NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Pete Carroll is halfway through his first season as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and has kept his team in the NFC West hunt, but, aside from wins and losses, how does his team's performance this year compare to last year's?

SeahawksGab Editor Devon Heinen takes a look and hands out his mid-season report card with some findings one wouldn't expect.

**Note, the 2009 stats and rankings are from the entire regular season.**
Total Offense
2009: 316.8 yards per game (21st in NFL)
2010: 261.2 yards per game (30th in NFL)
Grade: C
Rationale: The team has better weapons with wide receiver Mike Williams and running back Marshawn Lynch headlining the cast of characters, but the passing game has hurt the offense and, because of that, running lanes for Lynch and Justin Forsett have been hard to come by.

Passing Yards
2009: 218.9 yards per game (15th in NFL)
2010: 177.6 yards per game (29th in NFL)
Grade C+
Rationale: The curve from last year was too low to begin with, so Hasselbeck and Whitehurst's collective grade gets a boost; however, the time to make a move on drafting the team's quarterback of the future is now (well, April).

Sacks Allowed
2009: 41 (10th in NFL)
2010: 22 (7th in NFL)
Grade: C-
Rationale: On pace for essentially the same total as last year. That's a double-edged sword, though. On one side, the damage isn't on pace to get worse. The flipside? Being top-10 in sacks allowed, especially after spending the franchise's first overall draft pick last April on an offensive lineman, is not what you'd expect.

Rushing Yards
2009: 97.9 yards per game (26th in NFL)
2010: 83.6 yards per game (29th in NFL)
Grade: B-
Rationale: Lynch is the future at the position and has shown, at times, that he can be the primary back in the future. The underperformance is directly related to the inability to pass the ball, so I'm passing (no pun intended) most of the blame to Matt Hasselbeck and, now, Charlie Whitehurst.

Total Defense
2009: 356.4 yards per game (24th in NFL)
2010: 383.1 yards per game (27th in NFL)
Grade: C+ / B-
Rationale: When you factor in the offense's decreased ability to move the ball, you realize that the deck's been stacked against the defensive unit.

Passing Yards Allowed
2009: 245.4 yards per game (30th in NFL)
2010: 270.5 yards per game (30th in NFL)
Grade: C+
Rationale: It's essentially the same performance as last year.

Rushing Yards Allowed
2009: 111.0 yards per game (15th in NFL)
2010: 112.6 yards per game (19th in NFL)
Grade: C+
Rationale: Giving 1.6 yards per game more than last year? Not bad, but the defense is still giving up over a 100 yards on average to opposing rushers, which ways the grade down.

Sacks
2009: 28 (26th in NFL)
2010: 21 (10th in NFL)
Grade: B+
Rationale: The unit is attacking at the line of scrimmage and the results back the effort. Being top-10 also is a major improvement.

Interceptions
2009: 13 (22nd in NFL)
2010: 6 (22nd in NFL)
Grade: C+ (Earl Thomas's individual grade: A+)
Rationale: The rookie safety can't do it all by himself.

Forced Fumbles / Fumbles Recovered
2009: 13 (22nd in NFL) / 10 (16th in NFL)
2010: 9 (12th in NFL) / 8 (8th in NFL)
Grade: B+
Rationale: Increasing the number of times you get off the field and give your offensive teammates the opportunity to score, even if the offense has a difficult time of doing so, is a huge improvement.

Overall On-field Grade for 2010 Seahawks Compared to 2009 Team: C+
Rationale: If you looked at the wins and losses and where the team finds itself in the NFC West standings, you'd say the team's doing much better than the Jim Mora-led squad of last year; however, the numbers don't lie. This year's team is actually worse overall than last year's.

Grade for Pete Carroll: A
Rationale: Look, the team's on-field performance is worse statistically, yet the Seahawks are playing with energy and, as a result, are winning games. They are in the hunt for the NFC West championship. You can't discount what Carroll has done to the team thus far and will hopefully continue to do in the future.

Can't get enough NFLGridironGab? Follow SeahawksGab Editor Devon Heinen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DevonHeinen.

The Steelers open up as 4.5 point favorites against one of their biggest rivals on Sunday night – the New England Patriots.

Injuries may be a pretty big factor for the Steelers entering Sunday night, with the biggest injury being OL Max Starks, who reports say could be out for the season with a neck issue.

Safety Will Allen and running backs Mewelde Moore and Isaac Redman were all diagnosed with concussions following the win as well. Each player will have to pass post-concussion tests this week before being cleared to play against the Pats.

