Eli was masterful despite the drops Photo by Harry How-Getty Images	Thomas Jones got the tough yards Photo By Jim McIsaac-Getty Images

It was quite a mixed weekend for our New York professional teams.  In football, the Giants maintaining a strong hold on their NFC wildcard chances by beating the Detroit Lions in Detroit.  The surprising Jets man-handled the tough Pittsburgh Steelers in a badly-needed win at home.  The basketball story was not at all a happy one, the Knicks taking their sideshow on the road while losing a close one to Sacramento before getting slaughtered in Denver.  The Nets got nipped against Miami at home Saturday night before looking absolutely hopeless last night against the Utah Jazz.

The Giants and Lions shared identical 6-3 records entering their contest in Detroit, but two more different teams would be hard to imagine.  The Giants have a tough offensive line while the Lions front had been porous, the Giants had problems at the wide-out spots while the Lions had brilliant receivers.  The Lions defense had been tough against the run but had trouble against passing teams.  The Giants defense had started very badly but were remarkably efficient afterwards.  Both quarterbacks had been good if a bit inconsistent, the Lions Jon Kitna generally considered the bold gunslinger while Eli Manning played the diamond in the rough.

The game itself mirrored everyone’s expectations.  The Giants took the early 10-0 lead behind good-looking passing and some tough running by Brandon Jacobs.  Eli, despite two conspicuous drops by the erratic Plaxico Burress, kept his poise, and, making use of Sinorice Moss for the first time this season, kept the passing game going. The first touchdown was just a toss to Jacobs who took it ten yards to the end zone. Moss had four catches and looked remarkably elusive, getting open seemingly at will.  In fact, Manning managed to use all his receivers quite well, quite a different story from last week’s seeming obsession with Jeremy Shockey. 

In fact, the G-Men would probably have had a much easier time of it, but turnovers were costly and Sinorice ruined his debut with a costly drive-killing fumble.  Jacobs also fumbled midway through the 2^nd quarter, producing a two-and-out that the Lions took advantage of, only to wind up missing a 52-yard field goal.  The G-Men managed to take a 16-3 lead though, despite the tough loss of their lineman-turned-linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka early in the game. 

Things started going decidedly South, however, after Jacobs pulled a hammie.  The G-Men running game couldn’t be sustained thereafter, drives couldn’t get started and the momentum shifted to the Lions.  Michael Strahan and the defense managed to keep the G-Men in the lead though, and the Lions didn’t seriously threaten until late in the final period. At the 4:35 mark in the fourth quarter, Kitna lofted a nice pass to Calvin Johnson to make it 16-10.  After the Lions forced two consecutive three-and-outs though, the Giants secondary saved the game, James Butler making a nice interception on the first drive and James Madison leaping high in the end zone to intercept the last-gasp Kitna effort to Sean McDonald.  All in all, though, it was a fine overall effort by the G-Men on the road.  How they’ll fare in the future without Jacobs and Kiwanuka though is questionable.

The Jets were fantastic vs. the number-one rated defense in the entire NFL.  It just reinforced the generally-accepted “any given Sunday” mantra.  A determined team under a smart coach coming off a bye-week can muster up the plan and the fortitude to join the great ones, if just for a day.  Mangini concocted a defense that confused the Steelers and their much-heralded Ben Roethlisberger while shutting down Willie Parker and the running game at the same time.  Although I’ve blasted Mangini in this column for the Jets poor performance this season and his oft-repeated excuses, Sunday makes up for it.  He finally got away from his “process” that wasn’t working at all, incorporating a “spy” to track Big Ben and using a 4^th rusher on third down.  So they went from one of the worst defenses in the league to one of the best in a single day !

But defense wasn’t the only order of the day.  The Jets finally made use of Thomas Jones in the running game, Jones getting the rock 30 times to pound out 117 tough yards.  Kellen Clemens, the rookie QB, looked like a veteran once more as he led the Jets to the tie at the end of regulation.  Too bad he has no reliable receivers; this time it was Brad Smith dropping the TD pass that would have won the game in regulation.  Despite the failings of Justin McCareins and Jeremy Cotchery and now Brad Smith, Clemens just hangs in there, using his strong right arm and a pair of strong young legs to make the Jets tough down the stretch.  Leon Washington actually won the game for them with his overtime punt return, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the tough defense and strong running game displayed earlier.  So kudos to the Jets !!

The Knicks were as pitiful this weekend as the Jets and Giants were masterful.  After hanging tough against the Sacramento Kings, losing by five, they were routed by the Nuggets in Denver, throwing the ball away, not making stops, just playing like a team in total disarray.  Putting aside the Stephon Marbury debacle, the Knicks were still unaccountably terrible.  If they truly want a new coach, they are going about it the right way.  I don’t understand why Zak Randolph, Eddie Curry and Jamal Crawford can’t put it together.  Word is today that Stephon will be back in the starting lineup against the Warriors, but if he doesn’t play defense, fails once again to provide leadership in critical game situations, I fail to see the point.  Isaiah was right to bench him.

The Nets were just pitiful, having apparently decided to just give up rather than suck it up without Vince Carter in the lineup.  And, if you have nothing nice to say…….