New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin greets cornerback Corey Webster (23) at the side line during the fourth quarter of the Oct. 16 game against the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford. The Giants won the game 27-24. / AP

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By Jason Catania

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Week 4

Game: New York Giants (2-1) at Arizona Cardinals (1-2)

Date: Sunday, October 2

Time: 4:05 PM EST

Game of the Week Status

After looking terrible in their opening-game loss, the New York Giants have won two straight to save their start to the season, which is something the Arizona Cardinals are desperate to do following two straight defeats.

Previous Week

In Week 3, the Giants picked up a huge 29-16 win against the Philadelphia Eagles, an NFC East rival who had beaten New York six straight and came into the season with Super Bowl expectations.

The Giants, though, managed to exact some revenge for the brutal loss to Philly that kept them out of the playoffs late last season – otherwise known as DeSean-Jackson-punt-return-TD-on-the-final-play game – as the Eagles now sit at the bottom of the division, thanks to Eli Manning and New York’s defense.

Despite playing with a receiving corps limited by injuries to WRs Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon, the Giants quarterback threw four TD passes last week, including the first two scores of WR Victor Cruz’s career. And Big Blue’s D actually knocked Eagles QB Michael Vick out of the game for the second week in a row, this time with an injured hand after he came into the contest only days removed from suffering a concussion.

As satisfying as the Giants win was, the Cardinals loss was equally as crushing considering their opponent. Arizona lost their second straight game by three points or less with an embarrassing 13-10 defeat at the hands of the inept Seattle Seahawks on the road. Aside from an early TD catch by WR Larry Fitzgerald, the Cards’ offense didn’t do much of anything against a Seattle D that had allowed 33 and 24 points in the first two weeks.

New QB Kevin Kolb threw a pair of picks in his worst outing of the season so far, and Arizona managed just 90 rushing yards after having to dip all the way down to Alfonso Smith, their fourth-string running back, because starter Beanie Wells and backup LaRod Stephens-Howling were out with injuries and fill-in Chester Taylor struggled to get going. The all-around ugly performance cost the Cardinals a share of the NFC West lead.

What To Expect

The Giants return to the University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of their Super Bowl XLII championship, and will look to take advantage of a Cardinals defense that has been surrendering chunks of yardage at a time. In fact, Arizona ranks 27th in total yards allowed, and has been susceptible both on the ground (122.7 yards per game, 27th overall) and in the air (275 yards per game, 25th overall).

With the expected return to health of Manningham (concussion) and the emergence of Cruz in addition to top target Hakeem Nicks (team-bests of 14 catches and 185 yards), Manning will have plenty at his disposal in the passing game, and lead back Ahmad Bradshaw (4.4 yards per carry) is capable of teaming with battering ram RB Brandon Jacobs to balance out the Giants’ attack.

As for the defensive side, it’s looking like another injured Giant, DE Osi Umenyiora, may debut following offseason knee surgery, which would make New York’s front line – which already features fellow ends Jason Pierre-Paul, a blossoming second-year player with 4.5 sacks already, and veteran sack artist Justin Tuck – that much more imposing.

Coincidentally, if the Giants are going to slow down Fitzgerald, a five-time Pro Bowler who is Arizona’s top offensive threat, a lot of responsibility will fall on former Cardinals S Antrel Rolle, the franchise’ first-rounder back in 2005.

While Kolb will, no doubt, look Fitzgerald’s way often, it may in fact be the health of Wells’ lingering hamstring injury that has the biggest impact on the team. If their top back can’t go or is limited, the Cardinals will turn into a one-dimensional offense because of their lack of depth behind Wells.

For his part, though, Wells, who’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry in his two games, is confident he’ll be back this week, and Arizona will need him to make a few big plays. Same goes for the Cards’ defensive backfield, which includes three playmakers in safeties Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes along with rookie CB Patrick Peterson, the fifth overall pick in last April’s draft.

Given Manning’s knack for making a few questionable throws over the course of a game, an interception or two in a key spot could turn the tide in this game – and the Cardinals’ season.

