AUTHOR: Anthony Fucilli TITLE: Credit goes to Chad; Giants need to look in mirror DATE: 9/25/2006 06:21:00 PM ----- BODY:

There is an old saying in football: The quarterback gets too much credit and too much blame. But in the Jets case, all the credit in my book, goes to Chad Pennington. For Chad Pennington, staying healthy and leading his team right now is the real reason the Jets have looked so good. A couple of weeks ago I was saying what Jet Fans can be optimistic about, and with Chad Pennington healthy, they can be optimistic. That's exactly what has been number one in my book. Around the NFL, more games are lost by quarterbacks than won, and Sunday was a classic example when J.P. Losman decided he was going to give the ball to the Jets more than he was going to do for his own team. Whereas Chad had no turnovers or interceptions in the game, and has an incredible stat of 44-0 with no interceptions in the red zone for his career. He's very efficient, very smart, he's a coach out there, a leader and (when healthy) one of the top quarterbacks. He's the key right now for the Jets' 2-1 record. I'm not going to say that a great play on defense by Bobby Hamilton was all Chad's doing, but he puts his team in position here and there. Hamilton had a huge sack, Kerry Rhodes had a huge sack that caused a fumble. So Chad puts his team in position to hang around and he lets his defense make timely plays, he doesn't put his defense in position where there is a lot of pressure on them and where the other opponent has a short field. So right now, the difference in the New York Jets from last year is Number 10, he wasn't on the field last year and he's back on the field this year. BLUE SUNDAY As far as the Giants are concerned, if anyone needs to look at what's wrong with this team, let's look at the defense. Anytime you give up 92 points in three games, which is the second most in the NFL -- behind a pathetic Texans team - and anytime you give up over 1,100 yards in three games, you are fooling yourself if you think you have a chance for your offense to bail you out. Now, with that said, the offense didn't get off to a great start and was frantic at times. In fact, watching the Giants try and run a play on third down can be somewhat scary. I don't understand why the staff puts Eli Manning in that situation, where he has to make so many pre-snap decisions. Where that he takes his eyes off the secondary and worries about everything else, but snapping the ball at 2...1...And then makes a throw down field and never sees the safety. That was the first turnover of the game and it got worse from there. The Giants need to get back to basics, they need to keep it simple and that's why they looked so effective in their up-tempo, no-huddle offense. They aren't coming over the ball with five seconds to go, they aren't trying to snap the ball with one second on the play clock, and they are letting Eli get over the center, look at the defense, snap the ball and find his receivers. Keep it simple. It's when they are in their regular offense that they look so disorganized. What this team is going to have to do is figure out how to stop giving the game away and beating themselves. They have to stop looking at the opponent and start looking at themselves. This team right now is very inconsistent. They are a team in turmoil also, because they are pointing the finger at everybody else but themselves. Believe me, Tom Coughlin has left a lot to be desired in the coaching department, at least his assistants have, in fact he's probably gotten little help from Tim Lewis. Someone is going to have to figure out how to cover people, how people on offense are running through the Giants defense with no one around, it's just something you don't see often in the NFL. Against the Seahawks, the Giants looked like a bad college team. It looked like what we see in college where Seattle put the Giants on their schedule and it was homecoming. That is something we see on Saturday, not on Sunday. The Giants have this Sunday off, they will have to figure out a way first to look in the mirror. Then they can look at that opponent.

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anonymous DATE:9/27/2006 09:37:00 AM Good job Fooch! As much as I want to attack you, I can't. All your points are on target. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anonymous DATE:9/28/2006 07:22:00 AM ABsoutely correct that Chad is to be congratulated for his play. What about giving some credit to the professional coaching staff we do have now -- for a change? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anthony Fucilli DATE:9/28/2006 08:02:00 PM Shocking! Dan, are you okay? You didn't tell me you weren't feeling well. What kind of guy would I be, if I knew that you had lost your mind and didn't try to come over and lend some support. But anytime that you agree with me, even when I'm right, makes me want to reconsider my point. ----- --------