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There are few teams in the NFL as hot as the New York Giants.The Giants (8-3) are riding a six-game winning streak and go on the road for their Week 13 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last loss for the Giants was Oct. 9 in Green Bay.The Steelers (6-5) can take solace in the fact they get home cooking for this matchup with major playoff implications.The Steelers are 3-2 at home and two of the Giants three losses have happened away from New York. This statistic may look good on paper, but when dissected, the Steelers have lost their last two home games. They are 2-4 in their last six games and last won at home, ironically, on Oct. 9 against the New York Jets.These are two teams that appear to be headed in distinctly different directions at the most critical time of the season.Its December football. this is where the real football begins, Giants coach Ben McAdoo said. All our hard work to this point has set the table for December. Its an exciting time against a lot of playoff teams and playoff environments. The margin for error is small. This is where our identity needs to take over.Both the Steelers and the Giants have flaws that need to get corrected if either wants to be playing in late January.The Steelers have an explosive offense but are lacking on defense.The Giants defense, which made major upgrades the offseason, has been dominant. The offense has not been. That unit, led by quarterback Eli Manning, produced only 296 yards in an escape win overt Cleveland in Week 12. Manning threw for a season-low 194 yards.I dont think we took a step back (against Cleveland), but I definitely think we could have taken a bigger step forward. We got time -- a couple more games left. Now its time to progress this week, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said of the offensive struggles.To emphasize this lack of offense, Beckham Jr. has been held under 100 yards receiving in the last five games.The Giants offense will be facing a Steelers defense that has only allowed 16 points in the last two games. Granted, those games were against the Cody Kessler-led Browns and the Scott Tolzien-led Colts. Before those wins, the much=maligned defense had given up 113 points during the teams four-game losing streak.The defense will need to play like they have the last two weeks and hope the Giants offense continues to struggle.The Steelers offense is their strength and the play of the Giants defense is how they win games. If those two units play to a stalemate, the winner of the New York offense against the Pittsburgh defense will heavily sway the winner of the game.Guys are definitely trying to make plays. Trying to be around the ball a lot more. Trying to be more physical and force the people to do what we want them to do, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier said of the defenses improvement the past two weeks.One way for that defense to tilt the game in their favor is to force the Giants to run the football.Neither starter Rashad Jennings or rookie backup Paul Perkins has been able to light a spark in the rushing attack. Jennings is 30th in the NFL in rushing with only 395 yards.Only the Minnesota Vikings have a worse run game than the Giants in the NFL. The Giants average 79.5 yards rushing per game and do not have a run for more than 40-plus yards this season.The matchup to watch during this game for football purists will be the Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers offense going against defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and the Giants.The Steelers average 263.9 yards through the air and have scored 24 passing touchdowns. Pittsburgh has the eighth-best passing attack in the NFL. The Pittsburgh offensive line has done a solid job of protecting the quarterback, only allowing 14 sacks.Pierre-Paul has been a man among boys the last two games. He has produced 5.5 sacks, four tackles for a loss, six quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.Giants safety Landon Collins is tied for second in the NFL with five interceptions. These two playmakers have helped hold opponents to 19.4 points per game. That is tied for fifth in the NFL.The Giants defensive unit has only allowed 10 touchdowns, yet they have 10 interceptions and 25 sacks. Larry Bird Celtics Jersey .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Paul Pierce Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. http://www.celticssale.com/ . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Gordon Hayward Jersey .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. Bill Russell Celtics Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Roy Williams thought Assembly Hall put on a perfect show Wednesday night.Fans roared when Cubs outfielder and former Hoosiers star Kyle Schwarber was introduced as honorary game captain. They made Chicago Blackhawks national anthem singer and Indiana alum James Cornelison feel right at home by cheering through his performance of the song. The fans stayed on their feet most of the night and did whatever they could to keep the Hoosiers on track for their fifth straight home win against a top three team.Then there was the curious case of Williams Tar Heels.Seven days after returning from a four-game Hawaiian road trip, one on which they trailed for a combined total of 16 seconds, No. 3 North Carolina never led and spent most of the game trying to fight its way out of a double-digit deficit before finally losing 76-67 to No. 13 Indiana.Williams was understandably unhappy.We were not ready to play, he said. We did not shoot free throws, we didnt rebound the basketball, we didnt get the loose balls, At the half, they had more second-chance points -- they had five or six fast-break points -- and we had none. Everything, everything (went wrong).Usually, Williams and his teams leave opponents frustrated and searching for answers.But it was obvious from the opening minutes Wednesday that this was not going to be a typical game.North Carolina (7-1) gave up the first two baskets, trailed 17-7 in less than 6 minutes and found itself facing a 28-11 deficit midway through the first half.Perhaps even more disconcerting was that Williams couldnt explain how his team came out so flat in such a raucous environment.It was a wonderful crowd.dddddddddddd. Gosh, I would like to play in front of a crowd like that in the Smith Center every night other than the Duke game, Williams said. It was a big-time crowd, but Ive got to coach better and the players have to play better.They need to respond better, too.The Tar Heels came into the ACC-Big Ten Challenge as the nights feature attraction. They were averaging 92.9 points and shooting 51.9 percent from the field. And yet, against the Big Tens highest scoring team, North Carolina started the night 5 of 17 from the field and just 2 of 9 on 2-point shots.Youve just got to learn that you cant be attacked. They came out, they wanted it more at the beginning, we found ourselves in a hole and we tried to come back, guard Joel Berry II said after scoring eight points. But it was just too late.North Carolina came back in the second half, cutting the deficit to 61-57 with 4:52 to go, but they never made it a one-possession game and Indiana (5-1) pulled away for their second straight win since a befuddling upset at IPFW .I dont think our kids understood what we were talking about when we said how emotional it was going to be, how much they are going to be, Williams said. They did not correct everything from Mississippi Valley State (Sundays game). My guess, and purely a guess, (Indiana coach) Tom (Crean) wished they didnt even have Mississippi Valley State. He probably wanted us the next game.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . ' ' '