In 2006, Tiki Barber served as the face of an underwhelming Giants franchise. In the fall of 2005 (a season in which he would break off a 95 yard run and accrue 235 rushing yards in a single game), he would accompany Jeremy Shockey to the bedside of a dying Wellington Mara. The two were described as the football patriarch’s favorite current stars.

But after years of serving as the lightening rod for an otherwise underachieving offense, Barber abruptly left pro football. His departure left a significant hole in the Giants roster. The hole was not much unlike the one that Jerry Reese found himself staring at when Steve Smith hobbled out the door and into the Eagles arms.

Between ’06 and ’07, the Giants finally gave up their attempt to mold project slot receiver Tim Carter into a dangerous weapon. Carter, who is the cousin of former MLB Outfielder Gary Sheffield, appeared to be a physical specimen. He was easily one of the fastest players in the league. Unfortunately, he lacked the ability to consistently haul in catches.

Despite his stone hands, he was attractive enough to draw interest from the Cleveland Browns, and was swapped for RB Reuben Droughns.

Much like this season, there were doubts if Brandon Jacobs could take on the mantle of feature RB. Fans’ worries were not abated by the acquisition of a similar style running back. The “Thunder&Lightening” approach had been reasonably successful. Many felt that Jacobs and Droughns would not be able to replace Barber’s production.

Their fears were not entirely unfounded. The Giants ground attack did not suffer, but rather blossomed into the predecessor of the marquee 2008 season that produced two 1,000 yard rushers. But the success was for the most part due to the play of two other individuals who came out of the woodwork and outperformed expectations.

Immediately following a Jacobs injury in Week 1, Derrick Ward found himself inserted into a nationally televised game against hated rival Dallas. Displaying elusiveness and agility, the former 3rd string running back leaped from fringe of preseason cuts to valuable offensive asset.

Following Ward would be Ahmad Bradshaw. A 7th round pick, Bradshaw moved into the second rushing spot behind Jacobs after Derrick Ward broke his leg.

This year, Victor Cruz has been the unexpected solution to what could have been a devastating problem. The one impressive preseason game non-withstanding, the undrafted New Jersey native had yet to show much more than raw potential before Week 3 of the current season.

The Giants were so concerned about the 3rd receiving slot that they brought on an aging Brandon Stokely to compete with Domenik Hixon for the role. After Hixon was lost (probably for good) to a second torn ACL and Stokely proved ineffective, the job became Cruz’s alone. His stellar season speaks for itself.

When the Giants enter Lambeau on Sunday, they will be relying on their passing attack to carry the offense and clear the way for the ground game.; A reversal from the 2007 post-season matchup.

While Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham plan to figure into the aerial assault, one receiver does not. Ramses Barden has been one of the Giants healthy scratches over the past two weeks. His slow development has been frustrating for the organization, as his height would add a desirable new dimension to the passing game.

But who the Giants do and don’t have dressed on Sunday has less to do with an aerial preference then who the Packers have. Their 15-1 record masks the fact that when Green Bay played the Giants this past November, they were ranked 31st in pass defense. They haven’t significantly improved.

Also, the Giants are likely to be down their third man at RB. Though DJ Ware practiced yesterday, he still suffered his 3rd career concussion (2nd this season) on Sunday. With a relatively healthy roster, he may fall into a grey area that lands him on the inactive list in order to make room for another healthy player.

The Giants didn't see enough of this in November and ultimately the Packers were able to overcome with a late offensive drive to pull ahead for good. Photo Courtesy: Giants.com

On defense, the Giants should have Aaron Ross back. This could have major implications. Even if Prince Amukamara was prepared to start against the top tier WR’s in Green Bay, Big Blue needs depth at the position to withstand Aaron Rodgers and his plethora of weapons.

It is no secret that the true key to stopping the Packers will be the pass rush. A returning Osi and a healthier Tuck has sparked the return of the DLine of old and the comeback was just in time. The pass rush was certainly not playing at this level during the earlier meeting between these two teams.

While the ends were not applying adequate pressure to the QB, DT Linval Joseph enjoyed a break out performance on the interior of the line. Chris Canty, Joseph, and Rocky Bernard can play a big roll on Sunday if they can help collapse the middle of the pocket and force Rodgers to scramble.

Though dangerous on the move, Rodgers has yet to face the rejuvenated Tuck, Osi, and JPP on the corners.

