Where oh where has Brady gone? Oh where oh where could he be?

Tom Brady hasn't been practicing. He's been seen sporting a brace. He's got a high ankle sprain.

This is all right before the New York Football Giants take him and the Patriots on in the Super Bowl. I'm not saying that Tom Brady isn't hurt. I'm not saying this is some ploy. But my greatest concern here is from the stand point of a Giants fan. The Patriot band wagon fans(and yes, you're out there...don't tell me you don't exist) now have the open opportunity to try and make excuses if the Giants win the Super Bowl.

The Giants have gained a lot of support the past few weeks. Everyone bet against them, and they win. They are used to being the underdogs. Yet, that's changed lately. 

Yes, they're still underdogs. They're still supposed to lose by 14.5 points(or 13.5, correct me if I'm wrong). But with the fans, they've got plenty of support. Then again, the Patriots are a lot like the Yankees. They're either loved or hated. So support for the Giants comes as no surprise.

All in all though, the way this whole Brady watch(if you want a good search, watch the Chuck Knoblauch vs the law watch) is going, it's just looking to turn as a back up execuse for some. But any true Patriots fans will agree, there is no execuse. It's 19-0, or a failure of a season. 18-1 is a hell of a season, but when you go 18-0, losing isn't an option.

Giants need Giant game out of Eli and Jacobs

It's 20 minutes into the Giants game. Eli Manning is 0-2 in his playoff career, he's coming off a season where he there 20 interceptions.

I'm happy to say Eli just had a good drive. That's ONE good drive. He hasn't won me over yet, and I've been working very hard at being positive about Eli Manning through my time as a Giants fan.

The Giants are far from a Super Bowl team right now, I know that. But three years in a row in the playoffs, that's a good thing. Eli has been there that whole time, and hasn't got them past that point. You can't put all the blame on Eli, but he has to take some. Stone faced Coughlin deserves some, and so does the rest of the team.

I have to say the Giants had me worried in the first quarter, but the Giants are making me worry just a little less this second half. Eli moved the ball down the field, the Giants D is getting the job done, and Tampa really isn't doing all that much minus their big drive in the first. Giants just got the ball back, so let's see what they can do.

2:06 PM: Giants are moving the ball. Steve Smith is playing a huge role and Jacobs just ran it up the middle. Eli is moving the ball, good play calling is taking place and the Giants are looking much better now. 14-7 Giants.

2:11 PM: The Giants are putting a ton of pressure on Garcia,but he keeps getting completions. The Giants have got to have a good stand here to go into the half with the lead. It wouldn't hurt if the Giants were able to get the ball back, but the most important part is keeping the score 14-7 at least. A third down on the way for the Bucs, if the Giants can hold, they might be able to add some more points to the board.

2:16 PM: Nice catch by Hilliard. I always loved him as a Giant, problem being, he was always hurt.

2:18 PM: 77 penalties all season long? The New York Giants? I like that statistic. Giants get the ball back with just over a one minute and two time outs. Let's see what they can do.

2:21 PM: Cancel that, the clock runs down, and the first half is over. All in all, decent half for the Giants. They have the all important lead and Eli looked strong in the second quarter. Now, he's got to keep that up if the Giants are going to win this game. It's only a 14-7 game, so it's too close to call at this point. The Giants defense looks sharp for the most part and provided the Giants can score a touchdown or two more, they should be able to win this game, as long as the D holds up.

2:35 PM: What a way to start the half for the Giants. Getting the ball back is huge. If the Giants can score at least 3 off this, it puts a ton of momentum in their favor. Aside from stating the obvious, it's the first turnover of the game. It's good to see this happen for Webster, seeing as he's been attacked in the secondary all day long by the Buc's offense.

2:44 PM: Giants couldn't get one in the end zone there, but did extend their lead to 17-7. A two score game now. Eli looked frustrated in the Red Zone there.

2:55 PM: Corey Webster...let's work against him since he's out there instead of Sam Madison. Maybe the Bucs are rethinking that thought. Interception, and second turnover of the game for the Bucs. It's looking more and more like the Giants game as we go towards the 4th quarter.

3:10 PM: Giants end the 3rd quarter with a 1st down. Giants have this game in their hands. It's their's to lose if they don't keep it up. The defense continues to be solid, but you can see the holes in it, and Tampa could take advantage. Giants look like they're going to keep it up, but they've looked that way in the past against Garcia's teams(San Fran anyone).

