Rutgers coach Greg Schiano leaving NJ for Tampa Bay Bucs

Greg Schiano has coached at Rutgers for well over a decade. During that time he changed a disgraced football program into a respectable winning club that included five bowl victories, and his tenure was highlighted by a 11-2 season in 2006 that saw Rutgers compete in the BCS power rankings.

After leading Rutgers to a 9-4 record this year, and an emotional victory over Iowa State in the Pinstripe Bowl, no one would have guessed that Schiano would leave. Sure, he has flirted with Miami University and Michigan over the years, but nothing came of those opportunities. Schiano stayed in New Jersey and kept the Scarlet Knights legitimate in the Big East.

Now Rutgers will have have to start all over again. Schiano is gone. Reports surfaced Thursday that Schiano will become the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making the quantum leap from the NCAA to the NFL.

In what has become a very weird hiring season with NFL teams settling for lesser known coordinators, leaving the likes of veterans like Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, and Steve Mariucci on the sidelines looking for work, this move by the Bucs is most surprising.

The Bucs tried to lure Oregon head coach Chip Kelly but to no avail. Schiano was apparently interviewing with the Rams before that club settled for ex-Titans coach Jeff Fisher.

Schiano went 68-67 at Rutgers. It will be interesting to see whether he can actually succeed in the NFL. Most college coaches come up snake eyes in the NFL. Bobby Petrino failed with the Falcons, Nick Saban failed with the Dolphins. Only Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson succeeded at the transition from college to the NFL, as both coaches led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl titles in the 1990s.

Can Schiano bring the Bucs back to respectability? It remains to be seen, and it will be interesting to watch.

Niners' Kyle Williams helps send Giants to Super Bowl

GIANTS 20

49ERS 17 

It wasn't pretty; in fact, it was downright ugly, but the New York Giants are heading back to the Super Bowl for the second time in the Tom Coughlin era, that's right, Coughlin detractors, the second Super Bowl in the Coughlin era.

While Eli Manning and the Giants offense had to slug it out against the 49ers ferocious defense, they can thank Niners' receiver Kyle Williams for sending them back to the big dance for a rematch with the New England Patriots.

Williams fumbled not once but twice on punt returns that resulted in Giants points.

With San Francisco leading 14-10, the Niners held the Giants down deep in their own territory, forcing New York to punt the football; however, as the ball trickled down the field near the San Francisco 30, Williams got close to the ball and allowed it to touch his knee, making it a live football. The Giants jumped on the ball for the recovery.

With this golden opportunity, the Giants had to battle to get into the end zone. There was a offensive holding penalty and an incomplete pass that put New York in a long second and 20, but Manning would not back down. On third and 15, he threaded a bullet to Mario Manningham for the touchdown, giving the Giants a 17-14 lead.

San Francisco quickly answered. Alex Smith scrambled out of pocket for a 17 yard gain, and Kendell Hunter dashed down the sideline for 18 more yards, eventually setting up a David Akers field goal to tie it at 17.

From there the game turned into a slugfest. Neither offense could move the football. Alex Smith proved that he is not a franchise quarterback. He was putrid. He held onto the ball too long, made abysmal throws, and didn't know what to do when the Giants pass rush came at him. It was a wasted effort by the Niners defense because the offense was that poor. Here are some stats. The Niners were 1-of-13 on third downs, and threw for only 178 yards. If 49er fans weren't sure about jumping into the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, they are now.

As for Manning, he was dragged through the dirt all day. Sacked six times, hit 19 times, and blitzed early and often by the combination of Justin Smith, Aldon Smith and Patrick Willis. Manning's jersey was completely dirty, his shoulder pads were hanging out of his shirt for the better part of the night, and his helmet was practically torn off his head, yet the guy stood in there. He threw the ball all over the park, even if it meant missing on his receivers Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham.

The rematch is coming...

For his part, Curz had a huge game. He had 10 catches for 142 yards in the first half, but he was shut down in the second half and in overtime. The Niners did a great job in covering him.

Now back to that Williams fellow. In overtime, after Manning was sacked for the sixth time, the Giants were forced to punt the football. Williams stood at his own 20 yard line, and dropped the football as soon as it hit his hands; the Giants recovered. Ball game.

