Scott Lituchy/The Star-LedgerGiants receiver Plaxico Burress returned to the team Monday after being suspended for one game.

"That's the earliest I've ever seen him here," Michael Strahan said at the time. "It was like 8 o'clock and he didn't have to be in until 8:25."

Burress' efforts showed on the field that week, when he had 10 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams.

Monday, Burress was once again early getting back to work. Having served a 12-day suspension for missing positional meetings Sept. 22, he was one of the first to show up at the Giants' practice facility for mandatory weightlifting.

Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesRookie Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan

Star-Ledger staff writer Paul Needell assesses the NFL picture:

NFC

THREE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Should we start taking the Falcons seriously?

They're sure hard to shrug off now. By beating the Packers at Lambeau Field, Atlanta improved to 3-2 -- one win less than they had all of last season. This with a rookie QB (Matt Ryan), first-time head coach (Mike Smith) and rookie GM (Thomas Dimitroff). Even with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (shoulder) toughing it out like Brett Favre always did, Atlanta hung on behind two Ryan TD passes and ex-Chargers RB Michael Turner (121 yards, 26 carries, 1 TD) running out the clock at game's end. Ex-Jets DE John Abraham had six tackles and his seventh sack for the Falcons.

David L. Pokress/MCTGiants backup QB David Carr and Sinorice Moss celebrate their touchdown against Seattle.

Star-Ledger sports writer Jenny Vrentas pulls together some noteworthy tidbits you might have missed from the Giants' 44-6 victory over Seattle on Sunday:

DID YOU NOTICE?

QB Eli Manning completed his first seven passes to open the game. His first incompletion wasn't until the beginning of the second quarter, when he misfired to WR Amani Toomer.

David Carr's 5-yard touchdown pass to Sinorice Moss was the Giants' first non-Manning TD pass since Kurt Warner threw one early in the 2004 season.

The Giants didn't have to bring their punting unit onto the field until 8:59 remained in the third quarter.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerBrandon Jacobs goes airborne to score his second touchdown against Seattle.

Brandon Jacobs' third touch Sunday produced the longest play of his pro career -- a typically powerful 44-yard burst to the Seahawks' 32-yard line.

But afterward, the Giants' offensive linemen kidded their running back for getting caught by Seattle safety Brian Russell and not making it to the end zone.

"We said, 'Take it to the house! You got caught,'" guard Rich Seubert said. "He came back with, 'I'm 6-4, 260 pounds.'"

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerSinorice Moss celebrates his second touchdown of the game against Seattle.

NOTEBOOK

Sinorice Moss was watching Seahawks safety Brian Russell and waiting for him to drift to his right. Moss knew he would, as the Giants had practiced the play all week long. All Moss needed was a pump fake from Eli Manning.

Moss got it. And as expected, Russell moved toward Steve Smith when Manning pumped in that direction.

"Here it goes. It's going to start," Moss said he was thinking. "It's really about to start."

Manning delivered a perfect pass into the area vacated by Russell for Moss' first NFL touchdown, which came three seasons into a career that began when the Giants traded up to select him in the second round of the 2006 draft.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerEli Manning threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns against the Seahawks.

Antonio Pierce had showered, gotten dressed and done a few minutes of interviews. Including the fourth quarter when he merely watched from the sideline, Pierce was more than an hour removed from his last snap.

But when asked to describe the Giants' 44-6 victory over the Seahawks -- in which 523 yards of total offense contributed to the team's biggest margin of victory in the regular season in 36 years -- Pierce acted like Seattle was still mounting a comeback.

"Stressful," the middle linebacker said. "Guys get lackadaisical and all of a sudden the game is close."

Sometimes that's the way it happens in the NFL -- but not with the way the Giants are playing right now.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerA fan at Giants Stadium lets Plaxico Burress know someone else was doing his job against Seattle.

Some free advice for Plaxico Burress: Get to Giants Stadium at the crack of dawn Monday, armed with an apology and a few dozen donuts. Oh, and Plax? Make sure the crullers are fresh.

