KEY RANKINGS:

1. New York Giants

Best addition: RB David Wilson, first-round pick

With Eli Manning and the front four, the Giants are still mighty Giants, and rookies Wilson and Rueben Randle will make up for key departures. The Giants will need to hang tough with a schedule even stronger than last season’s.

9. Philadelphia Eagles

Best addition: MLB DeMeco Ryans, trade acquisition

No one is talking about them as the Dream Team this year, and the perceived lower expectations may be just what Michael Vick and Andy Reid need for a big rebound.

10. Dallas Cowboys

Best addition: CB Morris Claiborne, first-round pick

It must have hurt to see the Giants wrestle the division away and then go on to win it all. The Cowboys have rebuilt their back seven pass defense, but they still go as Tony Romo does.

25. Washington Redskins

Best addition: QB Robert Griffin III, first-round pick

Griffin brings more than a dash of much-needed electricity to the offense, the entire team and the city. It will be fun watching him, even it if comes with significant growing pains.

SURPRISES?:

7. Denver Broncos

Best addition: QB Peyton Manning, free-agent pickup

This team already got to the divisional playoff round with a questionable passing game. If Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning, they can go a few miles higher.

12. New Orleans Saints

Best addition: G Ben Grubbs, free-agent pickup

Sean Payton is gone for the season and Gregg Williams is gone for good, which means Drew Brees will have more riding on his arm than usual. Now would be a good time to give Brees that big raise.

19. New York Jets

Best addition: S LaRon Landry, free-agent pickup

The Jets were a mediocre team last season, and despite the flashy Tebow pickup, there are still  big questions about just how much substance they have on both sides of the ball.

What do you think of these rankings?

SI.com ranks the Giants at number 11, up 7 spots from last week. Where else do they fall as the last week of the regular season begins?

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Timm Matthews was kind enough to visit us here at GMENHQ.COM and answer some questions about the Giants Cowboys showdown this Sunday night.  Timm has been a sports anchor/reporter/editor in Dallas/Ft. Worth for 25 years.  Timm was a sports anchor at KXAS-TV NBC-5 and then at KTVT-TV CBS-11 for 21 years. More recently he’s served as Editor-in-Chief of Scoreboard Magazine, the only sports/lifestyle magazine in Dallas/Ft. Worth.   In addition Timm is an anchor/host for Fox Sports Southwest, hosting Mavericks, Stars and Rangers shows.  Timm is the host for the ESPN Golf Connection show on ESPN radio in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Throughout his career Timm has hosted numerous local television programs covering the Dallas Cowboys, NASCAR, golf, tennis and high school sports.  He’s also served as an emcee for various charity and business events.

1. Jason Garrett was touted for years as the “next hot assistant” and a great Head Coach in waiting.  In the short time he has had the job what is your take on the job he has done, and what is the general take of fans?

I think he still has a lot to learn as a head coach…he’s not sure if he wants to be aggressive and unpredictable like his former coach/mentor Jimmy Johnson or play it safe to keep Jerry happy, so he’s a little of both. Most fans are thinking that Princeton is over-rated for brilliance.

2. Dez Bryant is one of the most talented athletes we have seen in years.  Of course, he has also been one of the most injured, and perceived as a knucklehead at times.  Is he soon to be the dangerous weapon he can be, or is he a disaster waiting to happen? (more…)

This one hurts alot. To come so close and come up short…Well, let’s take a look at the various components of the Giants’ effort last weekend. On offense, the G-Men did ok. Manning was able to hook up with his receivers and exploit the Packers pass defense. Other than the pick six that he threw, Manning had a good game. His receivers were open, and he hit them consistently. Travis Beckum showed up with a 67 yard TD reception and run that had me comtemplating the headline Bend It Like Beckum. Victor Cruz and Hakeen Nicks were open all day, and the patch work line kept Eli upright. The refs blew the TD call with Ballard, and the running game got untracked. Bradshaw’s return was a huge benefit.Defensively, the Giants rushing defense showed up, but the pass D took a breather. Chase Blackburn’s INT pretty much cancelled out Eli’s INT, but the defense should be able to find a way to stop their opponents and force OT with only 58 seconds on the clock. (more…)

Defensively, the Giants came out of the game banged up a little, with Osi and Michael Herzlich sporting sprained ankles. Generally, the G-Men got little to no pressure on the QB, falied to cover the receivers, and the result was a number of big plays for the Saints offense. Special Teams were OK, and we can’t blame Steve Weatherford for failing to pick up the first down. The snap was low, and the effort to generate some offense was necessary.

From the standpoint of preparation, Kevin Gilbride appears to be unable to establisha running game, Perry Fewell seems to be unable to come up with a solid defense, and Tom Coughlin will again be forced to deal with the prospect of another late season collapse. The Giants are now a game behind Dallas, with five games to go. The only positive is that two of the games are against the Cowboys, but Dallas has been playing very well of late. Next up: the undefeated Packers are coming to town. Once again, a tough opponent looms, and the Giants are behind the eight ball.

Green Bay Packers (10-0) vs Detroit Lions (7-3)  Thursday  12:30 EDT on Fox.  The Lions finally bring a team to the Thanksgiving Day game.  Not since the days of Barry Sanders have the Lions looked so capable, and they found a running game last week which will certainly serve them well.  Green Bay, of course, is now in the position of chasing history.  The ever elusive undefeated season on the line every week from now till February 5th in Indianapolis.  Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the game currently, and should provide some pre meal entertainment for all.