If Moore and/or Redman are out, the Steelers may have to put rookie Jonathan Dwyer in the mix. The running back out of Georgia Tech has yet to see any NFL action this season.

Left guard Chris Kemoeatu (knee) and defensive end Brett Keisel (hamstring) also picked up injuries in the game, leaving Pittsburgh with six players listed as questionable for Sunday's game.

“We’ve got somewhat of a laundry list,” coach Mike Tomlin told reporters of the injuries. “Working off a short week, it’s important that we prepare smart in regards to working around these injuries. I’m sure many of these guys will be available for the contest, but they have limited preparation. We have to prepare smart with these guys.”

Despite being beat in every facet of the game last week in Cleveland, the Pats are still the Pats, and Tom Brady is still a guy that loves to play in Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers. Brady has completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 1,826 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.

As the week goes on, it will be interesting to see if some of the Steelers can get on the field for this big AFC showdown.

Senior writer jclombardi highlights Packers headlines.

Bye week comes at an opportune time for Packers: The week off comes at an opportune time for the Green Bay Packers, who have won three consecutive games to move to the top of the NFC North despite an outlandish rash of injuries that has impacted everything from roster decisions to practice structure to game preparation. ”My hope is the injury report goes from two pages to one,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday. “I am being sarcastic in a way, but I think this will really help us.” The time off presumably will give injured players such as receiver Donald Driver (thigh), cornerback Pat Lee (ankle), tackle Mark Tauscher (shoulder) and tight end Andrew Quarless (shoulder) sufficient time to heal. ”Hopefully, this week will help those guys get back and contribute,” said Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. “We’re certainly going to need contributions from everybody.” Nines games into the season and two weeks from a rematch with the Minnesota Vikings that could go a long way toward determining the division title, the resilient Packers control their own destiny.

Packers’ offensive line keeping Rodgers upright: But there was no question the Packers – Rodgers, the offensive line, the coaches – wanted to improve this year. And they have. Through nine games, Rodgers has been sacked 17 times, an average of less than two a game. It’s still a bit high – there are only nine quarterbacks who have been sacked as many or more times than Rodgers, with Chicago’s Jay Cutler leading the league at 28. But the Packers have played one more game than other teams. And the decline in sacks is obvious this year. Rodgers seems to be getting rid of the ball in a pinch. Against Dallas on Sunday, he bolted upfield if a hole appeared in the Cowboys’ man-to-man coverage. He also hasn’t been holding onto the ball too long, forcing his line to fend off the defense longer than reasonable. ”My movement and the line’s pass protection was very good, hand in hand,” Rodgers said. Aside from what Rodgers is doing, it is clear the offensive line has improved. ”We’ve been doing a much, much better job protecting the quarterback,” offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said.

Starks activated, Francois released: The team activated rookie running back James Starks from the physically unable to perform list Tuesday, releasing linebacker Robert Francois to make room for Starks on the 53-man roster. The Packers now have three true halfbacks, Brandon Jackson, Dimitri Nance and Starks, on the roster, along with fullback-turned-halfback John Kuhn and fullbacks Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson. The Packers also announced they have released safety Michael Greco from the practice squad.

Packers–Harris didn’t fit team’s youth movement: Just as they did with Brett Favre 28 months ago, the Green Bay Packers have told another veteran who was once considered one of the team’s core players that they’re moving on without him. The Packers released cornerback Al Harris on Monday, three weeks after he came off the physically unable to perform list and began practicing for what he hoped would be a triumphant return from a career-threatening knee injury. ”It was very difficult,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said of the decision to cut Harris, who started 102 games in the regular season and four in the playoffs since the Packers acquired him in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003. ”Al’s a great guy, a really good teammate and he’s done a really good job here. It’s not a reflection against Al, it’s more of a reflection of the job that our young guys have done. And from a roster standpoint, that’s just something we felt like we needed to do.” Harris and strong safety Atari Bigby spent the first six weeks of the season on the PUP list and finally began practicing Oct. 18. Bigby was activated to the 53-man roster and played on defense and special teams during the Packers’ 45-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. ”This is not a physical decision,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “This is a big-picture roster decision.”

One of my all-time favorite Steelers, Merril Hoge, is out with a book about his life and his battle with cancer, entitled “Find a Way.”

The book is outstanding, and is one of the best sports reads out there right now! Here’s the product description from Hachette Book Group:

From a young age, Merril knew it would be up to him to act on his dreams. He suffered abuse at the hand of his father, lost his mother at age 19, and was considered “too small and too slow” to play professional football.

