Nightmare fourth quarter dooms Giants in San Fran.

49ERS 27 GIANTS 20

A year ago on this date the Giants walked into Giants stadium with a 6-2 record in a match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. A victory in that game and the Giants would be in cruise control for the rest of the season. Of course the Giants lost that game in hideous fashion, and the game marked the beginning of the end of their playoff hopes.

The Giants better hope that Sunday's hideous 27-20 loss to the 49ers doesn't spell doom once again. While losing to the 49ers is not embarrassing, the Niners are 8-1 for a reason; the Giants had every opportunity to win this game, and they couldn't do it.

After a fairly uneventful first half that saw New York trail 9-6, Big Blue knew they had this game. San Francisco running back Frank Gore was out of the game with an injury after rushing for zero yards on six carries. Alex Smith had done nothing through the air, and Big Blue's defense had smothered the Niners ground game.

Late in the third quarter, the Giants put together an inspired 10 play 89 yard drive that ate 5:39 culminating in a 13 yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham to give the Giants a 13-12 lead.

One would figure that the Giants fire power on offense combined with New York's powerful defense would be too much for the youthful 49ers, but mistakes did in Big Blue.

First a horrible punt by punter Steve Weatherford set up the 49ers inside the 50 yard line. From there, Smith and Niners' offense did the rest. Kendell Hunter's two seperate six yard runs brought the ball up to the Giants 31. Then Smith, while backpeddling away from an on-coming Giants defender, dumped the ball off to Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis who chugged 31 yards for the touchdown, highlighted by his leap over Kenny Phillips for the score to give the 49ers a 20-13 lead.

Then seconds later, Manning was picked off by Carlos Rogers and ran it back to the Giants 17 yard line, setting up a 17 yard touchdown run by Hunter to extend the lead to 14, 27-13.

The Giants responded immediately. Manning hit Jake Ballard twice for gains of 17 and 15 yards, before Manning hit Hakeem Nicks in stride for a 32 yard touchdown to pull the Giants within seven.

After a 49ers' three and out, the Giants had a great opportunity to tie the game but blew it. On second and five at the 49er 42, Manning heaved up a bomb to a wide open Manningham, who dropped the football at the goal line. If he caught it would have been six points.

The Giants did move the football to the 49er 10, but two straight incompletions by Manning ended it with 34 seconds to go. This was a game the Giants should have won, and they didn't do it. Terrible loss for the Giants.

The Giants (6-3) are only a game ahead of Dallas (5-4), and now face Philadelphia at home (3-6) in a game that is a must win for Big Blue. They have a chance to bury the Eagles, and they must deliever big time next week. If not, panic mood will start all over again for the Giants.

Open Mike 11-11-11, Joe Paterno & Jets vs. Patriots

On this one-hour special pod cast of Open Mike, host Michael Cohen, put together this special pod-cast to discuss the fall out of the Penn State child abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State, and led to the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno.

Michael then takes a glance at the big local football games for the Jets and Giants. The Jets host the New England Patriots on Sunday night, in a clash that could determine the AFC East. Meanwhile the Giants head west to the Bay Area to take on the rejuvenated San Francisco 49ers, in a renewal of an old rivalry.

Michael will return next week with a LIVE broadcast on Friday November 18 from the studios at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting with a full show and guests. LISTEN HERE!

FIRED! Penn State drops the ax on Joe Paterno

After days and several hours of unrest and anger from people around the country regarding the sex abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State, the board of trustees didn't wait until Friday to make a decision on Joe Paterno. The board fired both Paterno and President Graham Spanier late Wednesday night sending the school into a tizzy.

While Paterno wasn't guilty of hurting anyone, he is guilty of negligence in not doing something, anything to stop Jerry Sandusky from raping children in his locker room. All he did back in 2002 was notify the school's athletic director and vice president, both of whom were fired earlier this week, and washed his hands of it.

It is not known whether Paterno ever confronted Sandusky, but considering the fact that the former defensive coordinator hung around the complex over the past decade, that included his own office space and hours, made it clear that Paterno looked the other way when it came to Sandusky's perversions.