I ultimately see this game coming down to the Giants ability to take control early. If the game does become a shootout, then a cushion and margin for error could be critical for a road team in wintery conditions.

I see a hard fought matchup ahead where both teams are without question more evenly matched than they were only weeks ago. If the right Big Blue shows up, then I project an outcome similar to that of Rocky II. Despite losing to the defending champ after an impressive and competitive battle in the original meeting, the challenging Giants walk away with a victory on the second attempt.

I don’t see any reason to stray from a formula that has been working. Especially when it is extremely appropriate for this particular scenario. So while I don’t intend to be too agitated today, I will be utilizing yet another comparison to the 2007 championship season.

In 2006, Tiki Barber served as the face of an underwhelming Giants franchise. In the fall of 2005 (a season in which he would break off a 95 yard run and accrue 235 rushing yards in a single game), he would accompany Jeremy Shockey to the bedside of a dying Wellington Mara. The two were described as the football patriarch’s favorite current stars.

But after years of serving as the lightening rod for an otherwise underachieving offense, Barber abruptly left pro football. His departure left a significant hole in the Giants roster. The hole was not much unlike the one that Jerry Reese found himself staring at when Steve Smith hobbled out the door and into the Eagles arms.

Between ’06 and ’07, the Giants finally gave up their attempt to mold project slot receiver Tim Carter into a dangerous weapon. Carter, who is the cousin of former MLB Outfielder Gary Sheffield, appeared to be a physical specimen. He was easily one of the fastest players in the league. Unfortunately, he lacked the ability to consistently haul in catches.

Despite his stone hands, he was attractive enough to draw interest from the Cleveland Browns, and was swapped for RB Reuben Droughns.

Much like this season, there were doubts if Brandon Jacobs could take on the mantle of feature RB. Fans’ worries were not abated by the acquisition of a similar style running back. The “Thunder&Lightening” approach had been reasonably successful. Many felt that Jacobs and Droughns would not be able to replace Barber’s production.

Their fears were not entirely unfounded. The Giants ground attack did not suffer, but rather blossomed into the predecessor of the marquee 2008 season that produced two 1,000 yard rushers. But the success was for the most part due to the play of two other individuals who came out of the woodwork and outperformed expectations.

Immediately following a Jacobs injury in Week 1, Derrick Ward found himself inserted into a nationally televised game against hated rival Dallas. Displaying elusiveness and agility, the former 3rd string running back leaped from fringe of preseason cuts to valuable offensive asset.

Following Ward would be Ahmad Bradshaw. A 7th round pick, Bradshaw moved into the second rushing spot behind Jacobs after Derrick Ward broke his leg.

This year, Victor Cruz has been the unexpected solution to what could have been a devastating problem. The one impressive preseason game non-withstanding, the undrafted New Jersey native had yet to show much more than raw potential before Week 3 of the current season.

The Giants were so concerned about the 3rd receiving slot that they brought on an aging Brandon Stokely to compete with Domenik Hixon for the role. After Hixon was lost (probably for good) to a second torn ACL and Stokely proved ineffective, the job became Cruz’s alone. His stellar season speaks for itself.

When the Giants enter Lambeau on Sunday, they will be relying on their passing attack to carry the offense and clear the way for the ground came.; A reversal from the 2007 post-season matchup.

While Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham plan to figure into the aerial assault, one receiver does not. Ramses Barden has be one of the Giants healthy scratches over the past two weeks. His slow development has been frustrated for the organization, as his height would add a desirable new dimension to the passing game.

But who the Giants do and don’t have dressed on Sunday has less to do with an aerial preference then who the Packers have. Their 15-1 record masks the fact that when Green Bay played the Giants this past November, they were ranked 31st in pass defense. They haven’t significantly improved.

Also, the Giants are likely to be down their third man at RB. Though DJ Ware practiced yesterday, he still suffered his 3rd career concussion (2nd this season) on Sunday. With a relatively healthy roster, hey may fall into a grey area that lands him on the inactive list in order to make room for another healthy player.

On defense, the Giants should have Aaron Ross back. This could have major implications. Even if Prince Amukamara was prepared to start against the top tier WR’s in Green Bay, Big Blue needs depth at the position to withstand Aaron Rodgers and his plethora of weapons.