The best team in the NFL deserves that.

His one-game suspension for missing a team meeting ends Monday morning, but forgive the Giants if they don't greet Burress with hugs and high fives. His predictable immaturity -- call it Plax being Plax -- could have cost his team a chance at taking control of the NFC.

Instead, the Giants missed their star receiver about as much as "The View" misses Rosie O'Donnell.

Rich Kane/US PresswireWhen time is running short and the Giants need a score, Eli Manning knows how to lead the way to victory.

A pirouette away from a rusher before hitting Plaxico Burress for a 28-yard pass against the Cowboys in 2005.

A pivot and reverse across the field on a third-down scramble and completion for a first down the following week against the Broncos.

The left-handed throw against the Rams in Week 2 this year.

Oh, and that little escape on the pass to David Tyree and his helmet in Super Bowl XLII.

After Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield studied film of the Seattle Seahawks all week, one play stuck in his head.

It was a second-and-3 near the end of the first quarter of Seattle's Week 3 win over the Rams. Seahawks running back Julius Jones took the handoff from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and disappeared in a mound of St. Louis defenders. But then, all of a sudden, Jones emerged with the ball and sprinted to the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.

"That was something he wasn't doing in Dallas," Cofield said. "He definitely flashed some greatness right there."

US Presswire"We want to make people earn whatever they get against us, and we don't want to give them any unearned points or yardage," said LB Danny Clark.

After the Giants returned from their bye-week break, LB Danny Clark noticed the referees officiating the team's practices have been especially alert.

"They were erring on the side of throwing the flag," Clark said. "That's one way of us staying conscious of penalties."

Heading into Sunday's game against the Seahawks, that has been a point of emphasis for the Giants defense. Coach Tom Coughlin is known for presenting his team with telling statistics, and here's one it has been chewing on this week: Six out of the nine scoring drives the defense has allowed this season, or 66.7 percent, have been helped by penalties called on the Giants. That accounts for 30 of the 43 points the defense has given up.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerWill Plaxico Burress' absence mean Amani Toomer sees double coverage against the Seahawks on Sunday?

"Who you talkin' about?" Droughns said in a tone that suggested he was ready to shoot down Tyree's scouting report.

"Marcus Trufant," Tyree replied.

"Oh," a defeated Droughns said quietly. "Yeah, he's a good corner."

That's the type of conversation one might expect in an opposing locker room in the week leading up to a game against the Giants:

"Who you talkin' about?"

"Plaxico Burress."

"Oh. Yeah, he's a good receiver."

Rich Kane/US PresswireSeattle coach Mike Holmgren says Brandon Jacobs, taking a handoff from Eli Manning, presents a challenge.

Star-Ledger sports writer Jenny Vrentas gives us the highlights from Wednesday's Giants practice:

SEAHAWKS BRACING FOR JACOBS

The last time the Giants played Seattle -- during the 2006 season -- Tiki Barber was their leading rusher and Brandon Jacobs had just one carry for 9 yards. And in 2005, Jacobs' rookie season, he didn't touch the ball at all against the Seahawks.

So this weekend, Seattle's defense will have to develop a game plan against a ground attack it hasn't faced before.

"It can be an advantage," Jacobs said, "but this is the NFL. They've seen me (on film) last season and in the beginning of this season."

Rich Kane/US PresswireFred Robbins reacts to fan noise at Giants Stadium in the preseason -- the team wants more of the same this weekend.

Barry Cofield knew things were bad when Qwest Field became Quiet Field.

It happened in 2006 after the Seahawks scored their sixth touchdown of the game to take a 42-3 lead over the Giants early in the third quarter.

"Their fans stopped making a lot of noise. They felt they were piling on," Cofield, the Giants' third-year defensive tackle, said Wednesday of his third game in the NFL. "When a pack of rabid fans starts to feel bad for you, that's a pretty low point."

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerEli Manning says the Giants' first post-bye practice was anything but sluggish.

After Monday morning's practice, Giants cornerback Sam Madison showered, changed and pulled on a black Florida Marlins baseball cap -- then turned around to find a cluster of quizzical reporters.