New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw (44) runs away from St. Louis Rams defensive end James Hall (96) during the third quarter of the game Monday in East Rutherford, N.J. The Associated Press

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By TOM CANAVAN  AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Eli Manning wasn’t searching for  answers earlier this week when he said the New York Giants were  looking for an identity after a season-opening loss.

The 2008 Super Bowl MVP knows exactly who the Giants are when  they have the ball. So do the St. Louis Rams, who will face them  Monday night at MefLife Stadium in the first coaching matchup of  Tom Coughlin and former pupil Steve Spagnuolo.

The Giants are a run-first offense. The passing game is set up  by the rushing of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs and the  blocking of a hard-noseä offensive line.

Inexplicably, the Giants (0-1) lost that identity in their 28-14  loss to the Redskins. The running game produced 63 yards on 13  carries in the first half. New York rushed seven times for 12 yards  in the second half and was shut out.

“They’re not going to try to trick you or anything like that,”  Rams defensive end Chris Long said. “They’re going to run the ball  at you and say stop it if you can. They’ve got a nice power running  game and Eli can make plays when he has to. I’m pretty sure they’re  going to try to run the ball on us, and with good reason. We didn’t  stop the run real well last week.”

The Rams (0-1) didn’t stop the run, period, in a 31-13 loss to  the Michael Vick and the Eagles. Philadelphia rushed for 236 yards  with LeSean McCoy collecting 122 and Vick 97.

While many might expect the Giants to be saliva 5/8ing at the  prospect of rebounding against the Rams, they aren’t for two  reasons.

Despite his 2-yard touchdown run last week, the slow-footed  Manning isn’t Vick. McCoy’s numbers also need to be looked at  cautiously since he gained 95 yards in the fourth quarter.

“They are going to be coming in here fighting,” Giants center  David Baas said. “They don’t want to be 0-2 and we don’t want to  be 0-2. We’re not underestimating them at all. But definitely we  are going to come out and be aggressive and do what we do.”

Bradshaw said the Redskins put eight men in the box in an effort  to force Manning to throw the ball. It worked, partly because New  York putting itself in too many third-and-long situations that took  away the run option.

Left tackle Will Beatty expects the Giants to be themselves.

“We know the defense is going to put eight in the box,” Beatty  said. “They want to force us to pass the ball. We know we can run  against eight in the box because teams have been showing that  against us week after week. We just have to do what we have to do  and things will fall in place.”

The Giants have no doubt that Spagnuolo will try to pressure  Manning and the offense. After all, he was the Giants’ defensive  coordinator in the Super Bowl championship season in 2007, and  again the following year before taking the Rams’ job.

His game plan was always to bring the pressure.

Spagnuolo said that many of the things the Rams use on defense  are the same as what he did with the Giants. However, he added  there are some things the Giants won’t recognize.

“I still live by the theory, if you could exchange each others  playbooks during the week and go and play the game, it still comes  back to the players,” Spagnuolo said. “You don’t know what they  are going to call and on what down. I think there are some  advantages on both sides maybe and being familiar with personnel  and scheme but it really comes down to how the players execute on  Monday night.”

Both teams will again have to deal with injuries.

The Giants expect two-time Pro Bowl Justin Tuck to play this  week after sitting out the opener with a neck injury. Leading  receiver Hakeem Nicks also expects to play with a bruised knee,  although New York signed veteran Brandon Stokley as an insurance  policy this week.

Fellow Pro Bowl DE Osi Umenyiora remains out with a knee injury  for a defense that has lost two starters and its second-round draft  pick for the season with injuries. Cornerback Prince Amukamara is  out with a broken foot.

The Rams are not as sure about running back Steven Jackson  (quad) while receiver Danny Amendola is doubtful with an elbow  injury. Quarterback Sam Bradford is expected to play with a bruised  index finger on his throwing hand.

Defensive end C.J. AhYou (wrist) is out. Cornerback Ron Bartell  is out for the season with a neck injury.

“Like I told the team, you just get a foxhole mentality, get in  there, regroup, get the next guy up, come out the hole fighting,”  Spagnuolo said. “So that’s what we’ll do.”

This is somewhat of a must-win game for both teams.

Since 2000, only nine of 98 teams that have started 0-2 have  made the playoffs. In the past two years, 17 teams have started 0-2  and none has made the playoffs.