The Giants moved the ball to the middle of the field and kicked an easy 31 yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes to send the Giants back to the big show.

For Big Blue, it has been a remarkable season. They looked dead in week 15 after losing to the Redskins 23-10, falling to 7-7. They turned it on against the Jets in week 16, and haven't looked back since.

Now America can get ready for a Super Bowl XLII rematch between New York and New England. Helmet catches anyone?

Cundiff, Evans and Cameron cost Ravens a trip to Super Bowl

Here is what Baltimore Ravens fans will say for the rest of their lives: If it weren't for kicker Billy Cundiff, wide receiver Lee Evans and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, the Baltimore Ravens would be heading to Super Bowl XLVI.

The Ravens had the game in the palm of their hands not just once but twice.

After Tom Brady was picked off in the end zone to miraculously give the Ravens the football, Baltimore drove it deep into New England territory, thanks to a 16 yard pass from Joe Flacco to Eric Dickson, spotting the ball at the Pats 37. Following a couple nice runs by Ricky Williams and Ray Rice, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron then blew it.

With the Ravens facing a third and three, the obvious call would have been to throw the football for the first down to keep the drive alive, but no; Cameron decided to run up the middle with Rice, even with the Patriots loading up the box with eight men. Result: Rice was tackled for a three yard loss, putting Baltimore in an impossible fourth and six. On fourth down, Flacco's pass fell incomplete to give the ball back to the Patriots.

After the Ravens defense forced the Patriots into a three and out, the Ravens had one last shot to win the AFC Championship game and head to the Super Bowl.

Flacco was great. He hit Anquan Boldin for gains of 13 and nine yards to move the ball to the 48 yard line. With 0:56 to go, Flacco hit Bodin down the sideline for a 29 yard gain to the Patriots 23 yard line. Finally, Flacco found Boldin one more time for a nine yard gain to the New England 14. With time ticking down, the trip to the promised land was right there for the Ravens.

It was there for the taking, but the Ravens blew that, too. Flacco threw a perfect pass to Lee Evans in the end zone for the a sure touchdown. Evans had the ball for a second, but the ball was jarred loose by Pat Chung, forcing Evans to drop the ball. If Evans had held onto that football it would have been a game winning score with :22 seconds.

Finally, on fourth and one, Billy Cundiff came out to kick what should have been a easy 32 yard field goal; instead, the kicker choked under pressure and missed it wide left. Laces out Cundiff. The kid blew it and will go down as the ultimate goat of the game, which is a situation both fair and unfair at the same time. Blame should also go to Evans for dropping the TD, and to Cameron for screwing up a potential scoring drive earlier in the quarter.

On the other hand, the Patriots did nothing in the second half to win this game. Tom Brady was bad. He was picked off twice, and, at one point, he had a one-yard touchdown taken away from him when his knee fell short of the goal line.

For their own part, the Ravens defense was not great in this game either. They allowed the Patriots to move up and down the field with alacrity in the first half, but they did pick up the slack and hold down the Pats in the second half.  PATRIOTS vs. RAVENS Gallery.

For all of the Joe Flacco doubters out there, they have to shut up. Flacco had the game of his life. In spite of the kicker, the receiver and the offensive coordinator, Flacco was great. He threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He didn't wilt under the pressure, and he put the ball on target to win the game. Problem was, the help wasn't there.

The Ravens should be going to the Super Bowl, but they are not. It will be a game they will live to regret for the rest of their lives.

Gary Carter's cancer condition gets worse

Former Mets legend and Hall of Famer Gary Carter has received some very bad news about his battle with brain cancer.

Doctors at Duke University who have been treating Carter discovered new spots and tumors on his brain; the catcher's condition has worsened over the past several weeks. Reports are that Carter has suffered from headaches, fatigue and even fell down on Christmas and tore his rotator cuff.

The Daily News reports that Carter is so weak that he was unable to attend a charity golf tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

"I'm not feeling too good," he told The News. "It's been coming on and coming on. I've had a chest cold. I've got sores in my mouth, blood clots. I get sick ... there's just so many things ... It's been nine months now and I don't feel any different from Day One. I haven't been up to doing any interviews."

