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.