COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Shortly after Jon Mara and Pat Shurmur shook hands, the lights dimmed in the Giants press room as Shurmur walked to the mike. Once the lights came back on, Shurmur cracked a smile and a couple of jokes, before getting down to business. The lights are staying on with this guy in the  house.  The Giants got themselves an "adult," a head coach who is going to have full command of the team when the players reconvene in late March. Shurmur came off as organized and strong in his first press conference in front of the New York media, a huge contrast from the guy he succeeded in Ben McAdoo, who was rigid and arrogant.  Now the challenge will be figuring out the Giants quarterback situation, handling its plethora of stars and fixing a team that was in disarray this past season. 

The worst kept secret is now official. Pat Shurmur is now the Giants head coach after the Vikings were eliminated from the postseason last night. Shurmur was the offensive coordinator of a Vikings team that was 11th in the league in total offense, 7th in the NFL in rushing yards per game, and 10th in the NFL in points per game. While Vikings season ended ingloriously in Philadelphia, Shurmur got a lot of credit for turning around the career of quarterback Case Keenum. Keenum was a career back-up, before he took over for an injured Sam Bradford and threw for 3500 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. A quarterback whisper, Shurmur will be expected to get the most out of Eli Manning in the final years of his career in New York and work toward finding Manning's successor. The Giants could draft a quarterback with the Number 2 overall pick in the upcoming draft, which could be either Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen. While neither Rosen or Darnold were impressive in college this...

Super Bowl LII is now set and it will have a very familiar feel. The New England Patriots will play the Philadelphia Eagles. Stop me if you heard this before. Not only will this be the eighth time the Patriots have been to the "Big Game" in the Brady-Belichick era, it will be the second time in 13 years that the Patriots get the Eagles as an opponent. In 2005 (the 2004 season), the Patriots defeated the Eagles 24-21 in Jacksonville at Super Bowl XXXIX to capture the franchises third Super Bowl title in four years. The game was best remembered for the Donavan McNabb's nearly eight minute fourth quarter touchdown drive when he team was down 10, effectively killing the Eagles chances of coming back and winning. Oh what have we done to deserve this? The Eagles pounded the Vikings 38-7 in an uncompetitive NFC Championship game that saw Nick Foles have the game of his life. Foles threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Eagles to their first Super Bowl ...

As was reported on Friday Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson was arrested on nine counts, including two felonies, after allegedly fleeing police at 105 mph in a 45 mph zone.  On top of that police say that Anderson threatened to sexually assault an officer's wife, by telling the arresting officer that he would "F --- her, and nut her in the eye." This is not the first time Anderson has had trouble with the law. Eight months ago he was arrested at a concert in Miami with resisting arrest with violence. He is still awaiting trail for that incident, which is scheduled for March. There is a disturbing trend of violence and trouble that Anderson has been around in his short NFL career. Remember this is a young man who went underrated because a lot of teams were concerned about his background. The Jets took the risk, and inspite of a breakout season in 2017, the Jets have little choice but to release Robby Anderson. Aside from the fact that he is only making about $63...

While Pat Shurmur is getting ready to coach the Vikings offense in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, it became clear this week that the Giants and Shurmur are on the precipice of working out a deal that will make him the 18th head coach in Giants history. After Sunday's game, win or lose for the Vikings, Shurmur can interview for a second time with the Giants, which -- if all the reports are accurate -- will be more of a formality to iron out details before anything is official. If the Vikings lose Sunday, the Giants can announce Shurmur as the head coach as soon as Monday if they should choose. If the Vikings advance to Super Bowl 52, an official announcement will wait until Feb. 5. According to the New York Post , Shurmur is infatuated with the Giants job, because of the cache that comes with the position. He is also said to be excited about the prospect of working with Eli Manning at the end of his career, and potentially drafting his successor in this April's Draft...

The wait is now over! The AFC and NFC Championship games are about to kick off this Sunday and we can't wait. The Vikings enter the NFC title game as the favorite to top the number 1 seeded Eagles in Philadelphia. However the big question for the Vikings will be their ability to re-focus after last week's emotional win against New Orleans. The Eagles have played the "disrespect card" to their advantage so far this postseason, and will take aim at the high flying Vikings. Meanwhile the rugged Jacksonville Jaguars are truly Tom Coughlin's team. Miss him yet Giants fans? While Coughlin isn't coaching anymore, and Doug Marrone has done an outstanding job on the sideline this year, Coughlin's influence can be felt up and down this team. Can another Coughlin creation top Tom Brady and the Patriots? It will be tough, but we'll find out Sunday. In the meantime, check out this week's Open Mike Podcast.

