Live Q&As

Not pretty, if that was really her. 

Hi Dan, nice to hear from you.

See, I don't think you take sure points off the board. If Bradshaw lays down on the one, it still leaves an awful lot in doubt. Funny things and weird mistakes can happen in the pressure of the moment -- as Bradshaw proved with baby-falling-on-its-butt touchdown. To me, the TD gave them a four point cushion and that means Brady has to go the length of the field for a TD, it's not enough to get a crack at a field goal. I just don't think you ever take six sure points off the board. But maybe that's just my view from the top of Idiot Hill.

Sort of spoiled aren't they, the Beantowners? They should try being Washingtonians for a week.

See, I thought the Giants looked strong all season even in some of their losses, and that the result DID reflect the best teams. This will sound counterintuitive, but every guy in the NFL will tell you the best teams are the ones who took a couple of tough losses. Losses make you better, you self examine, correct mistakes, shake off any complacency. The Giants were absolutely the toughest team in football down the stretch. Don't forget, they led the league all season in big plays, statistically. They have been lethal all along, even if they had some weeks where they paced themselves.

I was absolutely stunned by that call and said out loud as soon as it happened that those two points could be the deciders. Think about the difference it might have made to the Patriots if they are driving for a game winning field goal instead of needing a TD at the end. Maybe Welker and Branch catch those balls instead of turning upfield too quickly, thinking they needed to get extra yards. 

I'd be happy to swerve out the lane briefly and address this. Obviously, the U.S. attorney in L.A. decided there was no evidence. Which is stunning after two years and several trips to Europe and all of the leaked dramatic headlines that then turned out to be garbage. For the most fair coverage of the entire affair, back read Amy Shipley's stories in the Washington Post, especially the one in which she debunked the idea that there was a positive drug test cover up in Switzerland. Obviously the prosecutor looked at the evidence instead of the headlines. On Contador, I read an egregiously dumb quote this morning that seems to sum up the WADA system of justice. Nobody knows how the traces of clenbuterol got into Contador, nor could they have been "performance enhancing" in a stage of the Tour de France. Yet he is banned for two years and stripped because, as one official said, "There was no reason to exonerate the athlete, so the sanction is two years." It's Orwellian. He was guilty of not being able to prove his non-guilt.

Spygate was aways overblown to me. Coaches are all super paranoid. Besides, it would have been a serious injustice to the 50 players or so who weren't even on the Patriots roster when Spygate happened.

I should think it puts him squarely in the sunlight as a great player, with his own distinct style and personality. It's fascinating the ways in which Eli differs from Peyton. He's incredibly secure in who he is, according to his father,who I talked to last week. Archie feared that Eli was in the shadow of both of his older brothers growing up. Also, Archie Manning had been traded to Houston and then Minnesota when Eli was a smal boy and so he was home a little less for Eli. So Archie also wondered if that might affect Eli. But he turned out to be incredibly self reliant and self contained as an athlete. I remember when Eli was a rookie and came to New York everyone feared he might struggle with the whole city thing, and the pressure. Peyton actually said to me something like, "I can help him with football, but I can't help him with that New York thing." Turns out Eli didn't need any help. He actually thrives in the pressured atmosphere. I think he knows he handles pressure better than most people.

I agree with a good part of that but not the final sentence. Even Eli Manning would tell you they relied heavily on their D. And when Brady was asked before the game who he hoped would have a career best performance, he named Wilfork, which suggests he too understood the Ds might be the real difference makers. But here's the thing. It was a very big part of the Giants' O that their line protected Eli as well as it did. Also, did you see them mowing down the Pats as they ran the ball? Finally, Eli's completion numbers were just outstanding. So a lot that went into the offensive performance and I would say while he's right that the Ds were crucial, it's an overstatement to say that Manning and the O didn't have a pretty great game. I don't care what D you are playing, to be as precise as Manning was in a big game like that was a very difficult thing to do and a HUGE factor in the win.

TOTALLY agree -- it was phenomenal, put the Pats behind the eightbal all night long. And nobody really pointed it out. Special teams made life a lot easier for the Giants D, and contributed to that critical safety. Just imagine if Brady could have started at the 20 and gotten into the kind of rhythm he got into later in the first half. Whole different game perhaps.

