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First things first
To quote Brad Sham
"Chuck Norris wears Jason Witten Pajamas"
that sums it up. He is amazing. This whole buildup to him playing or not was a pretty crazy adventure..Mickey told the fan on tuesday when they got to ny that he was told not to expect witten till tampa, said he just needs the rest and its not safe.
Then mike fisher said he went to ny early to see the leading spleen doctor who happens to be in NY, but claimed he was told it was for seattle and that he would not play.
Then he comes out and warms up, everybody insisted he would not play, mickey said he didnt have any part of his uni on so he is probably just going through the drill.
then he came out again with the doctors and was getting loose again, mike fisher said he was told no.
Then mickey comes on the fan pregame and says we have the inactives and he is active. Stephen jones joined kristie scales for the owners box segment in the pregame and said they thought he would play all along.....jerry said the same in the postgame claiming he did not want the giants to know for sure untily they had to, which of course was the active/inactive list.
Its really interesting that witten has been in the league since 03, romo also. If you put that in perspective thats 10 seasons. Irivin and moose were done at that point, aikman was finishing up. These guys get a title at some point and they are both going in the ring of honor. Witten epitmoizes everything that is good about people in sports.
while listening to the fans pregame show I heard something I never thought I would hear in my lifetime. Shan sharriff and RJ choppy were told Martellus Bennett gave the pregame team speech in the locker room to the giants....absolutely comical and great for us. He will wear them out up there even if he has a good year.
Down 24-10 bennett catches a ball that if thrown to him 10 times at best he catches it 5 times for a TD, cutting the lead to 24-17. His response is to get up and dance..........What a moron. That is part of the reason he is not here and I love that he is in NY, he will make some plays but that kind of thing will rear its head at some point......wait till he makes a game changing mistake and then goes to twitter a few hours later to sell t-shirts and his music....that will go over real well in ny.
For the longest time I loved Al michaels, dan dierdorf and frank gifford. I always that they were a great mix in the boothe and that they fit that big time game really well. After last season and then just rewatching the game tonight with the tv broadcast I actually think AL and Chris are pretty poor. They pay not attention to details at all anymore, they do nothing but talk about the most obvious generic things and a lot of the time they are not correct on those last night.
They point out a hold on witten and act like it was extremely obvious, then ignore the same exact hold on coleman on a bradshaw run to the right. They make a big deal out of the hatcher roughing the passer and then in turn say nothing about michael coe trying to strip romo and inadvertently punching him in the head....right out in the open in front of everyone where three cameras caught it.....not a word. they never point out the fact that it seems awful odd that there is not a single holding call on the guys trying to block ware? NBC has too many graphics and too many talking heads.
bennett holding coleman
hatcher hit on manning
coe hit on romos head
bennett dancing
then an interesting sequence occured. after the hatcher penalty marcus spears missed that he was subbed for and coming running off the field. The officials threw a flag and blew the whistle before the ball was snapped!!!! The penalty was going to be 12 men on the field and they showed the close up of garrett and he just said come on......
so a play later the giants actually run 12 men in the huddle....Eli realizes and jumps out and there is never a flag.....
al and chris say nothing. Babe, Brad and Kristie are noting that garret and ryan were flipping out because they had 12 in the huddle and didnt throw the flag right after incorrectly throwing it on us before the ball was snapped and spears got off in time.....
its the little things you know.
To add on to that the tv broadcast and al and chris never mentioned how murray and vickers were mixing it up all night after plays with the giants. I love it....
back to football stuff.
For the first time in a while we have a defense that looks like it can make plays. For the first time it looks like we have a 34 defense where the linebackers are all good and they are the playmakers.....lissemore, crawford, spears and coleman, and hatcher were excellent and allowed the linebackers to make all the plays which is what a 34 is all about. Bruce Carter and Sean Lee are so much better than brooking and james its kind of shocking how different it looked. Carter shed blockers and tackled really well.