It is no secret that the true key to stopping the Packers will be the pass rush. A returning Osi and a healthier Tuck has sparked the return of the DLine of old and the comeback was just in time. The pass rush was certainly not playing at this level during the earlier meeting between these two teams.

While the ends were not applying adequate pressure to the QB, DT Linval Joseph enjoyed a break out performance on the interior of the line. Chris Canty, Joseph, and Rocky Bernard can play a big roll on Sunday if they can help collapse the middle of the pocket and force Rodgers to scramble.

Though dangerous on the move, Rodgers has yet to face the rejuvenated Tuck, Osi, and JPP on the corners.

I ultimately see this game coming down to the Giants ability to take control early. If the game does become a shootout, then a cushion and margin for error could be critical for a road team in wintery conditions.

I see a hard fought matchup ahead where both teams are without question more evenly matched than they were only weeks ago. If the right Big Blue shows up, then I project an outcome similar to that of Rocky II. Despite losing to the defending champ after an impressive and competitive battle in the original meeting, the challenging Giants walk away with a victory on the second attempt.

In addition to being a major contributor on the 2007 Super Bowl team, Osi had one of the most memorable individual performances in Giants history against Donovan McNabb and the Eagles during a Sunday night win in which he recorded a Giants-record six sacks.

He has a playmaking ability that other pass-rushing players envy, and every time he gets a step on a left tackle, there is a strong possibility that he will force a turnover with his signature sack-fumble, something he was able to maneuver 10 out of the 11.5 times he got to the quarterback last season.

All of these feats are pretty impressive, especially for a guy who barely wears shoulder pads, which is why he was rewarded with a six-year contract extension for $41 million with $15 million guaranteed in 2006. That contract legally binds Umenyiora to play for the Giants through the 2012 season unless traded or released.

Just because Umenyiora wants a new contract does not mean the Giants have to give him one. If he or his agent, Tony Agnone, thought the market for defensive ends would change or that he would outplay this contract, he should have signed for less than six years.

In terms of management, Jerry Reese is much better known for eyeing collegiate talent and the NFL Draft as opposed to blockbuster trades and contract negotiations, and this was shown in the way he dealt with the Umenyiora situation over the last week. He should have never stated that the Giants would only accept a first-round pick for Osi, because in doing so, he indicated that Umenyiora is worthy of a contract that would be given to a player who would warrant a first-round pick in a trade such as Jared Allen and Richard Seymour, both of whom were traded for first-round picks.

In my estimation, Allen was worth the first-rounder Kansas City received for him as he was coming off of a 15.5 sack season and was only 25 years-old. Seymour on the other hand, only had 8 sacks and was 29, the same age as Umenyiora, the only difference is one could argue that the Raiders were the only organization dumb enough to give up a first rounder for him.

In terms of contracts of late, Charles Johnson of the Carolina Panthers was signed to a massive six-year $72 million contract with $31 million guaranteed, but he is only 25, and I still think the Panthers over-reached with that commitment, as Johnson is slated to make more than Tuck and Umenyiora combined this year.

Yesterday, Tamba Hali was signed to a five-year, $60 million contract with $35 million guaranteed, however he led the AFC with 14.5 sacks last year, is 2 years younger than Osi, has only missed one game in his entire career, and is pretty much the only pass-rushing threat that Todd Haley’s Chiefs possess.

Additionally, of the six defensive ends named to last year’s pro bowl squad, three of the players average more sacks per game in their career than Umenyiora, who averages .58, and that doesn’t include the non-pro bowl players such as Tamba Hali, Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney, Charles Johnson, Mario Williams, and Haloti Ngata, just to name a few.

After reviewing all of that information one would be hard-pressed to label Osi as a top five player at his position, so why should he be paid like one? Additionally the teams who handed out these massive contracts typically have one star defensive end (as is the case with the Chiefs) whereas Perry Fewell’s defense employs a rotation that stars Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, but includes Mathias Kiwanuka, and last year’s first-round pick, Jason Pierre-Paul.

The Giants see little upside to giving Umenyiora a new contract as defensive ends almost always trend downwards once they hit 30. They tend to lose a step and what they don’t have in speed, they compensate for in power, leading to more injuries on a weathered body. They are easier to defend with these declines in athleticism coupled with the fact that they are easier to study and more predictable.

