Plaxico Burress And The New York Giants Just Sealed Their Own Defeat

I don't have the exact statistics for this year, but I'm willing to bet that every single time a team has guaranteed victory this year, that team was defeated. If there was one instance when a team declared they would win and they proceeded to do so, then please feel free to correct me.

Guaranteeing victory is one thing. Guaranteeing victory against the New England Patriots is just asking to be punched in the mouth. Have we not learned anything from past experiences?

Brady was puzzled by Burress' prediction that the New York Giants would beat the New England Patriots 23-17 in Sunday's Super Bowl. The fact Burress picked the Giants hardly surprised the league's MVP. The score certainly did.

"We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady said Wednesday morning before chuckling. "OK. Is Plax playing defense?

"I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for more points."

Considering the Patriots set an NFL record by scoring 589 points, Brady's 50 touchdown passes were the most ever for one season, and Randy Moss broke Jerry Rice's mark with 23 TD catches, was Burress might have been a bit chintzy.

"I know they have confidence. They should have confidence," Brady said. "They are the NFC champions.

"I learned a lesson early in my career: No matter what you say during the week -- and God knows we say a lot this week -- we're going to be focused on going out and winning this game. We're confident, but I don't think we share our thoughts with everybody."

Burress did. And when he showed up 33 minutes late for the Giants' media session Wednesday morning, there was speculation the wide receiver was trying to avoid the spotlight.

Turns out Burress was spending time with his 1-year-old son and family at breakfast, claiming he was unaware so many people wanted to interrogate him about his prediction.

Nor was he aware, he said, that a hefty fine comes with missing a Super Bowl week media session.

"I don't understand what the fuss is about," Burress said, surrounded by at least as many TV cameras, microphones and notepads as Brady was two hours earlier. "Nobody wants to lose.

"All this is entertainment, It's sports and sports are entertainment. So 23-17 is the prediction I made, but the game still has to be played."

Told about Brady's reaction to that score, Burress said he wasn't dissing anyone.

"I'm not taking anything away from what those guys accomplished," he said. "They set all the records you could possibly imagine. They have a great quarterback, the MVP, who threw for a record (50) touchdowns. Randy set a TD record for catches. They had two receivers with over 100 catches.

"The numbers don't lie about what they have done."

Nor do the numbers 23-17 lie about what Burress thinks.

"Hey, look how much fun everybody is having with it," he said. "It makes national, international headlines. But the game still has to be played."

Further, the following quotes are from the New York Post's website):

As he pulled his car up to the Giants Stadium tunnel to unload his bags, [Plaxico] Burress was asked...a direct question: Are you ready to make history? "You better believe it," the towering Giants receiver said.

And then, as he entered the stadium and turned left toward the Giants locker room, Burress was asked for his prediction. Burress never hesitated, flatly stating "23-17."
He didn't identify the winning team. He didn't have to.

Or better yet:

Next came Michael Strahan...The same question: Are you ready to make history? "Yes sir," said Strahan, who for 15 years has chased the dream of winning the Super Bowl.

"History will be ours."

Here's a quote from Giants chairman Steve Tisch, when asked to predict a winner? (quote from Northjersey.com)

"I'm not going to give you the score...We'll have more points than they do. That's my score."

The bottom line is the Giants just dug their own grave by running their mouths and giving the Patriots fuel for their fire. In Burress' defense, however, he has done amazing in the playoffs thus far, so I guess he has a right to run his mouth a little.

There's No Crying In Football!

Its ashame to see grown men cry....except Terrell Owens. In response to a comment I received, I decided to post the video of Terrell Owens at his all-time career low.

Also, in this video is Antonio Pierce's comments about Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton eating popcorn while watching them on television next week.

New York Giants Advance In The Playoffs

As long as it's on the road, the New York Giants can't complain.