3:18 PM: I can't say enough about the Giants running core this year. Injury after injury, they keep bringing game every single time out. The Giants may have played with a lot of injuries, just as they have in the past, but they have much more depth this year, and it's obvious. They look good out there, still moving down the field, and winding the clock down to 9:44 at this point in the game. At 1st and goal, they need to get in the end zone here. They make it a three score game if they do that, and I don't think I need to state how huge that would be.

3:20 PM: Someone please tell me why I haven't mentioned Amani Toomer in this post so far. He's been tremendous. The Giants look like a football team, imagine that. Eli looks sharp, Toomers been huge. The Giants look like they're moving on to the next round of the playoffs at this point. The Bucs simply aren't doing much. Two weeks off doesn't really help. One week I would have understood, but resting your guys two weeks in a row, not so much.

The game isn't over yet, but with the score 24-7, it'll take a lot of offense from the Bucs and a defensive collapse on the Giants side.

3:35 PM: It looks like the Bucs don't want to go down easy. With 3:25 remaining, it might be too little too late for the Bucs. Both teams haven't won in the playoffs in a while, as we heard via Aikman and company, and it looks like the Giants are going to be the team to advance despite the late touchdown. 24-14 Giants lead.

3:48 PM: Looks like his feet were in. If that's the case, this game is O.V.E.R over.

3:56 PM: Giants take the victory and head to Dallas next week. Should be a good match up, they play each other well. Giants lost the last two in a row to Garcia, beat him today. They lost the last two to Dallas, maybe they can break that losing streak too? Good game, Hopefully I'll be off and be able to do this next week. Off to Philly, have a good night guys.

State of the Giants

Barry Bonds is going to jail, so kind of makes you feel like the Giants are going to jail. After all, once you get beyond the ego of Mr. Bonds, I think there's 24 other players there. Oh wait, wrong topic...

I'm talking the, as Chris Berman so eloquently puts it, NEW YORK FOOTBALL Giants.

Any Giants fan of the past few years can tell you, the second half of the year is always interesting. A race to finish in the Wild Card lately, or just barely squeeze out the division. The Giants are again threatening to blow it, but have somehow come up with key victories in one of Eli's great fourth quarters. Of course, I think it's safe to say Giants fans would like to see what he does there so often...in, I don't know, quarter one, two, or here's a wild one, three.

This coming week the Giants take on the Eagles, a team many would say isn't much different from the Giants. I'd say differently. Aside from records, I think there's a much more positive attitude in the locker room all season long in New York. I have to accredit that for some of their success, they want to win, they like to be the underdogs, and they embrace it. I can't say the same about the Eagles. They lack a passion, that maybe T.O. even provided them with. T.O. was and is a show-off, but perhaps he did get his team going in that way that the Eagles need again.

The biggest thing for the Giants, is to take a look at their upcoming schedule, versus that of their other Wild Card opponents, being the division was lost back in their second loss to the Cowboys this year.

Giants
at Eagles(5-7)
vs Washington(6-7)
at Buffalo(6-6)
vs New England(I don't want to talk about their record...j/k, 12-0)

With this schedule, the Giants SHOULD go 3-1. This is a should keep in mind, and the Giants should have beat the Cowboys, and the Vikings. Did they? No... But let's face it here. They are a better team than the Eagles, and a better team than Washington. Washington came up with a big win recently, but still is a long shot to make the playoffs. The other teams in WC contention are the Detroit Lions, with my FF QB, Kitna, and the Vikings also standing at a record of 6-6.

Their schedules look something like this

Vikings Lions
at San Fran vs Dallas
vs Chicago (MNF) at San Diego
vs Washington vs KC
at Denver at Green Bay

Looking at this schedule, I can't really see either team passing the Giants record wise if they're playing the way they should This could all change if the Giants lose to the Eagles this week, but I'm going to stick to my guts on this one, and see the Giants take it this Sunday. Their offense is not as good as it was at the beginning of the year, as it's been the case the past two years, but they've managed with injured running backs all year long, the loss of Ward shouldn't change their game plan too much. Droughns has done well when called upon, and I believe he'll keep that up.

Their defense has been good, and if that keeps up, they should at least take the next three weeks. If either team, the Lions or the Vikings, was going to catch New York, by schedule strength, I'd have to say it's going to be the Vikings. Remember, they tie the Giants, they did beat them, so that would be a blow to the Giants.

The Giants would have to lose two of their next four for the Vikings to at least tie at this point. As I said, I don't see that happening, and I see the Vikings at least falling once in their final four games.