There 'absolutely' was tension between Giants offense and defense on Sunday: Mathias Kiwanuka

That so-called conflict between the New York Giants defense and its offense on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks was more fact than fiction if you believe one Giants player in the mix.

Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka confirmed on ESPN radio on Tuesday afternoon that there was real tension between the two units during Sunday’s humbling 23-0 loss to Seattle.

After the game, that tension reportedly surfaced in some post-game finger pointing between the Giants Xs and Os.

“Yeah,” Kiwanuka said. “Absolutely there’s tension. We’re human. We’re a team. We consider ourselves like a family. Any family there are going to be issues that come up. It’s about how you deal with it.

“In the heat of the game, things need to be said if somebody’s not getting the job done. Somebody needs to step up and tell them what is going on so we can get out of that fight with a win.”

“I have no problem with that. I think where it starts to get into trouble is where you get into things that are said, not behind somebody’s back, but when the other person isn’t there or (you) say something to somebody else about another player.

“That becomes an issue because that can get misconstrued and it takes a lot longer to get resolved whereas if you just go to somebody’s face … you can get it settled much faster.”

Kiwanuka said Tom Coughlin’s passionate post-game speech in which he called the performance of the offense “pathetic” and said he “felt sorry” for those players who didn’t give it their all was an eye opener.

“It was real,” Kiwanuka said. “He was speaking from the heart. That’s somebody’s real heart, real passion. You see how much he cares and how much he loves this game. He meant it.

“You don’t get a lot of chances to play this game. You have to make sure you take advantage of every single opportunity. I think that’s what he was referring to. The fact that I feel bad for you because you didn’t give your best in the opportunity you had.

“You’re not going to get that game back. You’re not going to have a whole lot of chances to prove what you can do.”

[nj.com]

Justin Tuck: Lack of sacks isn't defensive line's fault

The once-vaunted New York Giants pass rush has recorded a less than sterling five sacks in six games and, if you thrown in a lack of intimidation — few pressures, hurries or hits on quarterbacks — it deserves just as much blame for the 0-and-6 start as the stunted running game, the battered O-line or an erratic quarterback.

The numbers don't lie but, veteran defensive end Justin Tuck says you shouldn't point fingers at him or his defensive line.

"I guarantee you if you get us in a game scenario in our favor we’ll be fine," Tuck said, via the New York Daily News. "But we haven’t had the opportunity to play downhill. If you look at the sack numbers from years past, normally we’re leading by two scores in a lot of those games. You get a team where you know they have to pass the ball, they’ve got to get five out, I don’t think an O-line in this league has a chance, regardless if it’s us or anybody else. There are other issues, too. … I don’t care what you bring, if the quarterback gets the ball out of his hands, you’re not going to get there. And I think that’s the game plan against us right now."

Who is to blame for the mysterious decline of this once-fearsome pass rush? The Giants will enter Monday night’s game against the Vikings with an NFL-worst five sacks in six games. This is a team that won the Super Bowl two years ago behind a brutalizing defensive line that collected 48 sacks. Three of those players are still lining up against opponents.

"If I was the only one having a bad year numbers wise, then you could easily say 'Justin doesn’t have it anymore,' " Tuck said. "But when Kiwi (Mathias Kiwanuka) is not having a good year, when JPP is not having a good year, when Cullen (Jenkins) is not having a good year, when whoever else is not having a good year, you might want to look into it a little deeper than the numbers."

Throw in the off-season back surgery on Jason Pierre-Paul and the age of Kiwanuka and Tuck's explanations sound reasonable. But for such a drop-off in production — they sound like excuses as well.

Justin Tuck: Real referees are going to be 'rusty'

The New York Giants don't exactly expect a smooth transition going from the replacement referees to the real ones this week.

Despite the regular referees returning Thursday — after reaching an agreement between the NFLRA and the league — Giants defensive end Justin Tuck thinks the officiating on the field may still be a little tentative.

"It's still going to be an issue when the real guys come back," said Tuck.  "They are going to be rusty; they haven't had a preseason to practice their craft.  It would be like me coming to play a regular-season game, having not practiced or having a pre-season game."

The Giants are probably hoping that the real refs have, at least, been practicing on their Madden '12 as the team heads into the unwelcoming confines of Lincoln Financial Field to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's nationally-televised game.

We all know how well the last nationally-televised NFL game ended.

The Giants face their division rival in a important early season game and are thankful they will have a strong and experienced — if only a little out-of-shape — officiating crew calling the game.

"It is especially difficult with a running quarterback like [Michael] Vick; it creates problems," said linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka.  "You don't know if he is running the ball.  Is he looking to pass?  Is he defenseless player?  Is he a runner?  Those kinds of plays are difficult for anybody in real time and they are not always revealed in plays."

The Giants players won't blame the rent-a-refs for affecting how they played any games but some claim that the players could help persuade how the replacement refs called some.

Tight end Martellus Bennett claims it's not only the controversial rulings like Monday night's highly-publicized Packers-Seahawks fiasco that affected the quality of play, it was the intimidation of the fill-in refs by the players and coaches throughout the game.

