I know you guys are all winding down, looking forward to Christmas, wandering around your office looking for things other than work to occupy your time. So, here is a little New York Giants reading material for you.
Tom Coughlin says Giants starting to 'come around' mentally after loss against Eagles | NJ.com
Coughlin did admit the players were still a bit sluggish when they arrived this morning. But he started to see a turnaround during the morning meeting and expects them to continue to sharpen their focus as the day progresses.
"They were a little quiet, but I think they’ll be all right. They’ll come around," Coughlin said. "They responded well in my meeting. They’ve got a bunch of new stuff, which happens on Wednesdays and they have to really focus in on the learning, so that’s the stage we’re in right now."
Giants tackle says Eagles offensive linemen are 'dirty' birds | NJ.com
Rocky Bernard complains of Philly's 'cheap shots'
Giants draw inspiration from '07 team - NFC East Blog - ESPN
If the Giants win in Green Bay on Sunday, they're in the playoffs. But the Packers will be a desperate team looking to bounce back from a narrow loss to the Patriots. Giants defensive end Justin Tuck reminded reporters Monday that the '07 team lost twice to the Dallas Cowboys before beating them in a divisional playoff game at Texas Stadium.
"Hopefully, the parallel I am looking forward to is Dallas beat us twice that year too and we got an opportunity to go to Dallas and beat them [in the playoffs]," said Tuck. "Obviously we got to get into the tournament."
"A lot will be told Wednesday when we step onto the football field and how we react to being back on the field after such a crushing loss. I know this football team, and the majority of them are very resilient. The only reason why I say majority is because we got some first-time guys who haven't been in this situation, so we will see how they respond."
Smith surgery not as complicated as expected | New York Daily News
Steve Smith is still facing a long and uncertain road to recovery from the torn articular cartilege in his knee, but at least his ordeal began with a little good news: His surgery wasn't nearly as involved as it was expected to be.
He underwent microfracture surgery on his injured left knee as planned earlier today, but according to two sources familiar with his situation he did not need a mosaicplasty procedure as the doctors originally thought he would. Though the reason wasn't immediately known, it could be an indication that the damage to the knee wasn't as extensive as the doctors believed.
Pro Football Focus Numbers
Real quickly, some notes from the Pro Football Focus review of Sunday's game.
Offense -- Eli Manning (+4.2) and Kareem McKenzie (+3.3) had the best scores. Shaun O'Hara, roundly criticized here, actually had a +1.2 overall score. He was +3.0 in run-blocking, but struggled in pass protection (-2.0). David Diehl was -5.2 for the worst offensive score, and Bear Pascoe had a -2.3. That tells you a lot about why the Giants struggled to run the ball.
Defense -- Rocky Bernard (+1.4) and Michael Boley (+1.3) had the best scores. Deon Grant's -2.4 was the worst score.