Devo incoherently rambles about the greatness of the Giants: Yup, it's a weekday.

I realize that most of our readers have become accustomed to Mahatma doing the Tuesday bullshitting, but since he has been signed by the Pirates (Pittsburgh, not Mogadishu...hiyo!!!) his priorities have clearly shifted to his new employer.

The Champs
Not to cross into White Boy's recap, but clearly we've seen what happens when teams try to load up the box on Earth Wind & Fire. Yeah, that Eli fella is pretty good too, as are his 6 receivers, tight end, 3 pass catching running backs, and even the fullback.

Make what you want of this, but the fact is that Eli's two best games of the season have been played without Plax. And as the season goes on and February draws near, the Giants will face better secondaries than Arizona, but I'm starting to come to this conclusion: If Earth, Wind, & Fire are healthy, if Boss is healthy, and if Smith, Hixon, and Toomer are all good to go, the Giants can win the Super Bowl without Plax. Does Plax make the Giants a much better team? Absolutely. But without Plax, Eli tends to step up his game, and this team is already so much better than most of the NFC

So I'd like to see Plax return this year and make his impression felt, but two facts remain:
1) Until any of Boss, Hixon, Smith, or Toomer get hurt, Plax is not needed for this team to repeat.
2) Jerry Reese should trade Plax after the season. He's becoming a distraction, and frankly, the team does not need him. Moreover, as the young guys from this team become free agents (See: Webster, Corey; Jacobs, Brandon "Earth") it's going to become difficult to keep all of these guys together. I'd rather keep Earth and future All-Pro Corey Webster than Plax, who has a future of being a malcontent.

That said, Jerry Reese has earned the ability to do anything he wants for the next year or two. He could trade Plax for a 7th round pick, and I'd be ok with it. That said, let's try and get a 1st or 2nd and 3rd or 4th for him.

And not for nothing, but I'll always appreciate what Plax did for this team, whether he's here for the rest of his contract or never suits up again for this team.

The Upstarts
I said it after the Patriots game, I'll say it again: THE JETS ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE AFC. Jets/Steelers is going to be a fantastic AFC Championship game, so long as Ben stays healthy. (These teams could meet in the 2nd round, but for all intents and purposes, this will be the AFC Championship game, with the winner facing the Giants in Tampa.) Will the Titans finish the season 10-6? Probably not, but the Steelers and the Jets are superior teams.

The issue remains of who will get the 2 seed. The 2 seed plays either the 3 seed after they dealt with the Patriots or the winner of Denver and Indy in their home. Denver and Indy have fantastic offenses but are amazingly beatable, especially in front of a raucous Pitt or Jersey crowd.

Meanwhile, the 3 seed plays the Patriots at home in the first round, and then has to go to either Pittsburgh and whatever's left of their turf or an unreal Giants Stadium where Jets fans will make it impossible for Ben in the Jets' first home game in a long time.

Oh, and to quote Mahatma, the Steelers play the "Gays, Cowfucks, Titans, Rats and Browns." The Jets play Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Buffalo and the Penningtons. Have fun with Cassell and Moss, Pittsburgh.

A thought about the Giants/Jets Superbowl:

I can only speak for myself when I say that I'm absolutely rooting my ass off for the Jets to get to the Super Bowl. Neither the Jets or Giants have had enough good seasons in my lifetime for there to be a legitimate rivalry between the teams. In fact, since I started following football in 1990, here's a list of playoff appearances by both teams:

Giants: 90, 93, 97, 00, 02, 05, 06, 07, Jets: 91, 98, 01, 02, 04, 06,

In the 18 full seasons that I have followed the Giants (as compared to White Boy's 5), the Jets and Giants have both made the playoffs only in '02 and '06, and neither team was very competitive in either of those seasons. In '02 the Giants lost to the 49ers and the Penningtons lost to the Raiders in the 2nd round. In '06 the Giants lost in the first round to the Eagles while the Jets lost to the Pats that same weekend. All of this is to say that this is the first year that both teams have been anything close to Super Bowl contenders in the same year, and there has been no reason to root against one team or the other. And seeing the Giants beat the 18-1 Pats? That's not exactly going to get Fireman Ed hating the Giants guts.
(Note: I think SHMUCK feels the same way, but I'd be interested in hearing what he has to say about Jet fans' opinions of the Giants.)

And speaking of SHMUCK...

You, SUS Nation, helped SHMUCK pick a new jersey to replace his current Jets jersey. Now, I, Devo, your blogging lord and savior, need a new jersey to replace my current Tiki Barber jersey. Please pick from the following on top of the following page:

Osi: Because if Strahan is a first ballot hall of famer, Osi will get in to Canton at some point down the road.

Tuck: Might be better than Osi.

Jacobs: Earth. But his career might be short due to his bruising style and the fact that Bradshaw is better in my opinion.

Bradshaw: This presumes a leap of faith that he will become a feature back, or at least a Warrick Dunn type back. A leap of faith, but a small leap.

Fred Robbins: Because his father and uncles are all bigger than him. Jersey could look obscure in a few years though.

Pierce: Quarterback of the defense, stats are merely OK though.

Kenny Phillips: All evidence points to him being an absolute stud of the Dawkins/Reed mold at safety. This is the jersey I want, but problem: already have a #21 jersey. Would be easier to just put duct tape over my Tiki jersey.

Eli: Safest bet of all of these guys to still be here in 2014, but for the same reason that I never wanted a Brodeur or Jeter jersey, I really don't want one of these. Everyone and their mother has 'em. ('Cept for mine, who had a Tino jersey, but that's another story.)

And last but not least....

Hey Knick fans, only 151 games until Lebron!