New York Giants to get "blue carpet" treatment at film screening

Super Bowl winners Eli Manning, Jason Pierre-Paul, Antrel Rolle, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks will be strutting down the "blue carpet' at tonight's screening of a new DVD that captures the New York Giants season leading up to their upset victory over the New England Patriots in  Super Bowl XLVI.

Some might even call the DVD a remake of the Giants Super Bowl XLII win because there are so many similarities between the two championship runs.

In both scenarios, the Giants' season seemed to be over before the underdog squad gets hot down the stretch and defies all odds by making the playoffs.  Combine that with freakish last minute catches and comeback wins— over the Patriots— in both Super Bowls and you can see how the two championship runs look alike.

The two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning and the other players will be getting front-row seats for tonight's event at the Regal Theater in Times Square for the V.I.P. showing of NFL Films and Vivendi Entertainment's "Super Bowl XLVI Champions: New York Giants" which will be released today.

According to a sneak peak by The New York Post, the DVD begins with clips of the Giants' stunning upset of the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII then fast-forwards to to reveal how "eerily similar" the first championship was to the second.

The game by game account of the season highlights themes like Manning's ascension to "elite" status, the emergence of Victor Cruz and the steady hand of head coach Tom Coughlin.

After the comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys, Coughlin exclaims to his jubilant players in the locker room, "Take the star down off the mountain, put the NYG on top."

There is a slo-mo replay of Cruz's game-breaking 99-yard TD catch and run against the New York Jets and, of course, Manningham's unbelievable catch in the big game.

If those scenes don't get tonight's crowd cheering, nothing will.

Sprinkle those season-turning plays in with poignant sideline shots like Brandon Jacobs, sitting next to Manning, saying, "You're a beast, man, I can't say that enough" and there won't be a dry eye in the house.

Especially Patriots fans who will give it two thumbs down.

Even Bill Belichick gets a supporting role.  The Pats' coach commands his defense to concentrate on Cruz and Nicks before Manning lands the perfect pass to Manningham on the winning drive.

The only problem with this movie is everyone knows the ending but— as the credits roll over shots of the Giants parading up Broadway with ticker-tape raining down— Big Blue fans will already be waiting for a third installment in the series.

Giants Fan's "You Down with J.P.P." Video Tribute

New York Giants defensive star Jason Pierre-Paul now has his own tribute video and one has to wonder why it took so long.

The video— sung by a Giants fan and dozens of background lip-synchers— combines Naughty by Nature's 1991 hit single "O.P.P." with the defensive end's nickname— "J.P.P."

The singer, Josh Hyman, titled his fun, home-made video song, "You Down with J.P.P."  and the end result of the two songs go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

He even got an email from the Giants sack artist himself who said, "Hey, I dig it," according to Hyman.

Hyman remixed the original into an homage to the Giants and his favorite player before the team meets the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC Championship game and is a big hit on YouTube.

The new version of the song opens with the lyrics "Blue army with harmony" and contains such lines as "Are you down with Big Blue D" to go with the chorus, "You Down with J.P.P.."

The Jackson Five sample is still in there too.

Mixed in with the homemade shots of Giants fans and cheerleaders are clips of J.P.P. sacking opponents and doing a celebration flip.

There is still a lot of debate surrounding what the original O.P.P. even stands for.   Other People's Property or Other People's Privates are the consensus but, in this version, J.P.P. stands clearly for one thing— Jason Pierre-Paul and his sacks.

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Giants' Chris Canty Warns 49ers: Sunday's Game Will Be A "Bloodbath"

It sounds like New York Giants Chris Canty thinks the 49ers should have a few extra EMS units parked outside the stadium for this Sunday's NFC Championship game— just in case.

The defensive tackle is talking more like a street fighter than a football player and warned the 49ers that this weeks match-up will be more like an alley fight than a walk in Candlestick Park.

"Physical, physical, physical," he said when asked what to expect.  "This is not going to be a cute football game.  It's not going to be for the meek and mild.  This is going to be a bloodbath."

The 49ers side— who pride themselves on playing a physical style of ball— didn't take the threat lying down and thinks we'll find out if the visiting team really bleeds Giants blue— lots of it.

"If that's the kind of game this is gonna turn out to be," the 49ers Hall of Fame cornerback Ronnie Lott told the New York Post.  "It means it bodes well for the 49ers because they've been in those kind of battles all year long."

"I think they would say, 'Hey, bring it on!  You're talking our language.'  I don't think they will shy away from something like that," claims Lott.

Just toss in a few show tunes and we can call it West Coast Story.

"They don't try and make it a secret, and they want to beat you up," Canty said.  "And we pride ourselves on being a physical football team.  Something's got to give, and this football team is preparing itself to be able to put ourselves in a situation where we can be successful, and a big part of that is going to be our physicality."

