It hardly seems true now - never has a victory so dramatic slipped so quickly, so unheralded, into the past. Perhaps it was the lesser Manning wining the MVP, the man who guaranteed victory shooting himself in the leg, or the game's hero being cut from his second team in as many years. There is something about Super Bowl XLII that seems distant, unrelated to the New York Giants of today. One time champs like Favre's Packers or Ray's Ravens echoed through the decade to come, always respected, always in contention. Perhaps it's the retirement of Michael Strahan and Antonio Pierce, or the way Tom Coughlin went right back to his crotchety old ways, but that magical run and upset victory may as well have never happened. The G-men enter 2010 in their customary fashion - a solid team in the upper half, if not upper echelon, of the NFC.
Their are two obvious weaknesses, both of which the team failed to address in the offseason. Like many scheme-heavy, star-poor defenses, the Giants backslid with the loss of their co-ordinator Steve Spagnuolo. They did not elect to throw Bill Sheridan to the dogs however, so it will be up to the ineffectual defensive play-caller to get a different result with the same ingredients, most egregiously a linebacking corps led by spare parts like Danny Clark, Michael Boley and the remains of Keith Bulluck. Maybe it's unfair to say so, but Lawrence Taylor these guys are not. Their top draft pick? Another defensive end, the volatile, unfinished Jason Pierre-Paul, who, if he sees the field at all, will only raise the ire of the already disgruntled Osi Umenyiora. However, don't expect this Drew Rosenhaus-born monster to have any impact in the league, at least not while Coughlin clutches at his last days of power.
The other problem? As vaunted as that Giants O-line was for about a year and a half, they have not created much of a running game. I could easily blame this on the 270 pounds of Brandon Jacobs, or the bow-legged awkwardness of Ahmad Bradshaw, but the Giants elected to add youth neither on the line or in the backfield. Therefore, the same below average running game that led to Eli throwing for over 4000 yards last season returns, this time a year older. Manning and his receivers, each of whom (Smith, Manningham and Nicks) is a budding young star in this league, did more than pull their weight last season. However, in the Meadowlands, airing it out does not generally lead to victories.
In the crowded, cantankerous NFC East, the Giants might be the least talented on paper. They certainly made the fewest improvements in the offseason. Though I do not expect the defense to be as dreadful as it was in 2009, there's no believing this is more than a 10-win team. The men in blue will always be tough customers, but this era may have used up its last lucky charm. 9-7.
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