Additionally, Osi’s biggest weakness is arguably his run defense, and with a weak linebacking core, you need your defensive line to take care of the majority of the running game. The defensive backs did a good job of getting into the backfield last year with Deon Grant and Terrell Thomas leading the way, but as Umenyiora ages, he will only get worse against the run.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of Osi Umenyiora, I want him in blue this season and I think he’s a valuable member of the defensive line, but he has little leverage when trying to persuade management to sign him to a contract extension. Since no one wanted to forfeit a first round pick for him, he needs to swallow his pride and continue to prove his worth on the football field by having another season reminiscent of last year’s.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of the Wall street Journal is reporting that Osi’s next move “could very likely be telling Reese he’ll undergo knee surgery to repair a meniscus injury and sit out the season.” This shows that Umenyiora is not fully healthy and not worthy of an extension that would gamble on his recurring knee issues.

Overall, he is poorly advised and doesn’t appreciate the little time he has left in this game, because if he chooses to go this route, it is going to be even tougher for him to find a team willing to give him quality money coming off of a second knee surgery at the age of 30.

It is my hope that Osi will “clear his head” as Jerry Reese instructed him to do, and realize he needs to suit up for the Giants this year and prove that he is worth the money he says he is, if he stays consistent and true to form, only then will he warrant significant contract money, whether that is in New York or elsewhere.

Let me get a few things out of the way, first.  This is about sports and purely from the perspective of sports.  I understand that sports is not real life (unless it is actually your job) and I understand how a sports fan does not understand how thoroughly entrenched in sports a fan can become.  My goal here is not to make you understand.  My goal here is to try to come to grips with a painful loss suffered at the hands of a most hated foe. (And, yes, I am aware of just how pathetic I am for getting this upset about a game.)

On this Monday afternoon, there are no other fans out there more red-faced and embarrassed than Giants fans.  Even Carolina Panther or New York Islander fans can look at Giants fans today and say, “I am glad I am not them, right now.”

But that’s probably not true.  At the end of the day, the Giants are on the verge of a playoff berth.  If the season were over today, they are in.  And while yesterday’s game has bye and seeding implications and a healthy dose of pride, it is just a regular season loss.  On paper, no different than the other four losses.  At the end of the day, the Giants need to regroup and do what they had been doing for the 13 quarters prior to yesterday’s fourth quarter.  If the Giants play the next two games the way they played Jacksonville, Washington and Minnesota, they are in the playoffs.  As a Giants fan, I am thinking that I am glad I am not a Packers or Buccaneers fan today.

This game hurt.  It hurt about as bad as any game I have ever witnessed.  The Giants playoff collapse against the 49ers.  The Mets choke jobs on the final day of the season against the Marlins in 2007 and 2008.  The Giants playoff loss to the Eagles in 2009.  All those Randall Cunningham games. This one feels like it hurt as much as any of those.  The truth is, it probably doesn’t.  It’s just the most recent painful loss with each one having it’s own epic loss feel to it.  In sports, like in life, the pain goes away in time.  A win next week against the Packers could begin the healing.  And maybe we will get to go back and play the Eagles in the playoffs and a win there makes yesterday meaningless.

And if they don’t win, the winter will give way to spring and players will be reporting to camp before you know it.  And we’ll have a shot at redemption again, because that is what sports is about.  Failure. Redemption. Repeat.  And the only thing you can hope for, is a championship somewhere in between.

For most of my life, there is one team that I have hated with the same passion in which I love the Giants, and that team is the Eagles.  From Cunningham to Vick, it seems like the Giants have been on the wrong end of a chase far too many times.  They always find a way to burn you, it seems.  And while I must concede that in the last 10 years, the Eagles have been the superior team, there is something the Giants have, that the Eagles don’t.

I don’t mean to sound patronizing or smug about the Giants compared to other teams, including the Eagles (okay, maybe a little) in what I am about to say.  As the title states, I simply look for perspective.  Since 1984 (the earliest year I can remember rooting for the Giants), only the 49ers have more Super Bowl wins (4) and only two other teams have matched the Giants three championships, the Cowboys and Patriots.  In my time as a fan, only 15 different teams have realized a championship while my Giants have seen three.  I don’t mean to be bragging. My point here is that I am proud to be a Giants fan.  If yesterday’s game is the price that I need to pay for “Eli to Burress”, “Wide Right” and “22 of 25″ then I gladly pay it…five times over.

