Maybe I'll be a Jets fan

Who thought the Jets and Giants would have the same record after 11 games? No one. I don't think even (Jets coach) Eric Mangini thought so. They have a young, exciting team, with a young, future (if not present) genius head coach. Unfortunately, the Giants are seriously lacking in the coaching department, and it's too late in my life to switch allegiances...

As for today's game, somehow I felt it would happen. Call me a cynic, but I wasn't that surprised or saddened by the crushing loss. The Gmen were up 21-0 going into the 4th quarter, and proceeded to allow 24 points while scoring 0. It was one of those days. What was the turning point? When Plax quit on the ball allowing Adam Jones to pick it off? Was it Frank Walker's late hit on Vince Young turning a takeaway into a Tennessee first down? Or was it Kiwanuka's 'non-sack' on Young? Take your pick, if one of them doesn't happen, the Giants win. I'll go with Walker's late hit: it was 4th and 9, and Young scrambled for 8 and was falling out of bounds when Walker laid him out. It was a borderline call, but Walker should not have hit him, he was clearly short of the first down by at least a yard.

4th down: Kiwanuka had Young wrapped up, and then inexplicably let him go, as if he thought the play was over. He just stopped playing - he looked back at Fred Robbins like he was expecting him to do something. What?! Did he hear a whistle and think the play was over? Did he think Young had already thrown the ball? I don't know. But Young ran 19 yards for a first down, and their comeback continued.

Update: Apparently Kiwanuka did indeed think Young had thrown the ball (and did not want to incur a penalty).

Eli made a horrible decision on 2nd and 1 to throw the ball with 32 seconds left when no one was open. Jones picked it off again, and it led to Tennessee's game-winning field goal. I'm really starting to think Eli is not a franchise QB. Tim Carter again did nothing. Shockey was hardly used in the 2nd half. They couldn't run in the 2nd half. And the Jints also didn't get any kind of consistent pass rush in the 2nd half - which can be largely blamed on the injuries (both starting CBs and DEs were out).

Now the whole season will be decided next Sunday against Dallas. With a win, the Giants will take over first place (with the head-to-head tiebreaker). With a loss, they're 2 games back and .500 on the year. The game will probably decide whether Tom Coughlin comes back as head coach.

24-21 Tennessee
(6-5 on the year, 1 game behind Dallas)
... and more coaching criticism from players in 3...2...1

3*: Jacobs, 11 touches, 68 yards, 2 TD
2: Tiki, 30 touches, 112 yards
1: Robbins, 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 1 fumble recovery
1: Wilson, 9 tackles, 1 pass deflection, 1 fumble recovery
1: Pierce, 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit


One of the reasons I started this blog was for games like this, where it's so cathartic to get all my thoughts out...