Keyboard Quarterbacks

1:44 - Anyone care to not break containment? Eli Manning just scrambled for good yardage for the second time in four plays.

1:47 - Derrick Ward just walked over the Jets from 9 yards out to score a touchdown for the Giants.

1:48 - "Nugent is on to kick the extra point," the press box announcer just said. Wow! After missing one field goal, he was traded to the Giants. Is that even legal? Someone, presumably Lawrence Tynes, just tied to score at 7 for the Giants with 10:54 left in the second quarter.

1:50 - Boy, that missed field goal stings. It will sting even more as the game goes on.

1:56 - Coles returned to the game, but now center Nick Mangold is down. His absence should do wonders against a resurgent Giants defense.

1:58 - There are four different worlds going on here. We've got the live action on the field, the TV broadcast a few seconds after that, the press box announcements of each play at various intervals after that, and the play-by-play at NFL.com updating in between all of that. Maybe just watching the games at home is easier.

1:59 - Wade Smith replaces Mangold at center. And the snap . . . fumble! Lucky for the Jets, they had a false start penalty. Still a loss of yardage, but one more down to try to do something on offense.

2:01 - Yes, Gridder. Bob Glauber is in the building and he's dressed sharp. Like ESPN sharp, but without the tie. That's his style. Sharp and smooth, yet very "of the people." He's even offering up some chest hair to anyone who looks closely.

2:02 - Pennington to Coles for 28 yards. Under review. Coles is the most underrated receiver in the league. Not under review.

2:04 - Tom Coughlin lost the challenge. He appears to look the same as he always does, a unique confluence of upset, confused, mad, bewildered and upset, confused, mad and bewildered.

2:06 - With less than six minutes left in the first half, Thomas Jones just made his 10th rushing attempt of the game, two less than all of last week against Buffalo. Perhaps Mangini remembered that he has a real running back on his team this year. Of course, he's only gained 28 yards so far.

2:08 - Nice linebacking by Antonio Pierce. He stood over center, heard Pennington's call, then shifted his defense to the left, thereby creating a 5-yard loss on a sweep right.

2:09 - Pennington intercepted. Nice play by Sam Madison, who apparently is still alive and playing in the NFL.

2:12 - (Turn on Joe Namath voice now.) Big plaaaaaay for the Jets! (Turn off Joe Namath voice now.) Victor Hobson just burst up the middle and forced an intentional grounding call against Eli Manning on third down. The loss of 12 yards took the Giants out of field goal range with less than three minutes to go in the first half. See, that Nugent miss still looms.

2:17 - Two-minute warning. Jets have the ball at their own 28. First down. All three timeouts. My guess: They attempt a 44-yard field goal with a few seconds left and Nugent hits it. What's your guess?

2:21 - Coles just made a leaping grab in front of Madison. Coles must have hit the turbo button when he jumped because he skied like Dwight Howard at the NBA Slam Dunk contest. Coles: the most underrated receiver in the league. Ball at the Giants' 45.

2:22 - Ball at the Giants' 32 with 1:09 left. Jets take second timeout. Prediction looking good.

2:25 - Prediction not looking good. Brad Smith, however, looking good. He just altered his route and soared over Giants CB Kevin Dockery to catch a 16-yard touchdown pass in the back right corner of the end zone with 33 seconds left.

2:26 - Nugent hits the extra point. Yaaaaaay! Jets lead, 14-7. Should be 17-7.

2:28 - I understand playing quarterback in the NFL is one of the hardest things to do in sports. But sometimes I wonder what quarterbacks are looking at when they throw passes. This is one of those times. Manning just threw a pass toward Amani Toomer. Apparently, he didn't see Jonathan Vilma standing there, which is interesting because Vilma was there long enough to check on his 401(k) and order a halftime snack.

2:30 - Hey, Nugent just banged in a 47-yard field goal at the end of the first half, thanks to Vilma's pick. And now we have that 17-7 Jets score we just mentioned.

2:32 - Halftime. I'm going to watch the midget football game here at Giants Stadium, get a closer look at Glauber's free chest hair and grab a drink. As for your halftime entertainment, crank dat Soulja Boy!

2:47 - And we're back! Not sure who won the midget game, but the chicken fingers are tasty.

2:47:30 - Plaxico Burress hasn't been involved much today before that nice catch and run in open space.

2:49 - Jacobs just ran off-tackle and off tackles for a 19-yard touchdown. Poor job of tackle-attempting by starting safety Eric Smith. Jets up, 17-14.

2:52 - Leon Washington receives the kickoff at the Jets' 2-yard line.

2:52.15 - Leon Washington returns the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. This just in: He's good. Just as good as Justin Miller. Jets lead, 24-14.

3:01 - An observation: television timeouts are so much more painful when you're at a game than when you're home watching it from your couch.

3:06 - Today's attendance was just announced as 78,809. Jets vs. Giants doesn't have the cachet you'd think it would, but that's still an impressive showing. Of course, that's 78,809 people who are not at home reading this, which is somewhat upsetting.

3:11 - Burress just showed up again, this time in the middle of the Jets' secondary for a 17-yard gain as the Giants move the ball to the Jets' 39.

3:11.30 - Hey look, it's Burress again. This time with a 15-yard catch and run along the left sideline.

3:13 - Hey look, Eli Manning woke up and remembered he's playing a football game today. He completed five passes on this drive, including a 13-yard touchdown strike to Jeremy Shockey. Manning was 5-for-6 on the drive for 61 yards. Prior to that, he was 5 of 13 for 61 yards. Jets' lead down to 24-21.