He proved his critics wrong. Merril played eight seasons in the NFL before retiring in 1995 after a series of concussions. But in 2003, he faced his biggest challenge of all: cancer. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Merril took on chemotherapy with the same tenacity that got him to the NFL.

With every obstacle, Merril returned to the boyhood motto pinned on his bedroom wall: FIND A WAY. His experience is proof that what separates the extraordinary individual from the ordinary one is the will and determination to find a way to succeed. This book will chronicle Merril’s personal battles, but it will also help others gain courage, resilience, and an undying spirit–motivating and inspiring readers to overcome any obstacle in their lives.

We will have a few copies of the book to give away, so stay tuned here to NFLGridironGab for a chance to win one of Merril’s book!

Thanks mostly to a mish-mashed O-line that's been in a constant state of flux, the Bears have generated the 27^th best rushing game in the league…despite having a duo of backs capable of producing Top 10 numbers.

I know what you're thinking – with 8 weeks left to play, there's still room for the line to grow and for the Bears to see significant improvement. But surely you've considered…

1)      The Bears' mediocre performances against 3 of the worst rush defenses in the league so far:

1. Buffalo (32^nd) – 105 yards
2. Detroit (27^th) – 101 yards
3. Dallas (24^th) – 38 yards

2)      In their remaining 8 games, the Bears will have 5 tilts vs. Top 16 rush defenses, including:

1. Jets – 4^th best
2. Minnesota (twice) – 7^th best
3. Philadelphia – 12^th best

3)      Mike Martz has never been a big fan of sticking with the run, especially when it's not working early. Sure, he may have been a little more patient in St. Louis when he had future Hall of Famers at Running Back (Marshall Faulk) and Left Tackle (Orlando Pace), and not to mention the aerial threat of another HOFer, QB Kurt Warner. But with question marks across his current line, Martz is more likely to lean on the right arm of his talented QB rather than settle for a 2-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust running game.

The 2008 Steelers dispelled the notion that champions had to have a formidable rushing offense. But they also had a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator (Dick LaBeau) and a Super Bowl-winning QB (Big Ben).

The Bears have…well, you know…

I figured with 8 games down on the season and 8 games to go I'll give out the report on this 2010 NY Giants team.

M.V.P

There a lot of candidates for this on offense and defense, but of course none on special teams.

First let me eliminate the players I think are in the discussion, but do not get the nod (in descending order)

#5 Jerry Reese

I think this can be "the Front office" or whatever term that includes Reese, Coughlin, and Perry Fewell.

First, hats off to Reese who shored up the Giants defensive problems by signing Antrell Rolle and Deon Grant. The signing of Chris Canty from last year also looks great now.

And for drafting Jason Pierre Paul who provides good depth at a position the Giants were stacked at, but also at the same time forgoing moving up in the draftto try and get Rolando McClain or staying put and grabbing Sean Weatherspoon because Jonathan Goff has been very solid this year. JPP is still growing, but I've seen flashes that excites me. And I love that even though he is a high paid first round talent he busts his tail on Special teams, often being the first one to get down there, this guy looks like he just loves playing football and I think he'll be at least solid moving forward.

But mostly,  Shawn Andrews looks like a steal at a discount price. And we'll see what he can do the next few weeks with Diehl out (hopefully Beatty will be back soon though and Kevin Boothe is coming back this week)

And what about Mitch Petrus. How much fun is it to watch this guy, a professional football player sprinting around and absolutely elated to be in the game. This seems like a guy who's going to work hard (and with his impressive strength and speed for an offensive linemen, he might develop into a pretty good guard soon).

Couhglin turned this team around when things could have gone right down hill after a bad 1-2 start. There is a lot of work to do, but so far the team has played very well at some times and well enough to win 6 times.

Coughlin also brought in Perry Fewell (which many people didn't like….think about how many people were crying about the "read and react" defense, but I watched Perry Fewell the last few years in Buffalo and with THAT unstable front office and those aveage, at best, defensive players Fewell had a team that played hard ALL the time and created turnovers, they played above their talent many times last year (look how bad the team got from last year to this year…they aren't creating turnovers anymore).

And then a tip of my hat to Perry Fewell, which is self-explantory.  But I'll just write this: First in yards, second in pass yards, second in rush yards, 12th in points.