I thought after the first three preseason games that we would finally have a mix that could slow down manning but I was still worried about the safeties. Turns out there was no worry for at least one week. Church and sensebaugh made plays and didnt look lost. I didnt see the usual confusion anywhere back there.
once again al and chris never mention details and in the 4th qtr on a critical drive scandrick was in the locker room getting and iv, mario butler was out there. They never made mention of it because he did his job. Thats our fifth corner who has never played in a game before stepping in and not missing a beat in the slot, in NY. Awesome.
then butler was on the field at safety in the dollar package with church, silva and sensebaugh.
Rob Ryan had the perfect zone called on the post to hixon and carr had it, then he mistimed his jump. No matter what we do that guy hits that post in every game against us. officials knock over our players, we mistime jumps, guys fall down....etc......he always hits it.
but what I thought we could do again for the first time in a while against them we did....take away the deep ball and make them throw short and quick....then the game is tackling....it worked.......the last time we really outplayed them was the 08 texas stadium game.....made him throw short and quick by taking away the deep ball and sacking him 8 times. Same in 07 at NY, let him throw to shockey short all night.........sooner or later manning gets out of rhythm. the light never comes on until he hits that big one....as soon as he hits the big one he gets rolling. He is like dan majrle shooting three's or something.
Last year on 9-11-11 it was 17 -10 going into the fourth, we all know what happened....This was the most incredible opportunity at a do over you could ever get.....I mean the bills got chances like this in the 90s, the browns in the 80s and they all blew it........It was just remarkable how we end up in the same situation on the opeining night on nbc in the same stadium......And everyone watching was waiting for Romo to screw up....at least the national media and non fans of the cowboys....oh and the realists....or whatever....
14-10 and romo takes off running and dives forward when coe trips him up....are u kidding me, it was like last years fumble without the fumble.....then he wins the game on a great read and throw to ogletree. I felt like that is what should have happened in New england last year....
Steve Dennis commented that last year that jets game started bad vibes and this is the opposite...I dont know if I believe that but it sure feels better.
so at 24-17 I was sitting there thinking here we go like most were I imagine. I mean lets look at the history of manning against us.
his first start against us in 2004, julius jones scores with 1:50 to go to take the lead we hit the two pointer to witten......we are up 24-21 what happens? Eli goes right up the field and scores to win the game......
[video=youtube;sQqmE7uuLR0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqmE7uuLR0[/video]
2005 Eli's first start at Texas Stadium. Roy Williams forces jacobs to fumble at the one and he recovers....inside two minutes to go and up 13-6...the giants hold us at the one we punt....manning gets the ball at the 46 and 50 seconds to go....they go right down the field on two plays for a TD.
[video=youtube;8jS4hHJjxx4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jS4hHJjxx4[/video]
2007 home opener.....up 38-21 an injured eli manning marches down the field in the fourth qtr and scores, then gets the ball back and goes right down the field and scores on a throw to burress....
[video=youtube;NFZubgPN_n8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZubgPN_n8[/video]
home opener 2009 down 31-30 Eli overcomes 105, 000 people at a deafening level and keeps moving the chains. overcomes a 1st and 20, 2nd and 16 and 3rd and long.....has a ball batted up and caught by steve smith on 3rd and 4....throws one more dart, they kick a field goal and win...
[video=youtube;kUtxUVE4q7w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUtxUVE4q7w[/video]
2011 in a cant lose situation down 12 with 5 minutes to go he throws a prayer while looking at the ground on third down to manningham on a corner route....complete over newman....then scores, gets the ball back goes right up the field and keeps moving the ball on third downs and scores again and hits the 2 point conversion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHGUj0jPblc
2011, game for the division in NY, up 21-14 with Dallas having all the momentum he should be sacked on a 3rd and 7but just heaves it up in to double coverage for cruz....and he catches it and essentially closes out the game. The real kicker is on 2nd down he threw a ball right to Mike Jenkins who couldnt hang on....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9dX62HLWgs
The guy is like freddie krueger...we just cant get rid of him.....