Yeah, yesterday was humiliating, but I’ll take it, because I also have those memories…a couple of my fondest memories from my teenage years and one of the greatest moments (outside of those precious family moments) of my adulthood.  Other fans of other teams have felt the sting of games like yesterday and don’t have the memories of glory years gone by.  Every fan of every team has felt this way on a Monday afternoon, but not every fan of every team has felt the way I have felt on three previous Monday afternoons.

For this, on this Monday afternoon, I am proud to be a Giants fan.

Eli's 4 TD passes weren't enough this afternoon

Worst. Loss. Ever.

I bailed.

I bailed the second the punt actually went to DeSean Jackson and he ran free along the sidelines. He was gone.  I didn’t wait around to see him agonizingly showboat along the goal line before mercifully entering the end zone. I didn’t want to sit and process the epic choke job that I just witnessed. I threw down my beer, threw down my cash and walked right out the bar. Right past my Philly buddy, who was respectfully (yes, a Philly fan) going outside to go ape crazy. I’d congratulate him later. I needed to go.

He completely understood. He’s been there. All sport fans have been there. No matter the team or sport you root for, every single franchise does this to their fans. Every fan endures horrific, soul-sucking meltdown losses. Ones that make you take long walks. Ones that make you briefly see why Michael Vick did what he did to dogs. Ones that leave emotional scars. You don’t want to replay the events in your mind. You want to repress them in the back corners of your memory like you were assaulted like Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. These are traumatizing losses.

Some handle these rare, awful losses in their own way. Me, I bail. I just want to get the hell out of wherever I am as soon as possible and try to forget what just happened. I know the fallout will linger for ages, but I at least want to get away from the epicenter of the atomic bomb that was just dropped on my sporting life.

I’ve only bailed two other times in my Giants fan life. Once was the 1997 playoff meltdown against the Vikings, trying to forget Cab Calloway’s hands and the yahoo with the audacity to wear Viking horns at the bar. The second time was the 2002 playoff Hindenburg against the 49ers, the beginning of the end of the Jim Fassel era. Sunday was the third. I don’t want to fall for the habit of proclaiming immediate wins/losses as the greatest/worst games ever, but right now this bail-worthy loss feels like the worst.

21-point lead, gone. NFC East, gone. Home field, gone.  Finally beating the Eagles after five losses, gone. Playoff spot, tenuous. All in the span of eight minutes and seventeen seconds. What a disaster. What the Giants did on Sunday was the sports equivalent of a snuff film. You wanted to wash your eyeballs.

Serious, near delusional rationalization is needed in this situation. Unlike the previous disasters mentioned, the Giants season is not over even though it feels that way right now. They win next week in Green Bay and the wild card is likely. They have a chance to make up for this disgrace. You’d feel a bit more confident about those stakes if Sunday was a run-of-the-mill disappointing loss. But it wasn’t. It was one of those rare instances where I didn’t need to stick around to confirm the enormity of the disaster.

I bailed.

He basically told us this defense of his would take some time to get rooted. I think that’s happened. The Giants are stopping the run and daring opponents to pass against them,  exposing quarterbacks to their unending pass rush in the process.

That pass rush has looked like a flash flood as of late – a quick, powerful deluge that wipes out even the most prepared victims.

The Giants either sack, hurry or hit the quarterback or force an error on nearly every snap.  Matt Schaub, who usually slices up defenses in methodical fashion, looked stunned early on and never recovered.  Granted, his top receiver – Andre Johnson – was basically rendered useless by a high-ankle sprain, but he is not Houston’s only weapon.

The Texans had the best rushing game in the league coming into yesterday’s game.  Arian Foster was running rampant over opponents. He finished yesterday’s game with a mere 25 yards.  Some will point to the fact the Giants had a quick 21-0 lead forcing the Texans to pass.  Other will be quick to point out the Giants stopped him early on, leading the Texans to turn to the pass.

The Giants secondary – which may have been one of the worst in NFL history last year – is now a strength and is augmenting the front seven very nicely.

Above the great defensive resurgence is the play of budding superstar WR Hakeem Nicks, last year’s top draft pick who leads all NFL wide receivers with six TD catches.

He came here billed as a player who can make something out of nothing.  He had shown last season that he can make plays – big ones – and this season he is building on that promise.

So everyone (including myself) who was ready for another long season, may be in for a treat this year.  The defense is back and the offense has some home run hitters.  Special teams are still not where they should be, but that will come.

