Are the Giants for real? Are they capable of going “all the way”? Do they possess enough weapons to represent the NFC East in the playoffs? Well…do they?
Not exactly. It could be the fact that they were thrown under the bus before the 06′ campaign, when they realized they would have one of the hardest schedules in the league, besides the Bengals. A shock? Ahhhh, maybe not. The Giants are highly capable of beating any team in the league, but it just won’t happen. Considering the Giants D is simply an obliteration, with a non-existent LaVar Arrington, and for that fact, a non-existent linebacker core, the schedule is even more an enemy than ever. Week 1. The Indianapolis Colts. There is nothing like starting out a season taking on the best offensive team in the league with an untested defense and a highly anticipated brother versus brother match-up that couldn’t of attracted more publicity or required more attention, then if Coughlin had made a “Fassel Guarantee”. It was hard, especially for life-time Giants fans, to watch the Giants once again have the game in their hands and basically throw it away, whether it was on a ridiculous penalty, as usual, or some phantom 10 second deduction rule. Sure, Eli proved to be great, but that highly, well organized Giants defense, seem to runaway from Starvin’ Marvin and those girly Colts.
Week 2. The Philadelphia Eagles. O my god! The Giants are true gods, unbelievable players who seemed to play like gladiators. No, they just got lucky. It seems to me that every game the Giants are in, are either a blowout in favor of their opponent or a lucky, last second, how did they do that victory. A victory that was given by a once in a lifetime, game tying, clutch field goal by A.J. Feeley and an overtime heave, after a game that Tiki Barber only rushed for 53yards, 3 “GIANT” fumbles, and a flawless production by the comeback player of the year, Donovan McNabb. It is hard for me to say it, since I’m a diehard Giants fan, but they won off shear luck, nothing more than finding gold at the end of the rainbow.
Week 3: The Seattle Seahawks. Ok, the Giants are 1-1, and almost managed to hold onto the win last year against the birds, but lost by a field goal. Good game, I have to admit it. Now, I’m sure most football fans were intrigued by this rematch and simply wanted to see if the defending NFC Champions were flukes or really had a great team. Considering their first two wins of this years season came off a 3 point victory over Detroit and a close game against Arizona, plus the fact that there were many complaints about possible “extra noise” being pumped into the stadium to make the opposing teams harder of hearing, which was the Giants sole problem the last time these two teams met. After a 42-3 lead after the 3rd quarter, which was possibly the worst Giants play since the “battle of junkman”, all Giants fans and I speak on behalf of ALL Giants fans, were praying they pumped extra noise into the stadium to drown out the weeping sorrows of New York fans. The Giants did put up a great 4th quarter by scoring 28 unanswered points, which seems to be the only time Eli plays consistent, but the game stats speaks for themselves. In a game in which Shaun Alexander, who in my opinion can only rush consistently alongside the best line in football which he had last year, only had 47 yards and 1 touchdown, and 5 Matt Hasselbeck touchdown passes. That seems a little off center. At this point, after this particular game, the Giants showed their lapse in secondary production and seemed to be as bad as they were in any previous season.
Week 4. The more than needed bye week, which has given the Eagles and Cowboys, as well as the Redskins, all wins which came in high fashion, and another game gained over the Giants, putting them in last place, a place where alongside the hardest schedule in the NFL, seems to horrible to be true.
Is there hope? There might be. Eli has proven he can throw with the best of them and you can always count on Tiki to carry the torch of best running back in the league. Hell, you can even count on Plaxico Burress catching passes when they throw to him, but you can also count on him to make stupid plays like clipping and holding when the ball isn’t even on his side of the hemisphere. Toomer still has juice in the tank, Shockey is shockingly disappointed in his input towards the Giant’s production which means we’ll see a lot more of the Pro Bowler. The offensive line can maybe come throw if they play in a sound proof room, and the defensive line is actually doing pretty well, starting off where they left off last year. Things are looking good so far, but while the Giants come off their bye week, they are starring the devil in the eyes. First off, they have to face their division rivals next week, the Washington Redskins, who seem to be on fire after their overtime victory this week. Next, they travel to Atlanta, which will match-up the Falcons number 1 rushing offense against a Giants defense that has given up 90 yds/g. It will be interesting to watch Antonio Pierce wobble after Vick as he plays duck-duck-goose with the Giants defense. Considering the division leader Eagles, who already lead the Giants by 2 games, face Dallas, New Orleans, then Tampa Bay over the next 3 weeks, time is money for the G-men. If some how the Giants manage to loose the next two weeks, it could prove to be the end for the Giants this season, and maybe Coughlin’s coaching future in NY.
Let’s see. The Giants are 4th worst against the pass, decent against the run, 2nd worst in points given up, have a dismal turnover difference and really don’t deserve a mention in the NFC East after only 4 weeks and 3 games. The Giants face the Redskins and Cowboys twice, the Falcons in Atlanta, some of the hardest defenses in the NFL in the Bucs, Bears, and Panthers, they face the Jags in Jacksonville who barely lost to the Colts, and it doesn’t get better. The only certain wins is against the Titans, and that is it. They face the Texans in early November but with Carr doing what he’s doing this season, who knows. They see the Saints in East Rutherford, who seem to have found there place in the NFC and they also face the Eagles on more time in late December.
The Giants are in a lot of trouble. They need hard running, consistent passing with a near perfect interception to touchdown ratio, disciplined receivers, 5 hearing aids for the offensive lineman, a bed pan for LaVar Arrington, and another thing, BRING BACK FASSEL!!!
3 replies on “Giant Devastation”
giants I think the real issue at hand is the fact that the Giants, nor Eli Manning, are nearly as good as everyone thinks they are. On the same note, Manning is still good, just a tad overhyped. I feel that last year’s team got hot and, well, a little lucky last year. They set themselves up for failure by having such a good season with a young quarterback last year. And as for Arrington, he is just a big name on a list of big name free agent aqcuisitions that simply will not pay off. At 1-2, are the Giants done? By no means, of course not. However, they are dead last in their division, and need I remind everyone how good that division is?
giants 2 Also, other than the comments I made previously, this was a well written article. Just go over a little spell check next time. I enjoyed it.
lets all remember the giants are 1-0 in their own division, plus a bye week came at the right time i think that’s a given for anyone who didn’t realize it. the team has potential… i don’t think they are overrated, and i don’t think eli is overhyped. i think they all have played selfishly and not even close to their potentials. hopefully the events of the last 2 weeks have had a positive effect on the team.