Paterno had it coming.

Meanwhile the entire Penn State student body is protesting on the campus, chanting "Bring Joe Back." What a bunch of fools. These kids don't understand that this issue has NOTHING to do with football. They are looking at this with blinders to the fact that their beloved head coach concealed, and allowed a monster to walk around his football complex for over 15 years, if not longer.

Paterno will no longer coach the Nittnay Lions, effective immediately. This puts a big crimp in the plans of the current football team, who are holding on to an 8-1 record and face a very good Nebraska team this Saturday afternoon. The stories will continue all weekend for sure.

Adios Paterno: Embattled Penn State coach will resign

The Joe Paterno era is officially over.

Paterno, once the gate keeper of family, friendship and victory at Penn State, became nothing more than an accessory after allegations that his long time assistant Jerry Sandusky sodomized boys over a 15 year period from 1994 to 2009; the report rocked College Station in western PA.

As a result, Paterno has announced that he will resign as head coach of the Nittany Lions once the season ends after the school's bowl game in December; the news is a shame considering Paterno is the winningest coach in college football, and one of the most respected men in the game even at the his advanced age of 84.

Reports surfaced that Sandusky was caught raping boys in the Penn State locker room on two seperate occasions in 1998 and 2002. Paterno was notified immediately in 2002 and the only thing he did was call the athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, to notify them; the three parties did nothing further to restrict Sandusky's presence with the team; in fact, they encouraged it, as the perv hung around the team complex for nine more years, helping out, even though he wasn't the defensive coordinator.

Paterno isn't charged with any wrong doing, but he is defiantly at fault. He allowed rapes to occur on his watch for 15 years, and did nothing to stop it. Even though reports are that the rapes started in 1994, who is to say that Sandusky hadn't been doing this for decades at Penn State; heck, he had worked with Paterno since 1969!!

Many point to the fact that he never notified police which is a point well-taken, but as Head Coach of a prestigious university, Paterno should have taken matters into his own hands and stopped Sandusky in his tracks way back in 1998; but he didn't, allowing him to remain on the staff until 1999 when Sandusky "retired," permitting him to remain a part of his team ever since.

Paterno's lack of action speaks volumes about his character right now, and this is a guy who was considered a good character guy for decades.

It says even more about Paterno and the university when hundreds of students lined up in front of Paterno's house cheering him on and shouting their support for him. Paterno came out of his house with a big grin on his face, like it was a pep rally, and said it is time to "pray" for the victims, and expressed his love and affection for the fans, who cheered even louder. Paterno then headed back into his house, chanting "We are Penn State" with the fans.

No wonder people never take Penn State seriously as an institution.

Paterno should have left the game a long time ago. Over the last number of years, he has stopped coaching from the sideline, instead sitting up in the coaches booth, and never wore a head set while up there to talk to the coaches on the sideline. It came across like he was serving as a figure head, rather than a head coach.

Penn State should be ashamed of itself, Paterno should be ashamed of himself, the fans outside his house should be embarrassed, and the reputation of the football program will never be the same ever again. Good ridiance to a man in a position of authority who failed to do what was right ... protecting the students and the kids of his town.

Encore: Eli Manning & Giants stun Patriots, again

GIANTS 24
PATRIOTS 20

The New York Giants have done it again. They found a way to pull the rug right out from underneath the New England Patriots in the final minutes, sending Tom Brady home miffed and Bill Belichick bewildered. Box score.

Talk about having a team's number; the Giants have proven to be too tough a match-up for the once mighty Patriots, as New York once again staged a late comeback, highlighted by terrific play by Eli Manning to beat back the Pats.

If you believe in irony then here are some factoids for you: Jack Ballard, who caught the game winning touchdown pass for Big Blue is wearing number 85, the same jersey number worn by David Tyree when he had the "helmet catch" against the Patriots four years ago in the Super Bowl; also, New England was 18-0 entering that Super Bowl Sunday four years ago; today, New England entered the Giants game with an 18-0 record against NFC opponents in the regular season since 2002. The Pats also had a 20 game regular season game winning streak at home on the line.

