Sigh.  Sometimes I think about the 2005 Notre Dame season, one in which the Irish lost two regular season games by a combined six points in Oscar-worthy dramatic fashion, and just wonder what would have been if Justin Tuck would have came back for one more season.  Tuck was already the career sack leader at Notre Dame when he departed for greener, more lucrative pastures, and with his presence opposite Victor Abiamiri, maybe Reggie Bush doesn't spring all of those twenty-yard gashings of the defense on October 15, 2005. 

Tuck has since moved on, and if you weren't watching all the white people party in Minneapolis or some guy wearing Lacoste unable to back up his smack talk, you saw Tuck helping to disrupt the Washington Redskin offense.  With the loss of Michael Strahan to retirement and Osi Umenyiora to injury, Tuck is now the undisputed leader of the Super Bowl champions defense, starting at defensive end but rotating into the tackle position on third and longs to really cause some trouble pass rushing.  Tom Coughlin's crew will find it nearly impossible to replicate the pressure on the quarterback they had in the Super Bowl, but it won't be the fault of Tuck, a monster of a man earning that contract extension.

The Giants offensive sputtered after rolling down the field early, but thankfully for Tom Coughlin's crew, Jim Zorn comes from the Mike Holmgren school of clock management and might have urged his team to leisurely work their way down the field despite being down the entire game.  On top of that, Zorn repeatedly punted from midfield, spitting in the face of math, reason and real men who don't coach like giant wusses (which, in the NFL, pretty much amounts to Bill Belichick).  In the third quarter alone, Zorn punted from his own 41 on fourth and one, from his own 46 on fourth and one and from his own 44 on fourth and two.  I haven't checked in over at our SBN brother Hogs Haven yet, but I imagine they're not overly happy with their head coach having the testicular fortitude of one without testicles and the clock management skills of division rival Andy Reid.

Ah, football, I am glad you are back.