New York Football Recap

Bloody Sunday
A look back at the ugly week that was in New York football.

          Looks like this pro-New York OneHopSports contributor picked the wrong week to take off. After missing an opportunity to bask in the glory that was week 9, where the Jets and Giants pulled off two incredibly satisfying road wins, I'm back in time for an extremely disappointing look back at week 10. (Sidenote: For those of you who don't know there are at least two contributors to OHS, allow me to introduce myself as SlideStep.)

          Where to begin? How about three timezones away in sunny San Francisco, where the Giants continued their varsity schedule against the surprising 7-1 49ers. Here on the east coast, the success of a west coast team is usually just word of mouth. Except, as it turns out, in the case of the niners, who have played more than enough games east of the Mississippi to get a good look at. They've torn through the NFC East, going 3-1 after Sunday, and also have wins at Detroit and Cincinnatti, closer to home than California. And that all makes you look at the quality teams San Fran has run through on their way to an 8-1 start. In the same vein a win at Philly meant a lot more when the schedules came out than it does now, road wins at the Lions (6-3) and Bengals (6-3) are downright impressive at the current NFL juncture. Their only loss was to a hot-at-anytime Dallas Cowboys team in OT. In a sense, the Giants have nothing to be ashamed about. And they probably aren't. But there's more to their performance and its implications than W's and L's.

One of a very select group of people that can eat Brandon Jacobs.

          The Giants played a well enough game to be sure, and yes, they left a lot of points on the board with two long first half drives netting only six points on two mid-20 yard field goals. Yes, the final drive of the game was a bit of a downer, but the G-men played a good game against a great team in their building and lost. It happens. What stinks are the tiebreaker implications in all of this. The Giants trail the Niners by two games now for one of the NFC's byes (probably the second seed, because let's be honest, no one's catching the Pack.) There's a good chance they won't catch San Fran, who still have five games in their own decrepit division to play. Now the focus shifts to keeping the New Orleans Saints and their red-hot Quarterback at bay. Oh, speaking of red hot, the Giants now have the Dallas Cowboys breathing right down their necks. Did I mention that three of their last seven games are against the Saints and Cowboys, respectively? Yikes.

"At least we're not the Eagles!"

          Now, unlike the Giants, who did alright for themselves in a loss, the Jets put up an absolute stinker in the Meadowlands air on Sunday night, losing 37-16 to the always ahead Patriots. Presented with a golden opportunity the likes of which rarely happens in Gang Green, New Joisey, the Jets found tin and called it a day. Here came Brady and the Pats. Arch-rivals, bad guys the dudes you just wanna beat. Here they came on a two game losing streak, beaten and stumbling. Here they came, with first place in the AFC East on the line. And the Jets played scared again. The D looked like the almighty Mangina was still calling plays. Tom Brady was taking full advantage of his daylight saving's time extra-hour in the pocket. Aaron Maybin whiffed on a few gimme sacks, which isn't really a joke and more the tagline of his career. Vernon Gholston could have gotten more pressure than the Jets front four. Ochocinco even got in on the action! It was a night to forget. Also, Rex Ryan apparently doesn't entirely believe the hoodie is a better coach than the sweater vest.

Rick Mirer thinks he could've done better Sunday Night.

          Look, the Jets aren't better than the Patriots, we all know that. But they did beat them twice the last two seasons at home, not to mention the playoff triumph last season. So under Rex, the idea that the Jets had to pencil in two losses before the season even started was all but erased from Jet thought. Not this season. The Jets have looked horrendous against the Pats in both meetings this year. From week to week, the word is Mark Sanchez is regressing, and I don't know if that's true or not, but regardless, it's a topic for another week. What is true is the gap between the Jets and New England is widening. Rex Ryan had made it bridgeable, and this season, it seems to have reverted to a chasm. The Jets got punked at home by the Patriots. That tagline was getting old the last two years. Now it seems unfortunately appropriate again. And to make matters worse, the Jets head to Denver on a short week in which they have to prepare for the most enigmatic offense in the league. This is a game they can't afford to lose. It's also a game they could very easily drop. Tough night for the green and white.

Also, the Bills lost. Bad. The Bills loss shows what's wrong with the American economy. It would have made more sense to stay in Buffalo and forfeit the game, donate the travel fees to charity and just gear up for next week. But the schedule called for them to get whipped in Texas, and whipped in Texas they were. What a week.

-SlideStep