Aug 2, 2010; Albany, NY, USA; New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell holds up a play card for his players during training camp in Albany. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

As OTA’s get started and training camp right around the corner, what are the keys to watch for this season? For the Giants to get a playoff birth and make another run at the title they will need to fill the holes of outgoing players and upgrade at a few other areas.

1. Who will be the Victor Cruz of 2012? When Steve Smith departing last offseason there was a huge question mark at the WR position. Thankfully out of virtually no where Cruz emerged and had a monster season finishing behind only Calvin Johnson in recieving yards in the NFC.  With Mario Manningham gone to the left coast and now a question mark on Hakeem Nicks season the WR position has yet again become a problem area. So, who will step up? As of now we have Cruz, Domenik Hixon coming off injury, and rookie Rueban Randle as the likely top 3. After that it’s  Ramses Bardan and Jerrel Jernigan both of which have yet to show any promise. Hopefully Nicks can return to form by week 4 or 5.

2. The linebacker position seems to be the opposite of last year at this time. With Chase Blackburn being re-signed and emerging as a force in the middle and the signing of Keith Rivers from Cincinnati really will solidify the LB corp with Boley and Kiwi flipping between LB and End. And the experience that Williams, Jones and Herzlich gained last year filling in now makes this a strength and no longer the weak link of the defense.

3. The running game had an extremely lack luster year in 2011. Being non existent for most of the year only emerging in the latter part of the regular season and the playoffs, mainly due to the respect for Eli and fear of the big play, needs to be better. With Jacobs joining Manningham in SF and DJ Ware and Da’rel Scott showing very little last season it was clear that Bradshaw would need help. The Giants turned to the Draft and picked David Wilson. With Bradshaw always fighting injuries from his running style and Wilson being a rookie it would appear the G-Men will probably go to a 3 headed running attack with Bradshaw, Ware and Wilson. But this area will be a question with only 1 back That is battle tested.

4. The Offensive Line had an up and down year in 2011, giving good protection in the passing game and poor run blocking. The one constant on the line has been and will be Chris Snee at right guard. With Kareem McKenzie not being re-signed mean that Will Beatty and James Brewer fighting for right tackle, off season signing Sean Locklear with provide depth. The left side appears it will be David Diehl at LT and Kevin Boothe and Mitch Petreus battling for RG. Petreus would add needed toughness and help for the running game. David Baas had a rough start, but seemed to settle in at the center position nicely.

These questions should be answered by the end of training camp and will be key areas that will need to be solid for the Giants to make another run to the playoffs and possible championship.

This opens the door for some competition for the spot behind Ahmad Bradshaw.  Currently on the roster are Andre Brown, D.J. Ware, and Da’Rel Scott.  Scott has tremendous speed at 5’11″ 195 and has shown some potential.  It looks like the Giants will probably draft a RB or two for depth in the middle to late rounds.  Expect the competition to be between these three mainly, with D.J. Ware having a slight edge starting out due mainly to his experience and tenure with the team.  However, if Da’Rel can stay healthy he can contribute in many ways.  Take a look at a few clips of Da’Rel’s work. Da’Rel Scott Fake Punt  Da’Rel Scott 97 Yard Run

Pretty impressive stuff…..Let’s see if he can take advantage of the situation.

The Giants are now 6-5 on the season and two games out of the NFC East lead. Still, the season still has potential to be salvaged with two huge games against the Cowboys looming after undefeated Green Bay comes into town next week.

Some observations from the game:

-I don’t know if Kevin Boothe and Stacy Andrews really make that much of a difference but the offensive line looked much better overall against the Saints. Unlike last week against the Eagles, Eli Manning had enough time to throw and the whole offense looked better as a result. The running game still didn’t look very strong but at least they gave Jacobs some holes to work with this week. It’s also worth noting that the o-line did not commit any costly holding penalties for what felt like the first time this year. Those have hindered the Giants all season. Need I remind everyone of the one that killed a New York drive in the San Francisco game?

