The Super Bowl is being held in New York this year, the Giants would want nothing more than to be holding the Lombardi Trophy at home. The Giants have had great success lately, winning two Super Bowls in the last seven years.
As its been over the past years, the Giants are led by their great quarterback Eli Manning. Manning has already had a great career and really has nothing left to prove to anyone. Any critics of Eli will never be satisfied because the two Super Bowls he won should have been enough already. The NFL is a quarterback league right now and the Giants have a top five quarterback. Eli is unflappable and more times than not, he delivers in the clutch. No one orchestrates a game winning drive better than Eli Manning himself.
Over the past few seasons, the Giants running game has been okay; nothing great, but not the worst. The Giants parted ways with Ahmad Bradshaw this offseason and now their featured running back will be the back-flipping second-year man David Wilson. David Wilson played a bit last season and was impressive. Giants will be hoping his production from a small sample size last season can be duplicated over a full 16 game season. He averaged 5 yard per carry on 71 attempts, the Giants will sign up for that this season in a heartbeat.
This offseason, the Giants signed Victor Cruz to a new contract extension keeping him with Big Blue for a while longer. Victor Cruz is far from the best wide receiver in the game, but he is one of the best big-play receivers. Cruz had 10 touchdowns last season and is one of Eli’s most trusted targets. The Giants other top receiver is Hakeem Nicks. Unfortunately for Nicks, injuries have played a big part of his career so far. I truly think Nicks has all the skills to be one of the elite receivers in the NFL, he just has to stay healthy so he can prove it on the field. With Nicks and Cruz, Eli Manning has two very talented weapons to throw the ball to. The Giants will be hoping their other receivers like Rueben Randle and Ramses Barden can step up this year and give Eli alternative weapons.
The Giants have a veteran offensive line anchored by Chris Snee and David Diehl. They drafted Syracuse lineman Justin Pugh in the first round to infuse some youth into their offensive line and provide flexibility upfront. The playmakers get all the attention in the NFL, but the game is won and lost in the trenches. If your offensive line can’t keep your quarterback on his feet and create holes for your running back, your offense won’t do anything.
Over the past few seasons, one of the staples for the Giants has been a dominate defense, particularly their ability to get to the opposing teams’ quarterback. Defensively, the Giants are led by defensive end Justin Tuck. The Giants have another stud defensive end in Jason Pierre-Paul. Pierre-Paul is coming off back surgery this offseason and they are hoping he will be ready for the start of the season and able to still create chaos for the opposing team. When Tuck and Pierre-Paul are both playing at their best, the two are unblock-able. The Giants don’t have the strongest linebacker unit like they once had when they were led by Antonio Pierce. They have a few former first round picks like Keith Rivers and Aaron Curry, that they will be hoping can be productive this season. The Giants have a solid secondary, but over the past few seasons, their secondary has been derailed with numerous injuries. Corey Webster and Price Amukamara are good cornerbacks and their safeties; Antrel Rolle and Stevie Brown are solid too. Rolle sprained his ankle last week, but he is expected to be ready for the start of the season. Overall, the Giants defense should be good and if they could get pressure on the quarterback, it will help coverup any weaknesses they do have.
The Giants have a new kicker in veteran Josh Brown. They also have one of the best punters in the NFL in Steve Weatherford. A lot of people like to laugh the punter; but he plays a huge role. If you have a great punter that can pin the opposing team deep into their own side of the field, that’s a huge advantage and it takes pressure off your defense.
Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin is one of the best in the NFL. Any Giants fan that still doesn’t believe in Coughlin, similar to Eli Manning, doesn’t know what they are talking about. Coughlin knows how to get his team to respond when he needs them to. He has his tough ways but he also knows when to ease off, that’s the mark of a great coach.
The Giants have a tough schedule, as they always seem to have. They have some big marquee games against the Broncos (The Manning Bowl), Packers, Seahawks, and of course any game against their division rivals. My prediction for the Giants this season is they will finish 10-6, which will be good enough to get into the playoffs. Like I said at the beginning, the Giants have that extra bit of motivation because the Super Bowl is being played in their backyard this season.