As the Giants prepare for their most difficult matchup of the season, the Jets prepare for their easiest.
Big Blue opened with a cream-puff schedule, playing teams that now have a combined record of 12-27, but things get much more difficult starting with the 5-1 Steelers in Pittsburgh.
The Giants’ remaining 10 games come against teams with a record of 39-26.
The Jets schedule gets more challenging, too, but not before they play the woeful Chiefs, who will make their most dangerous player inactive for the second straight week.
RB Larry Johnson has been accused of spitting his drink on a woman at a nightclub, and the NFL is reviewing the evidence to determine if the former Penn State star should be suspended or fined. But Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said today the team will bench Johnson regardless of the NFL’s decision.
“Decisions of all that will take place when it has to be made,” the former Jets coach said Tuesday. “I don’t have to make a decision on who’s starting, not starting. That’s kind of where that’s at. Whatever I do, hopefully I think you know me by now, people know me by now, I’m going to do the right thing for the football team. That’s where it stands with me.”
At 1-5 with a team that’s going nowhere and starting Tyler Thigpen at quarterback, Edwards may have decided the best thing to do is to bench his troubled running back in the Meadowlands to make a statement to his team. Last week, Edwards split carries between Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith in a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the undefeated Titans.
The Steelers have much better news on the running-back front. After being decimated by backfield injuries earlier in the season, starter Willie Parker returned to practice this week and is expected to start against the Giants on Sunday at 4:15 in the NFL’s featured game.
“Willie Parker continues to progress,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’ll practice in a limited capacity – maybe not a limited capacity – tomorrow. … We will continue to push him toward game day.”