# 4 Hakeem Nicks

Hakeem "The Dream" has been great this year in his second year. And if the season ended today, he'd be a serious candidate for the All-Pro team,  not just a pro-bowl berth.

Also today, Mike Garafolo pointed out that he's been dealing with a lot of lower leg injuries and said something along the lines of "if we find out later he was hurt much more than he let on, it wouldn't surprise me".

Nicks is 653 recieving yards (6th in league), 51 catches (5th),  9 Touchdowns (1st), and 14 plays of 20 or more yards (second).

His yards per catch, however, 12.8 is down from last year when it was 16.8, but there are two reasons for that, #1 his touchdown receptions are in the red-zone which lowers the yard per catch stat and he's had a few naked bootleg screens that didn't go anywhere really. He's been used much more as a posession receiver and big play threat this year. That combination to be able to do that is fantastic.

#3 Osi Umeniyora

Really it's the entire defensive line. Canty, Coefield, Osi, Tuck have all been brilliant. Osi, though, was the most volatile of the group and if he had a poor attitude coming into the season like last season it might have negatively effected what is happening in New York.

He also leads the team with 8 sacks, 7 Forced Fumbles, and has actually contributed in the running game this year as well.

He's in contention for defensive player of the year at the moment (though behind Clay Matthews, who has 10.5 sacks (while missing one game), a touchdown, a good number of tackles.

#2 Ahmad Bradshaw

I think many fans would give the M.V.P of this team to Ahamad Bradshaw who is having an absolutely fantastic season.

He has been very important to what the Giants are doing on offense this season. He's fourth in the league in rushing, he leads the league in rushes of more than 10 yards, he has done pretty well out of the backfield. He has scored 5 touchdowns and he was absolutely dominant while the offensive line was finding its way early in the season.

Bradshaw has been much, much better than I could have ever imagined. Hopefully he stays healthy and productive the rest of the season.

#1 Eli Manning

We all know that he is the leader of this team and that between him and his Wide Receivers there has been a lot of turnovers with tipped passes for interceptions. Some blame that on Eli's throws, others on the Wide Receiver not catching the ball cleanly, and I've also seen it suggested that the WR are not running precise routes (which is really hard to see on t.v.).

Let's take Eli's numbers as they are (and not even discount X number of tipped passes for INT)

Currently, Eli Manning has thrown for 2,075 yards (6th in the league,might be 7th depending on what Palmer does tonight), he has thrown for 7.7 yards per attempt (6th), he has completed 65.7 percent of his passes (4th-that's right "inaccurate" Eli Manning has 4th highest completion percentage), he has thrown 17 touchdown passes, 32 plays over 20 yards (3rd), 4 plays over 40 yards (11th), he's only taken 12 sacks (9th) behind an Offensive line that hasn't been great, and his QB rating is 92.7 right now (even with all of those tipped passes for INT…if you took of 4, which is a very conservative number his TD to INT ratio would be 17 to 7 and his QB rating would probably be 100).

Anyway, that's 8th in the league and, but 3rd in the league out of QB's who have thrown at least 250 passes (16 QB's have thrown at least 250 passes).

Bradshaw has been great,but so has Eli Manning and he's the Giants M.V.P.

Playing Above Expectations

There are some players who have really stepped up this year and played better than I thought they would.

Let's start with the offense and then get to the defense.

I already mentioned Ahmad Bradshaw, who I thought would be serviceable, but not great like he has been so far this season. I should also mention though Brandon Jacobs who is coming on strong. He is averaging over 5 yards a carry again for the first time in awhile and now has already run for 5 touchdowns (Bradshaw and Jacobs both have five touchdowns).

Hakeem Nicks I thought he was a good player, but like I said he's playing at an All-Pro Level. He's probably been one of the two or three best Wide Receivers in the league this season. That I didn't expect. If he continues on the pace he is on right now he could have 1300 yards and 18 touchdowns! (We'll see if that pace lasts)

Rich Suebert and Kareem McKenzie

Suebert has been invaluable on guard pulls. He always brings the intensity, and this year is no different. He's not a great player, but he gives the team flexibility and has fought back after almost losing is job to Beatty this off season (because Beatty would push Diehl inside to Guard).

Kareem McKenzie is still a force on runs. Notice how all the Giants big runs go to the right side with Suebert and McKenzie. Kareem is playing very well. Suebert is playing better than I thought he would.

Bear Pascoe-Bear Pascoe has been playing so well that I've actually kind of rooted for Madison Hedgecock to stay sidelined. I'm afraid when he's healthy Coughlin will go back to Hedgecock, even if it doesn't make any sense to do so with how well Bear Pascoe has been playing this year.