Carter has been battling cancer since May.

If the Mets were smart, they would consider retiring Carter's number 8. The number has not been worn too often since Carter left the Mets in the early 1990's, and considering the impact that he had on this club in the 1980's, the Mets should give him a day to honor his career with the franchise. Then again, we are talking about the Wilpons.

Tomlinson throws Jets under the bus on Showtime

The Jets appearance on Hard Knocks might have been on HBO, but former Jet LaDainian Tomlinson levied a big blow to the Jets on Showtime.

The future Hall of Fame running back, who will go to Canton one day in a Chargers uniform, ripped apart Gang Green in an interview on Showtime's "Inside the NFL." Tomlinson said that the rift between quarterback Mark Sanchez and wide receiver Santonio Holmes was "as bad as I've been around," and this coming from a guy who was on a few dysfunctional Chargers teams.

Tomlinson attacked both Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum for creating an atmosphere of dissent in the locker room by bringing in too many questionable guys into the team. "This is the type of football team that they wanted. Mike Tannenbaum, Rex Ryan are both brash, in-your-face type of style, say whatever you want, just get it done on the field. And then it leads to other things, as guys are calling each other out and saying, 'I'm not getting the ball' or whatever it may be," Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson further burned his bridges with the Jets, when he threw Mark Sanchez under the bus, saying that he was pampered too much, because he never had a true threat to his starting job.

In the wake of these remarks, Woody Johnson came out from his hole for some damage control. Johnson told reporters that he plans on meeting with both Sanchez and Holmes for a big pow-wow to iron out their differences, and that both players would be back next year.

Tomlinson who is a free agent probably won't return to the Jets.

The Jets have to make this work out with Sanchez and Holmes. They are on the hook to Holmes for the next four years with $15 million guaranteed the next two years. Sanchez has two years and $16 million left on his contract. So financially the Jets can't get ride of them, even if they really wanted to.

Oh, and by the way the Giants play in the NFC title game, Sunday...

One Giant Step: Big Blue destroys Packers heads to NFC Title game

GIANTS 37

PACKERS 20

The New York Giants are heading back to the NFC Championship Game after breaking the spirit of the defending champion Green Bay Packers in a dominating 37-20 effort, Sunday.

The Giants won this game thanks to their defense which blitzed the heck out of the Packers and harassed Aaron Rodgers like no other team has all season. The Giants sacked Rodgers four times, picked him off once, and forced him into his first fumble of the season. It was an all-out, dominating performance by a defense that was much maligned all season with injuries and inconsistent play. On Sunday night this group triumphed; they shut down Jordy Nelson, shut down Jennings, and kept Green Bay's running offense in check all night.

The Giants never trailed in this football game, grabbing a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter thanks to a 66 yard touchdown to Hakeem Nicks from Eli Manning to silence Cheese-head nation in Lambeau Field, as the rout was clearly on.

Even a bad call by the referees when an apparent fumble by Green Bay's Greg Jennings was ruled down by contact that eventually led to a Rodgers touchdown pass to John Kuhn, the Giants didn't back down. With the game tied at 10, the Giants could have folded like a cheap camera, but they didn't.

The Packers certainly helped. After Green Bay tied the game, Packers coach Mike McCarthy decided to attempt an onside kick. It turned out to be a bad decision; Big Blue recovered it at the Packers 40. The Giants settled for a field goal to take a 13-10, but, at this point, the momentum had shifted back to the Giants.

Then, with time running out in the second quarter, Manning put the exclamation point on this game when he heaved a Hail Mary pass into the endzone, and Nicks came down with it in helmet catch fashion, as he first trapped the ball against the top of his helmet, then came down with it for the touchdown and a 20-10 lead. WATCH HERE!

In the second half, the Giants took full advantage of each Green Bay mistake. With Green Bay trailing 20-13, and the ball on the Giants 39 yard line, McCarthy once again gambled and came up snake eyes. The Packers were facing a fourth and five. The logical decision was to punt the football and pin the Giants inside their own goal line; instead, McCarthy decided to go for it on fourth down, and the Giants sacked Rodgers forcing a turnover on downs.

