Game Face

Leon Washington scored two touchdowns yesterday in the Jets’ 34-13 blowout win over the Titans. (Photo by Getty Images)

By Ryan Chatelain and Aline E. Reynolds

The Jets yesterday did what no team in the NFL has been able to do since the start of the football season nearly three months ago: They handily beat the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans, leaving no doubt in the minds of New Yorkers that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

And with Gotham’s two football teams on a roll, New Yorkers are buzzing about the possibility of a Big Blue-Gang Green matchup in Super Bowl XLIII.

“It would be great for the city,” said Ian Wallach, 26, of Murray Hill, a Jets fan watching the game at Stout, a sports bar in midtown. “You’re guaranteed a huge party, whoever wins.”

"Three flies." The Berkshires of Massachussetts, Nov. 23, 2007

By Max J. DIckstein

Call me a sentimental softie, but this chilly New York evening has stirred the coals of autumn meaning in me. The summer months, plus mild parts of October and November, call for the NBA Finals and other meaningless frivolity. In the winter, life out-of-doors is colder and more meaningful. Ask the Phillies.

And I didn't mean to disparage the NBA's championship series in June, but that league should cut its playoff bracket back down to 8 teams. I mean, 16 teams make the postseason in a league of 30? That's more than half the teams. This gives teams like the Knicks playoff hopes at 4-2 and creates holding patterns of mediocrity.

Anyway, with temperatures declining as they are, I offer this paean to the fall season:

Fall's bite
By Your O. Paean

You rise from nature's hearth,
Overhead shining our way over ice,
Dear season of fall.

Your divinity inspires the zealous vigor of champions.
Sister Winter blessed the New York Giants, let them laugh sleeveless
at Lambeau Field hypothermia last February,
champions a game later.

Sweet goodness
!!!
Kindle your Thanksgiving fires, but let them toss their football,
warm their arms, and maybe catch the thing if they dare play.

This could be part of Usain Bolt's touchdown celebration (Photo by AP)

Plaxico Burress spends more time in the team hot tub than he does on the practice field. Amani Toomer is about two years away from his first false-teeth fitting. We’re still waiting for a memorable Sinorice Moss sighting. Steve Smith, Mario Manningham – promising youngsters, but injured. Domenik Hixon? Excuse us if we don’t give into preseason hype.

The Giants’ receiving corps has plenty of potential, but also plenty of question marks. General manager Jerry Reese should swing for the fences by bringing a new receiver into the mix, one who could potentially be the greatest wideout the game has ever seen.

I’m, of course, talking about Jamaican track god Usain “Lightning” Bolt.

There’s so much about Bolt that screams NFL wide receiver.

1. He’s fast. ESPN says he would run the 40-yard dash in an unfathomable 3.49 seconds. In most years, the NFL’s fastest player runs about a 4.2 40.

2. He’s got the size. If a speedy defensive back can defy the odds and keep up with Bolt on the field, what are the chances that he would be able to outjump the 6-foot-5 gold medalist, too? Bolt would have at least a 3-inch advantage over all of last season’s Pro Bowl cornerbacks – half of whom weren’t even 6 feet tall.

3. He’s cocky. By saying things like "I blew the world’s mind,” Bolt has the personality to be an NFL receiver, following in the footsteps of Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson and many others. And as evident by his triumph in the 100-meter dash, in which he began celebrating before he crossed the finish line, it’s easy to picture him high-stepping before he hits the end zone, Deion Sanders style.

Of course, there’s that small matter of whether Bolt can actually catch a football. But T.O. has been one of the NFL’s best at dropping passes the past two seasons and many still consider him to be a great “receiver.”

Although, if Bolt has his choice of signing with any NFL team, the Giants wouldn’t make much sense. He should instead sign with the San Diego Chargers. “Lightning” Bolt playing for the lightning bolts. How perfect would that be?

On ESPN’s Sunday Conversation last night, Tom Coughlin was given a golden opportunity to rip the departed Jeremy Shockey, who once publicly called the Giants coach an “ass.”

Not only did Coughlin take the high road, he said Shockey, now a New Orleans Saint, was a “team above self” player last season.

“Jeremy tried to get all this energy into the right context, knowing his personality and knowing how aggressive he was, and he did a good job with it,” Coughlin said. “The unfortunate thing is the injury. He paid the price to get to the position that we were in, and it would have been nice to take him with us through the playoff run.”

There were other interesting moments in the interview, including Coughlin talking about how in 2006 media speculation that he might be fired wore on his family, how dangerously close Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress came to missing the big game with ankle and knee injuries and how the defending champs are still fighting for respect.

Who didn’t see this coming? Despite what was said publicly, it’s been obvious for at least six months that the Giants and Jeremy Shockey wanted to sever ties from each other.