“That’s a characteristic of this business. You have to win,”  Jacobs said. “You win to keep jobs. That’s just what it is. You  don’t want to be one of those teams at the end of the year that’s  playing the last couple of games for absolutely nothing.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

New York Giants

Posted: August 28
Updated: Today at 3:40 AM

TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Being forced to adjust their schedule because of the weather isn’t anything new for the New York Giants.

They got used to it last season when a blizzard first delayed their trip to Minnesota, then forced the game to be moved to Detroit when the Metrodome’s roof collapsed.

The Giants are adjusting again with the East Coast being hit by Hurricane Irene. The category 1 storm forced the Giants, Jets and the NFL to move Saturday’s game at MetLife Stadium from Saturday to Monday night.

The Giants announced the postponement on Friday night, with the team learning about it while in meetings. The team practiced on Saturday.

“I thought the guys adjusted,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “We came in today and I thought we really had a crisp, sharp practice. Guys were flying around, moving around. I got to see a few more Jets looks, since we had a short week in the first place. I think guys are now set on going home, resting up today and tomorrow.”

Coach Tom Coughlin sent his players to their homes after practice on Saturday to be with their families. They have been told to return Monday for a team meeting and pregame meal. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

“First and foremost, our thoughts are for the safety and well-being of everybody who has been and will be impacted by the hurricane system,” Coughlin said in quotes released by the team. “We pray that all those people have taken the necessary precautions and that the aftermath is something that can be managed effectively.”

Coughlin isn’t worried about the Giants (1-1) being ready for the annual preseason game against the Jets (1-1).

“We’re getting good at mid-stream adjustments,” Coughlin said. “I don’t know if that is something you necessarily want to perfect, but I think we’re close.”

Manning said this year’s delay is different.

“Last year, we were traveling around and staying in hotels and we didn’t know where we were going to play or what was going on,” he said. “That was different. With this game, we know when we’re playing, we know the time. We adjusted and got to have an extra practice.”

The delay might help the Giants. They had a short week to prepare for the Jets, having played the Bears on Monday night.

The negative is the Giants won’t have any time to prepare for the preseason finale against the New England Patriots on Thursday night in Foxborough, Mass.

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By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD — Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora has ended his holdout after a day and reported to the Giants.

Umenyiora reported to training camp yesterday afternoon after missing the opening day of training camp at the team’s headquarters.

The 29-year-old failed to report Friday. He said during the summer that he was unhappy with the team because general manager Jerry Reese failed to live up to a promise to renegotiate his contact after last season.

“I’ll be there today,” Umenyiora said in a email to The Associated Press around 3:20 p.m. Saturday.

Neither Umenyiora nor Reese was immediately available for comment after the player reported around 4 p.m.

Umenyiora started all 16 games last season and led the league with 10 forced fumbles. His 11½ sacks tied Justin Tuck for the team lead.

Tuck hinted earlier in the day that Umenyiora might return soon.

“I think he realizes this is a business and he’s doing what’s best for him. You can’t blame him for that,” Tuck said. “A lot of people have different opinions on how to handle the situation. You might not see eye-to-eye with how he handled it. He has to do what’s best for him. That’s all I tell him to do. My biggest concern is that he doesn’t do something that’s going to hurt Osi.”

Umenyiora ripped Reese in an affidavit filed by players as part of an antitrust suit against the league during the recent lockout.

Tuck felt the comments would not be a problem. Continued…

“A couple years ago Michael Strahan was in a similar situation,” Tuck said. “He might’ve had a little bit more (leverage) being a future Hall of Famer. You’ve got to understand, we just got out of a tremendous business deal with just being able to come out here and play this game again. It is a business.

“I think a lot of people get caught up in the loyalty to the game and things of that nature like the Giants in this situation. We’re definitely loyal to the team. But, in Osi’s situation, he feels as though he needs to do this.”

By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD — Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora has ended his holdout after a day and reported to the Giants.

Umenyiora reported to training camp yesterday afternoon after missing the opening day of training camp at the team’s headquarters.