The Giants took advantage as Manning pushed the Giants to the Packers 17 yard line, before settling for a Lawrence Tynes kick to give Big Blue a 10 point lead with 7:56 to go in the game.

On the next Packers possession, Green Bay put the ball on the ground again when Ryan Grant was upended and fumbled the football at the Packer 44 yard line. Chase Blackburn picked up the loose ball and rumbled 40 yards to the Packer four yard line. Manning wasted little time; he found Mario Manningham in the back of the endzone for the touchdown,giving the Giants a 30-13 lead.

With 6:56 to go, this game was over.

The Giants would add one more score, a Brandon Jacobs 14 yard run to ice it, but the competitve balance of this game had long ago been determined.

The Giants are heading to the NFC title game for the second time in five seasons to face the San Francisco 49ers, who have gotten to this point because of a fantastic defense. The 49ers beat the Giants 27-20 earlier in the year, but that was a game the Giants let slip away. No team is hotter than the Giants, and it is hard to envisage mediocre quarterback Alex Smith handling that Giants pass rush. Should be a heck of a game.

Giants vs. Patriots rematch? Super Bowl XLII sequel looks likely

Helmet catches anyone?

Hakeem Nicks certainly obliged when he caught a 37 yard Hail Mary pass in the end zone with 0:00 on the clock in the second quarter to give the Giants a 20-10 lead over the once unstoppable Green Bay Packers. The Packers shot themselves in the foot all day; they looked rusty after taking the last two weeks off, made uncharacteristic mistakes, and topped off by terrible coaching decisions.

But you can’t take anything away from these New York Giants, who thoroughly dominated and broke the spirits of the defending Super Bowl Champions, turning a team that rallied off 13 straight victories  this season into mere mortals.
With no disrespect to the San Francisco 49ers, who had a miraculous victory over the New Orleans Saints, Saturday, and the beat up Baltimore Ravens, who outlasted the Houston Texans, it is beginning to look and smell a lot like 2008. Fans in Tri-State area and Massachussetts can begin booking their flights to Indianapolis because the New York Giants and New England Patriots will likely square off in Super Bowl XLVI.

If this does happen, it will be the first Super Bowl rematch since Super Bowl XXX when the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys met for the third time in the Super Bowl with Dallas coming out on top 27-17.

In a year when the headlines have been dominated by the Packers incredible regular season, the record breaking season of Drew Brees, the mind-bending ways of Tebow-time, and Rex Ryan’s big mouth (what else is new), the 2011-2012 season could come down to two very familiar foes, who have quietly gone about their business.

For the Giants this season has felt a lot like 2007-2008. From a hideous start to the season, to questions about the job security of head coach Tom Coughlin to now, a team budding with confidence heading into its second NFC title game in four years the comparisons are there.

As many recall in 2007, the Giants headed into their regular season finale against the Patriots needing a good performance to bolster their confidence as they headed into the postseason. They lost that game 38-35, but many point to that loss as a turning point in their season, as the Giants headed into the postseason with a good head of steam.

This season, many pointed out to a 38-35 loss to the Green Bay Packers as the turning point of this season. The Giants showed they could hang with a tough team like the Packers, undefeated at the time, and from that point on the Giants played at a different level.

They matched the intensity of the New York Jets on Christmas Eve, beating Mark Sanchez into the ground and igniting the momentum for this ride. The Giants then rolled past Dallas for the division title and steamrolled Atlanta in the wild card.

Even these playoffs offer comparisons to the 2007-08 run. In ’07 the Giants beat up an NFC South team (Tampa Bay) in the wild card round. This year, they beat up on an NFC South team (Atlanta) in the wild card round. In ’07, the Giants clobbered the Dallas Cowboys, ranked number 1, a team picked by many to get to the Super Bowl in the divisional playoffs. This year, the Giants beat the 15-1 Packers, a number 1 seed, picked by many to get to the Super Bowl in the divisional playoffs.

And did I forget to mention the helmet catch? David Tyree meet Hakeem Nicks.

The Giants are rolling and look even better than that ball club.

