After The Smoke Clears: What’s Next For The New York Giants?

I gave myself some time to calm down after this Sunday’s game that featured the New York Giants’ offense and special teams against the New Orleans Saints. So now that I have done that and my article will not be full of expletives, I’ll make an attempt to analyze the madness.

It was also a game that featured elementary officiating, and that is putting it lightly. Sometimes people want to feel like their team has a fair shot at winning, but the officiating and bad defense took care of that nonsense.

So much was wrong about Sunday’s game, I’m not sure where to begin.

Eli Manning went away from what has been working all season on offense. He went deep on third-down six times during the game, all six were followed by five punts and a 49-yard field goal.

Don’t get me wrong, Eli has gone deep and taken chances before, but he did it on downs that the team could afford to take a chance. What has been working for Eli and the offense is taking what the defense gives you and making sure you get the first down on third down.

Now, on one occasion I can justify Manning going deep, as Steve Smith was wide open for a sure touchdown. The problem is, Manning overthrew him and Smith had no chance to catch the ball.

Actually, now that I think about it, his receivers were open on more than just one of those attempts. However, the only one who really thrives in one-on-one deep coverage is Hakeem Nicks, and even he hasn’t done it well in the regular season.

Don’t get caught up in the numbers for the running game. They were forced to abandon the run very early as they fell behind by 17 very quickly.

Those were just the few offensive problems I had with the game; I really was actually impressed with the offense at times besides when Eli was trying to do too much.

The defense, or lack thereof, was nothing short of embarrassing. If there was one person I would not want to be in the sports world Sunday Night (other than anyone involved with the UCONN tragedy), it would be C.C. Brown.

Brown played one of the worst games at safety I have ever seen. He was consistently out of position, and even when he was in position, was outmatched for balls every time.

I don’t remember a player ever being so affected by the play-action when the opposing team was not running the ball well. The play where he left Corey Webster out to dry with no deep inside help that resulted in a wide open Colston touchdown was inexcusable.

He was not the only problem.

The front four ought to be ashamed of themselves at this point in the season. This marks the third time this year the Giants have been held without a sack. Previously against Dallas and Tampa Bay, the front four had better get their act together.

Dallas and Tampa Bay don’t even have great offensive lines, either, so to say the front four have been disappointing this season would be putting it lightly.

I guess most of us Giant fans had lofty expectations heading into this game. The reality is the Saints pose an incredible matchup problem with the quick passing attack. It takes away the pass rush and forces the linebackers to play coverage, which is not their strong point. 

That being said, let’s not forget the Giants are missing several key players on defense. Chris Canty and Aaron Ross are not back yet, and Kenny Philips is gone for the season. Once these players get back healthy the team should be able to focus on getting better.

Another thing to remember is how well the offense is still playing. Despite the fact that they struggled against the Saints, they still scored 27 points. If they find a way to go back to the way they did things before—taking what the defense gives them—they will get back on track.

I’d also like to thank Oakland and Kansas City for making the day not so hard to deal with.

At the same time the Giants were getting shellacked by the Saints, the Redskins were adding (or subtracting) to their already terrible resume by losing to the Chiefs at home.

The Redskins played six opponents in a row who did not have a win—the New York Giants (Week 1, no one has wins), St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Kansas City. Such a stretch of games has never happened in NFL history.

The Redskins are 2-4 and are a hot topic of conversation as the screws are coming loose in the organization and head coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat.

As if things could not get any better, the Eagles went to Oakland and got beat 13-9 by the same team who lost to the Giants 44-7 one week before. The upset-minded Raiders kept the Giants two games ahead of the Cowboys and Eagles in the division.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget, they are still 5-1.

Moving forward the Giants should be able to bounce back against the Cardinals. Arizona is doing well at stopping the run, but that is mainly due to the fact that teams are passing it so well and often against them—they are last in the league in pass defense.

The Giants were given a wake up call this week, let’s hope they respond.

 

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New York Giants: Time to Play Some Real NFL Teams

The New York Giants have had one of the easiest schedules to start the year and, of no surprise to anyone, are 5-0.