"Hey, don't get me in trouble with these New Yorkers," Madison said quickly. "I have a Mets hat, too."

On Sunday night, the Mets and Yankees would have liked to be where the Giants found themselves: on top of their division. After the Cowboys' 26-24 loss to the Redskins, the Giants are alone in first place of the NFC East for the first time since the 2006 season, while on their bye week no less.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerJustin Tuck and the Giants defense are using the bye week to shore up a defense that looked vulnerable against the Bengals.

When the Bengals picked up several blitzes late in the Giants' overtime victory a week ago yesterday, the defense looked ordinary -- and exploitable -- for the first time in a long while. So last week provided time for coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the players to do some self-scouting in the hope of remaining one of the most harassing defenses in the league, starting next weekend against the Seahawks.

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerSinorice Moss wants to get more involved in the Giants' offense.

Star-Ledger football writer Jenny Vrentas fills us in from Giants' practice Thursday:

MOSS, MANNINGHAM LONGING FOR ACTION

Other than the season opener against the Redskins, receiver Sinorice Moss' time on the field this year has been limited to pregame warm-ups. And rookie receiver Mario Manningham has yet to be included on the active roster for a regular-season game.

But with Plaxico Burress' suspension keeping him out of next week's game against the Seahawks, the two speedy receivers are suddenly on the offense's radar.

"You know how you're so antsy to play?" said Manningham, while shaking his body. "That's how it is now. I feel like it might be my opportunity to make a play. I'm going to make the best of it."

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerPlaxico Burress, left, has said he and Giants coach Tom Coughlin, right, haven't always seen ``eye-to-eye.''

The Giants have begun to cope with the Plaxico Burress suspension -- each in his own way.

Tom Coughlin is done talking about it.

"I have no comments on that at all," the coach said Thursday. "I said all I was going to say about it (on Wednesday), thank you very much."

Justin Tuck is either in denial or he's a visionary.

"You know what? Sometimes distractions are a good thing," the defensive end said. "In this situation, we're just going to rally behind it and play football."

Rich Kane/US PresswireGiants wide receiver Domenik Hixon gets tackled by Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Chinedum Ndukwe in the third quarter of Sunday's game at Giants Stadium.

"When he gets back, we will come back and we will get going again, but for Seattle we will have a new guy," Manning said. "We will have (Domenik) Hixon playing 'X,' and obviously he has proved that he can make plays and he can do a good job for us."

The thing about Dick Lynch, the old Giants defensive back and radio voice who died Wednesday at age 72, was that he never wanted to be anyone else. He was old school the way it ought to be. He knew who he was and what he was, and it was exactly who and what he wanted to be.

He was a man of commitment ... his family ... the New York Football Giants ... Notre Dame. That was the order, and the trinity of his devotion was rock solid.

Commitment.

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerGiants' Eli Manning throws a pass toward receiver Amani Toomer against the Cincinnati Bengals at Giants Stadium Sunday.

The Giants used the no-huddle offense to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. When the Bengals tied the game to send it to overtime, the Giants could have gone back to varying formations and personnel to confuse Cincinnati's defense. Instead, they stuck with the shotgun formation and either three or four receivers for 10 of their 12 offensive snaps in overtime.

It was basically the hurry-up offense without the hurry up, and it allowed the Giants to build off the momentum of their final drive in regulation. It was a wise decision because, if they had gone back to switching personnel from play to play, perhaps the sluggish offense they displayed for three quarters would have returned.

Tom Coughlin would like his bye week right in the middle of the season, if possible. That's what he got last year when the NFL gave the Giants Week 9 off after their trip to London. That worked out well, as Coughlin's team had plenty of gas in the tank for its Super Bowl run.

But in each of the four other seasons of the Coughlin era, the Giants have been stuck with an early bye week: once in Week 6, once in Week 5 and, including this season, twice in Week 4.

So, has Coughlin received an explanation for the regularity of the early byes?

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerBengals quarterback Carson Palmer is sacked by the Giants' Mathias Kiwanuka at Giants Stadium Sunday.