Until last night. Last night we finally flustered him enough to make him throw short and have to be on time and in rhythm.....our corners kept the rhythm out of whack all night and allowed the rush which was there in december last year in arlington without the corner help to get there. It looked like one of the games Wade coached against ny.....in 07 and 08. He had to move and hold the ball and he got hit a lot looked frustrated. He threw us the pick but carr mistimed the jump.
Its interesting also that in 05 we signed anthony henry to cover burress, aaron glenn to handle the slot guys the eagles and redskins had and took a chance on keith davis a special teams player who could hit and tackle but was slow lacked ball skills.......I mean honestly thats a lot like signing carr to cover cruz/nicks and having church starting.
It just seems now that for the first time with this group we have a difference maker on the line in ratliff/hatcher, two difference makers at lb in ware and lee and carr and claiborne in the secondary......We just havent had a defense like this. Its all about linebackers and it appears we have 5 good ones. Spencer was great last night.
The thing that is so encouraging is that Jay Ratliff, Mike Jenkins, Danny Mccray and Matt johnson are coming. The depth guys all played and they didnt look out of place. If we have depth like this we might really be a very good team.
this is already too long so I will spare the thoughts on offense but I do want to point out that babe said immediately in the booth that the cadence was going to be a problem for the line in snapping the ball when cook came in. Sure enough we get all those false starts and garrett said it was the cadence.
I have seen some bagging on smith and thats fine he struggled. the thing is everyone who lines up across from that animal JPP is going to struggle, he just doesnt look blockable.
The encouraging thing to me is we will only face three lines this good all year, NY, philly and chicago. We get two of them in september.
I am anxious to watch the seattle game sunday. If they win and we go up there for the opener with all the excitement from wilson it will be like a playoff game. The good thing is next week tyron smith and doug free will be lining up against chris clemons, red bryant and bruce irvin at Defensive end. They are good players but, after last night I would think smith has a lights out game sunday. In fact I am willing to bet we become left handed running in seattle next sunday.
Livings and mack played well. We need to keep seeing it, I think they are going to be fine.
I would love to see hannah get thrown the ball some this week. Seattle has a big secondary and a great safety. Should be a good game.
final thing for me. I find it insane that A. Wittens career is being dubbed "securtiy blanket" to me that is complete and utter nonsense. that is like referring to a qb as a bus driver because you dont respect him. Stupid commentary that starts in the national media and just gets spread around.
and finally, chris collinsworth's ridiculous comment that this was romo's best game ever. That is the laziest, infactual nonsense that they saved for last........completely nuts. To then get up today and here that being spread around everywhere that romo has never played this good is insane. It shows there ignorance and utter laziness. I saw steve young on tv for a minute saying that romo maybe finally getting it......so stupid.
lets be clear here. If our corners are bad last night we lose again and romo is called a choker, even with the same stats most likely. he has had repeated great games against them. The games in 06 and 07 he was great and the road game in 09 he was excellent. Stupid statement and the lazy national writers just repeat it...
for me, his packers game against the 11-1 packers was better, his redskins game in nov 07 was tremendous, his atlanta game in 09 was fantastic, cleveland in 08, new orleans in 09.....i could go on and on......
oh and one last thing that Austin Td on 1st and 30 last night looked alot like the play that sealed the game in philly in 09 kind of mixed with that incredible titans catch in 10.
think about the similarities of the 1st and 20 catch for td last night and the one at philly in 09. In 09 that was the redemption game, they spent the whole offseason talking about righting the wrongs of the 08 finale. Miles did not have many catches and was kind of quiet all night....then on 3rd and 14 bam, beats three guys on an audibled double move for the go ahead touchdown......
[video=youtube;obFwCUW9XEc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obFwCUW9XEc[/video]
sorry for ranting, I could go on and on. I think the objective for september is 3-1.....that would be 3 conference wins with the toughest one already in the bag. If we beat seattle soundly and stay healthy we could be playing the bears to be 4-0 going into the bye which cause mass hysteria......
and to kiawanuka, you said you own us and kick our ass repeatedly...well it always ends bad for the guys who talk in this rivalry.......so spare us the holding bit....
to quote the great van halen "I dont want to hear about it later"
24-17
To quote Brad Sham
"Chuck Norris wears Jason Witten Pajamas"
that sums it up. He is amazing. This whole buildup to him playing or not was a pretty crazy adventure..Mickey told the fan on tuesday when they got to ny that he was told not to expect witten till tampa, said he just needs the rest and its not safe.