The Cowboys game could have been a speed bump in an otherwise smooth five-week ride, but they proved the only reason that game was close was a result of the emotions associated with the new stadium opening.

The Giants have taken care of business against three bottom feeders since then, outscoring their opponents 95-23 (including one shutout).  For those counting, the scores were a combined 78-10 after three quarters in those games.

In that span, they also held all three opponents to under 200 yards and have the league’s No. 1 defense.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

The New York Giants have had injuries to Aaron Ross, Chris Canty, Kevin Dockery, Clint Sintim, Michael Boley, Brian Kehl, Kenny Philips, Jay Alford, and Justin Tuck.

By my count, that is five starters and two players (Dockery and Alford) who were expected to see starter minutes, and yet they are still No. 1.

Honestly, this probably has to do with the fact that they have faced four inept offensive teams, but the way they have dominated those teams is still impressive.

It looked like the Bucs, Chiefs, and Raiders didn’t even deserve to be in the NFL when they played Big Blue.

Let’s be honest—if the NFL were like the English Premier League (soccer), these teams probably wouldn’t be in the NFL.

You see, in the Premier League, after every season, they take the bottom three teams from the table (standings) and demote them to the Coca-Cola league (like the D-League in NBA), and promote the top three teams from the Coca Cola league to the Premier League.

That is something interesting to consider eventually adopting in the NFL, but I get the feeling it would never happen.

Sorry I had to make a soccer reference, I realize I may have lost several readers at that point…

The Giants have been the model of depth in the NFL this season.  No matter what, when one guy goes down, the next guy in line steps in, and the team does not miss a beat.

This speaks to the incredible ability of the coaching staff as a whole.  To be able to have 53 guys ready to play at such a high level is unprecedented—and refreshing, to say the least.

Going into this season, there were question marks about the linebacker and wide receiver positions.  The players at those respective positions have answered those questions emphatically and have this team and its fans thinking Super Bowl.

Why not?  The last time the Giants started a season 5-0 was in 1990, the year Parcells took home his second Lombardi trophy.

The individual player statistics are the best I’ve ever seen so far:

• Eli Manning is No. 2 in the NFL with a 111.7 QB rating and No. 2 with 10 touchdowns
• Steve Smith leads the league with 37 receptions, 481 yards, and is tied for first with four touchdowns.  He also is No. 2 with 25 first down catches.
• Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs are No. 5 and No. 9 in the league in rushing.
• Mario Manningham leads the league with eight catches of 20+ yards.
• Lawrence Tynes leads the NFL in scoring.

You’d be hard pressed to find better numbers than these.

The statistics for the team are staggering:

• No. 2 in Total Offense
• No. 9 in Pass Offense
• No. 4 in Rush Offense
• No. 4 in Points Per Game (No. 1 in points differential)
• No. 1 in Total Defense (They even have fewer yards allowed than the Eagles, Saints, Jets, Dolphins, Chargers, Packers, Bears, Cardinals, Panthers, and Falcons—all of whom have played one less games than the Giants.)
• No. 2 Points Per Game Allowed
• No. 1 in Pass Defense
• No. 16 in Rush Offense

So, basically, they are in the top ten in every major category except rush defense.  That category is inflated by the 251 yards they allowed when Justin Tuck was injured against the Cowboys.

The Giants have all the makings of a Super Bowl team, but the rest of the schedule will make or break the season.

Nine of the final 11 games are against teams with .500 records or better (two are 2-2).  The two games not in that category are at Washington and Carolina, who are anything but pushovers.

The team is looking forward to their matchup with New Orleans this week, when they will finally be tested against one of the NFL’s elite teams.  The defense will be tested for sure, but it is safe to say they are up to the task.

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NFL Power Rankings: Bleacher Addition (Week Two)

 

Week two of the NFL season is in the books, and here are the power rankings thus far.