"Nobody really respects the replacements.  Guys get in their face and do things guys wouldn't do to regular refs they do to these guys," Bennett said.  "They go up to the replacement refs and say, 'Hey, he's holding. You need to call that.' With the regular refs, they would just go up and say, 'Did you see that holding?'

"It works a little bit, if you're persuasive — and a star.  If (Cardinals receiver) Larry Fitzgerald comes up to you and you're a replacement ref and he says, 'Hey, this guy is holding me the whole time,' it's Larry Fitzgerald.  What's a replacement ref gonna do?"

Giants ready to unleash 'NASCAR' defense on Romo

The New York Giants arguably have what could be called the NFL's best defensive line and, from the looks of things, it just got a little better.

The Giants won their second Super Bowl in five seasons — in no small thanks to the defensive front — which carried the team to a season-closing six-game winning streak during which they held opponents to an average of 14 points and recorded 23 sacks.

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has a over-abundance of defensive linemen and isn't afraid to mix and match his wealth of talent. And — at least for now — he has his big dogs healthy.

Fewell is the creator of the four defensive end scheme — he calls his "NASCAR package" — that pits three All-Pros Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre Paul, Osi Umenyiora — and Mathias Kiwanuka (the linebacker who becomes a defensive end) against opposing quarterbacks on passing downs.

This is the same group who sacked Dallas Cowboys' signal-caller Tony Romo six times in the Giants New Year's Day division clinching win last season.

If Fewell made a resolution that day, it was to keep his foot to the pedal — and he hasn't stopped since.  It is running on all four cylinders again.

"When you talk about putting the four guys out there it's hard to find out who's the quickest and who's the fastest," Fewell said Sunday.  "Some days I look and I say, 'Boy, JPP looked great today, he looked awesome down there,' and then Osi comes flying off the end and I'll say, 'Oh boy, that's pretty fast.'  And then Tuck , he makes a move and I'm saying , 'Wow man, I'm scratching my head.'  And then Kiwi does something."

Add rookie tackle Markus Kuhn and end Adewale Ojomo to three solid tackles — Linval Joseph, Rocky Bernard and Chris Canty (currently on the PUP list) — and you have a a D-line that will give opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks a lot of sleepless nights.

Last season, the fearsome four rarely played together because of injuries.  It was even hard to get three of the players to line up together.  Tuck battled neck and shoulder pain throughout 2012 and Kiwanuka missed a lot of the season.

"It was just tough to get us all three on the field together," said Tuck.  "I think those last games you saw us playing at the height of what it could have been the entire year.  Hopefully we get there for 16-plus games this year and not have guys in and out, especially like I was last year."

The Cowboys and Giants open the 2012 season Wednesday night at MetLife Stadium.  Big Blue has dominated the Cowboys in recent seasons, winning seven of the last nine games over Dallas, and it remains to be seen if Romo can come back from his beatdown by the high-flying front four.

"They definitely want to come here and ruin our opening night, celebrating the Super Bowl, blah blah blah," said Tuck.  The All-Pro DE just wants to set the tone for the season in front of a national audience.

"Everyone knows that when we [defensive ends] play well, this team, this defense plays well," he said.  "A lot of pressure is on us, but we like it that way."

When Romo sees the Giants' NASCAR defense lining up, he might want to start looking for the yellow caution flag.

Giants Tuck: "We're Capable of Winning Super Bowl"

Justin Tuck had a little trouble Sunday night before finding his intended Gatorade target— Tom Coughlin— after the New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 31-14— but it sounds like the Giants defensive end plans on dumping a cooler of the juice on his head coach after the Super Bowl.

"We're capable of winning the Super Bowl," said Tuck after the Giants clinched their first playoff spot  since 2008.

Tuck finally did douse Coughlin with the Gatorade— with a little help from the coach's son-in-law Chris Snee—after the Giants handily beat the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.

Tuck's optimism is not unfounded.  After a lackluster performance against the Washington Redskins, the G-Men had relatively easy wins against two bitter rivals— the Cowboys and New York Jets.

The Giants defensive line is healthy for the first time this season and sacked Tony Romo six times and chased him all over the field.

Last week against the Jets, the Giants got to Mark Sanchez five times and forced three interceptions.

The Giants (9-7) run to the Super Bowl is a marathon and kicks off next Sunday in a wild card game against the Atlanta Falcons (10-6) at MetLife Stadium.

The Falcons might prove to be a bigger challenge than either the Cowboys or Jets.  Dallas came to New Jersey with Romo and his bruised throwing hand and the Jets were there with Sanchez and his black and blue ego.

The Giants now face a formidable opponent with another Ryan on their side.

After beating loudmouths Rex and Rob, they will face Matt Ryan— a quarterback who does his talking on the field.

Combine Atlanta's Ryan with running back Michael Turner, receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White and veteran Tight-end Tony Gonzalez and you have a multi-faceted offense that can run up the score.

