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
 

WASHINGTON (4-9) At NEW YORK GIANTS (7-6)

Sunday, 1 p.m., Fox

OPENING LINE—Giants by 7 1/2

RECORD VS. SPREAD—Washington 6-7; New York 6-7

SERIES RECORD—Giants 92-63-4

LAST MEETING—Redskins beat Giants 28-14, Sept. 11

LAST WEEKS—Redskins lost to Patriots 34-27; Giants beat Cowboys 37-34

REDSKINS OFFENSE—OVERALL (17), RUSH (31), PASS (12)

REDSKINS DEFENSE—OVERALL (10), RUSH (17), PASS (13)

GIANTS OFFENSE—OVERALL (7), RUSH (32), PASS (4)

GIANTS DEFENSE—OVERALL (30), RUSH (22), PASS (29)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES—Rex Grossman has completed 90 of 154 for 1,183
yards, eight touchdowns, two interceptions and a 94.7 quarterback rating in four
games against Giants. …Roy Helu has rushed for at least 100 yards in last
three games. He also leads NFL rookie running backs with 44 receptions.
..Receiver Anthony Armstrong has caught a TD and averaging 20.5 yards in last
three games against Giants. … LB Ryan Kerrigan scored on 9-yard interception
return in season opener vs. New York. …Eli Manning has thrown 14
fourth-quarter TDs this season, tying NFL record. He also has thrown for 400
yards three times this season, tying another league mark. …Brandon Jacobs
rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns starting for benched Ahmad Bradshaw last
week. …Victor Cruz (1,150) and Hakeem Nicks (1,023) are first pair of Giants’
receivers with 1,000 yards in same season. …DE Jason Pierre-Paul had two
sacks, forced fumble, safety and block on game-tying field goal attempt against
Dallas, a performance that earned him NFC defensive player of the week. …
Giants have given up 121 points and 1,498 yards in last three games (New
Orleans, Green Bay and Dallas).

Read More: Michael Boley (LB – NYG), Dave Tollefson (DE – NYG), David Baas (C – NYG), Brandon Jacobs (RB – NYG), Osi Umenyiora (DE – NYG), Ahmad Bradshaw (RB – NYG), Mario Manningham (WR – NYG), Kenny Phillips (S – NYG), Mark Herzlich (LB – NYG), Spencer Paysinger (LB – NYG), Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants

New York Giants running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs both missed their second straight practice. Bradshaw has missed the previous four weeks due to a fractured bone in his foot, but he did return to play last week against the Green Bay Packers. Bradshaw is expected to play against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night. Jacobs was held out due to a hamstring injury and is also expected to suit up against the Cowboys, both players were held out for precautionary reasons.

Here is the Giants injury report for Thursday.

NEW YORK GIANTS
PLAYER	INJURY	WED	THU	FRI	GAME STATUS
Prince Amukamara, CB	Back	LP	LP
David Baas, C	Neck/Intense Headaches	DNP	DNP
Michael Boley, LB	Hamstring	DNP	DNP
Ahmad Bradshaw, RB	Foot	DNP	DNP
Mark Herzlich, LB	Ankle	DNP	DNP
Brandon Jacobs, RB	Hamstring	DNP	DNP
Mario Manningham, WR	Knee	LP	LP
Spencer Paysinger, LB	Hamstring	DNP	DNP
Kenny Phillips, S	Knee	DNP	DNP
Dave Tollefson, DE	Knee	DNP	LP
Osi Umenyiora, DE	Ankle/Knee	DNP	DNP

For more on the New York Giants, check out SB Nation blog Big Blue View.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – They have not won a game in a month, but the New York Giants hope their latest loss can fuel a last, desperate push to reach the playoffs.

Coming off a humiliating 49-24 walloping by the New Orleans Saints, the Giants battled the unbeaten Green Bay Packers (12-0) to the last gasp Sunday, falling 38-35 on a field goal kicked with no time left on the clock.

That dropped the Giants to 6-6 for the season with four games left, but the close fight showed the New Yorkers they could at least match it with the best of the NFL.

The Giants must reverse their fortunes starting Sunday night in Dallas against the Cowboys (7-5), who lead them in the NFC East by one game, or forget about the postseason.

No problem, according to one Giants defensive back Antrel Rolle.

“Without a doubt, we will be in that postseason,” he told WFAN radio.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning would not go so far as to guarantee a playoff berth, but both hoped the intensity the club showed would carry over.

“We have four games to go and three of them in our division,” Coughlin said.

“We have to regroup and I think this brings us together even tighter than we have ever been before as a team.

“It can be a positive if you play the way that we played, and if you give the effort that we gave and if you play with the intensity that we played with. Those are the kind of emotional things that bind you together.”

This week’s game is the first of two against the Cowboys. They also meet in the last game of the season on New Year’s Day. In between, the Giants play Washington and the New York Jets. A sweep of the final four games would guarantee the NFC East title for the Giants.

Manning said there was a lot the players could take away from their hard-fought loss.