The 29-year-old failed to report Friday. He said during the summer that he was unhappy with the team because general manager Jerry Reese failed to live up to a promise to renegotiate his contact after last season.

“I’ll be there today,” Umenyiora said in a email to The Associated Press around 3:20 p.m. Saturday.

Neither Umenyiora nor Reese was immediately available for comment after the player reported around 4 p.m.

Umenyiora started all 16 games last season and led the league with 10 forced fumbles. His 11½ sacks tied Justin Tuck for the team lead.

Tuck hinted earlier in the day that Umenyiora might return soon.

“I think he realizes this is a business and he’s doing what’s best for him. You can’t blame him for that,” Tuck said. “A lot of people have different opinions on how to handle the situation. You might not see eye-to-eye with how he handled it. He has to do what’s best for him. That’s all I tell him to do. My biggest concern is that he doesn’t do something that’s going to hurt Osi.”

Umenyiora ripped Reese in an affidavit filed by players as part of an antitrust suit against the league during the recent lockout.

Tuck felt the comments would not be a problem.

“A couple years ago Michael Strahan was in a similar situation,” Tuck said. “He might’ve had a little bit more (leverage) being a future Hall of Famer. You’ve got to understand, we just got out of a tremendous business deal with just being able to come out here and play this game again. It is a business.

“I think a lot of people get caught up in the loyalty to the game and things of that nature like the Giants in this situation. We’re definitely loyal to the team. But, in Osi’s situation, he feels as though he needs to do this.”

While brother Ronde appears to be the very soul of dignity as he continues his future Hall of Fame career down in Tampa Bay, former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber managed to offend quite a few people with a recent comment. Explaining the media scrutiny he’s received since he left his pregnant wife to be with his 23-year-old girlfriend, Barber told L. Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated that he moved into the attic of his agent, Mark Lepselter, to escape prying eyes.

“Lep’s Jewish,” Barber allegedly said, “and it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing.”

Um, yeah. A millionaire pro football player comparing himself to a teenage Jewish Holocaust victim is going to go over about as well as Adrian Peterson’s recent “modern-day slavery” comment, but at least Peterson had a bit of context with which to defend himself. Barber’s comment was thoughtless at best and asinine at worst. It’s certainly the wrong step to take as Barber tries to rehab his image in the wake of professional and personal failures, and as he tried to convince people that he’s got a legitimate future in the NFL as a comeback story.

Barber was never known as the most tactful sort; it’s well-known that his way of doing things put off some of his old teammates, especially when he questioned the leadership of the Giants quarterback as a member of the media as opposed to a guy in the locker room who would have to answer for his words. And his concept of himself as a future media magnate hasn’t gone as expected. But this is a larger bump in the road. Judging from initial reactions, Barber will have quite a time living this down.

“Holocaust trivialization continues to spread and finds new ways and expressions that shock the conscience,” Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said.  “Tiki Barber’s personal behavior is his business.  But our history and experiences are ours and deserve greater respect than being abused or perverted by Tiki Barber.

“The analogy to Anne Frank is not funny, it is outrageous and perverse.  Anne Frank was not hiding voluntarily.  Before she perished at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, she hid from the Nazis for more than two years, fearing every day for her life.  The Frank family’s experiences, as recorded in Anne’s dairy, are a unique testimonial to the horrors of the Holocaust, and her life should never be debased or degraded by insensitive and offensive analogies.”

Lepselter defended his client, according to Pro Football Talk, by claiming that Barber was trapped in the attic for a week, and mentioned that Barber was the guest of Israel’s president five years ago.

Most people will ring up a “No Sale” to that, though. I don’t believe it’s anyone’s contention that Barber was actually trying to compare his situation to Anne Frank’s. But if there’s one thing people need to learn when they’re in the public eye, it’s that the life of a celebrity doesn’t have an “off” switch. If you want your words in the public record, you have to watch what you say at all times. Especially when, like Barber, your history makes you a less than sympathetic character.

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Tiki, Tiki, Tiki!

What do you mean “playing the field” again?

Tiki Barber, the charming New York Giants running back who retired in 2006 to work full-time on TV, is returning to his first love, football.