Now the Pats once again have to live with the fact that one is the loneliest number.

After a scoreless first half, things got really interesting in the second half, and I mean really interesting.

Tom Brady was picked off by Deion Grant to set the Giants up at their own 39. Eli Manning, who had a brilliant afternoon, completed two huge passes, one for 18 yards to Victor Cruz and another of 30 yards to Jake Ballard in a drive that eventually culminated in a Lawrence Tynes field goal, giving New York a 3-0 lead.

The turnovers didn't stop there for New England. With the Patriots backed up on their own 16 yard line, Brady was stripped sacked by Michael Boley. With the ball rolling on the ground, the Giants recovered the ball at the New England 10, setting up a first and goal for Big Blue. The Giants wasted little time as Brandon Jacobs plowed into the end zone to make it 10-0.

For Jacobs this was a big game for him. He had to play well, not only because Ahmad Bradshaw was out with a foot injury, but because Jacobs has drawn the ire of Giants fans for his lackluster efforts this season, and his bad attitude. His 72 yards was critical on Sunday.

But, of course, never count the Patriots out. With the Giants lead cut down to 10-3, Manning had New York rolling for a potential touchdown when he was picked off in the end zone by Ken Arrington.

Brady responded with quick strikes of 27 and 28 yards to Wes Welker to move to the Patriots 16. After an 11 yard completion to Aaron Hernandez, Brady hit Hernandez again in the end zone to tie the game.

It appeared that the Giants had blown it. The G-Men couldn't move the ball on their next drive, and Brady responded with another long drive that ended in a Stephen Gostowski field goal to give the Patriots a 13-10 lead.

Yet, Manning would not be deterred. He reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a performance that was eerily similar to the one he had against New England in that Super Bowl four years ago. In short, Manning was clutch.

After a 35 yard penalty on New England for pass interference, Manning hit Victor Cruz and Ramsey Barden for gains of 11 and 9 yards respectively to move to the New England 15. Two plays later Manning found Mario Manningham for a 10 yard touchdown to give the Giants a 17-13 lead. But, Manningham committed a 15 yard penalty for excessive celebration, forcing the Giants to kick off at their own 20 and gave Tom Brady good field position.

Brady responded. He hit Deion Branch for 15 yards, and Rob Gronkowski for 19 more. With 1:54 the Patriots were in business. After two Brady incompletions, the former league MVP hit Gronkowski in the end zone for a 14 yard score to give New England the lead.

With 1:36 to go, Eli Manning had 80 yards to work one more miracle against the Patriots. And he delivered. Manning hit Cruz for 19 yards, then Ballard for 28 yards to the Pats 33. Two plays later, the Patriots committed the dumbest of penalties, a pass interference on Cruz in the end zone to spot the ball at the one yard line. The nightmare was alive and well for the Patriots.

On third and goal at the Pats 1, Manning hit Ballard in the end zone for the touchdown with 15 seconds to play. Manning celebrated like it was Super Bowl XLII all over again, pumping his fists into the air after the score.

In a season where the Giants had played dreadful football and were really a soft 5-2 team, they looked every bit the part of a team ready to contend for an NFC East title. This game was the first, and perhaps toughest test, in a nine game stretch against playoff contenders. The Giants needed to get a big win, and this was the biggest they could have drawn up.

Manning looks like an MVP candidate. With a team decimated by injuries and lackluster play, Manning has stood out all season. Defensively, the Giants finally came to play. They picked off Brady twice and sacked him twice. Brady was frustrated all night, even to the point he slammed a water bottle onto the ground in anger.

Yes, the Giants are here to play. They don't have any plans of lying down and going away quietly during this murders row schedule one iota.

Impressive Jets dominate Bills in Buffalo

JETS 27
BILLS 11

Through seven games, the New York Jets looked destined for mediocrity. A season mired by a three game losing streak, really poor play from the quarterback and running game, spotty play by the defense, and, including apparent rifts in the clubhouse early in the season, had many worried that this was a team doomed to fail.

