Here are a smattering of the stories floating around the Inter-Google today after our New York Giants 34-10 destruction of the Houston Texans Sunday. The difference in tone from two weeks ago is amazing.
Game Reviews
Let's start here. It seems everybody tries to copy 'Kudos & Wet Willies,' but we know that it just can't be done. Still, there is some good stuff in these game reviews.
- Pat Trains offers 'Hits, Misses & Musings.'
- Ernie Palladino has 'The Good & The Bad.'
- Mike Garafolo's game story, as usual, is filled with interesting details only he seems able to come up with.
- WFAN says it's OK to start getting excited about the Giants.
More good reads
Texans coach Gary Kubiak was "shocked" by the lopsided nature of Sunday's game.
"I'm shocked by how we played," Kubiak said, calling the Texans' performance "undisciplined."
Kubiak added, "I would like to talk about something we did good today, but I don't think there was anything that we did good. I've got to look at myself from that standpoint. We had a good week at practice, and I thought we were ready to play. I thought we had a lot of energy the first five minutes of the football game; then, they just got after us for the rest of the first half.
"It was just total domination."
SI's Don Banks notes the difference in the Giants from just two weeks ago.
Two short weeks. That's about all it takes in today's NFL to completely flip the script. Two weeks ago, the New York Giants looked like an undisciplined disaster in a penalty-strewn loss at home to the Tennessee Titans, and the buzzards were already starting to circle the head of New York's embattled coach, Tom Coughlin. Some observers even had Bill Cowher measuring the drapes in Coughlin office, and the opinions of one Tiki Barber were again in demand.
But a mere 14 days later, the Giants (3-2) look far more dominant than disastrous. A 17-3, sack-filled win over the visiting Bears last Sunday night got New York headed in the right direction, and on Sunday at Houston's Reliant Stadium, the G-Men fairly well dismantled a Texans (3-2) team that was the toast of the NFL entering Week 3.
Running back Brandon Jacobs had a good day Sunday with 10 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, and says his attitude is much better than it had been.
"My enthusiasm is right where it needs to be," Jacobs said after the game. "I was kind of screwed up mentally last week. But I got past it and here we are today."
Speaking of Jacobs, he had a tremendous quote about fellow running back Ahmad Bradshaw.
"I like watching Ahmad run because there are some things that he does that I look at Jerald (Ingram, the Giants' running backs coach) and I'm like, 'Jerald, how did he get five yards out of that? What the hell did he do to get five yards?'" said Jacobs. "I cannot do that. I can't even draw that."
Sage Rosenfels took over from Matt Dodge as holder for Lawrence Tynes on Sunday, and Tynes was appreciative of his work.
"He’s very fast putting the ball down, so I was very pleased with Sage," Tynes said, adding: "I was never worried about the catch with Matt; it was more the placing. He didn’t place it as fast. Sage is very, very fast and I get to look at the ball forever."
As MG noted, give Dodge some credit for handling the change honestly.
"I’m the only thing that changed in the equation," Dodge said. "And the results showed today."