The big difference, and this is a good thing for Giants fans, is Eli Manning. Manning is playing better than any quarterback right now. He has played with confidence and poise all season, throwing for 4,933 yards. Then in the divisional playoff vs. Green Bay, Manning was even better. He threw for 336 yards, completed two-thirds of his passes and three touchdowns including a clutch four yard touchdown to Mario Manningham to give the Giants a 30-13 lead late in the fourth quarter. The Packers had no answer for him. They couldn’t hit him, couldn’t rattle him, and couldn’t force him to throw a bad pick. Manning was flawless.

Defensively this Giants front seven is starting to look a lot like that ball club in 2007-2008. That team was led by a ferocious front of Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck, who blitzed their way to the top. This year’s club has picked it up big time down the stretch. They were much maligned for not getting enough pressure on the quarterback, now they are. Jason Pierre-Paul has been ferocious; Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyoria have battled injuries this year, but of late have picked up the slack. It was Umenyoria’s blitz off the left end that forced Aaron Rodgers to fumble the ball back to Big Blue Sunday night.

The Giants defense was incredible against the Packers.

They made Rodgers uncomfortable, forced him to move out of the pocket when he didn’t want to, and forced him to run with the ball at moments when he probably would have liked to chuck the rock. Add to the fact that the Giants did a marvelous job stopping the run Sunday night. They held James Starks to 43 yards rushing and Ryan Grant to 33 yards. While Green Bay is not a great running team, the Giants have had their trouble stopping the run this year. They have turned that around too.

And here come the Giants, rushing to San Francisco with all of the momentum in the world. While the 49ers have put together a great defense and solid running game, it is hard to imagine them handling the New York Giants next week. The Giants are a team possessed; the only thing that can stop them is themselves.

Meanwhile in the AFC, it is funny that the Patriots have become the most ignored “good” team in the NFL. A team that went 13-3 and had a quarterback throw for over 5,000 yards, but you wouldn’t even know it; this is the franchise that set the standard for success over the last decade. Yet, here they are, like it or not.

On Saturday night, the Patriots ripped through the Broncos like a hot knife through butter as Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski set postseason records for their efforts. Brady was incredible, tearing apart the Broncos defense for 363 yards and setting a playoff record six touchdowns. Gronkowski, too, set a playoff record for tight ends with three scores, all of them coming in the first half.

The Patritots 45-10 whooping of the Broncos was the kind of effort we have seen from the Pats in their prime years when they advanced to four Super Bowls in seven years, winning three of them.

It goes without saying that this Patriots team is loaded with offensive firepower, from Brady to Gronkowski to Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, and Deion Branch leading the way. The big difference between this year’s Patriots and the ’07-’08 version is the fact that this team doesn’t have that legit deep threat, like they used to with Randy Moss, but they don’t miss him; they were third in offense this year. It should be interesting to see how the Baltimore Ravens handle this high powered offense with Ed Reed, nicked up at the end of the Houston game and playing on an injured leg.

While the Ravens offer the kind of defense that could slow down the Patriots, their performance against the Texans offers little comfort that they can match New England in a shoot out, if it comes to that. Joe Flacco has been horrible and was awful in Baltimore’s 20-13 victory. You know that Bill Belichick will have a solid plan to slow down Ray Rice and put pressure on Flacco. Plus, the Patriots defense has played a lot better in recent weeks led by Rob Ninkovich and Jared Mayo.

While a different sport, this Patriots team has that feel that the 2009 New York Yankees had.
At that time, the Yankees hadn’t won a World Series in nine years. Every year the Yankees were expected to get to and win the World Series, but it didn’t happen. When the Yankees breezed through the playoffs in 2009 to the World Series, only then did people recognize that the Yankees were back. That could be the case with these Patriots, who are the NFL team of the 21st Century. They haven’t won a Super Bowl in nearly eight years now. Could the Brady-Belichick duo be due for one more great ride into glory?

And if America does get a rematch between the Giants and Patriots in the Super Bowl, everyone will draw comparisons between that game and this one. Everyone will wait for the helmet catch. Everyone will wonder if Brady and Belichick have a master plan to get even. Everyone will be watching and waiting for the most anticipated sequel in Super Bowl history.