On Sunday the Jets put together their most complete effort, dominating a very good Buffalo Bills team from pillar to post 27-11 to improve to 5-3, putting themselves in a virtual three-way tie for first place in the AFC East, with a showdown against the New England Patriots set for Sunday night.

The first half was ugly as neither offense could get anything moving. Mark Sanchez had the Jets poised for a first quarter touchdown that would have capped a nine minute drive, but Sanchez threw an interception in the end zone, right to Jarius Byrd, killing the Jets drive. Box score.

But it wasn't like the Bills were doing anything offensively; the Jets defense was fantastic. They bottled up Fred Jackson, holding the star back to only 82 yards rushing on the day. The lack of an effective Buffalo running game, put a lot of pressure on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was tormented by the Jets secondary; David Harris and Calvin Pace picked him off to preserve a Jets 3-0 lead at the half.

Fitzpatrick never got comfortable in the first half, completing only 4-of-11 passes; in fact, Fitzpatrick threw six straight incompletions in the second quarter that included the two turnovers to the Jets.

In the second half, the Jets defense came up big again, this time forcing, and recovering a Fred Jackson fumble to put the Jets offense in business at the Buffalo 19. Sanchez responded completing a dagger to Burress to the one yard line to set up LaDainian Tomlinson's 1 yard plunge, giving the Jets a 13-0 lead, and silencing the crowd.

For his part, Sanchez was excellent. He picked apart the Bills secondary, finding open receivers all day in Santonio Holmes, Burress and Dustin Keller. Sanchez completed 20 of 28 passes for 230 yards, his best effort of the 2011 season. For the the first time all year, Sanchez looked poised in the pocket. He had a nice rhythm with his receivers, and he didn't look like the timid child that Jets' fans grew used to seeing the past seven weeks.

Sanchez put his accuracy on display late in the third quarter, leading the Jets on a 79 yard touchdown drive as a response to a Bills field goal. Sanchez hit an open Dustin Keller for 16 yards to move the ball to the Jets 37. Sanchez, then, hit Burress for 13 more to midfield, before airing it out down the field to Holmes. Holmes was heavily covered by Ledious McKelvin, who was flagged for pass interference as a result.

On first and goal at the eight, Sanchez zipped one right to Holmes for the score, giving New York a 20-3 lead.

The biggest moment of the game came near the end of the third quarter. The Bills drove the ball deep into Jets territory after Fitzpatrick completed passes of 26 yards to Jackson, 12 yards to David Nelson, and six yards to Stevie Johnson to spot the ball to the Jets 21.

The Jets defense stiffened, and forced Buffalo into a do-or-die 4th and one situation. The obvious choice for Buffalo was to give it to Jackson, but the Jets were waiting for him. They burst through the hole before Jackson ever got his feet beneath him and smacked him to the turf to force a turnover on downs.

In turn the Jets engineered a lengthy touchdown drive, highlighted by big completions to Keller, Holmes and Tomlinson, setting up the John Connor, A.K.A. The Terminator's, 1 yard touchdown to give the Jets a 27-3 lead.

The win was New York's most impressive outing of the season; a season that had started with such lackluster play now appears to be on the mend as the Jets are now clicking on all cylinders offensively, and defensively. The NFL is now on alert.

Open Mike 11-4-11, Don Bosco and Giants football

On this edition of "Open Mike," host Michael Cohen welcomes Don Bosco Prep head coach Greg Toal, that's right, the H.C. of the number one team in the State of New Jersey, to talk about his unbeaten Ironmen as they continue their quest for a national title. Don Bosco is 7-0 this year and have won 42 straight games. LISTEN HERE!!

Michael also welcomes back Mike Sanfillipo (in what is becoming a weekly spot) to discuss the Jets and Giants critical match-ups this weekend against the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.

Mike and Mike also turn up the Hot Stove with MTR's Bill Zeltman as the trio talk about the future of Jose Reyes and the Mets, as well as the National League landscape for 2012.

NOTE: Open Mike will not broadcast live on Friday November 11 for studio maintenance at CSB. Michael returns with "Open Mike" on Friday November 18!!