It’s nice to have a calm feeling on Monday for the second week in a row….

One of the popular talking points about Tom Coughlin is how much of a disciplinarian he is. A successful disciple of the Bill Parcells’ school of hard-ass coaching, Coughlin would do things like fine his players for not arriving to meetings five minutes earlier than the stated time. Thus the mainstream thought process went that Coughlin was a disciplinarian so therefore the Giants would be smart, well-drilled team.

So when the Giants put on a performance like Sunday, the announcers will always express surprise that the team is playing like this under such a “stern taskmaster” and “drill sergeant”. They’re excused for saying things like that; they don’t watch the Giants as often as the fans do.

But the fans know better. This is the seventh season under Tom Coughlin and we’ve seen WAY too many games like the one against the Titans. Way too many games where the team looks overmatched, or plays dumb, or gives up or all the above. The transition 2004 season and the 2008 Super Bowl notwithstanding (and yes, it’s a big notwithstanding), all other Giant seasons under Coughlin have ended in car-crash fashion with griping and bitterness.

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#8    INDIANAPOLIS (0-1) over NY GIANTS (1-0)
It’s not often (okay, actually never!) that I’ll look to a preseason game to make a regular season pick, but I can’t shake the image of Ravens’ tight end Todd Heap torching the Giants’ defense in the middle of the field (the same way many teams hurt the Giants last year) a few weeks ago, in August. I see Dallas Clark (who had 11 catches for 80 yards and a TD in Houston last week) having the same success, and after a loss, an extra motivated Peyton Manning finding not only Clark, but Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, and perhaps Austin Collie, as well. Older brother Peyton makes it two-for-two over younger brother Eli, but each will have good seasons after this one.

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I will say this…..

Eli Manning is becoming a great passer.  Some of his deliveries yesterday were a tad high, but it’s his decisions that excite me.  He is at a point now where this is his team and his game.  If you’re out there with him, you better pay attention….

Just like the Lakers with Magic, the Celtics with Bird and Oilers with Gretzky…..if you were out there with them, you needed to keep your head up.  Some of the Giants’ receivers seemed surprised to see the ball.  Wake up, guys, it’s gonna be like this from now on….

The Giants’ defense played with some intensity yesterday. I enjoyed that.  I still do not understand how receivers are getting so wide open on so many plays.  If the quarterback is not hurried or sacked the Giants are prone to giving up big chunks of yardage.

Is is a “bend-but-don’t-break” philosophy that is designed to scare fans, I think.  The idea is not to get burned deep.

Let me ask you – what is the difference if the opponent beats you once or twice down field and you stop them 95% of the time, or you just let them dink-and-dunk their way down the field and you have to constantly hope to stop them in the red zone…..?

The answer…making the playoffs and not making the playoffs.  This defense has a ton of talent. The scheme, like last year, I’m afraid is the wrong one again…..

The Giants will make the playoffs if they can score 35 points a game and play that stingy red zone defense.  That’s asking a lot.  They won’t playing against the benevolent Matt Moore every week.

Tom Coughlin is sitting in his office right now figuring he must make two decisions.  He must tell Jerry Reese that his two “killer B’s” – Travis Beckum and Ramses Barden – are taking up valuable real estate on his roster and must be replaced.

The other is he must convince Reese that TE Bear Pascoe must be activated and the Giants might have to part ways with CB Bruce Johnson, who has been just awful.

Beckum is a tweener, a man without a natural position.  Barden is still a project who has not been able to capitalize on his major asset – his size.

The Giants have three players who can catch the football and make plays wasting away in their system: Pascoe and WRs Victor Cruz and Duke Calhoun.

Johnson is bringing back memories of Elvis”Toast” Patterson.  Last year, Johnson was a UDFA who played his way onto the roster.  This year, he’s a one-year veteran whose playing his way off of the roster.  The problem is, they have no one to replace him with…..

The Giants will play the Colts next week in Indy.  Should be fun.  The Colts got slammed by Houston yesterday.  The Giants need to study that game extensively this week.  The “bend-but-don’t-break” scheme won’t work against brother Peyton.  He breaks defenses for a living.  This new Fewell alignment will be singed repeatedly unless something changes between now and then.

Personally, I’m tired of the Giants getting embarrassed on national television.

