFadden would fall to them, ended up taking talented Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston. Then they traded up to make another first-round pick, surprising most with their pick of Dustin Keller, a pass-catching tight end from Purdue.

is out today!

History will place the 2007 Giants among the most unlikely champions ever. 0-2 to start the season, down 17-3 at halftime of their third game, bad losses to Minnesota and Washington, down 14-0 off the bat in Buffalo, a comeback in Dallas, an OT winner in Green Bay and a 17-14 victory over the perfect Patriots- it simply doesn’t get any better than this for Giants fans.

11:27PM: We're enjoying the postgame coverage of the Giants' victory, with sad Tom Brady, really excited Michael Strahan (singing Eli's praises), Peyton Manning being thrilled with his brother's success (aw!) and thoughts from the 1972 Dolpins, secure with their undefeated record for another year (but the Patriots still won more games in a row!). While we've been inside, there are a number of large crowds celebrating the Giants' win all over the city - the police have been called to break some of them up!

After two weeks of hype, Super Bowl XLII is finally around the corner. The Giants have reached the ultimate game with a chance to prevent history by ruining the Patriots' quest for a perfect 19-0 season.

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.

We know that Giants co-owner and movie producer Steve Tisch has been trying to ramp up the star power for the Giants sidelines. After Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz were seen at a game last fall, Tisch told the NY Times, he brings "the spices, the taste, the flavor" to the Giants (if the Giants experience were a soup; the other co-owners, the Maras, would bring the meat and potatoes).

Before getting back to his grueling practice schedule* today, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes stopped in to the Late Show last night. David Letterman and Tynes chat about his family and when he learned to kick (as a senior in high school). Tynes, the 29-year-old father of twins, who missed two 4th quarter field goals in the NFC Championship before kicking the game winner in overtime, was not able to escape ribbing from Letterman, "Everybody I know had the same reaction after the second missed kick in the 4th quarter, 'Please don't send him in again! For the love of God! If there's an ounce of mercy in your soul! Don't send him in!!'"

The Giants won the NFC Championship in overtime, beating the Green Bay Packers 23-20 in overtime and overcome the frigid, below-zero conditions. They are now headed to the Super Bowl where they will meet the New England Patriots, who beat the San Diego Chargers 21-12.

The Jews of New York (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WLIW; Thursday, 9:00 p.m., Thirteen) Ed Koch, Russ & Daughters Appetizers, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the creative team behind Fiddler on the Roof are profiled in this one hour overview of the history and impact of the Jewish community in New York. The show has some great New York City history content, although it seemed like it should have been a bit longer so they could get a bit more in. Still it is an interesting look at the contributions of New York’s Jewish community through the years.

Believe it or not, the Giants won their first playoff game in seven years 24-14 on Sunday. Down 7-0 and stuffed for -2 yards of offense in the first quarter, New York responded on both sides of the ball, rattling off 24-consecutive points and forcing three turnovers. Brandon Jacobs had two touchdowns and Corey Webster played his best game as a Giant, defending passes and collecting two turnovers. And, New York put a number of questions to rest.

This week we'll find out if last Saturday's game against the Patriots was worth it. If you recall, Tom Coughlin decided not to rest his starters during the loss to the Pats and a couple of players were injured. Based on the latest information, it sounds like Sam Madison is out, while Kawika Mitchell and Shaun O’Hara are questionable at best, so the Giants will have to hope that some of their bench players can step up and fill those holes. In addition, New York faces Jeff “Giant Killer” Garcia, who is 4-1 in his career against the Giants and 2-0 in the playoffs.

If there is such a thing as a good loss the Giants earned it when they lost 38-35 to the Patriots last night. History will remember the Patriots 16-0 mark, but unfortunately it will forget that in a meaningless game on a Saturday night they faced their toughest challenge.

The Giants may have a case of déjà vu heading into Sunday’s game. Once again a win means they are in the playoffs and once again they are face the prospect of adverse weather conditions.

On the surface, this one has loss written all over it. Start with last week’s debacle, throw in a Bears team coming off a huge comeback win, subtract Plaxico from the mix, add a potentially cold and wet day in Chicago and the odds look bleak for the Giants. But, there are a few reasons for optimism. First and foremost is the opposing quarterback, Rex Grossman, who can make a big turnover on any play....

It was a big win. It was a lucky win. It was a costly win. And while Jon Kitna may not think the Giants are better than Detroit, in the end they were good enough to beat them 16-10. New York appeared to have the game in control when they got the ball back with a 16-3 lead and only ten minutes to go in the game. But, the Giants’ offense stalled and Detroit needed...

It’s pretty simple for the Giants this week. Win and the 6-2 start is validated in the eyes of the critics. Lose and the assertion that all they have done so far is beat up on weaker teams looks more plausible. It’s a foolish argument, but it’s the reality of the 24/7 sports media. And, while it is true that the Giants started off 6-2 under Tom Coughlin last year only to finish 8-8, there...

The Giants are fortunate that Sunday’s game will be played in London. Fortunate because the venue should help them avoid taking the week off against a team that has nothing going for it. The Dolphins are winless and last week lost their best offensive player, Ronnie Brown, for the season. Brown’s injury came two weeks after the Dolphins lost their starting quarterback for the year and to make matters worse, one of their top defensive players, Zach Thomas, was hurt in a car crash and will miss this week’s game.

Hopefully, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo didn’t buy a house when he moved to New York this off-season. After two games it looks as if Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin will be looking for new jobs very soon. The numbers are hideous, 80 points allowed in two games, over 800 yard allowed and opponents have completed an astounding 71% of their passes against them, but the visual evidence is even worse. Mathias Kiwanuka looks lost at linebacker. Kawika Mitchell’s play makes you long for the days of Carlos Emmons and Webster and Madison can’t cover anyone.

The Giants enter 2007 with more questions than answers. The biggest one is how are they going to replace the 2,100 yards of offense generated by Tiki Barber last season? They don’t get any easier after that though. Will Michael Strahan play well after missing all of training camp? Can David Diehl play left tackle? Is Eli ready to take the next step? Is the secondary any better? Has Tom Coughlin really changed?

What is going on with the Giants? They cut three starters before free agency began and have so far only replaced one, their idiot coach seems to think it is acceptable to compare himself to Hitler and fans may got stuck with paying for PSL's in the new stadium.

So, now that Tiki Barber works for NBC and not the Giants Tom Coughlin is finally going to finally tell him to shut up? Visibly shaken, for probably the first time as coach of the Giants, Coughlin addressed Tiki’s comments about how Coughlin hastened his retirement. “I think to give the illusion that I had something to do with his retirement, I don’t quite follow that.”