Debbie Downers-(players on offense not playing as well as I had hoped)

David Diehl-at times this year, David Diehl has not played at a N.F.L. Quality level. He's the biggest weak-line on the offensive line. Shawn Andrews will have a chance to show us what he can do the next few weeks. Hopefully Andrews will show us that Diehl will be playing Guard next year because Andrews has taken the tackle spot (or Diehl will move inside, Andrews will be one of the tackles and Beatty the other?).

Will Beatty=He's been hurt. Beatty was defined as a "project" and his progress last year was actually encouraging, but I was dissapointed he wasn't able to beat out Diehl at LT this season. I loved Beatty coming out of the draft because, even though he was undersized in the run game he was very willing in the run game. I still think he'll be a good player.

Kevin Boss-I don't think it's his fault. He doesn't get a ton of opportunities because, quite honestly Bradshaw, Nicks, Smith, and Manningham have been dynamic at times. Still one touchdown and 14 catches isn't great.

Turnover Battle and Dropped Passes-I heard someone talking about an analysts opinion on speed. "When you have a lot of speed you're more prone to turnovers". The Giants offense is Dynamic, they lead the league in Touchdown Drives. Eli has 17 the running backs have 10. That's an average of 3 touchdowns a game (that doesn't even count field goals) but they also are dropping the ball all over the place, throwing inopportune interceptions (usually off receivers hands) and just being sloppy at times. On Sunday that didn't happen and the Giants could have put up 60 points if they were really trying-if they don't beat themselves it's tough to beat them.

Darius Reynaud

With Adam Koets (shoot should have put him under the played better than I anticipated because he filled in admirably) going to IR, Reynaud will remain on the Giants roster the remainder of the season. I was hoping he'd be a decent return man to alleviate some of what Hixon could bring, but he was not. Perhaps, he didn't fit with the Giants system, or maybe the blocking was awful, but whatever the case he is not productive as a return man with the Giants. He seems to have decent build for his size so hopefully he can help on the coverage teams, if active the rest of the season).

Defensive Stars

These are the players who have been better than I anticipated this season.

Deon Grant I don't think he had the effect on the game he wished he had returning to Seattle on Sunday, but he has been a delightful surprise. He has made some huge plays this season and has forced Perry Fewell to put him on the field a lot. What a great under the radar pickup by Jerry Reese. Grant's leadership and versatility had allowed this defense to thrive.

Barry Coefield I've always thought of Coefield has a good, reliable N.F.L. Starter, but nothing special. At times this year he's made me re-evaluate my view point on him. He has three sacks from the interior and has been very disruptive this year. Jerry Reese's best off-season  move might have been lucking out and not being able to trade Barry Coefield to the Saints.

Mathias Kiwanuka (pre-injury)….Man that sucks for Kiwanuka. I was doing "breakout profiles" this off-season and one of my favorite profiles was Kiwanuka. I really thought he could play well this season and show why the Giants drafted him, but he was blowing away my expectations. It's weird the Giants have thrived without him because he was dominating at most times. Hopefully he'll be back with the Giants next year (if there's football, and maybe at a discount price?)

Corey Webster I was a little worried that Webster had maxed out in 2008 and was going to be an average N.F.L. corner in this league moving forward, but he's bounced back to have a good year.

Osi Umeinyora-I should learn that when players say they are a 100 percent healthy that it is only what the believe and not the truth. Osi said he was all good last year and probably believed that, but the difference between last year and this year is clear to see. I was a little worried, but he has been arguably the M.V.P. for the defense.

Jonathan Goff

I'll start this with a caveat in a 4-3 I've maintained that the linebackers are the least important defensive unit of the three. I was not "all-in" for getting Rolando McClain or Sean Weatherspoon unless there were no better options available at the time, but that does not mean I was a full believer in Jonathan Goff.

Goff though, is entering his third year, which is the "breakout year" and is showing why people need to give more time to players they want to berate so early (Travis Beckum, Ramses Barden are two for example).

Goff has been exceptional for the Giants this year, especially compared to fans expecations for him.

Bravo, Goff. Keep it up.

Not What I Expected

Thing have gone well for the Giants defense, but not perfect. There are some players who haven't been up to task.