When DE Mathias Kiwanuka hadn't recorded a sack through the first two weeks of the season, veteran CB Sam Madison noticed he was frustrated. So when Kiwanuka got his first of the season Sunday against the Bengals, Madison made sure to tell him, "They come in bunches."

Madison and the rest of the defense are hoping the same is true for defensive turnovers. The Giants have just one takeaway this season -- an interception by DE Justin Tuck, who ran it 41 yards for a touchdown -- which ties them with the Lions and Rams for the least in the league. The Titans and Steelers lead the league with eight takeaways each.

DID YOU NOTICE?

After the Bengals' 22-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter, the Giants trailed an opponent for the first time this season.

Bengals WR Chad Ocho Cinco (still Johnson on the back of his jersey) didn't make his first catch until slightly more than a minute remained in the first half. He finished with three catches for 29 yards -- and no dances.

CB Sam Madison came in when CB Corey Webster had cramps in the third quarter and later when CB Aaron Ross was sidelined. Madison had a key pass breakup in overtime, stepping in front of T.J. Houshmandzadeh to knock away a third-down pass.

Bill Kostroun/Associated PressJohn Carney knows his time with the Giants is almost over.

NOTEBOOK

John Carney has made all nine field goals and each of his eight extra points while limiting opposing kick returners to 20.6 yards per return this season. Plus, he made a game-winning 22-yard field goal in overtime Sunday to beat the Bengals, 26-23.

Soon, though, he'll be out of a job.

The 44-year-old Carney was signed to fill in for the injured Lawrence Tynes, last year's NFC Championship Game hero for his 47-yard field goal in overtime. Tynes is now on his way back, having practiced all last week and kicking a bit before Sunday's game. He also said he could have been available for field goals if the team had no other options.

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerAmani Toomer kept his foot inbounds to complete a key 31-yard reception in overtime.

Early in his career, Amani Toomer would have been uneasy at points late in a game like Sunday's 26-23 overtime victory against the Bengals.

Such as when the Giants trailed by four points with 4:31 left in regulation, or when the Bengals forced OT. But neither circumstance fazed the veteran wide receiver.

"It's like we've done it so many times. It seems like every time a team scores, we have to go back and score," said Toomer, who set up John Carney's 22-yard game-winning field goal with a 31-yard, toe-tapping catch down the left sideline at Giants Stadium. "I don't know what that's about, but that's what we do."

Bill Kostroun/Associated PressAlthough surrounded by Bengals, Kevin Boss still manages to make a touchdown catch for the Giants.

Giants tight end Kevin Boss first had a hunch that Sunday might be a big day for him during practice Friday afternoon.

As the team prepped for Sunday's game against the Bengals, Boss and quarterback Eli Manning connected so many times that tight ends coach Mike Pope jokingly gave Boss an ice bag afterward so he could ice his hands.

"The plays we had in, a lot of them worked in practice," Boss said. "I just felt confident that I was going to get my shot this week."

Not only did Boss get his first catch of the season, he was a critical factor in the Giants' 26-23 overtime victory against Cincinnati at the Meadowlands, with three catches for 51 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown that gave the Giants a three-point lead with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter.

Rich Kane/US PresswireJets QB Brett Favre got a good taste of Justin Tuck's defensive prowess in a preseason game against the Giants.

The rave reviews have hit Justin Tuck this week with the same force he hits quarterbacks. One website ranked him as one of the five best defensive players in the league. One talking head anointed him as an early candidate for defensive player of the year.

It is the sort of stuff that could really inflate a guy's head, but if Tuck ever needs to knock himself down a notch or 92, he only has to check the text messages on his cell phone.

You're just lucky!

That was the opinion of an unimpressed Michael Strahan, coming hours after Tuck had two sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown in the Giants' 41-13 victory over St. Louis. Soon, Tuck had another text message from Osi Umenyiora, who had reached the same conclusion while watching the game from home with his ripped-up knee.

