The Good, Bad and Ugly of New York's Football Weekend

Week Three was a dream for the Giants

In the first two weeks of the NFL season, we've had plenty of positive and negative things to say about both New York football teams.

Things are a bit different as we turn our gaze to Week Three. The Giants broke their curse in Philly and that makes it very hard to focus on the negatives, although we did find one guy worth calling out for his continued inability to do anything right.

And the Jets generated just about all the bad and ugly things we saw this week, although we do have some kind words for the way they responded to the game. So, without any further ado, here's everything you need from Week Three.

GOOD: The Giants' approach to Michael Vick would have been perfect even if they hadn't knocked him out of the game with an injured hand, but the fact that they did just made it all the better that they found a way to hit him on almost every play. Vick complained about a lack of flags after the game, but there was only one hit that looked like it could have drawn a flag as the Giants played a smart, aggressive game on defense.

BAD: The Jets offensive line without Nick Mangold looked like a group of little boys taking on the Raiders. Mark Sanchez was under insane amounts of pressure on almost every pass attempt, which makes the fact that he threw for 369 yards pretty remarkable and the fact that he avoided Vick's fate almost unbelievable.

UGLY: Antonio Cromartie made a big deal about what a playmaker he was after last week's game against the Jags. With four penalties and a lost fumble, Cromartie, hurting with the incredibly painful sounding bruised lungs, made his point but he made it for the wrong team.

GOOD: It was nice to hear nothing but the humiliating truth coming from Rex Ryan or the Jets after the loss. A bit surprising and dispiriting, but the Jets seem to realize there are serious problems with this team.

BAD: Antrel Rolle gives the Giants so few positives on defense that it is amazing that professed disciplinarian and tough guy Tom Coughlin still allows him on the field. Rolle was flagged for one personal foul and probably should have drawn a couple of others as he was much more concerned with doing his own thing than helping the Giants win a game.

UGLY: Under Ryan, the Jets defense has never looked worse than it did against the Raiders. The inability to rush the passer is old news, but their complete lack of toughness was a new development and one that could well haunt this team for the rest of the year.

GOOD: Eli Manning still doesn't look totally at home in the Giants offense, but at least he's found a way to make big ones when the team needs them. Utilizing Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs as receivers instead of relying on lesser players was a masterstroke by Kevin Gilbride.

BAD: Shonn Greene looked like he was taking hold of the Jets running back job on Sunday, but then he disappeared again in the second half. LaDainian Tomlinson remains the more dynamic back, which is a problem since he can't handle an extended workload.

UGLY: Bart Scott played a big role in two Raiders touchdowns by getting pancaked on Darren  McFadden's 70-yard run and then missing a tackle on Denarius Moore's run off the reverse. Sorry to keep harping on the defense, but it was so shockingly bad that it takes a little extra to register everything that went wrong.

GOOD: The Giants needed this win over the Eagles for much more than a 2-1 record after three weeks of the season and they've been celebrating it as such. Let's hope someone remembers that it is just Week Three, lest the Giants become victims of their own overconfidence for the third straight season.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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