Aaron Ross-Ross has not been good this year. In fact, he's been terrible. He's been thrown at 18 times (heading into the Seattle Game) and let 12 completions and over a 150 yards against him. Ross has been playing the slot (sometimes) and not doing it well. The upcoming draft class coming up as a ton of very good coverage cornerbacks and the Giants might be looking for one because the depth at cornerback is terrible if Ross is going to play so poorly.

Linval Joseph more on him later.

Kenny Phillips- I think this is another "Osi" situation. What I mean by that is people gave Osi a lot of crap for his season last year even though he led the team in sacks last season with 7. But, people were use to Osi being an absolute force and exepcted big things from him. Same with Phillips this year. Phillips said he was a 100 percent healthy, but I hope he's not. He's not playing poorly, by any stretch of the imagination. But Phillips has the ability to be a dynamic Game-changer at safety for the Giants. This year, he almost seems invisble, I guess. He's supported the run well, but I can't think of many big interceptions or huge passes defensed. In 4 road games this year he only has 11 tackles. He is not playing bad, he's just not playing as well as my (too-high-for-a-player-coming-of-a-major-injury-expectations).

Cornerback Depth

Everyone with the last name of Johnson on defense has dissapointed. The Giants have no depth at cornerback (well maybe Blackmon because he has been a pretty decent starter so he's good depth). Scares me.

Clint Sintim

I have, by no means, given up on him.  But I was hoping we'd see a linebacker who could really blitz and stick his nose in the run game…I thought it'd be Sintim, but it turns out it's Jonathan Goff.

Sintim has not embarassed himself while he's been on the field, but he has a lot of talent so his progress has been a little dissapointing this season.

Rookie Report

I recently wrote about Jason Pierre Paul's year.

A lot of people didn't like this pick (I was one of them). I saw that JPP-meant "Jerry's Project Player", but he has made an immediate impact this season. Coughlin has a history of slow playing rookies into the N.F.L. He's made his presence felt on Special Teams and is doing well collapsing the pocket.I still want to see some production, but for a player no one thought would play much or do anything he has not been a dissapointment.

I wrote that players with THIS much talent, that show a tremendous work ethic and a love to play football (as I think his hustle on Special Teams indicates) don't Bust in the N.F.L. Maybe they're not pro-bowlers, but they are good solid players. I like what I've seen from JPP this season.

Linval Joseph Rocky Bernard still hasn't impressed me much this season, but for some reason Joseph can't get on the field.  I mean he's a mammoth so it's not like he's going to be on the kick coverage teams, but I hoped to see more out of him this season. Joseph was the player that most expected to make an impact as a rookie.

Chad Jones My favorite pick of the draft. This guy is super athletic and would have been PERFECT to play the S/LB position that Grant is playing this season. Hopefully he'll make it in professional sports (baseball or football) in his lifetime. Can't blame anyone for this pick. Who knows what he could have done this season.

Phillip Dillard=Some teams get a ton of production from their rookies and a lot of playing time. Other teams like to slow play their rookies into action, especially if they don't believe they're read. Coughlin takes the second option.

Dillard has been inactive most of the season, but made his first apperance yesterday. With how well Jonathan Goff has been playing I don't think many fans really even care.  We'll see what Dillard will become, but so far I haven't seen much (incomplete)

Mitch Petrus-This guy is a ball of energy. He's played well when he's been in (garbage time). He is the kind of player that makes you enjoy being a fan. He Dashes onto the field whenever he gets his number called. He's running up and down the sidelines when the offense is making plays. He's trying to blow up people in his grabage time duty. Petrus is athletic (started out as a tight end) and a weight machine warrior. There is plenty of refeinment for him, but you have to love the enthusiasm, and I think this could very well be the best pick in round five of the 2010 N.F.L. draft. It's early but I could definitely see him becoming a starter in the next couple of years as the "changing of the guards" (see what I did there) occurs.

Adrian Tracy-IR The Giants love their "tweener" 4-3 linebackers. Guys who are undersized defensive ends, but big linebackers. Tracy was another one. A very good pass rusher in college. But he suffered a season ending injury before the 53 man roster was released I think. Hopefully he can do something next year.

Matt Dodge I never understood the love fest for Jeff Feagles. Sure, he could pin an opponet within their own 10 yard line like no other, but the 35 yard punts when the Giants needed to change field position killed the G-men at times last year. That's not a problem with Dodge, what is his consistency. After an awful start to the season Dodge has picked it up.

Despite his shortcoming early in the season Matt Dodge is 7th in the league in average yards per punt, Sure there is  plenty of room for improvement, but I like some things I've seen from Dodge (especially the past couple of games). He could be the long-time Giants punter.

