Remember the Giants?

I remember sitting back watching Football Night in America highlights after the Giants convincing domination over the no show Oakland Raiders back in mid October. Keith Olbermann was doing his best not to make his mock-SportsCenter broadcast on NBC a copycat of SportsCenter that’s on ESPN – which of course, it is. I mean they even added Dan Patrick last season just in case anybody missed that dynamic duo from the early 90’s version – and believe me, no one ever did.

Back then the Giants were a perfect 5-0, five wins and no losses – as good as a team could be at that point in the season. After a couple of nail-biters against the Cowboys and Redskins, the Giants looked like the team to beat. They were considered the kings of the NFC East and were an lock for the NFC title. Things were great for the Giants fans.

What we didn’t realize at the time, and what slowly came into focus over the following 4 weeks was that the NY Giants were the definition of a Paper Champ – that on paper they were a great team, but on the field their plan did not work. Especially when facing teams with above .500 records and were actual contenders in their respective divisions. The simple explanation is that the veterans NY Giants are not playing as well as they have in the past. The “old guard” has not performed up to the standards we have seen in 2007 & 2008 seasons. Brandon Jacobs has not been as explosive as he has been in previous seasons. His yards per carry are way down, and he is not bowling over lineman as we have seen in the past. Bradshaw’s injuries have slowed him down a step, but in this league that step is the difference between 1st place and last place. The defense as a whole is also guilty of leading us on, not the swarming and aggressive defense we have seen in the past.

The most devastating impact to the 2009 season has been due to injury, so I won’t kill them on this point. Elie Manning’s Plantar Fasciitis has changed his game enormously, and it has directly affected the Giants team and how they do business. Elie is practically immobile at this point, and unable to see over his front line. He has no visibility downfield to his receivers, and is often dumping off to Bradshaw or a tight end to keep his drives alive. Manning is a very bouncy quarterback, and he is unable to get into his normal rhythm with this painful injury. It’s funny that it might have been a simple drop back from Elie against the lowly KC Chiefs in week 4 that has doomed this season.

Along with the injuries, the Gmen have also faced some significant opponents as well. The New Orleans Saints are a scoring machine, and Drew Brees is on his way to breaking many single season passing and scoring records. The Eagles as always are a tough team to face, especially at the Linc. The loss to San Diego with 1:46 to go was painful, and should be remembered as one of the worst games of the Coughlin era.

Injuries, poor performance, and an unforgiving schedule has shown that this team has a lot of work ahead of it.

What we have learned about the 2009 NY Giants is that they are not the dominating powerhouse of the NFC. They are not the 2007 Superbowl team that beat the mighty Patriots. They are not even the best team in the NFC East.

We will have to wait to see what team will come out of this bye week.

Until then, I will sit back and remember the Giants at 5-0, and smile.