The Giants moved to 8-1 away from home with a dominating 24-14 NFC-wild-card playoff victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday. New York has won every away game since falling in its season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and it gets a chance to diminish that blemish in a much bigger matchup next Sunday, with the winner going to the conference title game.

"We love playing there, we love going down to Dallas," Eli Manning said. "There are no secrets.

"It's a tough challenge against Dallas, we know that. We played them two times; maybe the third will be the charm."

As for concerns the Giants (11-6) left too much of themselves on the field in futilely trying to stop New England's perfect season on Dec. 29, well, forget it. After a lackluster first quarter, New York bullied the NFC South champions, who lost three of their last four regular-season games, including the final two when coach Jon Gruden rested many starters.

"We weren't sluggish, but it was not like we were the week before," said Giants veteran receiver Amani Toomer, who had a big game. "We needed one play to get us going and for me to be the guy, I was excited."

He was the guy often, making seven receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown.

It was the first postseason win after two defeats for Manning, who efficiently outplayed his counterpart, Jeff Garcia. Manning went 20-of-27 for 185 yards, with almost all the damage coming after a forgettable opening period in which New York had minus-2 yards of offense.

The oft-criticized Manning should draw nothing but praise for his performance, which included touchdown passes of 5 yards to Brandon Jacobs and 4 to Toomer. The score by Toomer completed a clinching 92-yard, 15-play drive.

"Eli had a great game today," Toomer said. "He took what was out there and didn't force anything. He doesn't get real excited; there is more than one way to lead a team ... and he showed that today."

The defense also showed up with a superb effort in the three quarters. Cornerback Corey Webster's interception and fumble recovery, and Michael Strahan's nine tackles and a sack led the way. Tampa Bay (9-8) gained only 166 yards before a late 88-yard drive made it 24-14.

"I think as a team we seem to perform better on the road," Strahan said. "I didn't know we won eight in a row. That's a great thing, because when it's the playoffs, if we're going to go as far as we want, we have to win every game on the road."

Jacobs also had an 8-yard TD run for the Giants, while Lawrence Tynes kicked a 25-yard field goal.

Earnest Graham ran for a 1-yard touchdown and Alex Smith had a 6-yard scoring reception for the Bucs, who have not won a postseason game since the Super Bowl in January 2003.

They didn't seem particularly impressed by Manning or the Giants' offense.

"He made little, annoying third-down conversions when he needed to," linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "If it is third-and-8, he gets 8 1/2 yards. That was frustrating."

The first quarter was so lopsided the Giants never picked up a first down. Meanwhile, Garcia, who beat the Giants in two previous playoff starts against them, led the Bucs on a 54-yard, 10-play march. It was highlighted by Graham, who capped it with a 1-yard TD run. Graham gained 41 yards on the drive.

But when the second quarter arrived, the visitors woke up. Manning found Toomer for 17-, 10- and 13-yard gains before Jacobs avoided Derrick Brooks to tie it on his 5-yard reception.

Six minutes later, New York led as Jacobs scored on an 8-yard run. Manning completed all four passes on the 65-yard drive, including a 21-yarder to Steve Smith on third down.

By halftime, the flag-waving Bucs fans had been silenced by the power running and precise passing of the Giants, who were up 14-7.

It got worse immediately for the locals when Micheal Spurlock, the only Buc to return a kickoff for a touchdown in their four decades, fumbled his runback to open the second half. Webster recovered at the Tampa 30 and the Giants got to the 4 before Tynes made his field goal.

Webster, starting only because Sam Madison was injured against the Patriots, contributed again moments later to foil a good Tampa Bay drive. He shadowed Joey Galloway to the end zone and picked off Garcia's weak pass.

"That was a bad decision by me," Garcia admitted. "I was just trying to make a play and Webster had very good coverage on the play."

The Bucs, who led the NFC with a plus-15 turnover margin, were minus-2 in a span of 8:50 of the third period and never recovered.

"That's huge, the play of the day," Gruden said of the fumble. "That play and the long 92-yard drive.