The Giants players think they are now battle-tested road warriors

" Most championship teams got to fight through some sort of adversity— whether that's injuries, whether that's not playing your best early in the year," said Giants defensive end Justin Tuck.  "Toughness is just fighting through those things."

Tuck was asked if the Giants are tough enough to back up the smack talk.

"We'll find out," he said.  "I think we're pretty tough though.  But we're going into the hostile environment of a team that's pretty tough too, so we'll see... we'll see how tough we are this week."

Not to be left out of all the pre-game trash talk, Jason Pierre-Paul was asked by a reporter if any team is tougher than the G-Men?  Pierre-Paul's reply, "God is tougher than us."

Way to get the big guy on your side.  Tim Tebow would be proud.

The Giants and 49ers met earlier in the season in San Francisco and New York lost, 27-20, in a game most Giants players still think they should have won.

"After the last time we played them, we walked away saying that's a very physical team," said Giants offensive lineman Chris Snee.  "And the only way to beat them is to out-physical them."

Canty thinks the Giants can take it to the 49ers even on San Francisco's home turf.

"We got some experience in tough road ballgames, not always turning out the way we wanted them to, but we've had that experience nonetheless and we played in tight ballgames before," he said.  " So having that experience definitely means a lot for us going into this football game.  I think this football team has shown what it can do on the road, and we're looking forward to being able to demonstrate that again."

Then again, a lot of rain is being forecast leading up to Sunday, so this game might be remembered more as the Mud Bowl than the Blood Bowl.

Either way, players check your brass knuckles and switchblades at the gate and watch out for Officer Krupke.

Vernon Davis Keeps Showing His Softer Side by Singing Adele's "Someone Like You"

Wow!  Vernon Davis is really showing his softer side.  The San Francisco 49ers tight end— who was last seen tearing up on the sidelines at Candlestick Park on Saturday— got in front of a microphone and belted out Adele's hit love song, "Someone Like You," for a local web-cam show.

The English singer-songwriter's weeper is a resignation to a lost love and contains the lyrics: "I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited" and "I am bound by surprise by your glory days."

Not exactly bulletin board material for the New York Giants— as they roll into San Francisico to meet the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday— but probably enough for a good laugh.

Davis was coaxed into belting out his off-key version of the song on "The Joe Show," an online comedy web show on 49ers.com.

Davis caught the last second TD pass that beat the New Orleans Saints, 36-32, last weekend and sent San Francisco into the championship game.  After his game-winner, he had tears of joy running down his face as he was hugged by teammates.

The sensitive side of Davis is quite a reversal from the insubordinate, young player who was pulled in the midst of a game for taunting an opponent by head coach no-nonsense Mike Singletary only a few years ago.

When Davis sang Adele's words," I wish nothing but the best for you," you can bet they weren't for Giants defensive linemen, Justin Tuck or Jason Pierre-Paul,  who hope Davis will be singing the blues on Monday's show.

Jason Pierre-Paul: Giants will Beat Packers "Because We're The Best"

The New York Giants defensive behemoth Jason Pierre-Paul walked the walk yesterday during the team's 24-2 demolition of the Atlanta Falcons in their NFC wild card playoff game.  After the game he started talking the talk about facing the Packers.

"We're going to win," boasted the second-year defensive end.  "One hundred percent, we're going to win...because we're the best."

Fresh from a defensive performance that included eight tackles (two for losses) and a key stop on a fourth-and-one that stopped a Falcon's drive at the Giants 21-yard line, JPP said he can't wait for next Sunday's rematch against the Green Bay Packers.

The Giants (10-7) are nine-point underdogs next week against the Packers (15-1) and JPP is craving the opportunity to avenge the Dec. 4 meeting when the Giants lost, 38-35, on a last second field goal.

The loss left a bitter taste in JPP's mouth, but did nothing to hush it up.

"We know it's one and done [and] we aren't going to let that happen," said the defensive end.  "We're going to walk away with a win."

The was alot of confidence to go around after yesterday's well-balanced victory at MetLife Stadium.  The Giants defense was especially impressive.

"It was our best defensive effort of the year," said Giants DE Justin Tuck.

The G-Men gave up only 247 total yards to a potent Falcons team and held running back Michael Turner to 41 yards.

Two huge stops on fourth-down quarterback sneaks deep on their own side halted two potential Falcons scoring drives.

The only points the Falcons scored came off a second quarter safety when Eli Manning was flagged for intentional grounding.

While JPP was walking the walk most of the game, there a time when the Giants sack demon was laid out on the turf after he collided with teammates Aaron Ross and Tuck.

