Eli Manning has a new favorite target, the Giants’ defense showed its teeth once again and the 2010 season opened with a 31-18 victory against the Carolina Panthers today at New Meadowlands Stadium.

As for the Panthers?

see more Señor Gif

Update: Fuck. Shit. Damn. Crapweasels. Sunabeach. Liberal. Go Steelers.

Oh, yeah, baby. And the Skins taint looking good, either. Mwahahahahahahahaha!

And, for fun, The Palinator effect on Dem offices

Steve Spagnuolo pulled out of the running for the Washington Redskins coaching job Thursday, citing his desire to remain with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

“His heart is in New York City,” Spagnuolo’s agent, Bob Lamonte, told the Associated Press. “He loves the ownership. He loves the players. He feels he has to stay there.”

The Giants promptly rewarded Spagnuolo with a three-year, $6 million contract, making the defensive coordinator one of the highest-paid assistants in the league.

Excellent!

Eli on Letterman. Listen for what he says about Bellichek leaving early in the second vid. Also, gee, he doesn’t look like Mr. Roboto, either

next

Double excellent!

Meanwhile, some thoughts from Greg Easterbrook

Stat of the Week No. 1: Eight times, the Super Bowl has paired two teams that met in the regular season and played a game decided by a touchdown or less. The regular-season losers are 7-1 in the subsequent Super Bowl.

Stat of the Week No. 2: New England averaged 37 points in the regular season and 22 points in the postseason.

Stat of the Week No. 3: Fourteen points was New England’s lowest scoring output of the season.

Stat of the Week No. 4: New England’s scoring in its final four appearances: 38 points, then 31, then 21, then 14.

Stat of the Week No. 5: After four seasons, Eli Manning is 36-28 as a starter and has a Super Bowl ring; after four seasons, Peyton Manning was 32-32 as a starter and lacked a playoff victory. Stat noted by Pat Kirwan of NFL.com.

Stat of the Week No. 6: Randy Moss averaged 1.4 touchdowns per game in the regular season and 0.3 touchdowns per game in the postseason.

Stat of the Week No. 7: In the regular season, Brady threw six touchdown passes for each interception; in the postseason, two touchdown passes for each interception.

Stats of the Week No. 8: In the closing moments, the Super Bowl crowd chanted “18 and 1! 18 and 1!”

Stat of the Week No. 9: The Giants finished 3-5 at home and 11-1 away from Giants Stadium.

Stat of the Week No. 10: It remains true — the regular-season NFL passing yardage leader has never gone on to win the Super Bowl in the same season.

Stat #11: last time the Patriots scored less then 20 points was 12/10/2006, when the Fins wooped them 21-0

Cheerleaders! Big Blue doesn’t have any, but, the Pats do have some honey’s!

Incredible, simply incredible. As a long suffering Giants fan, I can say I am riding a Blue cloud right now.

While Eli did a great job, my MVP pick would be for Justin Tuck and David Tyree to share it. The front 4 for the Giants were incredible, and did just exactly what they needed to do, pressure Brady. With some help from the LB’s, of course. Tuck had 5 tackles, 1 assist, 2 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. He was 3rd in tackles, led in sacks, and that was the only FF. This doesn’t even cover the pressures.

Tyree caught the Giants first TD, a 5 yard catch in the back of the end zone from Eli in the 4th. He also had what has to be one of the most incredible catches I have ever seen in any Super Bowl. Major league circus catch. Video at NFL.com.

For those who are familiar with the NY sports media and fans, we know they are BRUTAL. Early in the season they were questioning Eli, wondering if he was the QB of the future for the Gmen, dissing him left and right. Tom Coughlin, well, the media wanted him gone. An ex-teammate, Tiki Barber, was savaging Eli, Coughlin, the team, on NBC sports. They were getting on Strahan for missing training camp. The Giants lost the first 2, and the clamor got worse.

Now, the Giants are the Super Bowl Champs. So, they should make it to training camp before the media and fans start saying “great, you won the Super Bowl. What have you done for us today?”

Send a trackback to this post, but don’t forget to link it. Big Blue!

The Giants had the perfect answer for the suddenly imperfect Patriots: a big, bad defense and an improbable comeback led by their own Mr. Cool quarterback, Eli Manning.

In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, New York shattered New England’s unbeaten season 17-14 Sunday night as Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35 seconds left. It was the Giants’ 11th straight victory on the road and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.

Woooooooo!

Fans of the New England Patriots, who have come to loathe me over the years, will say I’m picking the New York Giants to win Super Bowl XLII because there’s a Manning on the roster.

You know what? They’re right.

I am picking the Giants to upset the Patriots because of Eli Manning. It’s not that I think he’ll outshoot Tom “Das Boot” Brady in this game. It’s that I think Manning will do enough to move the football against a so-so New England secondary — and he won’t turn it over. That will give him a mistake-free postseason and a Super Bowl MVP.

On the other side, Brady will turn it over two times. Those turnovers will prove to be the difference in the game.

Pats fans should remember when their team upset the St. Louis Rams a few years back to get Brady and coach Bill Belichick their first Super Bowl victory. Nobody gave them a chance. Nobody is giving this Giants team a chance, either. But they’re 10-1 on the road this season, won three consecutive playoff games away from home and this one is technically a road game for them.

They will find a way to make it happen by mixing in the run with some timely Manning throws. The defensive front will hit Brady more than we have seen. Add it all up and I smell an upset. So loathe me some more, chowder lovers. I’m picking the Giants 31-30. To borrow a line from one of your own (Matt Damon) from one or your Boston-centric movies: How you like them apples?

Getting close to time to see.

PS: do we really need to see all the celebrities and such pre-game? Tom Petty? Old news. Let’s hear about, you know, the f’ing game!