With Tiki, you have to say “first” love. That’s because the multi-tasking talking helmet got major boos at NBC and in the sports-gossip pages for scoring with a 23-year-old TV intern while his wife was pregnant with twins.

That didn’t help his broadcasting career, immediately silencing talk that Tiki was the next Matt Lauer. But Tiki says it wasn’t any personal life scandal that made him to file his coming-out-of-retirement papers on Tuesday with the NFL. It was his twin brother, he says, who inspired him to pull on his cleats again.

“After seeing how much fun Ronde is still having, it reignited my fire,” the nearly 36-year-old Tiki told FOXSports.com. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get back to the level of where I was.”

While he was on the field, Barber, though small for a running back, never shied away from getting hit. Could that kind of determination help him? ESPN New York.com says that “no running back that age or older has rushed for more than 830 yards in a season.”

Still, he has plenty of time for the gym.

Tiki is getting divorced now from Ginny Barber, his wife of more than 11 years. The Barbers have four children including the 1-year-old twins.

Once a hugely popular player, Tiki, the Giants’ all-time leading rusher, developed a real knack for alienating his coaches, teammates and fans, even before his office dating became an issue. He ripped Giants quarterback Eli Manning and rattled others by signing a TV deal during – not after — his final season.

Coach Tom Coughlin wondered aloud: How much commitment to the team did Tiki still really have?

For Tiki, money could be as big an issue now as any friendly fraternal jealousy. When NBC terminated the contract that reportedly paid him $300,000 a year due to a morals clause, no other networks rushed forward with comparable deals. And Tiki said he was too broke to pay a divorce settlement to his wife.

That could be true. He was last seen as a football commentator on Yahoo Sports.

Ellis Henican, is a Newsday columnist and Fox News contributor. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “HOME TEAM: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life” and “IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE: Dale, Daytona and the Day that Changed Everything.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tiki Barber, the New York Giants’ all-time leading rusher, took the first step toward returning to the NFL on Tuesday and ending a four-year retirement.

Barber filed paperwork with the league to remove him from the reserve-retirement list, according to a report on Sports Illustrated magazine’s website (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/), clearing the way for a return to the gridiron.

A fan favorite in New York as player, Barber retired at the end of the 2006 season as the Giants’ all-time leading rusher with 10,449 yards.

He walked away from the game despite having two years remaining on his contract to pursue a career in television.

The 35-year-old running back also had 55 touchdowns and 586 receptions for 5,183 yards in his NFL career.

The Giants still retain Barber’s rights but it is believed they are prepared to release him and allow him a chance to team up with his twin brother Ronde Barber, a defensive back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto, Editing by Steve Ginsburg)

Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is set to play again for the National Football League (NFL) 2011, after retiring in 2007, Fox Sports reported on Tuesday, March 8, 2011.

Tiki Barber
Photo Credit: HoosFootball.com

Tiki Barber, who will turn 36 this coming April 7, announced his plans to make a comeback for NFL, and has already filed papers to come out from his retirement.

“After seeing my brother still have fun at our age, it reignited the fire. I’m really looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get back to the level of where I was,” Tiki Barber was quoted as saying on the report.

“I started working out again recently. It kind of shocked my self. I still had a lot of the strength I had before. I’m really looking forward to making a return.” He added, as his twin brother Ronde Barber still plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as cornerback.

This was also confirmed by his agent, Mark Lepselter, telling Fox Sports that the papers for Tiki Barber to come out for his retirement have been filed to become a free agent; and apparently said there were also parties interested.

Tiki Barber was said to have been the all-time leader in rushing yards in the history of the New York Giants, who ran 2,390 total yards in 2005 and was second highest in NFL history.

When he retired as a professional football player after playing for 10 seasons, he was hired by NBC as a correspondent for ‘The Today’s Show’ and ‘Football Night in America’.

However, he reportedly left his wife, Ginny, in April 2010, who was then eight months pregnant, after being married for 11 years, and had Traci Lyn Johnson, then 23-year old and a former NFL intern.

Tags: Fox Sports, Mark Lepselter, National Football League, New York Giants, NFL, Ronde Barber, Tiki Barber, Tiki Barber play again, Tiki Barber unretires, Traci Lyn Johnson

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