Sports Blog

Here is the short version of what went wrong for the New York Giants on Sunday:

• Penalties - 9 for 94 yards, including 4 costly personal fouls;
• Plaxico Burress’ newest responsibility - calling the timeout - when none was called;
• Kiwanuka’s interception...and immediate fumble;
• The Giants defense - with the game on the line, giving up a 42-yard pass to set up the Cowboys’ winning field goal;
• Brandon Jacobs sent in to pick up one yard at fourth-and-1, only to lose 3 yards, ultimately handing the Cowboys a field goal at the half;
• And the most frustrating statistic of all on Sunday - twice inside the Dallas 5-yard line, the Giants came away with field goals - leaving 8 points on the table;

The Giants have 4 games remaining - at Carolina, home to the Eagles and the Saints and Week 17 in Washington. If they can put aside the bickering, stop taking costly undisciplined penalties, and come away with a split in their remaining games, they can squeeze into a wild card berth in the underachieving NFC. Yes, in spite of everything, they can still salvage their season.

And Eli Manning? He played well on Sunday (24-for-36, 270 yards, and 2 touchdowns). I still don’t see any evidence of team leadership on the field - a necessity if this team is ever to realize success in the form of a Division, Conference or Super Bowl Championship. The way the Giants are playing, they’ll be hard pressed to finish the season with the best record in New York.

Manning needs to hold a team meeting and establish who is running this ship, starting with who calls timeouts – it’s not something Plaxico Burress will do again any time soon. I don’t see wide receivers calling timeouts in Indianapolis or Green Bay. We know who the leaders are on these teams and, more importantly, so do the players.

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