It's interesting, isn't? But maybe the secret isn't just being a Manning. I wonder if the coaches at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans get enough credit. The Manning juggernaut surely has as much to do with the athletic training they got there as it does with Archie Manning. Read Michael Lewis, another Isidore Newman grad, on the quality of coachng they received there. And you can also read about it in the book I did with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy last year. Sean Tuohy, who still holds the all time record for basketball assists in the Southeastern Conference, was another Isidore Newman grad, and his father coached there. 

It looked to me like Gronkowski just couldn't move the way he wanted to. Obviously they had to keep him out there because even hobbled the D has to account for him. But I think his performance had less to do with the Giants than with a high ankle sprain, which is a really tough injury.

You know, I thought both quarterbacks would get hit a lot more than they did. It's a testament to two superb offensive lines. I've thought all season the Giants' OL was maybe the best in football. They are a huge, fast, formidable group. David Diehl is a monster. They made Wilfork look sort of, meh. And the Pats were almost as good. 

Bill Parcells would say, you are your numbers. 

Well, I think other factors were more important in the Patriots not winning a Super Bowl since. Namely Eli Manning, David Tyree, and Mario Manningham. They got awfully unlucky on two freakishly good catches. Those footballs brush off the fingertips of Tyree and Manningham, and the Pats have two more Super Bowl rings. Again, Spygate is overblown. The Pats have the best habits week in and week out of just about any team in the league and that has nothing to do with videotape of the opponent.

I can see Eli's apartment from mine. I'm on one side of the river, he's on the other. But I wouldn't call Hoboken cozy or quaint. It's very much a city atmosphere. According to Archie Manning, Eli likes the city and wanders around in it quite a bit.

Those Mannings do have nice manners. The whole family does. Very courtly and kind bunch. My friend Mike Wilbon calls it "proper training in the home." I wish Archie and Olivia Manning would write a book on how to raise nice, well mannered  kids.

Oh please. Oh please no. No. No. Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

The main criticism of him from some readers today seems to be that he lost to the Redskins twice. But I would suggest that was a case of sheer boredom on his part.

HA! This isn't directed at anyone in particular. But as a sportswriter you always cringe when you hear a non-competing spouse use the word "we." As is, "We have to play better." Or, "We're in training." Or, "We let that one slip away."

It means that a few losses are actually good for a team. Having your weaknesses exposed allows you to correct them in time for the playoffs. The great teams get better over the last season. A few years ago when I interviewed Tom Brady, he was a firm believer that the last few games of the season was when the real contenders got better. You can see them up their performance a notch while others just slightly deteriorate. Twice now, the Giants have gotten visibly better over the last third of a season, and both times went on to win the Super Bowl. Couglin knows how to get his team to peak.

Coughlin is unquestionable a GREAT coach. First of all, he has won at every level. I remember him at Boston College. His players believe in him and do what he asks. I think it's significant that every time his job has been in jeopardy in New York, his players have risen up and played their a**es off.

Oh now. 

Well thank you. It seems to me that their personnel guy Jerry Reese deserves an MVP award in his own right. The guys has put together a monster outfit. They are huge and fast and, it seems to me, a new roster template. They are three deep at every single position. They endured injuries better than arguably any other team in the league because they are so deep. And their offensive line just manhandled the Pats, it seemed to me.

His family didn't think he'd need help with the city, but some people thought he might struggle with the heat of the New York press.

Yep. We just don't appreciate what a buried gem we have in the Redskins.

Well sure, this is the ruby slipper. Chemistry and teamwork are pat phrases, but are actually incredibly hard to accomplish, and why so many  books are written trying to explain the secret. In my opinion, the Redskins have had a fundamental heart murmur in this regard. I believe Mike Shanahan has gone a long way towards curing it, and now we'll see if they can build a roster and some depth. But I'm a believer in Shanahan's basic methods for just this reason. What's less clear is whether the personnel judgement will be good enough. But he's already upgraded the roster significantly and I really liked their drafts the last couple of years. The Redskins have a lot of team-first guys in the house, and it's why they value London Fletcher so highly.