It's WAYYYY Too early to judge a rookie draft class, but Reese kind of get dealt a raw deal with two of his seven picks going on IR and one of those players possibly losing his career already.

But JPP has been O.K. and shown flashes. Joseph has been a space eater when playing (but not playing much). And Mitch Petrus has the kind of enthusiasm for the game that makes you believe he'll be ok at the N.F.L. level (especially with his raw strength, size, and athleticism).

But we'll see. Mario Manningham's first year wasn't impressive and now look what he's become. Justin Tuck didn't do much his first season.

It takes time. I LOVED the 2009 draft class, and I was lukewarm on this draft class, we'll see what happens moving forward.

What's in Store the Second Half of the Season

The Giants have a ton of division games left (Dallas this weekend) but four home games and four away games left as well.

The schedule upcoming is as follows:

Vs Dallas

At Philadelphia

vs Jacksonville

Vs Washington Redskins

At Minnesota Vikings

vs Philadelphia Eagles

at Green Bay Packers

At Washington

The Giants most likely need at least three wins to make the playoffs (but probably four to be safe and five wins to gurantee the playoffs).

It is nice to have four home and four road games left, but for a team like the Giants it doesn't matter that much because the past few years they have been very good on the road.

Division Games are always risky because teams can play with more emotion than usual. The Cowboys might have one last rally in them with a new coach this weekend.

Jacksonville in NY should be the closest thing to a gurantee win there is in the N.F.L. and if the Giants can go at least 3-4 in the other 7 games the playoffs should happen.

Things are looking good for the Giants they just have to stay healthy, stay focused, and keep the turnovers down.

By Columnist Jean-Paul Bergeaux

Things I know.

I'm going to miss "The good-ship lollipop". It would have been more fun if Wade Phillips had finished out the year in Dallas. I had given the Cowboys that nickname for the fantasy land that Phillips seemed to live in. Who knows, maybe Jason Garrett will provide enough material to continue the name. Not likely though. However, if the offensive production under Jason Garrett is any indication of how good of a head coach he will be, the Cowboys won't improve much under his leadership.

There are a lot of teams at or above .500. 11 out of 16 teams in the AFC are at or above .500 and 10 of 16 teams in the NFC. That's 21 out of 32 teams with non-losing records. Whether it is parity or mediocrity or luck, it's good for making games more exciting. There are no divisions that have any team with more than a 1 game lead on the number 2 in the division. That's going to pay dividends for the NFL since it made the decision this year to put divisional games at the end of the season.

Gregg Williams has done it again. The Saints are #3 in the NFL in yards allowed and #5 in the NFL in points allowed. And that's not taking into account the amount of points allowed because of mistakes on offense and special teams. There have been several defensively scored TDs and gift field goals that this defense has allowed only because they stopped the other team when they were given field position inside or close to the red zone. It's an amazing turn around from 2 years ago. Kudos to Williams for doing it yet again in a new city with relatively unknown players.

Things I think I know.

Denver was dumb to trade Peyton Hillis to Cleveland. In his rookie year Shanahan used Hillis as a backup, but still got 5 yards a carry and Hillis showed some flashes before getting injured. Something happened when Josh McDaniels came in and he only got 13 carries in 2009. So far, Hillis is averaging 4.8 yards a carry, 80 yards a game (missed week 1) and has 7 TDs. He's a big bruising back that actually has some moves. He's making a difference in Cleveland. How silly does McDaniels look for trading Hillis (and a pick) for Brady Quinn, who hasn't done anything in Denver. (see above coaches in trouble notes)

I think the NFL is changing the game while trying to protect players. I have never played college or professional level football, so I can only think I know this. I just know that the continual creeping protection rules are removing the main selling point of the NFL. Toughness. The more the NFL removes hits and highlights, the more the NFL loses its edge. I applaud the NFL trying to protect the players, but the efforts they are taking are only to protect highlight making players. What about the lineman that knock heads every play? What's going on here?

A team's culture is important. Also could be called "It's hard to create a sustainable winning culture." There are certain organizations that breed winning and there one's that breed losing. It's about owners and GMs that know how to pick someone with a winning aura and attitude and then support them the right way. In recent times, the Steelers and Giants are models of relative consistency. Rarely missing the playoffs for long, these teams have a winning culture. Then there are the organizations like the Lions and Cardinals. There may be some glimpses of good teams, but instead of rarely missing the playoffs for extended amounts of time, it's rare they make the playoffs for any extended amount of time. Changing that culture is hard. Coaches often try to change the culture, but it really comes down the front office (ownership and GMs).