A deal to send the disgruntled tight end to New Orleans would have been completed by draft day, but general manager Jerry Reese refused to let the Giants sell Shockey at a bargain-basement price. For all his faults, Shockey, after all, is still among the most talented tight ends in football when healthy.

This is the kind of trade that could work out well for both sides.

Shockey will be reunited with former Giants offensive coordinator Sean Payton, now head coach of the Saints. He gets a fresh start and will instantly become an integral part in one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses.

The Giants, meanwhile, receive New Orleans’ second- and fifth-round draft choices in 2009. Even more important, they rid themselves of a locker-room cancer and an on-field crybaby, one who many blame for stunting the development of Eli Manning.

But one major question lingers for Big Blue: Is Kevin Boss truly a starting-quality tight end? Looks like we’ll find out.

Photo by Getty Images

We spoke to two of top-rated pass rushers in the NFL on Monday about Michael Strahan's retirement — Dwight Freeney and Jared Allen.

The Indianapolis Colts' Freeney, 28, missed the final seven games of last season with a foot injury and he’s working out in Indianapolis. amNewYork reached him there by telephone Monday morning.

INDIANAPOLIS - OCTOBER 7: Dwight Freeney #93 of the Indianapolis Colts celebrates a tackle for a loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the NFL game October 7, 2007 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

FREENEY: “Strahan had a Hall of Fame career. Obviously he has a sack title which every defensive lineman really goes after every year. He’s done it for a long time and he’s been good for a long time.

"That’s the thing. You can string a couple of good years together, but if you string 8, 9, 10 years together like he has — the level of his game play throughout those 12, 13 years was at the highest.

"Playing in a big city like New York, he did it all. He’s doing his thing. He went out on top. He won the Super Bowl. He got what he wanted, you know?”

Jared Allen, 26, joined the Minnesota Vikings via trade this offseason after four years and 43 sacks in Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 23: Jared Allen #69 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on prior to the preseason game against the New Orleans Saints on August 23, 2007 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

ALLEN: "I always say the difference between good players and great players is consistency. And that was a man that was consistent year in and year out. You know what? We'd all be lucky to have careers as good as his."

— Max J. Dickstein

The NFL released its full schedule today. Here are the slates for the Jets and Giants:

JETS SCHEDULE
Sept. 7 at Miami Dolphins 1 p.m.
Sept. 14 New England Patriots 4:15 p.m.
Sept. 22 (Mon.) at San Diego Chargers 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 Arizona Cardinals 1 p.m.
Oct. 5 Bye
Oct. 12 Cincinnati Bengals 1 p.m.
Oct. 19 at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m.
Oct. 26 Kansas City Chiefs 1 p.m.
Nov. 2 at Buffalo Bills 1 p.m.
Nov. 9 St. Louis Rams 1 p.m.
Nov. 13 (Thurs.) at New England Patriots 1 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Tennessee Titans 1 p.m.
Nov. 30 Denver Broncos 1 p.m.
Dec. 7 at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m.
Dec. 14 Buffalo Bills 1 p.m.
Dec. 21 at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m.
Dec. 28 Miami Dolphins 1 p.m.

GIANTS SCHEDULE
Sept. 4 (Thurs.) Washington Redskins 7 p.m.
Sept. 14 at St. Louis Rams 1 p.m.
Sept. 21 Cincinnati Bengals 1 p.m.
Sept. 28 Bye
Oct. 5 Seattle Seahawks 1 p.m.
Oct. 13 at Cleveland Browns (Mon.) 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 San Francisco 49ers 1 p.m.
Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 2 Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 9 at Philadelphia Eagles 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 16 Baltimore Ravens 1 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 30 at Washington Redskins 1 p.m.
Dec. 7 Philadelphia Eagles 1 p.m.
Dec. 14 at Dallas Cowboys* 8:15 p.m.
Dec. 21 Carolina Panthers 1 p.m.
Dec. 28 at Minnesota Vikings 1 p.m.

A big Super Bowl win deserves a big ring, and New Yorkers are gonna find it hard to miss the new Giants Super Bowl rings.

The rings, to be made by Tiffany & Co.--which also makes the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy--features white gold and diamonds, according to the Giants' website.

Giants stars Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer and Shaun O’Hara helped design the ring, along with coach Tom Coughlin and other Giants executives.

“I think as players we went and thought that we were there as a token invitation, but they really wanted our input,” O’Hara said, according to Giants.com.

“There was some discussion about maybe one of the rings was too big,” O’Hara said. “I threw out the fact that it was a big win, it was a huge win, so the ring should be designed accordingly. Michael said it best when he said he wanted a 10-table ring."

A 10-table ring?! Strahan explained he meant when he walks into a restaurant, he wants people to see the ring from 10 tables away.

