St. Louis is home sweet home

As we await tonight's festivities in game four of the World Series, it certainly appears that home actually is sweet home for the St. Louis Cardinals.
After gaining the split in the first two games in Detroit, the Cards have won Game 3 at home and are looking for their fourth home playoff win in the last five games.
In the series against the Mets, St. Louis used a similar formula that they have for the Series: earn a split on the road, and take the first game at home. They did that against New York and they did it against the Tigers. They lost the middle home game against the Mets, but that's the only game that they have lost in Busch Stadium in the last two rounds.
For the post season, the Cards have won four home games while losing two. They lost Game 3 against the Padres, but at the time they already had a 2-0 lead in a five-game series. They won Game 4, also at Busch, to move on to the NLCS.
There are two more home games in this World Series for St. Louis, and if things continue to go the way they have thus far in the playoffs, we'll all be watching highlights from the Cardinals' World Series Parade as it motors through downtown St. Louis.

Giants taking control of NFC East

After Monday night's 36-22 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys, the N.Y. Giants, the team that all the so-called experts picked to relinquish their NFC East crown, seem to be in control of their own destiny in the division.
At 4-2 and on a three-game winning streak, the Giants are 3-0 in the division. No other team in the NFC East can make that claim. The Eagles are closest at 1-1 in the East, but they look very shaky.
One more division win will basically lock up the best division record for New York. There's a lot of football left to be played, but the next three weeks could spell out the division.
Next week won't matter too much, as there are no division games and Washington has a bye. But the two weeks after that could make or break teams in this division.
Philly has Jacksonville at home, then a bye, but then they have the Skins at home. If they lose one of those two games, especially the Redskins game, they could be in trouble.
Dallas is on the road the next three weeks, and that's not easy no matter who the opponents are. They have Washington sandwiched between two non-division games. The 'Boys already have two division losses, and at 3-3 they'll need to win all three games to stay in the hunt.
As for Washington, they have a bye next week. Then it's home for Dallas and at Philly. The Redskins are in deep trouble. For the last couple of seasons, everyone has said "Watch out for the Redskins." Well, I've seen nothing to be afraid of.
The mountain that they have to climb is severely steep. Washington is 0-3 in the East with their next two games being against division foes. They need to win them both. They have even less room for error than the Cowboys do.
The Giants have Tampa and Houston at home the next two weeks before they have to face the Bears. If the Giants are 6-2 by then, which they should be, they could be in firm grasp of another division title.
I do have one question for Tom Coughlin, though. With less than two minutes left in the first half and a 12-7 lead, why were the Giants running out the clock instead of running the two-minute drill to try to add to their lead? If anyone has an answer, because I can't think of one, please let me know.