Another missed field goal for Lawrence Tynes means another week with his job status up in the air. Once again, Tom Coughlin seemed unhappy with Tynes, the product of Greenock, Scotland, who missed what could have been a critical, 29-yard field goal with 11:43 left in the game. He made his other two kicks, from 20 and 41 yards in the first half, but Coughlin could not hide his anger over the one miss, a "thing that would have been very regrettable had the Dolphins come back." "It would have been 16-3 at that time," Coughlin said. "I thought that margin would have given us a huge advantage."

Alex Smith believes he's ready to take over the 49ers again. Coach Mike Nolan thinks his quarterback's competitive streak is healthier than his shoulder. Trent Dilfer will start again for the 49ers on Sunday, though Smith also will be in uniform when they visit the Giants.

The Giants are on another roll. Now, they've got to sustain it. Eli Manning passed for 303 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Giants to their fourth straight win, 31-10 over the Falcons on Monday night.

New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed his second straight practice Friday because of a sore left knee. Umenyiora, the NFC's defensive player of the week after he sacked Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb a team-record six times and forced two fumbles Sunday night, has said he still expects to play against the New York Jets on Sunday. He initially injured the knee in the Giants opening game at Dallas on Sept. 9. "Right now, I think he has made good progress, he is better than he was yesterday," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Friday. "So we are very hopeful."

The New York Giants will practice at Chelsea soccer club's training facilities when they come to London this month for the first NFL regular season game outside North America. The Premier League team will host the Giants at their Cobham complex outside London on Oct. 26, two days before the game against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. The partnership was announced Thursday by Chelsea and the NFL. Giants coach Tom Coughlin said team officials raved about Chelsea's facilities after making an advance inspection visit in June. "They told me, 'Coach, you are going to have a tear in your eye when you see the fields at Chelsea's facility. You've only seen practice fields this beautiful in your dreams,"' Coughlin said.

Eli Manning and the Giants' passing game clearly have been out of synch the last three weeks. Plaxico Burress doesn't think that has anything to do with Manning. He's blaming himself. "Eli's doing a phenomenal job," Burress said. "He's doing a great job of putting us all in the right plays and putting the ball where it needs to be. Us as receivers, we've just got to come down with a few more of those balls and make plays for him." Burress has had a few drops, but mostly he's been limited by a sprained right ankle that forced him out of the loss to the Packers three weeks ago and hasn't allowed him to practice since. "Without me being able to practice, I'm a big part of us not being able to get better," he said. "I'm just not as crisp as I want to be, as sharp as I want to be."

The New York Giants unleashed a swarming, gang-rushing defense on the Eagles on Sunday night, and rekindled hope for the season?s long-term prospects with a 16-3 victory. The Giants (2-2) set a team record and tied an N.F.L. mark with 12 quarterback sacks, mercilessly hassling McNabb into incompletions and capturing him for losses. The defense added a touchdown on a fumble return by linebacker Kawika Mitchell to help secure the game. ?People came up with plays ? play after play,? Coach Tom Coughlin said. The sack total included a franchise-record six by defensive end Osi Umenyiora, and another by Michael Strahan, who established a team mark for sacks in a career.