Miami Dolphins (3-7) vs Dallas Cowboys (6-4)  Thursday  4:15 EDT on CBS.  This game just a month ago looked like it would be the worst game ever played on Thanksgiving Day.  With the Cowboys struggling with injuries and the lack of a running game, and Tony Romo being inconsistent the Cowboys were going nowhere.  In walks DeMarco Murray and suddenly the Cowboy offense works again.  The Cowboys now lead the NFC East.  The Dolphins on the other hand were a defeated team, had a coach that was about to be fired, and couldn’t win a game even when leading by 15 with 2 minutes to go.  What’s changed?  The last three weeks the Dolphin defense has allowed  3, 9, and 8 points respectively while scoring 31, 20, and 35.  As a wise man once said….It’s not who you play, but when you play them.  This game could rival the famous snow game between these two teams……or it could be another waste of three hours of advertising.  We will see.

San Francisco 49ers (9-1) vs Baltimore Ravens (7-3)  Thursday 8:20 EDT on NFL Network.  In a game many won’t see, if you don’t get the NFL Network, the brothers Harbaugh clash in this Prime Time affair,  The Surprising 9ers travel to Baltimore with their young QB Alex Smith, and a pretty good running game.  The Ravens have a pretty good running game themselves and a struggling young Qb in Joe Flacco.  The Ravens are showing some age on their great defense and the offense has just been too inconsistent, but they have been finding ways to win.  This game will be all about hard hitting defense, and probably some trickery thrown in somewhere.  This contest will without a doubt come down to Special Teams, Turnovers, and who has the nerve to pull out the big play.  Look for these two brothers to have their guys ready to play, and a few tricks up their sleeves from the backyard as well.

So while their are no guarantees……except that we will all be stuffed by the end of the day…….this Thanksgiving Day at least gives hope to the prospect of three good football games to enjoy before, during, and after dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone form the staff of GMENHQ.COM and thank you for your support!

The Saints:  The Giants(6-4) play the New Orleans Saints(7-3) next Monday night in the Superdome.  The Saints lead the NFC South by one game over Atlanta, but have a 3-1 division record compared to The Falcons 1-2.  Coming off a bye this week, the Saints play the opposite Prime Time schedule from what the Giants will be experiencing.  They play Monday against New York and the following Sunday night versus Detroit in New Orleans as that game has been flexed by NBC.  The Saints have the same high flying offense they have always had with Drew Brees at the controls.  They rank First in Yards, 2nd in passing yards and First in points.  It will be interesting to see how healthy the Saints return from their bye week. Their defense has been inconsistent this year and  they will for sure be without LB Jonathan Vilma after he had surgery on his knee last week.  The Saints are always a tough opponent, especially at home.

Green Bay:  The Giants will host the Green Bay Packers on December 4th.  Aaron Rodgers and the seemingly unstoppable Packer offense will be a major challenge for the Giants.  The Packers currently at 10-0 are obviously leading both their division and the NFC.  They play this Thursday versus Detroit and then get all that extra time off before they meet the Giants.  The good news here is that the Packers are 21st in rushing and their defense has given up plenty of yards (31st in passing) and points.  They take many chances knowing that Rodgers and the offense can make up for many mistakes if necessary.

Dallas:  The Giants will play the division rival Cowboys twice down the stretch, first on December 11th, another Sunday Night Football affair in Arlington, and then on New Years Day in New Giants Stadium to finish out the regular season.  The Cowboys had basically the opposite schedule form the Giants, with tough opponents early, and the supposed softer schedule late. The Cowboys also have made themselves better by finding a running game.  DeMarco Murray has proven to be the missing piece to the offense and Jason Garrett’s Cowboys.  Tony Romo still runs this team, and it will ultimately either succeed or fail because of him, but it gives him another weapon he did not have earlier in the year.  These two divisional battles will no doubt decide the NFC EAST tittle.

Washington:  The Redskins are a tough defensive team.  Their offense however has fallen on hard times.  They have lost starting running backs, tight ends, and receivers.  And as the old saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, then really you have none.  Another important division contest here that needs to be won not only for overall record, but for tie-breaking purposes.

The Jets:  The Giants get to visit the Jets in their own building.  On Christmas Eve the scrooge inspired Jets will try and save their season, and ruin the Giants all in one night.  The Giants usually handle the Jets by doing what the Steelers did to them last year in the playoffs….run the ball.  However, this years Giants team has had trouble getting any sort of running attack started, and if the offensive line continues to struggle, the Jets defense will make them look silly.  This should be a low scoring affair, with all the struggles the Jet offense is currently experiencing.  But this game is a long way off, and the implications of the contest are yet to be decided.  We will keep our eye on this one as the weeks progress.

So….There you have it…..The Giants play two of the top teams in the NFC, both coming off extra rest in the next two weeks…one of those games needs to be won, or we leave our fate in the hands of others once again.

The Cowboys are being touted as having a “favorable schedule” for the remaining 6 games: (more…)

via PFT:

It looks like Newman will miss his second straight week. Bryant also missed practice Wednesday with a “thigh contusion” and his status for Sunday’s game against the 49ers looks to be in doubt.

Bryant missed four games last year and was at less than 100% for many more. He hurt his quad against the Jets and was gimpy for a large portion of the game.

Giants WR Hakeem Nicks is of course the latest key member of the WR unit to make the injury list after his knee/wrist got banged up in the week 1 matchup against the Redskins. Between Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Prince Amukamara all on the mend — the Giants defense still has a ways to go before it approaches full speed.