GIANTS vs Bucs: What To Look For Today

History has shown that a slow start to a season has not stopped the Giants from acheiving their goals, however the schedule in 2012 doesn’t get any easier after today’s game at home against Tampa Bay. To avoid an 0-2 start to their season, the Giants will be looking for key contributions today that were missing last week against Dallas.

Here’s what to look for in today’s game:

Big Game For Cruz

Victor Cruz is going to need to have a bounce back game today after last week’s poor performance against the Cowboys. Cruz dropped three critical passes in that game and with Hakeem Nicks still not completely 100 percent back from his foot injury he knows he’s going to have to avoid those type of mistakes. Cruz will also be battling to contain his emotions this week as he’ll be playing with a heavy heart, his grandmother Lucy Molina passed away this past week at the age of 77. She had a major influence on Cruz and taught him the salsa dance that has become his touchdown celebration and tribute to her.

The Pass Rush

The Giants highly-touted defensive line could not get to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo last week and the result was a big game for Romo and his wide receivers. Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Jason Pierre-Paul are going to have to crank up the pass rush. If the pass rush isn’t effective, the defense is going to have another difficult time against an offense with a mobile quarterback.

A Bounce Back Game for Corey Webster

Webster is the veteran of the Giants secondary and is being counted on for bringing stability to a position that’s been ravaged by injuries. It doesn’t help matters if he struggles again like he did in week 1 against Dallas. Once Romo realized Webster was struggling to keep up with his receivers, he attacked that side of the field. It will be interesting to see if Tampa Bay looks to test Webster early early and get a feel for what they can do against him.