• The Jets made the biggest leap in the rankings, moving up 10 spots. The Saints broke into the top 10 with a seven spot leap
• The Titans and Packers were the biggest losers, each dropping eight spots with poor home losses.
• The Giants move into the No. 1 spot with their road victory at Dallas and the Steelers loss to Chicago.

 

1. Giants (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—2

The Giants got a great come from behind road victory in Dallas, Eli Manning is proving he does not need Plaxico Burress to succeed. I wouldn’t read too much into this just yet, the Giants moved up to No. 1 because of some poor performances by the previous top teams.

 

2. Falcons (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—3

The Falcons took care of business at home against the Panthers, they have a tough road test ahead of them at New England.

 

3. Colts (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—6

The Colts pulled off a crazy win at Miami on Monday Night Football in which they held the ball for less than 15 minutes, yet scored 27 points.

 

4. Ravens (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—10

The Ravens went on the road and pulled off the upset in San Diego. The Ravens’ look like they won’t have to rely on that defense as much; Joe Flacco has that offense clicking.

 

5. Steelers (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—1

The Steelers lost a tough game at Chicago, the swirling winds cost them two field goals and a victory.

 

6. Saints (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—13

The Saints have been able to make up for the inefficiencies on defense so far, but how long can they keep it up?

 

7. Jets (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—17

The Jets dominated the Patriots on defense and came away with a great win for Rex Ryan. If the defense ever lets up, they may be in trouble.

 

8. Vikings (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—9

The Vikings scared some people with a suspect first half, but Brett Favre led the troops past the Lions. The Vikings had the easiest first two games they could ask for, they will need to prove they can beat tough teams before they move further up.

 

9.  Patriots (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—4

The Patriots could not back up the trash talk on the road against the Jets, their offensive struggles are worrisome.

 

10. 49ers (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—14

The 49ers picked up two much needed division wins and are looking like the team to beat in the NFC West.

11. Chargers (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—5

The Chargers could not stop the Ravens, despite moving the ball with ease against the great Ravens’ defense. Philip Rivers had over 400 yards passing in the loss.

 

12. Eagles (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—8

The Eagles were dominated by the Saints, but when they get McNabb back they should be able to hold on to the ball longer and get the defense off the field.

 

13. Texans (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—16

The Texans picked up a huge bounce back win at division rival Tennessee, Steve Slaton needs to get on board if this team wants to go anywhere.

 

14. Cowboys (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—11

Besides being able to run the ball all over the Giants after injuring Justin Tuck, the Cowboys were terrible on both sides of the ball. Tony Romo single-handedly cost the Cowboys the game.

 

15. Packers (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—7

The Packers did not play well with Greg Jennings on the sidelines, this was a terrible home loss to the Bengals.

 

16. Bears (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—24

The Bears picked up a great win against the defending Champs, but I’m not sure they can withstand the loss of Urlacher just yet.

 

17. Broncos (2-0): Last Week’s Rank—19

The Broncos dominated on defense yet again, but this time the offense decided to show up. If they can produce on both sides of the ball like this then the Chargers should not feel so confident in the AFC West.

 

18. Redskins (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—12

The Redskins looked terrible against the Rams, but came away with the victory. Their offense has not been able to move the ball at all the first two weeks, something has to change.

 

19. Cardinals (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—20

The Cardinals will have to show up offensively if they want to win any games this year. The 49ers took them to school.

 

20. Titans (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—12

The Titans played two very good teams in the first two weeks, so it may not be time to push the panic button…yet.

 

21. Bills (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—21

The Bills were able to take care of business at home against the Bucs. They were clicking on both sides of the ball, but how long can it last?

22. Bengals (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—29

The Bengals picked up a solid win at Lambeau Field on Sunday, the offense is clicking but Carson Palmer needs to cut down the turnovers.

 

23. Seahawks (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—17

The Seahawks were destroyed by Frank Gore, and Matt Hasselbeck left the game with a fractured rib. It does not look good for the Seahawks.

 

24. Jaguars (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—22

The Jags really needed to bounce back with a win at home after a tough loss to the Colts, but the defense was not up to the challenge.

