Are the Giants the most complete team left in the playoffs?
While the 49ers and the Ravens might have more complete defenses and the Patriots may lay claim for having the league’s best offense, but out of the teams still left in the playoffs the Giants could conceivably be the most complete team.
As the Giants come together late in the season they are firing on all cylinders, both offensively and defensively. They are proving to be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams, as teams will have to play a complete game on offense and defense to stop the Giants.
On offense, Eli Manning and company are putting points on the board with ease. In their last four games (including the playoffs) the Giants are scoring a little more than 30 points per game. That is about six points more than they averaged during the regular season (24.6).
The Giants are getting it done on the ground and through the air.
In the last four games the Giants are averaging 122 rushing yards a game. That is a dramatic turn of events considering that during the regular season the Giants averaged a pathetic 89.2 yards a game, which ranked them dead last in the league.
The passing game has always been there. Manning has picked up his game of late, though, as each new game he plays in carries significant more meaning.
In his last four games, Manning has thrown for 1,178 yards while throwing 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Manning has been connecting with Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz or Mario Manningham at will and that doesn’t figure to stop.
With this kind of balance, teams will have to pick their poison, as the Giants have shown they can beat you in a variety of ways.
“I think the key is staying with it,” Brandon Jacobs said about the thriving balance. “I know we haven’t been running the ball as great as we have in the past but I think the best thing we’re doing is staying with it. Keeping guys honest and they can’t switch up things on us and realize we’re not running the ball as well. They still come out pressuring the same way, which helps the wide receivers get off. Lately we have been moving the ball pretty well on the ground and we expect to keep doing that.”
Meanwhile on the defensive side of the ball, is there a team hotter than the Giants?
The Giants have been very stingy and have given up on average just 16 points in their last four games played. In those four games, the Giants are relentlessly getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and have racked up 17 sacks in the process.
Tried and true vets Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and breakout sensation Jason Pierre-Paul have rejuvenated a slumping defense and have the unit playing at an elite level.
So, as the offense and the defense gel and band together, I ask is there a more balanced, more complete team left in the playoffs?
You’d be hard pressed to not say no, as the Giants have put it all together and are playing with supreme confidence.
As Michael Boley pointed out, the team never quits.
“We have to finish what we started,” Boley said. “We started the season on a good note. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. That’s been one of the things that Tom has said to us from day one, as soon as we stepped in here for training camp. Finish, make sure we finish everything we do.”
All quotes courtesy of Giants Communication Department
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