Sure, the Giants will need both players to be effective in their roles if the team is going to be successful this season. But what will those roles be?

Who starts matters not. Neither does who finishes. What matters to fans is that the Giants get back to that 5.0 yards-per-carry average that helped win them a championship three years ago.

Jacobs was once the battering ram that softened up defenses for the second and third-gear backs. The Giants no longer have a second gear. They never found a capable replacement for the departed Derrick Ward.

Ahmad Bradshaw, the third gear, has the talent to do both jobs. The Giants are relying on him to do just that this season. They have reversed the order of speeds of the rushing attack in order to implement the idea.

Bradshaw will be charged with tiring out defenses early on with his speed and elusiveness. Jacobs’ job will be to relieve him by throwing haymakers into spent opponents in the second half of games.

The idea is a novel one, providing neither man gets hurt. But they always do.

The Giants only have the fragile, amorphous DJ Ware behind those two, leaving one to speculate if the Giants are trying to emulate the Indianapolis Colts.

And why wouldn’t they? They have a Manning at the helm, a fleet of talented receivers and two tight ends that can catch better than they can block.

The NFL is a passing league these days. You pass to open up the run. The Giants have realized that. Last season, they tried to go back to the future by running the football. It failed.

This year, they will follow the blueprint of the teams they will have to go through to get back to the Super Bowl. The Saints, Packers, Vikings and Cowboys are all pass-first teams. They will need to beat those teams at their own games.

Rushing the football has become a secondary strategy for the teams with the elite quarterbacks, aka – the Super Bowl contenders. We just had the ultimate ground and pound team – the Baltimore Ravens – pass through here (pun intended). They got the memo. They’re a passing team, now, too….

So quit arguing who should be the Giants starting RB. It’s a moot debate. The Giants are taking their offense to the next level.

The offensive line was intact, sans C Shaun O’Hara (Adam Koets got the start in his absence) and they finally began to get some traction.  Of the substitutes, FA pickup Shawn Andrews simply kicked butt during his time out there last night.  He could be a steal and and half for this team.  He was manhandling his men and picking up the missed assignments of  others.

Kevin Boss is my favorite Giant, (O’Hara is second and Mathias Kiwanuka is 3rd) in case you haven’t noticed.  Not only because their classy guys, but because they are tremendous competitors.  Nothing excites me more during a game when one of those three do well.

Last night, Boss made two fabulous plays: a 22-yard reception over the middle and a 13-yard catch and dash to the end zone for a TD.  His ankle and hammy problems appear to be behind him.  It was good to see Eli trusting Kevin again. Let’s see a lot this in 2010. 75 catches for Boss would make me happy….

Kiwanuka sacked Brian Hoyer for an 11-yard loss in the second quarter. He’s getting good pressure and is playing the run better as well.

Matt Dodge is doing better, too. He will be fine.  The only area where he might hurt is on the FG and PAT holds.  Last night, Zak DeOssie snapped the ball a bit low on a PAT and Dodge could not get the ball in place in time for Lawrence Tynes to kick it. He got out of his crouch and attempted to throw it for a 2-pt conversion. It was intercepted by the Pats’ Jerrod Mayo.

Does Rhett Bomar worry me? Of course, but I’ll take him over Matt Leinart any day. Bomar is a good kid, who is learning and getting better, while Leinart’s career is going in the opposite direction.

Will Duke Calhoun make the team? I don’t think so. Victor Cruz is ahead of him, but that is no reflection on Calhoun.  Cruz is ahead of everyone right now. It would be ideal for the Giants to get Calhoun back after Saturday’s cuts for the practice squad.  That will be chancy, because a lot of teams saw that 60-yard catch-and-run he made for a TD last night.  Someone else may grab him.

I’d hate to think the secondary was a problem area again this year after all that was done to address it over the off season.  Antrel Rolle is a player. He had another pick last night.  Kenny Phillips is getting his sea legs back.  Michael Johnson and Deon Grant can be helpful just be being steady and consistent.  But, it pains me to think what Chad Jones could have added to this team…..

Also, the Aaron Ross injury is troubling me. How long will it take him to heal that heel? I’m afraid to hear the answer. Bruce Johnson is not playing as well as he did this time last year. Corey Webster and Terrell Thomas are taking turns sitting out with leg ailments…..but the real games start next week.  They’ll be no sitting unless the doctor calls for it.