Jessica Simpson and the Giants playoff runs

If I am a San Francisco 49ers fan I do not want Jessica Simpson anywhere near Candlestick park this weekend. Why would she be there one might ask? Well she happens to be engaged to former 49ers tight end Eric Johnson. Now Johnson is no all time great by any standard, however in his heyday he was nothing to shake a (candle)stick at and I'm pretty sure if he had the desire to make the trek to the Bay Area for Sunday's AFC championship game, he could probably get tickets with relative ease. For fans of the Giants they can only hope he is joined by his famous fiancé, seeing as how last time the pop star attended a Giants playoff game, Eli Manning led New York to a stunning playoff victory over the Dallas Cowboys prompting Terrell Owens to be overcome with emotion while proclaiming his love for Tony Romo (Vernon Davis anyone?).

Giants can be mad, but not at Steve Smith

There are reports surfacing today that New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin feels betrayed by new Philadelphia Eagles receiver Steve Smith. Giants executive Pat Hanlon, in one of his least inflammatory tweets of the past day or two said that the Giants made responsible offers to Smith and Kevin Boss. I'm not sure what a responsible offer is, but chances are for a wide receiver coming off microfracture surgery, it probably was an incentive laden deal and I'd be shocked if it was longer than one year. Smith knew he had to find the best deal for him, because his chance to get his real contract will be coming up next year and maybe if Giants tone down the anger and rhetoric they'll have their chance to give Smith the contract they apparently are so desperate to give him.

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Should Ahmad Bradshaw fire his agent?

Twelve million dollars; that is the difference in the amount of guaranteed money given to New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw and Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams. Bradshaw had to be very excited when he saw Williams sign his monster deal last week, thinking that he would likely be in line for something similar, however, his patience ended up costing him and he was forced to take significantly less. What went wrong for Bradshaw? Well, he watched interested teams in the Dolphins and Redskins trade for Reggie Bush and Tim Hightower and the Bengals keep Cedric Benson, leaving really only the Giants to negotiate with and taking away all his leverage. Everyone knew that once the lockout was over free agency was going to be a mad dash and second tier free agents like Bradshaw and Williams were in position to cash in on a team looking to fill their roster quickly and get more than they probably deserved. Williams was able to get his monster deal, Bradshaw has to be disappointed, even if it was his desire to stay with the Giants. All is not lost for Ahmad, the best strategy he can employ now is to just keep what he’s doing. Let’s say the next couple of seasons he puts up something in the range of the 1500 total yards he put up in 2010, if I were his agent I would advise him to hold out. At that point Bradshaw will be close to 30 and it will likely be his agent’s last opportunity to get his client the big contract he should have gotten this time.

Jay Cutler sings music to the Giants' and Bucs' ears.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler says he fully expects to play the entire game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, which has to put a smile on the faces of the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


"(Coach Lovie Smith) said prior to that game that we're going to be playing, we're going to be going and we're going to be full go on Sunday," Cutler said. "So that's what we expect."


For the Giants to make the playoffs, they need to first beat the Washington Redskins and then hope for Chicago to beat the Packers later that day. The Bucs also need Chicago to win, and they need to hope the Giants lose against the Redskins as well. It wouldn't be hard to blame Lovie Smith for resting his starters, as the Bears have already earned a first round bye and their chances at the #1 seed are very slim with Atlanta taking on the Carolina Panthers, however, Bears fans will probably attest that they never want to lose to the Packers, plus this is a team that the Bears could possibly see in the playoffs if they were to win on Sunday, so wouldn't it be in their best interest to go ahead and try and eliminate them now?

Peyton gets good news, Eli... not so much.

Going into the final week of the season where a win against the Tennessee Titans would secure a playoff berth for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, comes this bit of news from the AFC South: David Garrard will miss the season finale against the Houston Texans with a finger injury, meaning Trent Edwards will get the nod. This is just the latest in a string of bad losses for the Jaguars, who will also be missing Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

The news for little bro Eli Manning is not as good, as Hakeem Nicks may miss the season finale against the Washington Redskins with a broken big toe. With the Giants already missing Steve Smith and facing a must-win at Washington on Sunday, look for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw to be the focal point of the Giants offense.

NFL coaches beware: meet the Green Bay Packers

Tom Coughlin entered Sunday on shaky enough ground coming off the debacle the week before to the Philadelphia Eagles. After a 45-17 thrashing by the Green Bay Packers, in which his New York Giants squad turned the ball over six times and seemed to go brain dead in key moments, one must wonder if he is in his last days as head coach of the Giants. Losses to Green Bay have already ushered Wade Phillips and Brad Childress out their respective doors this season and win or lose on Sunday, if the Giants fail to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season, one must wonder if the Giants brass will look back on this listless performance and decide that it is time to make a change. Coughlin is 64 years old and only has one year remaining on his contract, so if the Giants were to make a move, now would be the time to do it.

The Giants Resurgence Changed the Perception of the NFC

Last night, one of the NFC's best teams: the Falcons, beat one of the AFC's best teams: the Ravens in a thrilling game. Some were billing it as a Super Bowl preview, with many picking the Falcons to overcome the Ravens. Flashback a month ago, the Seahawks, and the Bears were early leaders in their divisions, while perceived powers the Cowboys and Vikings were struggling. The general perception was, whoever the NFC sends to the Super Bowl will have a nice parting gift in the George Halas trophy, but there is now way they have a shot against the mighty AFC. Then something funny happened on the way to the playoffs, Eli Manning and the Giants turned their season around, and their playoff experience, Super Bowl pedigree, running game and stout defense shot them to the top of many power rankings. Now NFC teams like the Falcons, Packers and Eagles look a lot stronger by comparison. Combine it with the Saints starting to look like last year's team and the winner of the Big Game in February is no longer a foregone conclusion.