The team will be presented with the rings at a ceremony later this spring.

Click here to see a close-up version of Manning's ring.

Most war heroes have scars. Behind every scar is a story – about a struggle against adversity, about lessons learned, about survival.

The Giants lost more games by Week 2 than the Patriots lost all season. And just maybe, oddly enough, that was the advantage that propelled Big Blue to a 17-14 Super Bowl XLII upset of New England on Sunday night.

Consider Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce’s comments back when his team was riding a four-game winning streak that rescued its season after a 0-2 start: “Honestly, I think the reason we’re playing so good is because we’ve still got that 0-2 mentality,” he said. “We went into this game thinking we were the 1-4 team.”

Pierce’s words prove that these Giants learned long ago to embrace their own mortality -- and kept on embracing it until they were world champs.

That’s a luxury not afforded to the previously perfect Patriots. They never reaped the benefits of being defeated.

Yes, there’s good in losing.

And perhaps, as the Patriots and Giants exhibited Sunday night, losing is a necessary evil in building a champion – at least in the NFL.

Do the math. There were 33 NFL and six AFL champions during the pre-Super Bowl era and now 42 Super Bowl champs. Of those 81 teams that achieved their ultimate goal, 80 lost at least once.

Yes, the 1972 Miami Dolphins were a perfect aberration, and having an undefeated squad in a championship game is extremely rare in the first place, happening just four times. But those teams, which seemed so invincible during their regular seasons, are a combined 1-3 in title games.

And it makes perfect (or imperfect?) sense. Losing builds character. It gives players and coaches a greater chance to learn from their missteps. It’s a natural deterrent to overconfidence.

Without losing, you can never fully appreciate winning. And most important, it’s impossible to be driven by a fear of failure if you’ve always succeeded.

As ironic as it may sound, the Giants had all these things going for them.

This year's Patriots, however, had no losses, no scars.

And now no world championship.

AP Photo by Chris O'Meara

Sorry New York. I don't think this is your year.

The Giants have given hope to an region that has been crapped on time and again over the past year by their sports teams. The Mets tied up the NL East in a beautiful red bow and personally handed it to the Phillies last September. The ongoing soap opera in the Bronx, between First Lady of the Diamond A-Rod and Roger Clemens and the controversy over whether he actually let Brian McNamee stick needles in his hiney. The Jets are just terrible. The Knicks are the most despicable franchise in sports, and Isiah Thomas is a clown who has committed at least 6 or 8 fireable offenses just this season with the Knicks. Even the Islanders got in on the action with Chris Simon's cheapshot the sequel. Being proud of one of the sports teams in your city is a wonderful thing, but as Cinderella had a lovely evening in her sparkling gown and glass slippers, Eli Manning will soon turn back into a pumpkin.

The Giants scored 35 points on the Patriots defense during that last scare of the season. However, the Patriots held Philip Rivers and the Chargers to four field goals during the AFC Championship. It is noted that Rivers was missing vital parts of his knee, and LT decided to take a knee for the majority of the game. But the Patriots red zone defense was perfect last Saturday, and I think that Eli and company are going to have their hands full dealing with the notorious Belichick Blitz and the physical play that comes with it. It's worth saying too, that, well, the Giants didn't exactly beat Green Bay in Green Bay, but Brett Farve single-handely killed the Pack with his 55 percent completion rate and two picks. If he'd had the same kind of game as Eli, the Green Bay would have won.

Belichick's army is back to just finding ways to beat you. Who would you rather in a big game? Coughlin or Belichick? Brady or Eli? It's been a fun ride Big Blue, but you can't change destiny.

--Lizzy

In talking to several football fans who live outside New York City, most aren’t giving the Giants much of a chance in Super Bowl XLII, many forecasting a New England blowout. (The fact that the Giants lost by 3 points to the Patriots last month is inconsequential to them.)

Big Blue currently sits as a 12-point underdog. To understand why no one should count out the Giants, look no farther than the last time a team was a double-digit underdog in the big game.

If anyone should understand the position the Giants find themselves in, it should be the Patriots.

In February 2002, New England earned a trip to Super Bowl XXXVI against the mighty St. Louis Rams. The Rams were easily the most feared team in football from 1999-02, similar to how we think of the Patriots today.

New England, on the other hand, was widely considered to be nothing more than a speed bump for the Rams, propelled by their “The Greatest Show on Turf” offense, on their way to an inevitable world title. By kickoff, St. Louis was 14-point favorites.

Fast-forward to the final score: New England 20, St. Louis 17.

Prior to Adam Vinatieri's 48-yard game-winning field goal, the Rams were regarded almost as highly as the 49ers of the '80s or the Cowboys of the '90s, despite winning just one title. Little did we know at the time, it was a Patriots dynasty that was instead hatched that night in New Orleans, while St. Louis fizzled into merely a one-hit wonder.