-Hakeem Nicks looked like his old self for the first time in weeks. Look at the screen pass he caught on the Giants’ last drive of the first half, where he shook two defenders in order to get a first down. It would appear as if he is finally 100% healthy. So of course he sustained a bruised rib

-I cannot for the life of understand why Kevin Gilbride thinks it’s a good idea to try and get Brandon Jacobs to run wide. He may not be the Jacobs of 2008 but he’s still somewhat effective when he’s putting his shoulder down, plowing people over and getting going downhill, as he did on the touchdown run.

-The Giants’ struggles in most aspects have been pretty well-documented but one area where they’ve been weak but hasn’t been talked about much is punt and kick returns. They haven’t had much success in gaining a lot of positive yardage after the catch, no matter who is returning punts and kicks. But it looks as if Da’Rell Scott has changed that. Several times he was one broken tackle away from breaking loose.

-After last week’s game against the Eagles, Giants fans were understandably nervous about the linebackers defending passes up the middle. Well that concern wound up taking the back seat. Big plays absolutely killed the Giants all night. It felt like that gave up more big plays in this game alone than the rest of the season combined.

-Where oh where has the Giants pass rush gone? They’ve led the league in sacks for a good part of the year but for the second week in a row, they’ve gotten minimal pressure on the opposing quarterback. And when the defensive front isn’t applying pressure, it really exposes the weakness in New York’s secondary, which leads to them giving up the aforementioned big plays.

-For the first time in 23 games, New York did not have a defensive takeaway.

-Giants fans have many reasons to be grateful for Victor Cruz and this game showed why. He (along with Manning) continued to play hard, even when it was clear that the game was out of the Giants’ hands. Those are the kind of guys you want on your team. He also showed good awareness by not doing his famous salsa dance celebration after either of his two touchdown catches. Both of those two little things demonstrated that he’s a character guy and I’ll take that any day of the week. He’s only 43 yards away from crossing the 1000 yards receiving mark. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t drafted, huh?

He still needs to work on his dropped passes though.

-I’m sorry but the Da’Rel Scott fumble was bogus. His elbow and forearm were clearly down before the ball came loose. I don’t know what they refs were looking at on that review. It should’ve been overturned. I have no other complaints about the officiating in the game otherwise but the Giants losing that challenge stung.

MetLife Stadium, Time to make good memories

history to fortify that abhorrence. No, I think a dispensing with all the statistics is in order, for this game will come down to who makes fewer mistakes and imposes their will over the other. Let’s try to isolate some of the questions regarding this game.

The Eagles run the ball better than anyone else, gaining almost 173 yards on the ground. Simply because Michael Vick is not expected to play does not negate the Eagles ability to move the ball on the ground. Vince Young is a capable runner and poses a physical presence. LeSean McCoy is one of the most exciting running backs in football. He runs with a style reminiscent of Barry Sanders which raises big red flags when imagining the challenge the Giants will have in stopping him. Couple McCoy’s outstanding running ability with the undermanned linebacker unit and it is time to pour a double for yourself. It will be interesting to see if Mark Herzlich is ready for prime time, for the speed of the game may be more than he is currently able to match. I remember watching A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews in their first few games some years ago and they struggled. They also were not coming off a life threatening disease that robbed their bodies of muscle and substance. So in view of these facts I invoke the Michel Jordan Doctrine: You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him. And containing McCoy will be key if the Giants are to ostensibly end the season for these dirty birds from 90 miles down the turnpike.

– Clint Sintim was lost for the season with a ruptured patella tendon. He will be put on the IR today.

– Da’Rel Scott pretty much locked himself up a roster spot after scoring a 65 yard touchdown off of a fake punt. He has shown flashes of breakaway speed during the preseason that the coaching staff must be excited about.

– Jerrel Jernigan bobbled two punts again, but also added a few pretty catches and a 2 point conversion. He left the game late in the 4th with an apparent wrist injury, that did not seem to be serious.

– Rhys Lloyd went 1 for 3 with fieldgoals albeit they were from more than 45 yards out.

– The Giants have until 4pm today to trim their roster from 85 to 80. Should be interesting to see who the other 4 are along with Dillard going to the IR.

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