<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>October 16, 2005 -- IRVING - It is a way of life for the Giants, a routine followed by players and coaches and carried through into the highest reaches of the front office. There is a definite pattern to how they monitor the league on a weekly basis. "Every time you go home and watch SportsCenter or any TV show you watch, it's like you see how the Eagles did, see how the Cowboys did, see how the Redskins did," receiver Amani Toomer said, "and then you see maybe how the other teams did in the NFC." Every step you take, I'll be watching you. Once the Giants tend to their own business, they're quick to take a gander at how their longtime NFC East rivals fared. After four games and one bye week, the Giants are riding high at 3-1 but in a quirk of the schedule have yet to play within the division. That trend comes to an end today against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in a game that down the road could mean even more than it does right now. The Giants hope their newfound improvement fueled by Eli Manning's emergence makes them legitimate playoff contenders. The Cowboys (3-2) have thus far enjoyed seeing quarterback Drew Bledsoe drink from the fountain of youth and have their own designs on the postseason. "It's going to be a street brawl," tight end Jeremy Shockey said. "Their team is built to beat us and our team is kind of built to beat them," added Toomer. "Everybody in the division is kind of who you really try to set your draft for. We're going to see their best and they're probably going to see our best." Neither of these teams made it to the playoffs last season but both appear to be better this time around. Parcells said his club could easily be 1-4 or 5-0. "We have some definite deficiencies," he said, "but we're generally better off in some positions than we were last year. I think the Giants are as well." While the Cowboys were inspired by their rousing 33-10 thrashing last week of the Eagles, the Giants were heartened by that rout. "It's not Philadelphia and the rest of us like it was the last couple of years," running back Tiki Barber said. What came bursting through the screen as many of the Giants tuned in to watch that game was the way Parcells had his club primed for action en route to a jet-quick 17-0 first-quarter lead. "The Cowboys had a larger sense of urgency than the Eagles did, at least that's what it seemed like," fullback Jim Finn said. "They kind of jumped out and put the pressure on them, usually you got to fight off a team's momentum but they kept the pressure on 'em the whole game and didn't allow Philly to do anything." The trick for the Giants is to manufacture that unseen but clearly tangible sense of urgency that may not naturally be present. The Giants met their goals in the first month of the season and are coming off a bye. Where's the urgency? "It's there," Finn insisted. "For us, it's about what you want to accomplish. We're 3-1 but we need this win. It's an important game for us, to win on the road, in the division and to stay atop the NFC East. Your sense of urgency being the team coming off a win is your motivation to where you want to be, and 3-2 and in the middle of the pack isn't where we want to be. We want to keep winning and separate ourselves, that's the motivation."</div> http://www.nypost.com/sports/giants/53618.htm
I'm rooten for the 'boys today (even tho I hate them) cuz the G-men are in first place, the 'skins would benefit more from the Giants losing this one.
Burress is one of my favorite WR's so I'm rooting for the Giants, but other than that I could care less who wins.