And when you think about it, there are several similarities between the 2001 Patriots and the 2007 Giants:

- Both had young quarterbacks amid breakout seasons.
- Both had hard-nosed coaches leading their second NFL teams.
- Both lost their first two games of the regular season.
- Both lost to their Super Bowl opponents (who had the NFL's best records) during the regular season.

So if you encounter someone who is already dismissing this Super Bowl as a laugher, just ask this question: Who was your pick before Super Bowl XXXVI?

Photo by Getty Images

I have a secret to confess. Very few of my Bostonian friends know. It's something that you generally keep to yourself when you are growing up in Foxboro, Mass. It's all Sox and Patriots all the time, and words like "Mets," "Giants," and especially "Jets and Yankees" are kept out of your mouth. Well, unless you are attaching it to some kind of four letter word.

So here's my secret. The Giants are my favorite NFC team.

My father grew up in Westchester county, and was raised by my grandfather as a rabid Giants fan from back when they still played at Yankee Stadium. Although he moved to Massachusetts in 1977, my Dad remained a Giants fan of sorts ever since. I remember his yelling WIDE RIGHT WIDE RIGHT while throwing pillows around our living room during the 1991 Super Bowl. He justified it like this: Different conferences, and the only way they'll ever play each other is in a Super Bowl. Although I was raised with the Pats as my first passion, my Dad's love for the Giants was sweetly contagious. But I ratioinalized it the same way. A Patriots-Giants Super Bowl will never happen.

Hello, 2008.

I'm rooting for history. I want Brady and Belichick to shut the '72 Dolphins up once and for all. But at the same time, there has been no better sports story to come out of New York in a long time than the emergence of Eli Manning. It's impossible to not root for the underdog, and that's what the Giants have been since their Wild Card victory over Tampa Bay.

The Patriots have a great deal more at stake in the Super Bowl, while the Giants are playing with nothing to lose. It's not the matchup that the networks wanted, but how about giving those Giants, and especially Eli Manning a little ink for the incredible football they've been playing over the last three weeks.

So on Feb. 3rd, when I'm home in Foxboro cracking a beer with my Dad during the Super Bowl, I'll have my old Phil Simms t-shirt on under my Tom Brady jersey. What an incredible game it will be.

Received this hilarious e-mail last night from Eric Basu in Manhattan:

The Giants victory over the Packers was predicted in Coming to America (1988). Akeem (Eddie Murphy) stated "The Giants of New York took on the Packers of Green Bay, and in the end the Giants triumphed by kicking an oblong ball made of pig skin through a big 'H.' It was a most ripping victory!"

Their story is one of luck and effort — Cinderella and Paul Bunyan, if you will. Fortunate and forthright, the Giants go on, and, at this point, why should we be surprised?
Their victory was the most absorbing one yet in this run. It was a slog through the Green Bay tundra and endless penalties that in every way took the measure of the Giants’ desire, and deservedness, to reach Super Bowl XLII.
Now, in two weeks, comes the ultimate test: the New England Patriots, who edged the Giants by three points in their thrilling final regular-season game.
Even as the NFL’s first 18-0 team, the Patriots cannot claim the kind of spellbound momentum that courses through the heart of Big Blue. The odds will be against the Giants more than ever, but yet again, they’ll be too committed and resilient to bother with others’ expectations for them.

— Max

Minutes after the Giants beat the Green Bay Packers in a 23-20 overtime thriller to make the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, out came word that one prominent oddsmaker pegs the Giants as 14-point underdogs.

Ouch!

If I'm Tom Coughlin, at some point on the plane ride back to NYC I'd quiet the guys and tell them the 'experts' are tripping over themselves to disrespect this team.

(Check out photos and highlights of the Green Bay game here).

It really is going to be the Giants against the world, and the history books.

Maybe the only other people on their side are Don Shula and the '72 Dolphins....

Getty Images photo by Jed Jacobsohn

The 2007 Giants were a sluggish, underpowered old train on an uphill climb when their season began in September with defenseless losses to Dallas and Green Bay.
That Giants train crested a peak with the team’s commendable showing against the Patriots last month, gathered speed with playoff wins against Tampa Bay last week, and, after a 21-17 win at Dallas yesterday, is now screaming downhill toward Green Bay.
With another expectation-surmounting win, this edition of Big Blue will clinch a rather unlikely Super Bowl berth.
The increasingly praiseworthy Giants are on a roll, and it is a testament to the luck, passion and effort that is bundled up in the mystery of sport.
“That’s a gut check right there,” Eli Manning said after a win that drastically redefined the tilt of the mild-mannered quarterback’s career. “No one’s given us much credit. They probably still won’t. And we like it that way.”

— Max