Matt Patricia is likely going to become the next head coach of the Detroit Lions. Furthermore, if reports are true, it looks like Josh McDaniels is heading to Indianapolis to be their head coach. While those headlines certainly are painful for New England Patriots fans, they are also painful for the New York Giants. The Giants were in the sweepstakes for one of the New England coordinators, and last week the rumor mill was hot that Patricia was coming to New York to coach Big Blue. Instead, Patricia is taking his shaggy beard and Number Two pencil to the Motor City. It's a move that makes a lot of sense for Patricia. He is familiar with Lions GM Bob Quinn, who had worked in the Patriots front office. He will also inherit a team that won nine games last season, and has a franchise quarterback in Matt Stafford. The Lions aren't bad, they just need a little more direction, and with the way a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars got to the AFC Title game this season, who is to sa...

A puzzling off-season for the Mets got a little stranger Saturday when the club agreed to a deal with free agent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.  At 36-years old Gonzalez was a shell of his former MVP-calliber self last season with the Dodgers. In 71 games he hit only .242 with a .287 on base percentage, and was not even a member of the Dodgers postseason roster. It was the least amount of games he's played in since 2012 when he was injured.  Why would the Mets sign Gonzalez?  A few reasons. 1) He comes cheap and its really a no risk for the Mets. New York is expected to pay only the league minimum, or roughly $550,000, while the Atlanta Braves will have to pay $21.5 million of Gonzalez's salary. The Braves put themselves in that financial hole when they acquired Gonzalez in a swap with the Dodgers a few weeks ago. Since Gonzalez was released, the Mets are basically getting him for nothing.  2) If Gonzalez contributes, then great! The Mets are expecti...

As seen on Mets Amazing Clubhouse ... Two stunning developments happened late Tuesday night. 1) The Mets signed someone to contract. 2) Jay Bruce is actually returning to the Mets. Talk about surprises. The Mets ended their long hibernation this off-season by coming to terms on a three-year $39 million deal with Bruce, who returns to the Mets after finishing off the 2017 season with the Cleveland Indians. According to various reports, Bruce will receive $10 million this season and $14.5 million in each of the final two years of the deal. He will also have a no-trade clause to five unspecified teams. The reunion between Bruce and the Mets is surprising.   Considering he gave the Indians plenty of pop in the middle of their lineup during the final part of the season and in the playoffs, the guess would have been that Bruce would either return to Cleveland, or find a home elsewhere like San Francisco, where they recently acquired Evan Longoria to boost their lineup. ...

The NFL playoffs have arrived and it is time to make our picks for the first round of playoffs. The Bills and Titans surprised everyone with their entries into the tournament, but as the old saying goes, once ya get in, anything is possible. Titans (9-7) @ Chiefs (10-6): The Titans rode into the playoffs on a stingy defense even though Marcus Mariota and the Titans offense left a lot to be desired in the regular season. Too many times this year the Titans would settle for field goals, when they needed touchdowns. They will need to score on Saturday to have a chance against the Chiefs. Kansas City comes in well rested with Alex Smith coming off one of his best regular season's of his career. Expect a big day out of Travis Kelcee in the passing attack, and a solid day from running back Kareem Hunt. This might be Titans head coach Mike Muarkey's last shot to prove he should still be the coach of this team. If the Titans offense again is lifeless look for Tennessee to go shoppin...

Now it's official. Jon Gruden will return to the sidelines in 2018 after agreeing in principal on a 10-year $100 million contract to return to Oakland to coach the Raiders. If all goes according to plan, Gruden will be the Raiders head coach when they officially become the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. Gruden will call his final game for ESPN on Saturday afternoon when the Chiefs take on the Titans. An image came out on Twitter with Chiefs coach Andy Reid speaking with Gruden during a media session in preparation for the game, even though many predicted that Kansas City wouldn't want the coach of a division rival in the building. Gruden has been out of coaching for 10 years, turning his persona from the short-tempered coach of the Raiders and Buccaneers into this generations John Madden in the booth. Unlike Madden however, Gruden couldn't resist the urge to coach again. Rumors of a Gruden return to coaching was an annual right of passage around this time of the year. T...

A bombshell report by ESPN writer Seth Wickerson that a rift exist between Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady has many wondering if the end is near for football's longest dynasty. The report cites unnamed sources that Belichick wanted to bench Brady in favor of Jimmy Garrapolo this season, because he sensed the 41-year old quarterback is getting too old. Brady feeling jilted by his boss of 17-years went crying to Kraft to stop Belichick from starting Jimmy G. over him. The report claims that Belichick and Kraft had a lengthy meeting in October and Kraft talked Belichick into trading Garrapolo. Of course, Garrapolo went on to go 5-0 for the 49ers in the final month of the season, making him one of the prized free agents on the market later this spring. Many are thinking that Garrapolo could be the one that got away, especially if Brady is indeed nearing the end. Others are thinking Belichick is planning his own exit by allowing assis...