New York's One and Done

Playoffs in the New York metro area are supposed to go on longer than Wildcard weekend, and yet, that's exactly what happened. Within a span of about eight hours this afternoon, both the Jets and Giants seasons ended.

For the Jets, it was a season that exceeded expectations. The Jets lost to New England in a blowout, 37-16. While the first half was a closely contested match, in the end, New England had way too much firepower. The apprentice, Jet coach Eric Mangini, didn't have the answer to the master, New England coach Bill Belichick. Then again, few do come the playoffs. Of course, it was also the Tom Brady show.

The Jets are going into the offseason sad that their season ended early, but they show promise for the future - they have a coach who managed to make the most of the talent on the team and created a work ethic that other teams should take note - like the Giants who spent more time yapping to the media than getting business done on the field.

For the Giants, it was one that began with so much promise, and now will see major changes. They lost to Philly 23-20 on a last minute field goal.

Giants running back Tiki Barber likely played his last football game, going out at the top of his game - a week after running for more than 230 yards, he put up another 137 yards. He's the all-time Giants running back and is retiring after 10 seasons and three trips to the Pro-Bowl (including this year).

You have to give Philly credit for hanging in there as injuries decimated their team over the course of the season, including the loss of Donovan McNabb to a knee injury. They were able to come together, whereas the Giants couldn't overcome the raft of injuries that hit on both sides of the ball.

One casualty for the Giants will likely be coach Tom Coughlin, who came in as a disciplinarian, but while he managed to fix Tiki's fumbling issues, was never able to get the team's error-prone ways in check and appeared to lose the team several times this season as they went through the prolonged losing streak.

I'm not sure that criticism headed Eli Manning's way will be entirely warranted. Just as Coughlin fixed Tiki's fumbling habits by noting a subtle problem with Tiki's mechanics, another coach might find some minor flaw that will help Eli regain his accuracy that made him the top Giants pick over Philip Rivers (and the rest of the SD Chargers players that came with the swap in picks). There's also going to be a new General Manager for the Giants, so the changes will be widespread.

The Giants will see changes up and down the roster - questions about defense, running back, and coaching staff. It will be a most intriguing offseason for them.

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