 

25. Panthers (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—23

The Panthers looked like they may start figuring out how to win again, but they fell just short against the Falcons on the road

 

26. Raiders (1-1): Last Week’s Rank—26.

The Raiders picked up a win against the Chiefs, but to move up any further they will have to get a win against a better team. The offense looked awful.

 

27. Dolphins (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—25

The Dolphins lost to the Colts despite holding the ball for more than 45 minutes, an NFL record in a loss.

 

28. Bucs (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—27

The Bucs fell behind big early and could not recover, the running game was not as potent against the Bills and it showed in the scoreboard.

 

29. Chiefs (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—28

Matt Cassel wasn’t enough to put the Chiefs past the Raiders at home, what a said day for Kansas City.

 

30. Browns (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—30

The Browns’ run defense was exposed by the Broncos yet again, and the Brady Quinn experiment seems to be going downhill

 

31. Rams (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—31

This was yet another pathetic outing by the Rams, but they were almost matched in mediocrity by the Redskins, were it not for a late turnover, the Rams would have won the game.

 

32. Lions (0-2): Last Week’s Rank—32

The Lions started the game up 10-0 and ended it down 27-13…with a 10-7 lead at half time it seemed we were just waiting for the Vikings to start trying and put the Lions away.

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The New York Giants Are Bringing Two New Faces to Dallas

The New York Giants have an exciting week ahead of them. Not only are they getting Michael Boley back from suspension and injury, but fans can also look forward to the debut of second round draft pick Clint Sintim.

If you thought the Giants had a bevy of pass rushers before this week, just wait until you see Tony Romo running for his life on national television this Sunday.

Sintim shined in a 3-4 defense at Virginia, mainly as a pass rushing specialist. He had 11 sacks in 12 games for a total of minus 86 yards.

Not to be confused with a player who isn’t versatile, Sintim was also very solid in run defense. In his senior season he was involved in 65 runs plays, and the defense only allowed 139 yards.

That being said, at this point in his career he will more than likely be thrust into the Giants defensive line rotation on third downs; he has to adjust to the 4-3 defense before winning the starting job in the near future.

With Sintim, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Mathias Kiwanuka manning the outsides, and sometimes the inside in certain situations, the Giants’ pass rush has to be considered one of the best in the league, if not the best.

Michael Boley was brought in to help the only documented weakness on the defense—outside linebacker. With the way Chase Blackburn played on Sunday, I’d say he isn’t the one who should be replaced, it should be Danny Clark.

I wasn’t sure why Danny Clark got the start in the first place since he lost playing time towards the end of last season and there was no mention of injury problems.

That being said, the Giants will look to keep the front seven fresh with a plethora of players. Brian Kehl, Chase Blackburn, Danny Clark, Gerris Wilkinson, and Michael Boley will all probably be rotated frequently.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Michael Boley come off the bench and be eased into his role, because no one will be clamoring for big changes after how the defense dominated the Redskins in Week One.

This Sunday should be a real test with the vaunted Cowboy offense taking the field. They showed the NFL they won’t miss Terrell Owens very much against the Bucs’ defense; the Giants better not be ill prepared.

Romo threw for a career high 353 yards and three touchdowns.

Safe to say he has silenced the critics, so far.

If I’m being completely unbiased, the match-up seems to favor neither team. On paper, the Giants have the edge on defense but the Cowboys have the edge on the other side.

However, identities are hard to place on NFL teams this early in the season. Let’s hope the Giants pull out yet another division win.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

NFL Power Rankings: Bleacher Addition

Well, we are only one night away from the start of the NFL regular season. This article was a long time coming; I knew I wanted to do a recurring power rankings article when the season started.

Check back each week for updates, I will try to publish them on Monday nights after the result of the Monday Night Football game.

I hope you enjoy!

Begin Slideshow

The Battle For The Meadowlands: New York Giants Look To Bounce Back

The New York Giants are looking to wash the bad taste of the preseason game in Chicago last week. A game that saw countless three and outs, embarrassing offensive line play, and a defense that didn’t look as dominant as they should.