James Lang/US PresswireUsually outspoken Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco hasn't had much to talk about beyond his name change this season.

With his offseason issues with the Bengals' organization, his battle with Reebok to allow him to put his new legal last name on the back of his jersey (instead of Johnson), the shoulder injury he suffered in the preseason and Cincinnati's 0-2 start, Ocho Cinco isn't having any fun.

And when Ocho Cinco isn't having fun, he doesn't talk as much.

NO BACK STABBING

When Ahmad Bradshaw darted into the end zone for each of his two touchdowns against St. Louis -- the first scores by a Giants running back this season -- Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward were among the first to celebrate with him. But Jacobs conceded he was still a bit jealous.

"No question I was mad," Jacobs said Wednesday. "I played the whole game and didn't get a touchdown. He gets in, and the first three, four minutes he got two."

LOOKING BACK

If QB Eli Manning looked very comfortable in the pocket on Sunday, it's because he wasn't facing a whole lot of heat from the Rams. Sure, Manning was sacked twice and pressured seven other times on 33 pass plays (29 attempts, two penalties and the two sacks), but St. Louis blitzed only six times.

Part of the reason was probably to keep an extra defender on WR Plaxico Burress after seeing his 10 catches against the Redskins in Week 1. It's another example of how Burress forces a defense to change its game plan.

Jeff Curry/US PresswireGiants wide receiver Amani Toomer celebrates with quarterback Eli Manning after scoring a touchdown against the St. Louis Rams Sunday.

Directions to Monday night's barbecue at left tackle David Diehl's house were strewn across the floor. Fifty-three players made a mad rush for the showers, stopping only to rag on running back Derrick Ward for an unknown offense. Brandon Jacobs proclaimed aloud his affinity for being "Earth" in the Giants' dynamic "Earth, Wind & Fire" running back trio.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerGiants tight end Kevin Boss has been open, but he hasn't yet been targeted by quarterback Eli Manning this season.

That didn't stop a few questions from being raised Monday about how they're the only team in the NFL without a catch by a tight end.

Perhaps it wouldn't be such an issue if the player Kevin Boss is trying to replace wasn't the bombastic and extremely talented Jeremy Shockey. But that's against whom Boss is being measured.

No matter how well the offense is doing as a whole, apparently.

Danny Clark peered through the translucent shield on Antonio Pierce's helmet and saw something he has never seen in a huddle.

Pierce's eyes were closed.

The Giants' middle linebacker wasn't napping or meditating. He was trying to listen to the play call coming from the sideline.

"I'm like, 'You can open your eyes. You'll still hear everything. I promise,'" Clark, the Giants' strong-side linebacker, recalled the other day with a laugh. "And later, he starts barking back at them, like, 'I got it! I got it!' So I tell him, 'You know they can't hear you, right?'"

Rams quarterback Marc Bulger was almost uncomfortably blunt when asked last week about his team's fortunes at home.

"The last couple of years, we haven't been good anywhere," he said on a conference call.

A 3-13 season in 2007 and a playoff drought since 2004 speak to that. But the Rams certainly play better at home in the Edward Jones Dome than when they're on the road.

Through two seasons under head coach Scott Linehan, St. Louis has scored 373 points at home and just 257 on the road. And, the offense has averaged 380 yards per game at home, compared to 278 on the road.

Why? Even the Rams are guessing.

Tim Roske/Associated PressGiants receiver Steve Smith is ready to copy the Eagles' success against the Rams last week.

It took just two snaps and less than 10 seconds for the Rams to be dealt their first big-play blow of the season.

On the second play of a Week 1 loss to the Eagles last Sunday, Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb hit rookie receiver DeSean Jackson with a 47-yard pass down the sideline to set up Philadelphia's first touchdown.

Four more pass plays of 25 yards or more came later for the Eagles, who ravaged the Rams secondary with a league-best 414 yards in the air. When the Giants face the Rams in St. Louis Sunday, their top-notch group of receivers could be next to put on a show.

"I hope so," receiver Steve Smith said. "That's what I love. It's definitely a good challenge for us to see if we're ready to make those big plays that the Eagles did."

