NEW YORK –  

Jets coach Rex Ryan wasted no time Monday getting the hype machine rolling for Saturday’s showdown with the Giants.

 

“I recognize that they’re an excellent football team, but I think we’re better,” Ryan said on a conference call.

The Jets and Giants are both coming off disappointing losses Sunday, but that has not taken away from this week’s game. The loser won’t officially be eliminated from playoff contention, but it will deal them a serious blow.

Besides the playoff implications, Ryan will drive the interest in this game — can he back up his boasts or will the Giants shut him up? Ryan wrote in his book that he believes the Jets are the “big brother” to the Giants in the football landscape.

“I never came here to be little brother to anyone. So, it’s on,” Ryan said.

He later added, “There’s no way I’m going to be second fiddle. If we were playing the New York Yankees, I don’t want to be second fiddle to them.”

Ryan, who is in his third year as Jets coach, said it is not debatable which team has been better since he arrived.

“Certainly we were the better team the first two years,” Ryan said. “We made the playoffs, went to the championship game. To say that a team is better than you that never made the playoffs is ridiculous. Clearly, we were the better team my first two years here. We get to prove it on Saturday who the best team is this year.”

Ryan acknowledged he leads the way in pushing this rivalry to a place its never been before.

“Sure there’s a lot of talk going back and forth, most of it driven by me,” he said. “But you know what? I’ll stand by everything I’ve ever said. I didn’t come here to be anybody’s little brother.

“I came here to win, to be looked at that way and to take over not just this city, even though it’s the city to take over, but also this league. I haven’t accomplished that yet. Saturday, I think, will go a long way toward doing that.”

Naturally, Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka disagreed, predicting Big Blue will prove the outspoken Jets coach wrong.

“Talking trash isn’t going to help you out on the field,” he said. “I know we’re the better team. We just have to go out there and prove it.”

The Jets are coming off a 45-19 thrashing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving them tied with Cincinnati at 8-6 for the final AFC playoff spot.

The Giants, despite a lackluster 23-10 home loss to the Redskins Sunday, can still win the NFC East by beating the Jets and Cowboys in the final two games of the season.

 

Read more: NY POST
 

December 7, 2011

Bavaro inducted into New York Giants’ prestigious Ring of Honor

The Salem News

Wed Dec 07, 2011, 05:56 AM EST

While Drew Brees(notes) and the New Orleans Saints are ready to return and make
their push for the postseason, Eli Manning(notes) and the New York Giants are again
having trouble in the second half of a season.

Brees will try to help the Saints remain perfect at home Monday night and
hand Manning and the sputtering Giants a third straight loss.

New Orleans (7-3) has not played since a 26-23 overtime win at Atlanta on
Nov. 13. The Saints are 4-0 at home, where they’ll be for the majority of their
games the rest of the way as they try to maintain a one-game NFC South lead over
the Falcons.

“Four of the next six games at home … and this is our opportunity to try
to separate ourselves and really establish our position both in our division and
in the conference,” Brees said.

New York (6-4) held a two-game NFC East lead before losses the last two
weeks to San Francisco and Philadelphia have helped surging Dallas take a
one-half game lead in the division. The Giants managed season lows of 29 yards
rushing and 278 of total offense in their lowest-scoring effort of the year, a
17-10 loss to the Eagles last Sunday night.

It’s been a common theme for the Giants, who had late-season collapses the
last two seasons to miss the playoffs. They have turned in worse second halves
than first halves in each of coach Tom Coughlin’s first seven seasons.

“It is not going to be the history, believe me,” Coughlin said. “I know that
this is something fanatically involved with all of you but each team is a new
team and each year is a new year.”

This contest centers around both quarterbacks, former Super Bowl MVPs who
figure to have strong efforts since New Orleans’ defense ranks 20th overall and
New York’s is 21st.

Brees leads the NFL with 3,326 yards passing and his 23 touchdown passes are
the league’s third-most. He’s 3-0 in his career against the Giants, with seven
touchdowns, no interceptions and a 65.5 completion percentage with his team
winning by an average of 22.0 points.

Brees is eager to play after coach Sean Payton gave the Saints eight days
off for the bye.

“We have enough of a veteran team now, and leadership and character, and
guys just knowing the right thing to do to take care of themselves and make sure
they’re prepared and ready when we come back,” Brees said.

Manning will play in the city he grew up for the second time. He completed
14 of 31 passes for 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 48-27
loss in New Orleans two seasons ago while Brees threw four touchdowns.

“I know it’s not easy playing there,” Manning said. “It’s a loud stadium and
we have to try to do our best to concentrate well. We have to try not to let the
crowd get into the game. We have to start fast and then not allow them to get
big plays.”

Manning leads the league with a 120.5 fourth-quarter passer rating and is
sixth in the NFL with 18 TD passes. He’s already been sacked 19 times – three
more than last season – as the Giants’ revamped offensive line continues to
struggle.

That unit will be without left tackle Will Beatty(notes), scheduled to have surgery
to repair a detached retina in his right eye. David Diehl(notes) could move back to
left tackle, with Kevin Boothe(notes) moving in as left guard.