3:15 - Anyone else want that Nugent missed field goal back yet?

3:19 - The third quarter just ended. Jets have first-and-10 at their 44-yard line. The Jets need to score on this drive if they want to have a chance at putting this game away. Of course, these are the Jets, the "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, noooooooooooooooooooooo!" Jets, so anything still can happen in this game.

3:24 - Third-and-13. Coles over the middle. Complete for 15 yards. First down. Coles. Stud!

3:25 - Pennington. Timing pattern. Double coverage. Interception by Giants CB Aaron Ross. Chad. Not a stud.

3:26 - Ref spots the ball at the Giants' 2, saying that's where Ross came down with the ball. Break for the Jets.

3:26.30 - That call is under review.

3:28 - Time to reflect on Pennington's throw. Not good. It was a timing pattern, a simple three-step drop. Did he not see the double coverage in his pre-snap read? I did, and I've got the worst view in the entire stadium. Jerricho Cotchery stumbled a bit, but that's only because he was trying to fight his way through the double coverage to get to the underthrown ball.

3:29 - Tom Coughlin loses the challenge. Giants get the ball at their 2 with 12:23 left, trailing the Jets, 24-21. This won't end well for the Jets. Are the Yankees on yet?

3:34 - David Harris just got flagged for a horse collar tackle on Derrick Ward. It was obvious, even from the third row of the ninth level of th stadium,

3:35 - The NFL should have a rule that anytime the horse collar penalty is called, the referee turns his microphone on and says "Please turn your attention to the jumbo screen." Then, the stadium will play a clip of Troy Aikman calling the horse collar. He lives for that call.

3:37 - Five minutes ago, I said to the guy sitting next to me, "This has 98-yard drive written all over it." After Burress' second stiff-arm to Jets CB Andre Dyson in less than four seconds, he turned to me and said, "You called it."

3:37.30 - I've seen Jets games before.

3:39 - The 53-yard TD catch and run from Manning to Burress capped an 8-play, 98-yard drive in 4:31. The Giants now lead, 28-24, with 7:52 to go in the game. Seriously, are the Yankees on yet?

3:43 - Chad has guts, I'll give him that. He just spun his way off Giants DT Barry Cofield, then threw downfield to Brad Smith, but he caught it out of bounds.

3:44 - Dockery just made a great play, stepping in front of Chris Baker to knock away a Todd Marinovich-esque soft toss from Pennington on third down from the Giants' 42.

3:45 - Giants still lead, 28-24, with 6:34 to go and the ball at their 10-yard line. Nugent's missed field goal from the first quarter still looms.

3:49 - Third-and-8 for the Giants on their 23. (Turn on Joe Namath voice again.) Big play for the Jets. (Turn off Joe Namath voice again.)

3:51 - Dyson made up a little bit for his poor tackling earlier by breaking up a pass to Shockey.

3:52 - Jeff Feagles just boomed a 483-yard punt. Officially, it was listed as a 60-yard punt, but it was more like 483.

3:53 - Jets have the ball at their 23-yard-line. Correction. Jets have the ball at their 18-yard-line after a 5-yard penalty for leaving the left tackle uncovered.

3:54 - Pennington to Washington. Complete. Second-and-16!

3:55 - Brad Smith over the middle. Complete for 17 yards on third down. Smith could be the new Chrebet, but taller.

3:56 - The official clock says 3:15 left to play, but the game is now over. Pennington just threw an ice cream cone (soft serve) of an out pattern and Aaron Ross stepped in front for the pick-6. Giants up, 35-24. It's now a two-possession game. We warned you earlier that missed field goal would sting more and more as the game went on. Someone get Jets fans the lemon juice.

3:58 - Fans are now playing Beat the Traffic. I should join them.

3:59 - Let's go Yankees!

4:01 - With 2:55 left in the game, Giants DE Osi Umenyiora just got his name mentioned by the press box announcer for the first time I can remember today Say what you want about D'Brickshaw Ferguson, but he clearly isn't as bad as Eagles left tackle Wilber Justice.

4:02: Fourth-and-14 from the 32 for the Jets. This should be interesting.

4:03 - Chad scrambles, throws weakly toward a covered receiver. Guess what? He didn't make the catch.

4:03.30 - Chad may never have had the strongest arm, but I think he's hurting and not telling anyone. I have no proof of this, of course. Call it a hunch, or the steadfast Italian stubborness to believe his arm is that soft and he's still a starting quarterback in the NFL.

4:05 - The stands are at about 30-percent capacity here at the two-minute warning. Clearly, I won't beat the traffic now.

4:06 - With 1:50 left, the Jets take the first of their three timeouts. Seriously? Man up, Mangini. Take your loss for the fourth time in five weeks and move on to next week. The Giants have the ball at the Jets' 24. At best, they'll get a field goal and you'll need two touchdowns, instead a touchdown and field goal. Of course, that's completely unrealistic, but whatever.

4:09 - Oh goodie, the Jets take their second timeout with 1:36 left. This should be a fineable offense!

4:10 - Fourth-and-9 from the Jets' 32 and the Giants go for it. Reuben Droughns runs for 13 yards. Good thing the Jets called those two timeouts.

4:12 - Giants 35, Jets 24.

4:12.10 - Giants are 3-2 with playoff hopes. Jets are 1-4 with no hopes.