Let's play devil's advocate and assume the Giants do beat the Falcons and the New Orleans Saints defeat the Detroit Lions, then they will have to play the Green Bay Packer at Lambeau Field.

The Giants almost beat the Packers in a 38-35 shoot-out on Dec. 4 at MetLife Stadium and did beat the Pack in the NFC Championship game in Green Bay on their run to their 2008 Super Bowl title.

Tuck isn't the only Giants player sipping the Gatorade.

"I think we're in the perfect position," said linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka.  " We didn't get here the way that we wanted to, but regardless of what happened during the season, we're in the playoffs, we won our division, we have a chance at the Super Bowl."

The Giants are the first NFC East champion to finish the regular season with less than 10 wins but in 2007 no one gave New York any chance of making the Super Bowl— never mind beating the undefeated— and 12-point favorites— New England Patriots.

Tuck, who has battled through a series of injuries throughout the season, says he is healthy now and—combined with Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul— give the Giants the best pass-rushing trio in the NFL.

Never one to be left out of the verbal mix, Giants running back Brandon Jacobs backed Tuck's bravado.

"I wouldn't want to face the New York Giants right now," said Jacobs.  "It's going to be tough to beat us in the playoffs."

Tom Brady Went From Elite QB To An Irate One

If Eli Manning finally proved to the world he should be considered an "elite" quarterback—in the class of Tom Brady—with his late-game heroics on Sunday, it was was the New York Giants defense which may have turned the New England Patriots QB into an irate one.

The Giants D was all over the All-everything QB during Sunday's 24-20 win but Brady's frustration reached an early boil when one of his passes was tipped into Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka's  hands in the second quarter.

Brady vented his frustration after the drive-killing INT by heading to the bench, slamming a cup of Gatorade to the ground and getting a power drink spritz.  It looked like the cold sprinkle even caught the pissed off signal-caller off guard.

It wasn't only the Giants coverage that made Brady's afternoon miserable all day.  The pass rush was all over him—resulting in two sacks, three knockdowns and over a dozen hurries.  Something the New England glamor boy isn't used to—especially in his home stadium.

The Patriots lost at home for the first time in 20 games.

While Brady wasn't terrible, it Manning who looked more elite after rallying the Giants on a game-winning 80-yard, eight play drive with 15 seconds left in the game.  It was moments after Brady had given New England their own last minute 20-17 lead with 1:36 to go.

The way things are going for the Patriots right now, Brady may be seeing more Gatorade sprinkles than showers.

Ex-Giants Linebacker Says Fewell Taught Flopping To Players

The New York Giants are being taught how to fake injuries by the team's defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, former Giants linebacker Bryan Kehl told Howard Balzer of The Sports Xchange.

"Perry Fewell coaches that," Kehl told Balzer.  "He's their D.C.[defensive coordinator].  He coaches that."

Call it the Fewell Flop.

Kehl was a little-used linebacker who played a couple of months with the Giants when Fewell started in 2010.  Kehl was waived after week 1 and picked up by the Rams-- where he is still on the roster.

While Kehl didn't perform for the Giants, it sounds like he got some free acting lessons as a parting gift.

The NFL might be  interested in what Kehl allegedly learned from Fewell.  The league released a statement to all 32 teams warning of fines, suspensions and even loss of draft picks if it is determined that someone took a dive on the field during a game.

The bad taste surrounding Giants safety Deon Grant and linebacker Jacquain Williams' "injuries" during the team's 28-16 win over the St. Louis Rams during Monday night's game won't wash away.

If you haven't heard, as soon as the Rams got into the red zone with their hurry-up offense and the winded Giants defense unable to make quick substitutions, Grant and Williams both dropped like fainting Justin Bieber tweens to stop the drive.

It looked like Williams saw Grant was down and he miraculously hopped right up while Grant waited for medical attention.  The Rams drive stalled and they settled for a field goal.

The Rams are still miffed over the incident.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford said he heard Giants players telling one another to "Go down,' after Grant tackled running back Cadillac Williams on the Giants 7-yard line late in the first quarter.

Grant continues to declare his innocence and showed reporters his swollen right knee and said he hasn't missed a game in 12 pro seasons.  On videos, Grant is shown holding his left knee.

"You go and check my medical report," Grant said Wednesday.  "I have the injuries to speak for it... two torn MCL's that I never had surgery, wrist surgery, shoulder surgery, a broken hip with a metal plate and screws in it.  How can another person that's not in your body tell you you are faking an injury?"

Grant conceded that he heard the "Go down" yells, but said it was because he couldn't get up and off the field.

In the memo sent to each team, the NFL said they will  punish future bad acting jobs.

The memo stated: "Those found to be violators will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action for conduct detrimental to the game."

Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka thinks accusing injured players of flopping could lead to trouble.

"I think it's a really dangerous path to go down," said Kiwanuka.  "If you start letting referees decide whether a player is hurt or not, it might come back to bite them big time... it might lead to lawsuits."

An NFL spokesperson said no punishment could be handed down without solid proof-- like an admission of guilt.