Then mike fisher said he went to ny early to see the leading spleen doctor who happens to be in NY, but claimed he was told it was for seattle and that he would not play.
Then he comes out and warms up, everybody insisted he would not play, mickey said he didnt have any part of his uni on so he is probably just going through the drill.
then he came out again with the doctors and was getting loose again, mike fisher said he was told no.
Then mickey comes on the fan pregame and says we have the inactives and he is active. Stephen jones joined kristie scales for the owners box segment in the pregame and said they thought he would play all along.....jerry said the same in the postgame claiming he did not want the giants to know for sure untily they had to, which of course was the active/inactive list.
Its really interesting that witten has been in the league since 03, romo also. If you put that in perspective thats 10 seasons. Irivin and moose were done at that point, aikman was finishing up. These guys get a title at some point and they are both going in the ring of honor. Witten epitmoizes everything that is good about people in sports.
while listening to the fans pregame show I heard something I never thought I would hear in my lifetime. Shan sharriff and RJ choppy were told Martellus Bennett gave the pregame team speech in the locker room to the giants....absolutely comical and great for us. He will wear them out up there even if he has a good year.
Down 24-10 bennett catches a ball that if thrown to him 10 times at best he catches it 5 times for a TD, cutting the lead to 24-17. His response is to get up and dance..........What a moron. That is part of the reason he is not here and I love that he is in NY, he will make some plays but that kind of thing will rear its head at some point......wait till he makes a game changing mistake and then goes to twitter a few hours later to sell t-shirts and his music....that will go over real well in ny.
For the longest time I loved Al michaels, dan dierdorf and frank gifford. I always that they were a great mix in the boothe and that they fit that big time game really well. After last season and then just rewatching the game tonight with the tv broadcast I actually think AL and Chris are pretty poor. They pay not attention to details at all anymore, they do nothing but talk about the most obvious generic things and a lot of the time they are not correct on those last night.
They point out a hold on witten and act like it was extremely obvious, then ignore the same exact hold on coleman on a bradshaw run to the right. They make a big deal out of the hatcher roughing the passer and then in turn say nothing about michael coe trying to strip romo and inadvertently punching him in the head....right out in the open in front of everyone where three cameras caught it.....not a word. they never point out the fact that it seems awful odd that there is not a single holding call on the guys trying to block ware? NBC has too many graphics and too many talking heads.
bennett holding coleman
hatcher hit on manning
coe hit on romos head
bennett dancing
then an interesting sequence occured. after the hatcher penalty marcus spears missed that he was subbed for and coming running off the field. The officials threw a flag and blew the whistle before the ball was snapped!!!! The penalty was going to be 12 men on the field and they showed the close up of garrett and he just said come on......
so a play later the giants actually run 12 men in the huddle....Eli realizes and jumps out and there is never a flag.....
al and chris say nothing. Babe, Brad and Kristie are noting that garret and ryan were flipping out because they had 12 in the huddle and didnt throw the flag right after incorrectly throwing it on us before the ball was snapped and spears got off in time.....
its the little things you know.
To add on to that the tv broadcast and al and chris never mentioned how murray and vickers were mixing it up all night after plays with the giants. I love it....
back to football stuff.
For the first time in a while we have a defense that looks like it can make plays. For the first time it looks like we have a 34 defense where the linebackers are all good and they are the playmakers.....lissemore, crawford, spears and coleman, and hatcher were excellent and allowed the linebackers to make all the plays which is what a 34 is all about. Bruce Carter and Sean Lee are so much better than brooking and james its kind of shocking how different it looked. Carter shed blockers and tackled really well.