“They’re playing the best football and we had them tied up with 58 seconds (left),” said Manning, who threw three touchdown passes. “I think we have to try to take something from this game, take some momentum into these next games.”

SPRINGBOARD LOSS

The Giants have used a defeat against an unbeaten team as a springboard before.

In the final game of the 2007 season, New York had already clinched a wildcard berth with no chance to improve their playoff status against the 15-0 New England Patriots.

Yet rather than rest some banged-up regulars, the Giants dedicated themselves to trying to stop the Pats from going undefeated, and fought fiercely before falling by the same 38-35 score they lost to the Packers.

Giving the Patriots such a fight seemed to boost the New Yorkers’ confidence.

New York went on to playoff road wins over Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay to reach the Super Bowl against the Patriots. The Giants beat them 17-14 to deprive New England of a perfect season and claim the NFL title for themselves.

“That game we lost, but I think everybody felt good about the way we played and had a little momentum going into the playoffs,” Manning said in recalling the 2007 title season.

“Obviously it’s going to be a similar feel with these next four games. They’re all going to be playoff-style games where we need to win.”

Coughlin hoped for the same bounce-back effect.

“We have four games to go and every one of these games is critical to our future,” he said. “We will battle. We will battle. We have to find a way to win.”

Manning said the urgency did not add pressure.

“That’s playoff atmosphere. You want to play in must-win games,” explained Manning. “We know if we win, then we’re in the playoffs. That’s exciting. It starts this week.”

(Editing by Julian Linden)

NEW YORK (AP) — Growing up in an impoverished city a little more than 11 miles from New York Giants headquarters, Victor Cruz heard his share of gunshots as a child, and he isn’t exaggerating.

The wide receiver got used to them, and it might have saved his life early Tuesday morning when gunshots erupted at a New York City supper club as he was celebrating his 25th birthday with defensive end Chris Canty and friends.

There were reports that five Giants were in the club at the time of the incident that left one man dead and two people wounded..

However, safety Antrel Rolle said he left the club before the shooting, and receiver Hakeem Nicks and cornerback Aaron Ross denied being there that night.

The players had off Tuesday, so they had no curfew.

The moment Cruz heard the pop, he got under the table at the Juliet Supper Club in trendy Chelsea section of Manhattan and made sure everyone in his party hit the floor, too.

“It happened so fast,” Cruz said Wednesday after the Giants (6-3) practiced for Sunday’s night game against the rival Philadelphia Eagles (3-6).

“I was just sitting there and you could hear it on the other side, the shots go off,” he said. “The rest was just me on the ground and trying to get out of there.”

Cruz several minutes on the floor, worried about more shots and the possibility of being trampled by the people trying to get out.

“Anytime anything like that happens it is frightening no matter how many times you have heard a gunshot,” said Cruz, who is tied with Nicks for the team lead with 40 receptions and four touchdowns. “Growing up where I grew up things like that were common, but not necessarily in the same area you are in. It’s definitely scary.”

The Montgomery Park area of Paterson where Cruz grew up had its moments. There were nights he remembered hearing gunshots outside his window.

“I’ve heard some being out as a young guy in the streets, being at a pickup game playing basketball and at the park across the street. You see gunshots going off and everybody running and things like that. It’s not the first time I’ve heard one or seen things like that, but you definitely don’t want to see one now at this point in my life.”

Gunshots in a New York City nightclub are something the Giants would like to never hear about again. Receiver Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg in late November 2008 when his gun slipped out of the waistband of his sweats.

His absence at the end of that season crippled the Giants’ offense and led to a first-round playoff loss to the Eagles. He also missed the next two seasons, serving a prison term on a weapons charge.

Cruz said he isn’t the type to bring a gun to a club, but he knows the Giants’ history.

“Obviously the stereotype is going to be there,” he said. “The Giants guy in a club and gun shots go off. I understand all of that. I knew I did nothing wrong, I was there just to have a good time with friends and that was it. I knew I wasn’t doing anything negative.”

The 29-year-old Canty said this was the first time he had heard gunshots, other than when he has gone hunting.

“What goes through your mind?” he said incredulously. “You are scared. The first thing that goes through your mind is ‘get out and get home safely. That’s your first priority.”

Canty called the incident an unfortunate tragedy.

“You hate that something like that is still happening and that it can take place,” the seven-year veteran said. “It’s just the reality of the world we live in. My mom says this all the time: ‘The life you save may be your own.’ It’s surreal. It’s just something hard to accept that something like that can happen.”

Coach Tom Coughlin addressed the team about the incident after practice on Wednesday, adding he spoke to Cruz as a parent would speak to his son.

“I don’t know what good happens at 2:30 or 3 in the morning,” Coughlin said. “I’ve never been able to figure that one out. Beyond that is between he and I.”

Police say the gunman and victim had argued.

Artis Arthur, 43, was shot twice and killed. A 28-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman were wounded and were in stable condition, police said.

Police were searching for the suspected gunman.