New York Giants News and Notes: Playoffs Start Now Edition

Good morning fellow Giants fans and hope you enjoyed your holidays. I know I did, as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were extremely pleasant in our house after the Giants succeeded at silencing Rex Ryan's Jets on Saturday afternoon, 29-14, setting up a winner-take-all showdown next Sunday night against Dallas. And you just know that Tom Coughlin savored the win way more than he let on. Brandon Jacobs, meanwhile, had some, errrr, fun, shouting down Ryan after the Giants had taken care of business. Meanwhile, when asked about bragging rights, Coughlin merely said "I am not going to get into all of that." He then was asked if the victory for the G-men made a statement, and he said, "We won the game." Such is the difference between Coughlin and Ryan, and love or hate TC, the resounding message from the NY media was one of Rex not backing up his mouth enough, while the Giants simply had more class. And as we sit here Monday morning, it sure feels good to be on the winning (and classy) side of that ledger.

Oh, but first I want to mention that TC also took the high road on the officiating, though he did mention this in his post-game news conference:

"We are going to have to re-visit the ‘tuck' rule. I thought the quarterback was pulling it down to run and the ball comes out then they make that ruling. We haven't had many of those overturned in the last six weeks. Unbelievable."

I know I was screaming at the TV all afternoon, and I am sure many of you were. And I will just leave it at that. After all, we won the game.

NY Jets coach Rex Ryan doesn't own New York, or anything else, instead he got owned by NY Giants - NY Daily News
The Jets didn’t own Saturday at MetLife Stadium. They didn’t own the place, they didn’t own the Giants, didn’t own anything. They got owned.

D'Alessandro: Jets' Rex Ryan may have caused trouble against Giants with his big talk | NJ.com
He is a terrific football coach, but to fully understand him, you probably have to play for him. Yet there’s a problem with that: Even the guys in his locker room don’t seem to recognize how much damage his mouth can cause — and we’re not referencing how much his twaddle motivates the opposition, but how it gives his own group a false sense of achievement.

NFL will not look into post-game exchange between Rex Ryan and Brandon Jacobs | NJ.com

The NFL will not look into the tense post-game exchange between Jets coach Rex Ryan and Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, an NFL spokesman confirmed.

Far From Perfect, Giants Keep Playoff Hopes Alive - NYTimes.com
There was no four-quarter effort, no clean, dominating performance. In a virtual must-win game for the Giants, they survived — remarkably — on the strength of their defense and two flashes of light from a mostly moribund offense. It was erratic. It was frustrating. It was inconsistent. It was also enough.

Giants vs. Jets: Plaxico Burress bottled up by his former team | NJ.com
Plaxico Burress said last week he hoped to catch one, two, and maybe three or four touchdowns against his former team. But the only time the Jets receiver found the end zone in today’s 29-14 loss to the Giants, the 23-yard touchdown catch was called back because of his offensive pass interference penalty.

New York duel goes to Giants; both look puny | NFL - The News Tribune
The Jets had everything in place to make the boast come true and they gave it away over the past two weeks with a dreadful loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week and this embarrassing setback in which Ryan’s team didn’t step up after a week of bragging about how good they are. To get to the playoffs, the Jets have to beat Miami next weekend and get help – lots of it. They have to hope for Cincinnati and Tennessee to lose, and either have Oakland or Denver lose next week.

NFL moves Cowboys at Giants to Sunday prime time for final day of season - The Washington Post
The NFL has moved the Dallas Cowboys’ game at the New York Giants to decide the NFC East title to prime time on New Year’s Day. The game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. EST, with the teams both at 8-7. The winner goes to the playoffs and the loser goes home.

Oh, goodie. Is Michaels/Collinsworth the lesser of two evils when compared to Buck/Aikman? I think so, but it's way open to debate. I think I'm more annoyed that I will be wired Sunday night--hopefully happily wired.

Giants shift focus from Jets to Cowboys - Giants Blog - ESPN New York
Coughlin will allow his team to savor the win over the Jets on Christmas. But it’s back to work on Monday and the focus shifts toward winning one more game against a hated rival for the division and a postseason spot.

Dallas Cowboys show little to indicate they'll win NFC East battle with New York Giants - ESPN Dallas
Oh, and your Cowboys can still win the NFC East. All they have to do is beat the New York Giants on New Year's Day. Good luck. They're going to need it. The last time the Cowboys played in a winner-take-all game to end the regular season, Philadelphia won by 38 points in 2008 in the most gutless performance in franchise history.

No matter, that game is going to be a heavyweight battle to the finish, and the Giants will need to bring everything they've got in all three phases. There is no margin for error, since it will essentially be the start of the NFL playoffs on New Year's night. Bring it on!