This Week

 

 

 

The New England Patriots visit the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants Thursday Night in the final preseason game at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in Secaucus NJ . Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and Giants.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots +2 with an over/under of 36.

My prediction is Giants 24, Patriots, 20.  Give the points and take the over.

Tickets

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check ticket availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in the Meadowlands make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Due to construction on a new Meadowlands Stadium, unless you have a PRE-PAID season parking pass there is no parking available at the Meadowlands facilities. You must park in the satellite lots and take the shuttles to the game.

There is NO TAILGATING IN THE SATELLITE LOTS.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, and a Giants Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

Television

This week’s game will be broadcast by the Patriots Preseason Television Network and can be seen in every New England state as well as Eastern Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. The network’s flagship station is WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston. Veteran CBS broadcaster Don Criqui provides play-by-play and is joined by three-time NFL Pro Bowler and CBS analyst Randy Cross. WCVB principal sports anchor Mike Lynch offers on-field reports from the sideline.

The Patriots Preseason Television Network stations are:

• Massachusetts
  Boston WCVB-TV Ch. 5
  Springfield WWLP-TV Ch. 22
• Rhode Island
  Providence WNAC-TV Ch. 64
• New Hampshire
  Manchester WMUR-TV Ch. 9
• Maine
  Portland WMTW-TV Ch. 8
  Bangor WVII-TV Ch. 7
• Connecticut
  Hartford WCTX-TV Ch. 59
• Vermont
  Burlington WVNY-TV Ch. 22
• Hawaii
  Honolulu KGMB-TV Ch. 9
• Alaska
  Anchorage KIMO-TV Ch. 13
• Canada (Quebec/Maritimes)
  Rogers Sports Net East

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 4 p.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 123, the Giants radio call is available on Channel 130.

 

Last Week

The Patriots were flattened by the Philadephia Eagles and their return game 27-17 at Gillette Stadium.  The Giants were beaten by the Brett Favre and the New York Jets in the annual preseason game at the Meadowlands, 10-7.

History

• The two teams last met in Super Bowl XLII with the Giants winning 17-14.
• The teams played three times last year once in the Super Bowl, once in the regular season and once in the preseason.  The Patriots won two of three but the dropped the one that meant the most.
• The Patriots 38-35 win over the Giants in Week 17 made them the first NFL team to win 16 regular season games and were the first team in 35 years to have an undefeated regular season.
• This is the 18th time the two teams have met in the preseason with the Giants holding a 10-7 advantage. 
• This is the fourth straight season the two teams have met in the preseason and all four times it has been the preseason finale.
• The Patriots hold a 5-3 regular season advantage over New York, while the Giants have a 1-0 post season record over New England.

Connections

• Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spent 12 seasons on the Giants’ coaching staff, and was the team’s defensive coordinator for their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.
• Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson was originally drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He won two Super Bowls and twice earned Pro Bowl honors during his career with New York, which spanned from 1986-92.
• Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin was the head coach at Boston College from 1991-93 and also served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the Heights (1981-83). Coughlin was also the wide receivers coach on the Giants’ coaching staff while Bill Belichick was also on New York’s staff (1988-90).
• Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is a native of New Haven, CT.
• Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was born in Whitinsville, MA. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Springfield College, where he was a two-year starter at wide receiver. He was the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at UConn (1987-91).
• Giants quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer began his coaching career at UConn, where he led the defensive line and wide receivers (1972-74). He later served as head coach at Boston University from 1988-89 and spent four years with the Patriots – first as a wide receivers coach (1993-95), then as a quarterbacks coach (1996).
• Giants linebacker/long snapper Zak DeOssie is a native of North Andover, MA. Zak is the son of Steve DeOssie, who finished his NFL playing career as a linebacker and long snapper with the Patriots in 1994 and 1995.  The elder DeOssie was also on the the Giants squad that won the Super Bowl XXV. 
• Giants guard Chris Snee attended Boston College and was selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2004 draft.
• Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck are cousins.

Other News

New England head coach Bill Belichick spoke with the media on Tuesday about preparing for final preseason game, making cuts and bringing in new players to the system.

Tom Brady told WEEI on Monday morning that he wanted to play last Friday against Philadelphia but that head coach Bill Belichick made the decision to hold him out.  And that whether or not he sees any preseason action he’ll be ready to go come Week 1.

Many great comedians improvise during a scene in a show or a bit but did you know Tom Brady and his receivers do the same thing?

Bill Belichick can’t be happy that his special teams are sucking the big one right now.

Brady missed practice on Tuesday because he was on the west coast presumably with his son who had his first birthday last Friday.

Here is the Patriots 2008 schedule.

News from this weeks opponent:

The biggest news out of Giants camp is that defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora is lost for the season after he suffered a season ending knee injury Saturday night againt the Jets.  Umenyiora had knee surgery Tuesday.

Rumors had been running rampant about Michael Strahan returning for one more year after the Umenyiora injury but he is currently under contract to FOX Sports and on Tuesday decided to stay retired, unlike Brett Favre.  Strahan was one of those guys who said Favre should stay retired and it’s good see he took his own advice.  

I wish the Giants would ditch the grey pants go back to white as well as bringing back the road jerseys with blue trim like the old days.  I’m not a big fan of the red numerals and names on the white road jersey or the grey pants with any of the jerseys.

Giants QB Eli Manning is featured in the NFL Play 60 Public Service Announcements encouraging kids to get out and play at least 60 minutes a day.

Here is the Giants 2008 schedule.

Next Week

The Patriots open the NFL Regular Season on Sunday September 7th when they host the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium.  Kick off is at 1 p.m. and the game can be seen on CBS.