I thought after the first three preseason games that we would finally have a mix that could slow down manning but I was still worried about the safeties. Turns out there was no worry for at least one week. Church and sensebaugh made plays and didnt look lost. I didnt see the usual confusion anywhere back there.
once again al and chris never mention details and in the 4th qtr on a critical drive scandrick was in the locker room getting and iv, mario butler was out there. They never made mention of it because he did his job. Thats our fifth corner who has never played in a game before stepping in and not missing a beat in the slot, in NY. Awesome.
then butler was on the field at safety in the dollar package with church, silva and sensebaugh.
Rob Ryan had the perfect zone called on the post to hixon and carr had it, then he mistimed his jump. No matter what we do that guy hits that post in every game against us. officials knock over our players, we mistime jumps, guys fall down....etc......he always hits it.
but what I thought we could do again for the first time in a while against them we did....take away the deep ball and make them throw short and quick....then the game is tackling....it worked.......the last time we really outplayed them was the 08 texas stadium game.....made him throw short and quick by taking away the deep ball and sacking him 8 times. Same in 07 at NY, let him throw to shockey short all night.........sooner or later manning gets out of rhythm. the light never comes on until he hits that big one....as soon as he hits the big one he gets rolling. He is like dan majrle shooting three's or something.
Last year on 9-11-11 it was 17 -10 going into the fourth, we all know what happened....This was the most incredible opportunity at a do over you could ever get.....I mean the bills got chances like this in the 90s, the browns in the 80s and they all blew it........It was just remarkable how we end up in the same situation on the opeining night on nbc in the same stadium......And everyone watching was waiting for Romo to screw up....at least the national media and non fans of the cowboys....oh and the realists....or whatever....
14-10 and romo takes off running and dives forward when coe trips him up....are u kidding me, it was like last years fumble without the fumble.....then he wins the game on a great read and throw to ogletree. I felt like that is what should have happened in New england last year....
Steve Dennis commented that last year that jets game started bad vibes and this is the opposite...I dont know if I believe that but it sure feels better.
so at 24-17 I was sitting there thinking here we go like most were I imagine. I mean lets look at the history of manning against us.
his first start against us in 2004, julius jones scores with 1:50 to go to take the lead we hit the two pointer to witten......we are up 24-21 what happens? Eli goes right up the field and scores to win the game......
[video=youtube;sQqmE7uuLR0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqmE7uuLR0[/video]
2005 Eli's first start at Texas Stadium. Roy Williams forces jacobs to fumble at the one and he recovers....inside two minutes to go and up 13-6...the giants hold us at the one we punt....manning gets the ball at the 46 and 50 seconds to go....they go right down the field on two plays for a TD.
[video=youtube;8jS4hHJjxx4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jS4hHJjxx4[/video]
2007 home opener.....up 38-21 an injured eli manning marches down the field in the fourth qtr and scores, then gets the ball back and goes right down the field and scores on a throw to burress....
[video=youtube;NFZubgPN_n8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZubgPN_n8[/video]
home opener 2009 down 31-30 Eli overcomes 105, 000 people at a deafening level and keeps moving the chains. overcomes a 1st and 20, 2nd and 16 and 3rd and long.....has a ball batted up and caught by steve smith on 3rd and 4....throws one more dart, they kick a field goal and win...
[video=youtube;kUtxUVE4q7w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUtxUVE4q7w[/video]
2011 in a cant lose situation down 12 with 5 minutes to go he throws a prayer while looking at the ground on third down to manningham on a corner route....complete over newman....then scores, gets the ball back goes right up the field and keeps moving the ball on third downs and scores again and hits the 2 point conversion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHGUj0jPblc
2011, game for the division in NY, up 21-14 with Dallas having all the momentum he should be sacked on a 3rd and 7but just heaves it up in to double coverage for cruz....and he catches it and essentially closes out the game. The real kicker is on 2nd down he threw a ball right to Mike Jenkins who couldnt hang on....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9dX62HLWgs
The guy is like freddie krueger...we just cant get rid of him.....