Mike Derer/Associated PressAllianz, which was in naming rights talks involving the Giants' and Jets' new stadium, insured Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

The name of a German firm with past Nazi ties will not appear atop the new football stadium being built in the Meadowlands.

The Giants and the Jets broke off naming rights negotiations with the Munich-based Allianz Friday, Mark Lamping, president and chief executive of the teams' new stadium, said.

The announcement came amid a storm of controversy over the firm's World War II activities, which included insuring concentration camps and refusing to pay claims owed to Jewish clients, instead turning the funds over to the Nazis.

The world's largest insurance firm, Allianz was in talks to pay $25 million to $30 million a year to sponsor the teams' $1.6 billion stadium, due to open in 2010.

Giants beat writer Mike Garafolo gives his take on Week 2, and Mathias Kiwanuka's plans to play on Sunday in St. Louis now that his ankle is feeling better:

Download file

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerTom Coughlin and Plaxico Burress are both wary of facing the Rams in St. Louis.

The Olympics have been over for a few weeks now, but Shaun O'Hara used a track-and-field analogy the other day to describe how futile it is to draw conclusions about the NFL season after Week 1.

"It's like trying to predict who's going to win the 100-yard dash after the first step," the Giants' ninth-year center said. "It might be a great step, but everybody has a chance to catch up."

Everybody includes the Rams, who stumbled out of the blocks on Sunday with a 38-3 loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia. Many have already stamped St. Louis as a team headed for another 3-13 season, and Vegas has them as nine-point underdogs to the Super Bowl-champion Giants on Sunday.

But the Giants aren't taking the Rams lightly, and recent history says that's one smart bet.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerGiants fullback Madison Hedgecock, left, blocks Redskins safety Leron Landry (#30) for running back Derrick Ward (#34) in the first quarter in the NFL 2008 season opener last Thursday at Giants Stadium.

"He goes in the country to be with his people," his mother Lou said by phone Wednesday from Wallburg, N.C. "I think the farming community has a bond like football."

ROAD REVERSAL

The Giants' Super Bowl rings have the words "Eleven Straight on the Road" on one of the shanks. Not to take anything away from their feat last year, but the NFL considers the Super Bowl a neutral-site game, so that leaves the Giants eight games behind the 1988-90 49ers for the NFL's record of 19 straight road wins.

But on Sunday against the Rams, the Giants are looking to extend their streak to two, as in the number of victories this season.

Bill Kostroun/Associated PressSam Madison took a $500,000 pay cut to stay with the Giants.

There were 63,660 people in the stands, hundreds more on either sideline and 21 other players on the field at Texas Stadium in January, but Corey Webster only heard one voice: Sam Madison's.

"Run! Pass! Get your hands up!' I could hear that the whole time and I used it to my advantage," Webster, the Giants' fourth-year cornerback, recalled the other day about the 12-year veteran Madison, who was sidelined for that playoff victory against the Cowboys with a sports hernia.

"He's been around the game so long, he's got so much knowledge and he did it at the highest level. When I'm out there and he's coaching me, I'm like his little protege."

Star-Ledger Giants beat writer Mike Garafolo looks at just how costly Osi Umenyiora's injury is going to be -- to Osi Umenyiora -- along with other Giants notes.

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerNew York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw was a victim of the numbers game in the team's season-opening victory Thursday, as he didn't get any carries in the game.

"He was definitely a little disappointed, but it's just part of being hungry," said Droughns, who actually had it worse than Bradshaw because he was a healthy scratch for the first time since 2001. "If he wasn't disappointed, you'd be mad at him because that would mean he didn't care. The fact that he was disappointed means he cares. He wanted to be in there to help out as much as he can."

Winslow Townson/Associated PressMatt Cassel reacts after throwing a touchdown pass to Randy Moss Sunday against the Chiefs

Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel might be an unknown to most of the NFL, but not to Giants wide receiver Steve Smith.

The two played together at USC for two years and grew up near each other in Southern California, so Smith has an idea of what kind of quarterb