P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C

Remember waaaaaay back when the Jints were 6-2? Well, they've gone 1-6 since then, and still have a good shot at the playoffs. Despite the horrendous loss, if they win in Washington on Sunday, they're virtually guaranteed a playoff spot.

As for the Saints game: a debacle, pure and simple. Despite the 30 points put up by Nawluhns, the Jints D actually played great at times. It was the inept offense that couldn't get a first down that forced the D to be on the field twice as long. 2:1 in fact (40:34 for the Saints, 19:26 for the Gmen!). Big Blue had just 6 first downs, and went 0-11 on 3rd and 4th downs! They didn't take a single offensive snap inside Saints territory.

What's so ironic is that the Giants scored on their 3rd play from scrimmage: a 55-yard TD pass to Plaxico. Then they made Nawluhns go 3-&-out on their first drive. I remember thinking maybe the Saints weren't that tough. Who wasn't thinking that? Wow were we wrong. Chad Morton fumbled the ensuing punt, which set the tone for the rest of the game - in other words, (giant) Giants mistakes.

Yet the Saints didn't look like they particularly wanted to win either. They dropped passes all day, and scored just 3 points on their first 4 drives.

Unfortunately, the Giants wanted to win even less. Eli made several inaccurate throws to open receivers, and even when he made good throws, they were dropped. With the talent the offense has, it should look A LOT better than it did Sunday. They've basically lost just 2 guys: Toomer and Petitgout. (Of course, there are other capable receivers like Shockey, Barber, Tyree and Moss to fill in at WR. But there is NO ONE capable of filling in at LT. Whitfield is undisciplined, slow and weak. Who knew Petitgout was so good?) I hope Coughlin, Lewis, Huffnagel and Gilbride are canned after this season. It's hard to watch the constant predictability and ineptness on both sides of the ball.

Chad Morton went down for the year with a torn ACL. Strahan re-injured his foot and is also done for the year. The only bright side is the injuries will allow Sinorice Moss and Mathias Kiwanuka, both rookies, to get more experience. Moss looked good returning kick-offs, and Kiwanuka has been solid all year.

Goats: Eli, the receiving core, and the O-line. Basically the whole offense. Eli completed just 9 of 25 passes for 74 yards! Shockey had 2 catches for -3 yards! Carter, Moss, Tyree and Shockey all dropped easy passes. Eli was sacked twice, and 3 passes were deflected. Even when Eli did happen to make a nice throw, it was dropped. One of the most frustrating games of the year.

30-7 New Orleans (7-8, basically win at Washington and they're in the playoffs, as sad as that is.)

2*: Plax, 1 catch, 55 yds, 1 TD
2: Osi, 6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits, 1 pass deflection
1: Demps, 11 tackles, 1 pass deflection (2nd straight good game)
1: Tiki, 19 touches, 83 yds (a sad last home game for Tiki)

PS: Rumor has it that Tom Coughlin will be fired at year's end. There's even word that Bill Belichick could replace him. If he did, would he change the D to a 3-4? If so, what would happen to Kiwanuka and Osi? But I'm getting way ahead of myself.