The line is a major factor why the Giants own the NFL’s second-worst rushing
attack at 83.2 yards per game. Top running back Ahmad Bradshaw(notes) could return
after missing three games with a broken bone in his right foot.

“Actually, this line has gotten better in the previous games coming into
this (Philadelphia) game and we continue to do that,” Coughlin insisted. “We did
not play well the other night and hopefully we will go right back to it.”

The Saints, meanwhile, have a stable of running backs to choose from to
complement Brees and the passing game. Either rookie Mark Ingram(notes) or second-year
pro Chris Ivory will be inactive despite being healthy, with the other joining
veterans Pierre Thomas(notes) and Darren Sproles(notes) on the active roster.

“This discussion we’re having is a good one,” Payton said. “It’s something
we sought to start the year – that depth and that competition.”

New Orleans ranks eighth in the league in yards per carry at 4.6 compared to
New York’s league-worst 3.2 mark.

The Giants have an edge with a pass rush that is tied for the most sacks in
the league with 31. Their defense will be hampered, however, if middle
linebacker Michael Boley(notes) misses a second straight game with a hamstring strain.

Autumn in New York — really in East Rutherford, N.J., of course — brings satisfaction to one set of the city’s NFL fans and grumbling discontent to the other.

New York Giants fans come off their bye pretty happy, leading the NFC East at 4-2 and the closest thing in the league to a sure win — a home game with Miami — today (despite Brandon Marshall’s moronic tweets; he should worry more about holding onto the ball than his smart phone).

Through six games, Eli Manning has been terrific. He’s one of four quarterbacks in the league with a rating of 100 or more (Rodgers, Brady, Brees the others), has thrown for 1,778 yards and 11 TDs and — most importantly — thrown just five interceptions (he had 25 last season).

Manning’s high level of play has disguised a disappointing running game (30th in the league). And the G-Men rank in the bottom half of the league defensively, surprisingly, though injuries have played a role there (missing talent such as cornerback Terrell Thomas and linebacker Jonathan Goff really doesn’t help).

But getting Justin Tuck back strengths an already very good defensive line and the Giants have shown they can overcome adversity in wins over quality teams such as Philadelphia and Buffalo.

Giants fans shouldn’t count on a division title yet though: their post-bye schedule is a killer, with games at New England, New Orleans, San Francisco and the Jets and home games with the Eagles and Green Bay.

As for the Jets, Rex Ryan’s quarrelsome and contentious bunch snapped a three-game losing streak with home wins over the Dolphins and San Diego and go into the bye at 4-3 but only third in the AFC East. While teams have made the playoffs coming in No. 3 in their division, it takes some doing, and the Jets have a lot of work to do.

The losing streak saw the Jets give up 98 points in losses to Oakland, Baltimore and New England, but that’s slightly misleading as the Ravens scored three defensive touchdowns and the Patriots light up everybody’s defense.

Still, Ryan cannot be happy with a defense ranked 26th in the league against the run. Darrelle Revis is having the kind of year at cornerback that Eagles fans thought Nnamdi Asomugha would for them, and the Jets are No. 7 in the NFL in pass defense, but there’s a general feeling the Jets are cottony-soft on defense when they have to get tough.

Offensively, the Jets may rank 29th in total yards but are 7th in scoring — definitely better than the reverse — and if Mark Sanchez can get the ball to Plaxico Burress (5 TDs in 18 catches) and the underused Santonio Holmes more the Jets will be fine.

The Jets also have a very manageable schedule the rest of way, outside of a game at the Eagles and the matchup with the Giants. At some point, the Jets have to win a road game – they are 4-0 at home, 0-3 on the road — but trips to Washington, Miami, and Denver should end that streak.

The Giants may be in better position now; it will be interesting to see where the two teams stand when they meet on Christmas Eve.

***

The NFL’s TV ratings have been spectacular this season. NFL games are beating most new network shows and are piling up huge audiences on cable. Thirteen of the top 15 network broadcasts have been NFL events this fall.

But that certainly won’t continue if the league rolls out prime-time bow-wows like last week’s 62-7 Saints win over hapless Indianapolis and Jacksonville’s snooze-fest 12-7 defeat of the Ravens. The Saints’ rout saw ratings drop 49 percent from the same time-slot game (Vikings-Packers) a year ago.

Peyton Manning’s injury has left the league with Colts’ prime-time affairs that will be ugly. But the ratings collapse with a dreadful game shows how important competitive games are to the cash machine that is NFL TV contracts, and why the league picks the prime-time games with care.

Brad Wilson can be reached at 800-360-3601 or bwilson@express-times.com. Talk about sports at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—In the New York Giants hierarchy, Jonathan
Tisch is the quiet leader.

He has the title of co-owner and treasurer, but tends to let his brother,
Steve Tisch, and John Mara share the limelight on matters involving the NFL
team.

But a decade ago, in the wake of the terrorist attacks that claimed
thousands of lives and devastated lower Manhattan, Tisch responded to a request
from then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and quietly took on another job—the one as
chairman of New York Rising.

The task force’s goal was to rebuild the Big Apple’s economy by helping
revive travel and tourism post 9/11, a major job with lower Manhattan and other
parts of the city reeling and in shock.