No Rest for the Weary

No game, no worries right?  Not so much.  That just wouldn’t be the Giant way, that’d be too easy.  Of course on a week that the Giants didn’t play, every other team in the NFC East wins their games.  The Redskins (I won’t stop using that name) beat the Chargers in a game that they had no business winning.  Dallas came back to beat Minnesota in a real thriller.  And one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time led the Eagles to an absolute rout in Oakland.  Okay, let’s be honest the Cowboys barely got by the Vikings who have Christian Ponder at QB, Nick Foles is not a great quarterback and like I said the Redskins should not have even won their game.  Alas, thus is the life of a Giants fan.  Nothing has been going well this season, so why should the bye week bring any relief.  

Now the Giants have to come out of the bye and win just to hold steady.  Sure, a win is a win and they need all they can get.  It just would have been nice to come out and get a win that maybe felt like it mattered.  The good news is, come week 10 they play Oakland at home.  It seems like it should be a favorable matchup, but honestly who knows.  I don’t know what Terrelle Pryor’s status will be, it sounds like he’ll play even if he’s not necessarily 100%.  The question is which Giants defense will we see.  The one that pounds Pryor into submission, or the one that allows Pryor to run wild.  It looked like the Giants had gotten their pass rush back last week against the Eagles which is a plus.  And if Nick Foles can do what he did yesterday to that Raider defense, than realistically Eli and Cruz should have a field day.  The other good news for week 10 is that Dalls, Washington and Philadelphia are all playing on the road.  Dallas goes into the Superdome to face New Orleans, which doesn’t seem that promising after the Saints fell to the Jets yesterday. However, I’d bet on Brees at home any day.  Washington goes into the Metrodome to take on the Vikings.  This could be anybody’s game.  Washington’s defense is terrible but so is Minnesota’s offense.  RGIII will either have a good game or Adrian Peterson will have a good game.  I’ll be rooting for AP all day.  And finally, Philadelphia heads to Lambeau to face the Packers.  If you’re going to tell me that it’s going to be a shootout between Nick Foles and Aaron Rodgers, no question I go with Rodgers every time. 

So, week 10 looks like it’s shaping up to work out in every aspect for the Giants.  That’s what has me worried.  I’ve been a Giants fan for too long to know that when it should be easy they find a way to make it difficult.  Regardless, you know who I’m picking to win this week.  GO GIANTS!!!

Bye Week

The Giants are on a bye this week and I find myself without much news to read, so I’ve decided to start my own Giants blog.  I have no problem admitting that I am a complete homer when it comes to the Giants.  I am in a Pick em’ league and I have picked the Giants to win every single week this year (even against the Broncos).  However, I can be objective as well.  For example, they are 2-6 going into this week.  If you asked me if I think they are going to make the playoffs this year, my answer would be no.  Of course I want them to make the playoffs and I will continue to pick them to win every week, but I just don’t think it is a realistic expectation this year.  Sure, the division is terrible, so anything can happen.  And as any Giants fan knows, if they do scrap their way into the playoffs, no matter how they get there, everybody better watch out.

But again, being realistic there are a few things that I have to wonder about this bye week.  The first is a big one and I’m sure I’ll get some flak for it but it’s true.  From the start of the Eli Manning era I have never been so back and forth regarding one particular player.  I remember during the 2004 season they were having marginal success with Kurt Warner at quarterback.  When Tom Coughlin decided to replace Warner with Manning, the Giants were 5-4 with two of those losses being one score games against the Bears and then the Cardinals.  The important thing to remember though is that having 5 wins at that point was already more than the 2003 season total of 4, so the decision to bench the veteran for our new rookie was a decision that I didn’t agree with.  I’m all for giving a rookie a chance and getting him some experience to build for the future, but not when you have a winning record and a chance for a positive season.  Then as we all know the Giants lost 6 in a row with Eli at the helm.  Now, obviously that was his first season, nobody should have expected greatness.  Also since then he’s won two Super Bowl MVP awards.  The problem is that for all that greatness he’s achieved over the years, he too often still looks like that first year rookie.  I’ve been saying for years he needs to show some fire out on the field.  We are all very tired of the “I messed up, hang your head, lost puppy dog” look.  Remember when he grabbed Bradshaw by the facemask and just laid into him?  That happened exactly ONE time.  It really sucks having an all time great quarterback that no one outside of our own fan base takes seriously.  But realistically, how much longer can we wait for him to grow out of it?  He is a seasoned 10 year quarterback, this is who he is.  As a Giants fan I hope he is our quarterback for another 5 years, but whether to keep him or not has to start becoming a legitimate question.

Which brings me to my second point about another beloved member of the Giants, our shot caller, the one and only Jerry Reese.  I’ve been known to throw around the ole “In Reese we trust” as much as the next guy.  But do we, really?  I don’t know anymore.  I read not too long ago that the 07 draft was basically already set by Accorsi and Reese got the credit for it. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I’ve been questioning my devotion. New York is always kind of what have you done for me lately deal, but for how many years have we been begging to draft a LB only to be disappointed year after year?  Our latest draft acquisition, Wilson is hurt and been struggling so I still don’t really know what they are going to get from him. Our best talent is by far Cruz who was undrafted.  I feel like we got a lot out of Bradshaw.  Nicks has been really disappointing this season.  For a guy known as a draft guru, it’s actually not that impressive over the long term.  Even if you take the draft out of it though, the guy hasn’t made one big trade for the Giants. I’m still bitter about the fact that we could have had Boldin.  I know this sounds crazy but they could have signed Urlacher and even if he wasn’t going to be that good anymore it still would have meant something to the fans. I just feel like maybe it’s time to bring in someone new that not necessarily thinks like a fan but has a better balance of seeing it like a fan.  This fan thinks we need some changes.  We shall see.