Guts and Glory

Heading into last Sunday's game against Arizona the expectation was that Jacobs, pronounced "probable", would play and Burress would not. So Arizona, surprised when Plaxico took the field while Brandon didn't even dress, filed a complaint with the league. Then Burress quickly went to the showers and was done for the day after only the third play of the game, leaving the Giants without two of their primary offensive weapons.

But, have no fear, Hixon was here. Hixon, demonstrating yet again the resiliency of this Giants team, had a monster game especially on special teams. With Jacobs out, Bradshaw was removed from kickoff duties to keep his legs fresh and available for his running back responsibilities. Hixon responded by terrorizing the Cardinals with two monster kickoff returns, both of which could have (should have?) resulted in touchdowns. Hixon had 201 total return yards and 269 all purpose yards. It will be interesting to see who lines up for kickoff duties this Sunday in Washington.

My pre-game post emphasized the importance of Jacobs to the defensive game plan. And, indeed, the running game struggled without him. Ward had 69 yards while the Giants as a team had less than 100 yards rushing for the game against a not very good AZ defense. This was not, however, due only to the absence of Jacobs. AZ played 8 in the box all day long and Eli responded with a 26 for 33, 240 yard, 3 TD, 0 interception performance. Once again the Giants demonstrated their incredible depth and ability to play this game at a very high level in a multitude of ways. And the defense, held to just one recorded sack, put enough pressure on Warner to force him into two turnovers and limited the yards after catch by Arizona's prolific wide receivers. At the end of the day there wasn't any doubt about which of the two was the better team - quite a statement since the Giants were playing without either Jacobs or Burress. And that, folks, is the most impressive thing that can be said both about the game and this Giants team.

But now it is truly time to get down to business. Crunch time has arrived. The schedule gods presented the Giants with 5 divisional games in a 7 week span. Two are in the books. Now they face three straight games in a row - Redskins, Eagles, and then Dallas. Three games that have the potential to make or break this wonderful season. Lose all three - which is certainly possible - and this season takes on a very different look compared to how things appear today. Win at least two of three and the Giants almost certainly find themselves the number one seed and odds on favorites to become the first back to back Super Bowl winners in franchise history.

I don't want to minimize what they have done so far this year. 10-1 is an incredible accomplishment by any one's definition. But what has come before is all wrapping and show. Sunday begins the trek for guts and glory.

Late Friday afternoon there were reports that Burress has already been declared out for Sunday. We'll see. But with our without Burress, I have this hunch - based on absolutely nothing and certainly not on anything rooted in the past - that Sinorice Moss may have a break out game Sunday.