Giants wins on the field, trash talk wins off of it

The trash talking leading up to the battle of the New York teams was nonchalant for some, so-so for others and intense for most. The game itself, between the New York Giants (8-7, 5-3 on the road) and the New York Jets (8-7, 6-2 at home), was not the blockbuster match-up many thought it could have been, with the G-Men winning it 29 to 14. And just to keep it all going, the trash talking after the game was just as intense as the ones before it. Besides this post, a must to-do is to head to the G-Men HQ and The J-E-T Press blogs, because there is so much about this game to read from both sides, both on and off the field, and they are your FanSided source for all of it. For most of the week Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan told whomever would listen that his squad was the king of New York, after the sixty minutes of playing he had to admit that this was not the case…

"“They were the better team today, and they’re the better team this year,” a humbled Ryan said. “Clearly, I was wrong.”"

One man, Giants’ wide out Victor Cruz, who said “Teams aren’t scared of him anymore, he’s had to earn his money this year.” of Jets corner back Darrelle Revis, had a great game, grabbing three catches, including a team record long 99 yarder, for 164 yards and a touchdown. The other top wide out for the Giants, Hakeem Nicks, also talked about the corner back, “He’s a decent corner.” But it might have been the one player, Eli Manning, who took the high road that did the smartest thing, played the game and came out of it with a win for his team and kept the hopes of going to the post season alive. The Giants QB did not have great numbers, 9 for 27 for 225 with a TD, an INT and a NFL Rating of 61.5, but it was enough, thanks to a good running game and a defense that showed up at the MetLife Stadium, to bring home the W. His numbers were nothing to brag about, but the fact that he didn’t do so before the game made the win for Manning even more of a statement for those that say: play the game.

On the other side, when a team like the Jets needs to chuck up the ball 59 times you know that something is not right. And if you watched the game there was plenty that was wrong. In the second half Sanchez could only muster 88 yards through the air, while being intercepted twice and sacked four times, including one for a safety. We could say that one of the few things that the Giants’ D did wrong was not being able to protect their head coach as Jets back D.J. Ware smashed to him on the sideline.

But now, with the game over, the talking died down, it’s time for my take on all of this. On one side, Tom Coughlin, a head coach who has won it all with his team, has been on the hot seat for most of the season. On the other side, Rex Ryan, who has brought his team to within one game of going to the Super Bowl in back to back seasons but for many his antics have overshadowed this. Which one would you want as the man to lead your very expensive team for a season? For the crucial game? For the players? For the fan base? If we were to compare the coaches to fires I would say that Coughlin is like a coal one, where you see no huge flames, but sometimes it’s just not hot enough to keep everyone confortably hot. While Ryan is that brush fire, which has flame ups all over, but for the most part does not create the heat when needed and the smoke hides most of its effectiveness. I guess we can say it’s a battle of the old school versus the new, and being one that is not a youngen anymore, my choice would always be the Giants head coach over the Jets one.

If this blog was written ten years ago I doubt that anyone would ever think that Coughlin should be on the hot seat, but now, where what you have done a week before does not matter, the rumors will always be swirling above. This is no different, as the New York Giants will need to win next week against division foe Dallas Cowboys in order to win the NFC East. A win will silence the critics and will probably keep the head man at his post, but a loss will cancell all that happened on Christmas eve and the negative nellies will all be ready to come out in force. Luckily we will not have to wait too long for this to unfold, unfortunately it is also going to be the last week to the regular season.