JPP threw a scare into his team until he got back up and walked it off.

"He got up," Osi Umenyiora said, "like he was Optimus Prime or something."

Pierre-Paul left the game but returned shortly after "[getting] the wind knocked out of  me."

Sounds like there was still enough wind left to puff out his chest and predict a victory over the reigning Super Bowl champs.

Giants Coughlin Shows Everyone Who's The Boss

Tom Coughlin made two calls—one before and one during— a game against the Dallas Cowboys yesterday that saved the New York Giants season and probably saved his job—again.

Before Sunday's game in Dallas, the Giants head coach benched arguably his best running back Ahmad Bradshaw for the first half before the season's biggest game and then later called a time-out to ice rookie Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey's 47-yard field goal seconds from sending the game into overtime.

Taking a cue from Cowboy's head coach Jason Garrett—who iced his own kicker last week in a loss against the Arizona Cardinals— Coughlin's call made Bailey attempt a do-over which was blocked by Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul.

The blocked kick gave the Giants (7-6) an unbelievable 37-34 victory and put them in first place of the NFC East ahead of the Cowboys (7-6) via tie breaker.  The two teams will clash again on New Year's Day at MetLife Stadium.

Benching Bradshaw was a game day decision after the running back reportedly violated team curfew although neither the player or coach would confirm that.  Either way, Bradshaw suited up and played ineffectively during the second half.

Brandon Jacobs, who was called a "bully" by Cowboys DB Mike Jenkins earlier in the week, got the start and lived up to the new nickname.  The Giants bruiser rumbled through the Cowboys defense for 101 yards on 19 carries and two TD's.

As many things that went right for the Giants went wrong.

Eli Manning overcame numerous tipped and dropped passes to keep the G-Men close for three quarters but when it looked like the Cowboys had the game in control, Manning came alive and led the team to 15 points in the last 5:41.

It was Manning's fifth fourth quarter comeback victory this season and after losing four straight, the Giants find themselves in the  thick of the playoff hunt.

But it all comes down to Coughlin.

Call him a taskmaster, old school or just plain out of touch with today's player—but he does it his way.

Every year there are calls for the rosy-cheeked Coughlin's head— especially when the team begins their annual December swoon.  Maybe this year things will be different.

"We needed to have a locker room celebration," said Coughlin in the Giants locker room after the win.  "We've been starving for for that."

Yesterday's victory changes everything about the Giants.  If the Giants lost, they would trail the Cowboys by two games for even the final wild-card spot and end the regular season facing division rival The Washington Redskins, New York City rival the New York Jets and, of course, their arch enemy the  Cowboys.

That road is more of a slosh through the Meadowlands swamps than a romp through Central Park.

Maybe this Giants team isn't reminiscent of Coughlin's former teams.  The running game has been anemic, the defense lets opponent's offense have their way all game long and it has given up 114 points in the last three games, but if there is a constant, it is Coughlin.

The more things change, the more they don't.

Giants Limp Into Game Against Patriots; No Surgery For Bradshaw

It didn't take long for the New York Giants to turn their practice facility back into a M*A*S*H unit after fielding a full roster for the first time last week. The only good news out of Giants camp today is the news that Ahmad Bradshaw won't need surgery on his broken foot.

The running back is still listed as "doubtful" for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. 

Joining Bradshaw on the doubtful list are DE Jason Pierre-Paul (concussion), wide-out Hakeem Nicks (hamstring) and center David Baas (knee).

Tom Coughlin updated the condition of Bradshaw's right foot after Friday's practice.

"The doctors felt that it wouldn't be necessary for him to have surgery right now," the head coach said.

He said that Bradshaw might try to play through the injury but it was unlikely the team would take a chance.  Bradshaw played the last eight games of the 2009 season with the same symptoms.

Coughlin said Pierre-Paul would be a game time decision after showing signs of concussed head— the result of getting sandwiched between two helmets during Thursday's practice.

"I didn't think anything of it, and then all of a sudden he was off to the side, didn't feel so good so they shut him right down," said Coughlin.  "He had a headache, so we put him through all the tests for a possible concussion.  We'll see how that goes."

Losing Pierre-Paul would be a huge loss for the Giants pass rush.  He leads the team— and is fifth in the NFL— with 8 1/2 sacks.  His presence was being counted on against the Patriots sniper Tom Brady.

Pierre-Paul and Baas didn't work out at all on Friday.  If Baas can't play expect Kevin Boothe to make his second start of the season.

While those four players probably won't see any action this Sunday, expect four other gimpy players to hit the field.

LB Michael Boley (knee), receiver Mario Manningham (illness), DE Justin Tuck (groin/neck) and Osi Umenyiora (knee) are all listed as probable.