Jay Cutler drove up and down the field in that game, leading two scoring drives and another that ended in a field goal.

I wouldn’t put much stock in the game, seeing as how nearly half the defense and the starting two offensive guards participated in the action as much as you and I did.

This week is always the most important game in terms of evaluating the first string players.

For each organization, it will also be a memorial for the last time these two will play in Giants stadium against each other, as they have for the last 40 years in the pre-season.

For the Giants and for fans watching, we will more than likely be privy to who is going to occupy the starting wide reciever positions.

The wide receivers have been blowing up at camp, but they haven’t really translated that into much success on the field. The first drive in the Carolina game went well, but it was mostly on the shoulders of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. After that, the starters left the game.

If the guys vying for jobs want to make any sort of progress, the third preseason game is the venue to do it.

Eli Manning is excited about the prospect of playing against the Jets’ pressure defense:

“The Jets are going to have a complex blitz package,” Manning said. “We are going to have to watch film and probably have some more game preparation than we have these last few weeks for this preseason game. A lot of times we just kind of go into our base plays and you have to adjust. This week we’ll do a little bit more preparing for the Jets and their schemes. So we hope to go out there and play well because we know as the first group this will be kind of our last game preparation. In the last preseason game we only play about a series.”

Another interesting aspect of this game is that some of the players who have been sitting out will get an opportunity to stretch their game legs finally.

Coach Tom Coughlin said that all the big men in the middle—defensive tackles Rocky Bernard and Fred Robbins, and offensive guards Chris Snee and Rich Seubert—will play tonight.

Kenny Philips will be back, but Aaron Ross and Antonio Pierce will sit this one out. The Giants will probably struggle on defense without their captain, but look at it this way, it’s a chance for Chase Blackburn to shine in the middle.

We may finally get a chance to see the defensive package with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Mathias Kiwanuka on the field at the same time; a package that worked so well in 2007 with Michael Strahan. I feel sorry for Mark Sanchez.

So while I made all these points as to why the third game is so important, I still contend that I will not be worried if the team struggles again. Hopefully it won’t get to that point.

 

 

 

Elementary Solution Employed in Dallas Stadium Debauchery [HUMOR]

Even being a Giants fan, I cannot deny the ingenuity and brilliance of a place like the new Cowboys’ stadium. It is almost ironic that the fantastic scoreboard could present such a problem for the players and staff.

When searching for a solution, one would have thought the NFL could have come up with some professional sounding explanation for the rule they came up with to solve the issue with the marvel scoreboard in Jerry Jones’ monument of a Stadium.

What happened instead is this: The NFL decided that in the event of a punt or kick hitting the scoreboard, the scoreboard stretches from 20-yard line to 20-yard line, 60 yards for those counting, the play will result in a “do-over.” That is not to be confused with “givesies-backsies” or “no tag backs.”

I guess the NFL executives got the memo to go home and ask their children to give them some advice on the matter, that seems to be the only logical explanation for the language chosen to adopt the rule.

The mere idea of the NFL calling it a “do-over” simply breeds light unto the fact that the whole situation was trivial to begin with.

I mean the punters hitting the scoreboard is a real problem, but the back and forth between the NFL and Jerry Jones reminded me of the classic “tag in the sheepdog car” scene in Dumb and Dumber—the original not the worthless excuse for a sequel.

“You can’t triple stamp a double stamp Lloyd! You can’t triple stamp a double stamp Lloyd! LLOYD!!” Simply classic.

I can’t help but feel like this is what Jerry Jones had coming to him. If you are going to build such a glorious scoreboard, at least bring your punter out to see how high he can kick it.

The precautions that could have been taken to avoid such a debacle are so simple my 28 month old nephew might have been able to figure it out.

I understand that moving the scoreboard up would cost around $2 million dollars, which is chump change for the Dallas organization, but the fact that Jones won’t even consider it just keeps feeding my elementary school analogy.

“The NFL told me 85 feet, so we’re leaving it at 90.”

