Here’s a great article with an early preview on the upcoming NFC Championship…wow, I get that warm, fuzzy feeling every time I say that.  Anyways, ESPN.com writer Len Pasquarelli weighs in on the confidence of Eli Manning vs. the surprising surge by senior citizen Brett Favre, among other things.  Take a look.

First Look: Giants-Packers NFC Title Game

The G-Men did it.  They proved both Kevin and I wrong, and are traveling to face Green Bay in the NFC Championship game.  I have to admit, in the beginning of the season, if you told me the Giants would be playing for a Super Bowl bid, I would laugh in your face.  A lot.  We will have full game coverage of the 21-17 win in Texas as well as full preview and coverage of the Packers game, so stay tuned to NYGiantscast.com for all the breaking information.  GO GIANTS!

Although of little importance in comparison with the looming matchup between the Giants and the Cowboys, I thought it would be appropriate to mention that Amani Toomer received one vote out of 50 for Comeback Player of the Year.

Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis won the award with 12 votes.  Ellis returned for his 10th season from an ACL tear in addition to changing positions.  He will, along with DeMarcus Ware, be challenging the Giants offensive line Sunday.  The two pose a gigantic threat to Eli Manning’s well-being in the pocket.

Shaun O’Hara finally returned to practice to after missing last week’s game and yesterday’s practice with a knee injury, and practiced half of the reps with the first-team offense.  Returning to practice on a limited basis after missing yesterday are tackle Kareem McKenzie and wide reciever Plaxico Burress.  Added to the injury report is tight end Kevin Boss, who is sick.  Coughlin hopes to have him back tomorrow.

Cornerbacks Sam Madison and Kevin Dockery missed practice for the second straight day this week.

ESPN.com writers Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Green made some bold predictions today, saying it’s certainty that both number 1 seeds, the Patriots and Cowboys, will lose this weekend.  Wickersham writes the Cowboys-Giants article, and makes some interesting points.  He is pretty much guaranteeing a Giants victory.  Most interesting is his opening segment on Eli Manning, saying he’s hit 42 of his last 59 passes, showing that his inconsistency has, for now, disappeared (don’t worry, I just knocked on my wood table so hard I think I almost pulled a Kevin Brown.  The New York Yankee Kevin Brown, that is).  The only thing I don’t agree with in the article? That Wade Phillips is a better coach than Tom Coughlin.  I don’t think Phillips has coached long enough to judge that yet.

Check out the article: Cowboys Will Lose, But Don’t Blame Jessica

If you’re feeling sassy, check out the article on the Patriots-Jags too.  Talk about a bold prediction…: Jags to Beat Patriots

(Arguably) the best player on the cowboys, Terrell Owens suffered a high ankle sprain at Carolina on Dec. 22nd.  Here’s your update on his condition for today:

- On the 6:00 PM SportsCenter, NFL expert John Clayton said he believes Owens’ status for this game has gone from questionable to doubtful.  Clayton is certainly leaning toward Owens not being able to go.  That’s good for the Giants.  T.O. obviously has a high threshold for pain, as evidenced by his playing in the Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl, and the fact that he’s even in the discussion of coming back this week - according to Clayton, this is a 4-to-8 week injury and this would be just the 3rd week since Owens sustained the injury.

- Several Giants weighed in on the situation as well.

• Tom Coughlin: “He will play.  There is no doubt in my mind he will play.”
• Justin Tuck: “He’s going to play.  I don’t see him not playing. T.O. is the type of guy, if they allowed him, he would go out with a crutch in his hand. I’m expecting him to be a hundred percent.”
• Plaxico Burress, who has played with an ankle injury all season, was asked if he had any advice for Owens. “Don’t play,” Burress said.

There are three things we as Americans cannot get enough of: sports, celebrities, and sports figures with celebrities.  This has held true for “America’s Team” this week, as Tony “Romeo” was spotted vacationing in Cancun with the new apple of his eye Jessica Simpson.  Now Dallas did have the week off, so Romo was certainly free to do what he wanted.  But these are the facts:

a) Simpson has already once been blamed for a poor performance by Romo.

b) You can be certain many of the Cowboys watched extra film and prepared themselves for the next round in this week off.

c) Any time a hot young QB and a hot young singer/actress/whatever the hell she is go to Cancun while the QB’s team is in the playoffs, the chances of those 2 NOT being photographed are about as good as the chances of Eli Manning announcing his bid for the 2008 presidency.  (Step aside, Barack!)

So all factors combined, we reach the following conclusion - TONY ROMO IS A MORON.

Allow me to defend myself here before all you Cowboys fans (if there are any on this blog) go crazy.

You’re the starting QB of the #1 seed in the NFC.  You have a do-or-die game coming up.  You’ve ALREADY been criticized, truthfully or not, as losing focus because of Jessica.  So WHY would you open yourself up to even more criticism, scrutiny, and distractions???  Romo can do whatever he wants with his time, sure - it’s a free country.  But did he really think this would blow over without being another distraction for a team already dealing with one of the hottest, most confident teams in the NFC, an injury to their best player (Terrell Owens), and a thumb injury for Romo himself?  How could he possibly think nobody would catch this?  Now if Dallas loses, Romo will certainly be scrutinized for this little vacation and his focus will be placed in question.  The odds are Jessica Simpson will have zero impact on this game, but Romo is taking a gamble by putting himself squarely in the paparazzi’s crosshairs.

(P.S. - Yes, I know Jason Witten was in Cancun, but nobody cares about him)

Starting left tackle Sean O’Hara and cornerback Sam Madison are both still nursing MCL injuries and Coach Coughlin is still unsure whether they will be cleared to play against Dallas.  Tackle Grey Reugamer and cornerback Corey Webster filled in for the starters and both played exceptionally well.  Reugamer and the rest of the line allowed only one sack to the dangerous front 8 of the Bucs, and Webster racked in a huge interception as well as a fumble recovery on the opening kickoff of the second half. 

 Kawika Mitchell, who also was injured during the final game of the season against the Patriots, but played limited time against the Bucs and is recovering well.  Defensive tackle Jay Alford was injured during the Bucs game, but Coughlin hopes to have him back in practice this week.

If you would like to read more about this and a few other injury notes, check out the article by senior writer and editor Michael Eisen of Giants.com (we like him a lot, he’s probably the only person working for Giants.com).

O’Hara and Madison Uncertain Again for Dallas Game

Hey all,

As promised there are some upcoming changes and additions coming to this podcast as well as the others in the NYSportsCast network.  Kyle and I have been given our own little blog here for the site, so expect many more updates and breaking news posted as soon as it happens.

Nothing major for today, but for a good review of the 24-14 win over the Bucs, check out these anecdotes from giants.com beat writer Michael Eisen.

http://admin.giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=26510

Both of us, in addition to the entire New York Sportscast Network, would like to wish all our listeners a very Merry Chrismas and a safe and happy holiday season. The Giants gave us a little gift with a playoff clinching victory against the Bills, which is discussed in full in our latest episode. Go Big Blue!