Until last night. Last night we finally flustered him enough to make him throw short and have to be on time and in rhythm.....our corners kept the rhythm out of whack all night and allowed the rush which was there in december last year in arlington without the corner help to get there. It looked like one of the games Wade coached against ny.....in 07 and 08. He had to move and hold the ball and he got hit a lot looked frustrated. He threw us the pick but carr mistimed the jump.
Its interesting also that in 05 we signed anthony henry to cover burress, aaron glenn to handle the slot guys the eagles and redskins had and took a chance on keith davis a special teams player who could hit and tackle but was slow lacked ball skills.......I mean honestly thats a lot like signing carr to cover cruz/nicks and having church starting.
It just seems now that for the first time with this group we have a difference maker on the line in ratliff/hatcher, two difference makers at lb in ware and lee and carr and claiborne in the secondary......We just havent had a defense like this. Its all about linebackers and it appears we have 5 good ones. Spencer was great last night.
The thing that is so encouraging is that Jay Ratliff, Mike Jenkins, Danny Mccray and Matt johnson are coming. The depth guys all played and they didnt look out of place. If we have depth like this we might really be a very good team.
this is already too long so I will spare the thoughts on offense but I do want to point out that babe said immediately in the booth that the cadence was going to be a problem for the line in snapping the ball when cook came in. Sure enough we get all those false starts and garrett said it was the cadence.
I have seen some bagging on smith and thats fine he struggled. the thing is everyone who lines up across from that animal JPP is going to struggle, he just doesnt look blockable.
The encouraging thing to me is we will only face three lines this good all year, NY, philly and chicago. We get two of them in september.
I am anxious to watch the seattle game sunday. If they win and we go up there for the opener with all the excitement from wilson it will be like a playoff game. The good thing is next week tyron smith and doug free will be lining up against chris clemons, red bryant and bruce irvin at Defensive end. They are good players but, after last night I would think smith has a lights out game sunday. In fact I am willing to bet we become left handed running in seattle next sunday.
Livings and mack played well. We need to keep seeing it, I think they are going to be fine.
I would love to see hannah get thrown the ball some this week. Seattle has a big secondary and a great safety. Should be a good game.
final thing for me. I find it insane that A. Wittens career is being dubbed "securtiy blanket" to me that is complete and utter nonsense. that is like referring to a qb as a bus driver because you dont respect him. Stupid commentary that starts in the national media and just gets spread around.
and finally, chris collinsworth's ridiculous comment that this was romo's best game ever. That is the laziest, infactual nonsense that they saved for last........completely nuts. To then get up today and here that being spread around everywhere that romo has never played this good is insane. It shows there ignorance and utter laziness. I saw steve young on tv for a minute saying that romo maybe finally getting it......so stupid.
lets be clear here. If our corners are bad last night we lose again and romo is called a choker, even with the same stats most likely. he has had repeated great games against them. The games in 06 and 07 he was great and the road game in 09 he was excellent. Stupid statement and the lazy national writers just repeat it...
for me, his packers game against the 11-1 packers was better, his redskins game in nov 07 was tremendous, his atlanta game in 09 was fantastic, cleveland in 08, new orleans in 09.....i could go on and on......
oh and one last thing that Austin Td on 1st and 30 last night looked alot like the play that sealed the game in philly in 09 kind of mixed with that incredible titans catch in 10.
think about the similarities of the 1st and 20 catch for td last night and the one at philly in 09. In 09 that was the redemption game, they spent the whole offseason talking about righting the wrongs of the 08 finale. Miles did not have many catches and was kind of quiet all night....then on 3rd and 14 bam, beats three guys on an audibled double move for the go ahead touchdown......
[video=youtube;obFwCUW9XEc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obFwCUW9XEc[/video]
sorry for ranting, I could go on and on. I think the objective for september is 3-1.....that would be 3 conference wins with the toughest one already in the bag. If we beat seattle soundly and stay healthy we could be playing the bears to be 4-0 going into the bye which cause mass hysteria......
and to kiawanuka, you said you own us and kick our ass repeatedly...well it always ends bad for the guys who talk in this rivalry.......so spare us the holding bit....
to quote the great van halen "I dont want to hear about it later"
24-17
