Chris Canty doesn’t expect Sunday to be a pretty offensive showing. In fact, he expects it to be a bloodbath according to Sean Brennan of the Daily News. Mike Vacarro of the Post writes that the pain threshold of a football player is unlike anything us normal human beings know about. Neil Best of Newsday writes about Jerry Rice’s criticism of one Brandon Jacobs which frankly I and many Giant fans have wondered too. Eric Branch of the San Fran Chronicle writes about the career that Alex Smith could have had, if one Norv Turner had stayed in San Fran. Then again, Troy Aikman agrees. Jerry McDonald’s piece in this morning’s Contra Costa Times about how the Niners secondary was assembled is a must read for football heads. Classic story by Steve Politi of the Star Ledger about John Mara forced to miss his first Giants playoff game in forty years because his two daughters were up for awards at the Golden Globes. His line to a stranger who was a Packer fan is classic. Ohm Yungmisuk of ESPN writes that 15 seconds of that game against the Jets helped the Giants save their season. SI’s Jim Trotter goes in depth on the Alex Smith saga in a must read. Finally, Ian O’Connor writing about Bill Parcells talking about the Giants. LOVED this article.
Look, I’ve said this repeatedly that this game will be the end all, be all. As good as that Saints/Niners game was, purists will thoroughly enjoy Sunday’s game at Candlestick for two reasons. The Niners will have to earn every point against the Giants defense and the Niners will make the Giants earn every point when they have the ball. The Niners have the better defense, but the Giants have the better overall team playing RIGHT NOW. As it stands its a coin flip. I won’t give you a prediction because I’m not in the business of picking games when it comes to the Giants since I have a certain rooting interest and in fairness, my objectivity would be questioned had I made one but I will tell you that this game will come down to the final five minutes.
That last drive by the Saints was fantastic for one reason: Jim Harbaugh made some calls at the end of that game that made Alex Smith feel like he believed in him so much. It does wonders to your confidence as a player if a coach can put that kind of trust and faith in you. I’ve always said that there’s a reason these guys are getting paid millions of dollars to play a sport. Its because they have genuine talent. That talent doesn’t magically just go away, but you need the right mindset to keep it up. Alex Smith’s career has never had stability and Troy Aikman said it best, having Norv Turner for three years to guide his maturation as a QB was vital to his career. Once Aikman was given direction, Norv was no longer needed to guide him later. Eli has had Kevin Gilbride throughout his professional career. The stability of having Tom Coughlin as his coach for the last 8 years. These things can’t be overlooked and glossed over, yet they are because we want immediate results.
Could Alex Smith have been a star had Norv stayed on as offensive coordinator of the 49ers? You can’t answer that question because it never happened, but if you want to prognosticate on that, I will entertain that question and say yes. I think Smith could’ve been more than serviceable. Coming out of Utah the kid was smart and as Urban Meyer said it, “Tebow before there was a Tebow” and as crazy as this sounds, that’s saying a lot. Not everyone benefits from the stability that others enjoy. Its amazing what Jason Campbell could do playing on a team that DIDNT change its offensive coordinator every year like he had in Washington. It takes time for QB’s to become who they are. It takes time to mature into that position and its always a good story when QB’s or even high draft picks make good for your franchise.
The Giants head into San Fran as the most complete team left. Does that matter? No. Because ALL of these teams have the ability to win the Super Bowl. I learned nothing about the Patriots defense after that Denver game. You give Bill Belichiek and Tom Brady two chances to play you and then add the former coach of that team to the staff days prior to the game, and you expect what exactly? The Pats to lay an egg? Come on. The Ravens haven’t proved they can pass the ball and the Pats will play the run all afternoon, but that’s of course playing to the Ravens strengths because like Phil Simms said on NFL today, did anyone see Joe Flacco miss a pass? No. Did I see the run game disappear? Yes. And then there are the Niners and as good as the offense was against the Saints, the Saints don’t have a defense that scares anyone. Like the Packers they aren’t physical and depend too much on the takeaway. This will be an interesting match up and I will have a preview of that game up shortly after I finally finish the wrap up from Sunday’s game.
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