Giants Roll Rams, Face Bengals

In my mind, the Giants faced what was potentially their biggest test of the season last week. A test of their character; their mental makeup. And while the final 41-13 score did not tell the entire story (the scoreboard showed St Louis down by only one score early in the 4th), it did accurately reflect the dominance the Giants displayed on the field.

But why was this any kind of test? The Rams certainly appear they are going to go down as one of the dregs of the NFL in 2008. Well, because, with rare exceptions, for most of my 56 year lifetime the Giants have habitually displayed a tendency to play down to their opponents - to outright lose or barely squeak out wins against bad teams. Those rare exceptions have been championship years - years when the Giants had teams comprised of players that were, to a man, maintained an intense focus on what it took to win the "easy" games.

During lunch yesterday, a co-worker asked me if I thought the Giants had any realistic chance to repeat this year. My response was "absolutely" primarily for two reasons:

1. First and foremost, this team seems very focused and mentally prepared, as demonstrated by last week's win over St Louis. That intensity and focus is critically important - perhaps the single most important factor that will dictate their chances of repeating - and why I considered last week's game such an important test. The result (their play, not the score) demonstrates that this teams seems to fully understand the degree of focus and intensity necessary to win in the NFL, especially games against weaker opponents you are "supposed" to win.

   
   

2. The schedule. It is a perfect schdule for a team that lost 5 of its 11 defensive starters from the just finished Super Bowl, including both of its starting defense ends. It is a schedule that allows them to win early while giving the defense time to acclimate itself, to garner valuable experience for the younger players, build overall confidence and get on a roll heading into the important second half. If they maintain their intensity and focus, there is no reason they should not be 6-0.

   Then they play 5 of their 6 divisional games over a 7 week span in the second half and while they may not win them all - indeed they may lose more than then win over that second half, but hopefully by that time the wins/losses will not mean as much as how they are playing. I don't mean to discount the importance of winning the division and getting a bye. It is important, and indeed very important. But last year this same Giants team showed it isn't fatal to a Super Bowl appearance.

The opportunity to repeat is a very, very rare thing. First, it requires winning a Super Bowl, something the majority of NFL players never accomplish even once over an entire career. Then it requires that you win it again that very next year - a one shot deal - a one year window of opportunity. Next year or the year after that doesn't count. This year and only this year, if you are going to "repeat". Last week this team demonstrated that it grasps the meaning of that challenge. And, tomorrow's game against the Bengals, poses the same theme for the exact same reasons. A win should be a given. I am much more interested in seeing continued validation that this team possesses the kind of focus and intensity it demonstrated last week.

Giants Down Redskins, Face Rams on the Road

You couldn't ask for a much better beginning to the 2008 season. Sure, the Giants left some points on the board. They didn't score in the second half. They only recorded one sack, that coming on Washington's very first offensive play from scrimmage. But make no mistake about it - the Giants dominated this game from beginning to end. Granted, the domination wasn't complete in the sense that they didn't finish off their opponent when they should have. But they still dominated in every sense of the word - on both sides of the ball.

For the first game of the season, it is difficult to be critical of such a dominating performance. The offensive line was strong. Brandon Jacobs, who truly is "the beast", continues to make "statement plays" that set the tone for the entire team. Manning was very sharp in the early going and he has a great group of receivers who are going to present match up problems for every team in the league.

But it was the defense that truly dominated the game, just as it did in the playoff run last year. In particular it was the run defense - where championship defense starts and ends - that was so encouraging. Robbins and Cofield were fantastic. Tuck's run defense has always been strong. And Kiwi was a monster coming down the line chasing plays away from him. And, perhaps in what may be a real harbinger of things to come, Kehl and Phillips saw lots of playing time and both made plays when getting their turn on the field.

And old man Carney may deserve a longer look - as in an all season long type of look. He nailed his kickoffs inside the 5 and hit three field goals with a sense of confidence that only comes from such long tenure in the league.

When this team plays angry - plays with an attitude - they can beat anyone. If they can maintain that attitude - a combination of confidence, arrogance, and plain old angry need to punch someone in the mouth - they will go a long, long way in 2008 with a legitimate chance to repeat. They remind me of a riled up hornet's nest, a swarming attack that can totally overwhelm an offense.

All four teams in NFC East were a top 10 defense last year. This year, after the first week, Dallas, Philly and the Giants were all in the top 5 of most power rankings. You can safely bet, however, that at least one of the three will drop from that position by mid season, but which one?

The Giants have a favorable schedule - the "easier" part portion being the first half with a much tougher second half - including a 7 week stretch in which they play 5 of their 6 divisional games. That allows the Giants to gather strength and, in particular, time for their rookies and younger players to gain some valuable experience heading into the second half. And it would appear that Tom Coughlin is already focused on exactly that. Brian Kehl was on the field a large portion of game one, as was Kenny Phillips (much less a surprise there). I think you will see Coughlin and the Giants take advantage of the weaker first half to give as much playing time to the younger players as possible.

Today is a big test for this Giant's team. They play a team that should stand no chance against them. In fact, they didn't face such an "easy" game all of last year. They are presented with a challenge to test their intensity for the first time since 2006. If they can stay focused and play angry today, they will dominate and that domination will show up on the scoreboard. That factor, more than any other, will be a huge indicator of whether this team has the makeup mentally to repeat.