It’s Monday morning, so that means it’s time to vote for the SB Nation New York Player of the Week. Last week, Eli Manning took the honors for the second consecutive week, due to his clutch performance in Arizona. Things were a whole lot different this week, though, as it was a disaster for New York sports all the way around. The New York Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs, the New York Giants lost a mistake-filled heartbreaker, the New York Jets fell to the hated New England Patriots and the three local hockey teams went a combined 0-2-2 to begin the season, which means it’s slim pickin’s for this week’s nominees.
↵Joe McKnight: The Jets were a lot better this Sunday against the Patriots than they were vs. the Baltimore Ravens a week ago, but they still couldn’t stop their losing streak. The last three weeks haven’t been pretty for Gang Green, but they did discover that they now have a return man to replace Brad Smith. McKnight ran back five kickoffs for a whopping 198 yards, including an 88-yarder that gave them great field position and led to a Jeremy Kerley touchdown.
↵Victor Cruz: I don’t know which direction to go in with the Giants. Every top performer also made at least one glaring mistake. Cruz had an inexcusable fumble that led to three Seattle points and the final nail in the coffin was the ball that bounced off his hand just after he slipped, but he made two spectacular catches at the end, including his juggling-act touchdown, caught eight passes in all and gained 161 yards.
↵Henrik Lundqvist: With defensive breakdowns in front of him, no Marc Staal, no offense and too many penalties to kill, Lundqvist was the biggest reason the New York Rangers kept things close in their first two games of the year. He only allowed one goal on Saturday after letting in three on Friday (which included overtime). He’s mainly responsible for the Rangers getting two points instead of coming home from Sweden empty-handed, and he begins the season with a 1.86 GAA and .931 save percentage.
↵Curtis Granderson: Only the final three games of the ALDS qualify for this week’s sweepstakes, and in the only victory for the Yankees, Granderson was the star. Sure, A.J. Burnett surprised everyone but his mother with his performance, but he did only last five and 2/3 innings and walked four batters. It was his center fielder who bailed him out, though, with a pair of inning-ending, run-saving catches. Granderson also belted a key RBI double in that game, and the previous night, he contributed with an RBI triple, as well.