Things I know I don't know.

Can Mike Vick stay healthy without changing his style of play? Vick has not lost a game that he has started and finished. He has a 105 QB rating and is just plain playing out of his mind. If he can just stay healthy, the Eagles may well win the NFC East and be a force in the playoffs. And it's not just his play; the team comes alive when he's leading it. Offensively and defensively, they appear to have more confidence. It could be hard for Vick to stay healthy if he doesn't start sliding more though.

Is Jim Schwartz the reason the Lions aren't winning? The talent change on the Lions squad is amazing. Martin Mayhew has drafted Ndamukong Suh, Jeff Backus, Gosder Cherilus, and Dominic Raiola to anchor both lines on top of the high profile picks of Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson Jahvid Best and Brandon Pettigrew. The trades they have made have seemed to favor Detroit as well. This team has a solid core of talent now. They have only lost one game by more than one score and defeated St. Louis 44-6. If Schwartz doesn't start converting good play into wins, could he be the problem?

Are the Rams and Raiders going to win their respective western divisions? These two teams were not expected to be where they are. Many thought the Rams were going to be the rugs of the NFL for at least another year. Right now it looks like both teams are starting to put it together. The Rams are 4-2 in the last 6 games and the Raiders are 4-1 in the last 5 (yes, you read that right). It's been more difficult to hate the Raiders and Al Davis when both have been so pitiful and wayward until this last month or so. Now the enjoyment of hating the "Raaaydaaaas" by the rest of the NFL might be resumed.

No matter what the outcome of a game is, I hate to blame the officiating. They're humans and they make mistakes. However, the officiating in the Eagles and Colts match-up has to be some of the worst I've seen in a long time.

The Eagles racked up a total of total of 14 penalties against the Colts, and the team is solely responsible for a lot of them. However, there were instances where the refs got calls wrong. Not just wrong, but there were instances during the game in which I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The first major call I disagree with was the call on the hit by Quintin Mikell on Austin Collie. I don't understand how he was classified as a defenseless receiver. Is he supposed to get a free ride because he's catching a ball down the middle of the field? Can a safety not make a play the way that Mikell and Nate Allen did? Mikell lead with his shoulder on the play, just as you are supposed to. Allen may have had helmet to helmet contact, but it only came as a result of the way Collie's body was deflected into him.

I think the refs got this one wrong, but the NFL has a chance to get it right. The play will be reviewed by the NFL for possible fines. If any are given, that is an absolute joke. The NFL will also have the ability to review the play and determine if they think the referees got it right. If not, the play should be used as an example as a hit that doesn't require a flag to be thrown.

I thought that was bad, but I think the call on Trent Cole in the fourth quarter was even worse. As Cole came flying around the edge to try and make a play on Peyton Manning, he didn't have a good enough angle to get a full hit on Manning. As his momentum carried him past the quarterback, his hand hit Manning in his helmet. It wasn't a very hard knock to the head, but apparently it was enough to receive a personal foul call.

The worst part of the penalty was that it was fourth down and the Eagles should have received the ball, pretty much ending the game. However, the penalty allowed the game to continue and the Colts took advantage, closing the gap.

There has always been a focus in the NFL on protecting the quarterback, but this call was a bit much. Cole's actions were not intentional, and as he held his arm out with his momentum carrying him beyond Manning, his hand happened to find the back of the quarterbacks' helmet. This was a huge call to get wrong and gave the Colts a chance to win the football game.

We've been seeing this stuff for a while now. This is the game of football. You don't want to see players get hurt and I understand that they're trying to protect everyone. However, the physical part of this game is what draws everyone to it and the players know what they're getting into.

The NFL is taking a lot away from this game right now and the Eagles felt the wrong end of the stick on Sunday.

The Cowboys are not only inept on the field, their website is as well. That’s because the Cowboys, amid all the issues on the field, forgot to renew its registration on the dallascowboys.com domain.

Dallascowboys.com was pulled Sunday night, and replaced with a generic page indicating the address was available for purchase from Network Solutions LLC. The Cowboys recovered though, as they quickly renewed its registration.

Since the team had to panic to get the site re-registered, it takes about 48 hours for all Internet servers to recognize renewals, meaning now if you visit the site – a stock image of two kids playing soccer.

Dallascowboys.com is the second-most-popular NFL website. That is until people saw two kids playing soccer instead of news the firing of Wade Phillips.