Gee Jerry, thanks for considering the fans and players in all of this. The fans are being gypped in that the punt is such a boring play to begin with, and to have to watch in more than once in succession is a buzz kill (rest assured their will be drunk people at Texas Stadium).

The punters aren’t being considered because it is not only a physical barrier, but a psychological barrier as well, and every time they kick it could mess with their heads somehow and force a bad kick.

This story is more evidence that Jerry Jones views his organizations as a business rather than a football team.

Investment Portfolio: “Stay Away From Brett Favre Vikings Jersey”

So I’m sitting in my living room and I tune into the Vikings vs. Chiefs game on NFL Network. Not only are the announcers the most homer announcers I’ve ever heard (at one point, Brett made a horrible pass and the announcer said he was OK with it), but for some reason, people are wearing Brett Favre jerseys.

Purple Brett Favre jerseys. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect to see any yellow or white Jerseys, but there are better options when shopping for jerseys, like I dunno, Adrian Peterson?

I tend to shy away from 40-year-old guys who are too much of a wuss to show up for two-a-days like everyone else when I buy my jerseys. 

At first, I thought, “well, maybe some of these fans were die hard and had custom-ordered John David Booty jerseys.” Then I drifted back to reality.

Why anyone would waste their time and money buying a Favre No. 4 jersey is beyond me. I might go as far as a T-shirt, but to spend $70-$80 on a guy’s jersey who is gone after one season (two at the most) is ludicrous to me.

That’s almost as dumb as the people in Buffalo who are buying Terrell Owens Jerseys.

I mean, when you buy a jersey there should be two criteria. First, they should be under 35. Secondly, it should be reasonably understood that they plan on staying for more than one season, something you can’t say definitively for either player.

If you can convince me that Brett Favre will play for three or four more years, then maybe I will back off a bit, but seeing as how that will never happen, I’ll keep my opinion heard.

In all actuality, I’m mainly using this recent Favre debauchery to bridge in my take about the situation in general.

Is anyone else as tired of this prima donna as I am? I didn’t think it was possible for a diva to wear Wranglers.

Brett Favre has to enjoy this, there really can’t be any other explanation for it. He has done it for the past three years, and will probably do it again next year in an effort to avoid training camp.

What is even more maddening is the media’s apparent man crush on Favre. The guy works out at a high school in Mississippi, and ESPN is sending arguably their hottest and best field reporter to cover it, Rachel Nichols.

I love ESPN as much as the next guy, but when the Astros, Yankees, and the rest of the MLB’s highlights are forcibly cut short to make room to watch high school kids dropping Brett Favre passes, it makes me sick.

As a Giants’ fan, I can’t wait until week 17 when Brett will have to fear the likes of Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck. At that point, hopefully Brett will regret his decision.

So here’s to you Diva…errrr Brett Favre, see you next year.

 

New York Giants Camp: Encouraging To Say The Least

The New York Giants had a levy full of confidence entering the 2009 season before camp. If training camp is any indication of the measure of success they are looking for, that confidence has only increased.

The battle for playing time at the wide receiver position has been fierce, among other things, often breaking out in aggressive shoving, getting in each others faces, and so on.

Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon were supposed to be the starters, but that may in fact change once the season starts.

Derek Hagan and Ramses Barden have been killing the defense so far.

In the past soon-to-be three weeks, Hagan has dropped one pass. If there was one person who I would be worried if the Giants cut, it is definitely Hagan; can anyone say Ryan Grant?

The team has seven receivers that are all performing well, it will be a tough decision when the team is cut to 53.

Ramses Barden had the catch of the camp when he leaped over the defense for a one-handed touchdown grab a week ago and has continued to impress while Steve Smith sits out due to injury.

Hakeem Nicks is finally getting into the swing of things, about time seeing as how he sat out most of camp due to a lingering hamstring problem. This is encouraging, the Giants are counting on Nicks to be the heir apparent to Plaxico Burress, minus the shooting himself in the leg skill.

