The Real Season Begins Tomorrow In New Orleans

To nobody's surprise, the Giants dispatched the Raiders so handily it isn't worth talking about. If any significance can be taken from the game it is that the Giants not only won a game they were supposed to win, they did so in the manner in which they were expected to. A sign of a very good team.

But that is about all you can take from the game. Indeed just about all you can take from the first five games. There isn't any doubt this is a very good football team. Indeed, it is an excellent organization, from Jerry Reese to Coughlin right down to the 53rd player (ok, sorry, I have to confess I find it difficult to include Moss in the equation - it appears he is about to lose his return duties leaving him with very little to contribute).

Getting back on point, this is an excellent organization that has put together a very strong entrant for the 2009 SB stakes. But just how good can't be measured by what they've done these first five games. Not their fault of course. They don't control the schedule and they have dealt with their weaker opponents in a very workmanlike, matter-of-fact, manner. But, starting tomorrow, some of the lingering questions will start to be answered. Will the loss of depth by the season ending injuries (conditions) of Alford and Phillips cost them in Nov/Dec? Can Canty, Boley and Ross get healthy? Will the off-season surgeries impact Robbins, Bernard, and Cofield during the last quarter of the season? And - most significantly of all - will Brandon Jacobs begin lowering his shoulder?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions but I do know the answers, whatever they may be, will be critical to the outcome of the Giants season. We'll get to see the beginnings of some answers starting tomorrow.

I look for the Giants to rely heavily upon their supposedly "inexperienced" receivers to play a critical role in this game. Smith, Manningham and Nicks, as a group, are too quick for the Saints to cover. And, as a trio, they have the best "hands" of any trio in Giants history. Add in Beckum and Boss, and they are incredibly solid in the passing game. Who (besides those of us here at Giants Corner) woulda thunk it?