Bump N’ Run w/KT: Giants Hold On And Charlie Strong Getting Short Of Stick In Texas

Giants in Sloppy Once Again Bears

People say “Hey KT, aren’t you happy when the Giants win games?” My response is always this: “Why can’t they just win in a blowout.” It seems that against teams the Giants should have an easy time with, the result of the game is closer than it should be. That was the case in the Giants’ 22-16 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at the Meadowlands.

After a first half where Big Blue were down to the Bears 16-9, the Giants awakened from their slumber and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter. Unfortunately, that was the last sign of offense from them as the Giants’ final five possessions featured five punts. The Giants defense, which was lackluster in the first 23 minutes of the ballgame, came to play at the end of the first half and the entire second half as they pressured Jay Cutler to the tune of four sacks with 2.5 coming from Jason Pierre-Paul.

Flashes was shown all game from Rashad Jennings who ran for 85 yards and Eli Manning threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns. The tables have turned however has it seems that the defense is getting aggravated at having to save games from an offense that disappears late in games. While that wasn’t the case against Cincinnati last Monday night when the offense ran the clock out, that game was exception not the rule. The offense needs to be more consistent, and that is where a consistent running game comes in. Luckily for the Giants they get a major blessing this week…they play the winless Cleveland Browns.

Moving The Chains

The Jets had a bye last week but all the talk of Todd Bowles being on the hot seat is prosperous. It’s not going to get much easier for Bowles this week when they host the AFC-leading Patriots.  According to Razorgator, NY Jets vs. New England Patriots tickets have a get-in price of $59, so Jets fans . That’s one of the cheaper games for NFL tickets this week, an atypical characteristic for this particular meeting. It appears the fans are jumping ship for this year.
Penn State defeated Rutgers 39-0 in Piscataway on Saturday night to move to 9-2. Can James Franklin get some Coach of the Year consideration please?

The issue isn’t that I dislike Rutgers football. The issue is that in the era of conference realignment, schools forget their place in the sports landscape. Rutgers athletics is not a Big Ten school.

Big shout out to LIU Post as they move on to the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship against Shepard at home on Saturday. The Pioneers won a shootout over Winston-Salem State 48-41 last weekend to move on. Good luck to LIU Post.

Charlie Strong is getting a raw deal. It has been reported that Strong will coach his final game with the University of Texas on Friday against TCU and will be fired soon after. As the first African-American head football coach at Texas, everyone knew it would take a miracle for Strong to have a long career in Austin. It takes time to build a culture and recruit the right men, not players, to a program but Strong didn’t have that kind of time. Just like when Sylvester Croom broke the SEC football color barrier when he became coach of Mississippi State in 2004 and started the process, Strong was the first at Texas and that means there will be a second and a third and so on. Strong will be ok after Friday’s game. But Texas should be ashamed of themselves.