Mario Manningham is starting to show why he was drafted in the third round last year. He battled injuries up to this point, but now is putting all that behind him as well as the defense. If there is nothing these receivers lack, it is speed, and Super Mario is no exception.

Sinorice Moss has been possibly the most impressive in the collective off season. He was burning the defense in mini camp and has continued his success in two-a-days.

Eli Manning will have a grand arsenal of weapons when the season starts, and he better be ready to use them.

One bad thing you could say about the offense is that they have thrown over 25 interceptions since camp began on Aug. 3.

This is either good for the defense, or bad for the offense. The defense wasn’t exactly a turnover machine last year, so this is exciting if they have turned over a new leaf.

I’m not sure if anyone is as excited for Ahmad Bradshaw as I am. His touchdown run against the Panthers on Monday night was definitely as sign of things to come, and opposing teams should be worried.

I will go out on a limb and say Bradshaw will be better than Derrick Ward was last season. Bradshaw was forced to sit back and watch Ward and Brandon Jacobs do their thing, becoming the fourth duo to each record 1000 yards in a season.

I can guarantee he is out to prove that Ward will not be missed, maybe even prove that he should have been in Ward’s place.

Watch out NFL, Ahmad Bradshaw is a forced to be reckoned with.

The offensive progress coupled with the expected dominance of the defense is giving the team unparalleled confidence heading into the season, maybe just enough to bring home the Lombardi trophy. Time will tell.

New York Giants: Interesting Stories Arising From Camp

This is the most exciting time of the year for those players who are having to prove themselves to get playing time in the fall. What stems from this are guys that are standing out even among the established veterans.

Bryan Kehl has been playing more with the starting group at the weak side linebacker spot. He is doing well thus far but is still splitting time in the first group with Gerris Wilkinson and Chase Blackburn.

If he wants to win the job, however, he will have to improve his physicality. In one of the biggest hits in camp so far, Madison Hedgecock cleaned Kehl’s clock with a punishing blow that forced Kehl off his heels.

It set the tone for the rest of a practice that saw heated arguments, aggravated pushing, and even some failed punch attempts.

They are professionals about it though, and Hedgecock and Kehl were seen smiling with each other the next morning.

Some Giants’ writers (you know who you are) have been saying all along that Derek Hagan is no one to just throw under the table and forget about. Well guys, he’s proving you right.

Hagan has been the most impressive wideout at camp so far, catching everything thrown his way, save for one bobbled pass on Sunday. He is definitely making his case for the job.

The Arizona State stud played three seasons with the Dolphins before being released mid season in 2008. He landed with the Giants in December and made his debut on special teams in the playoff game with the Eagles.

“It helped out a lot,” Hagan said of coming to the team in December. “Just being able to get a look at the playbook ahead of time has really helped. Also, it helped to get to know Eli Manning and the other quarterbacks a little bit. My time here so far has been great.”

Fred Robbins was activated from the physically unable to perform list, and participated in his first workout on Sunday. This is good news since he is certainly going to compete for the starting job, and at the very least he will be a prominent player in the defensive line rotation the team will use during the year.

The defensive line has been a work-in-progress for the coaches, and some of the lineups have fans very excited. One such formation had Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Justin Tuck on the field at the same time with Tuck playing inside, the same formation that worked so well when Michael Strahan was on the team.

Eli Manning gave an account of training camp to this point, and his analysis is that the team is progressing at an impressive rate.

“The guys are doing well,” Manning said. “We’re throwing a lot at them. They’re getting reps. We’re going to make mistakes, that’s part of learning, but we’re not repeating the same mistakes and that’s a good thing. We’re getting different looks, different coverages, and different reads, and they’re making plays. They’re hitting a lot of big plays. There are some mistakes we’ve got to fix, but that’s why you go to training camp and that’s why we’ve had all these practices, to work out all the kinks.”

Eli is certainly going to be under a significant amount of scrutiny this season, and will be looking to prove himself worthy of the generous contract he just received. If you ask me, he’s already well worth it and will prove that to be the case in the coming years.

Keep checking in for more updates, as well as following on www.Giants.com

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