After Cruz, 26,  switched to CAA Sports last month, talks between him and the Giants have been fairly quiet. Recent reports say Cruz is looking for $10-11 million per year while the Giants are offering around $7 million per year. He’s currently a restricted free agent on a first round tender.

A 10-11 million annual average would put Cruz in the same territory as receivers such as Vincent Jackson and Dwayne Bowe. The Giants’ offer is slightly larger than the 5 year, $31 million contract Danny Amendola signed with the Patriots.

The gap between the two sides reflects more than just money issues. Cruz views himself as a #1 receiver, no doubt buoyed by the 2,2628 receiving yards he’s put up in his first two seasons. The Giants view him as a slot receiver, more in the mold of former Giants receiver Steve Smith. Good but not irreplaceable.

Unless Cruz gets desperate or the Giants cave, it seems unlikely the two sides will come to a compromise. When dealing with Cruz, the Giants will have to worry about the ramifications a deal will have on their salary cap and how it affects their ability to resign other prominent free agents such as defensive end Jason Pierre Paul and their other wide receiver, Hakeem Nicks.

Nicks is reportedly viewed by the team as a #1 receiver and a bigger priority to resign than Cruz. On the surface, this doesn’t make too much sense. Cruz has had significantly more yardage than Nicks the last two years and was able to stay on the field a lot more.

It’s not that simple though. Game tape and advanced statistics tell a lot more.

Advanced NFL Stats had Cruz accounting for 22.6% of the Giants targets in 2011, receiving 132 total while Nicks accounted for 22.5% of the team’s targets, receiving 131. Cruz had 86 catches for 1,538 yards, good for a 18.7 yards per reception, while Nicks had 76 catches for 1192 yards, for a 15.7 YPR.

What those numbers don’t tell you is the kind of routes Nicks and Cruz ran. Cruz, playing mostly in the slot, ran 29.5% of his routes 15 yards or further down the field, 38th amongst receivers. Conversely, Nicks ran 42% of his routes 15 yards or further down the field, eighth most in the NFL.

Somehow though, Cruz had 25 plays of more than 20 yards while Nicks only had 17.  The reason for this is elusiveness.

Newsday

The majority of Cruz’s big plays in 2011 came as a result of missed tackles. Whether it was Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha or New York Jets safety Eric Smith, Cruz routinely caught short passes, made a few defenders whiff on tackles, and ran a long way. Cruz finished sixth in the NFL with 595 yards after the catch.

While it was a great formula of success for the Giants, it didn’t look like something that could be sustained because slot receivers rarely ever average that high a YPR and if they do, it’s not for long.

In 2012, due to a variety of factors, Cruz’s performance dropped significantly. He still had 86 catches and even more targets (143) than in 2011. However, his yardage fell to 1,092 and his YPR fell to 12.7.  Additionally, his catch rate fell from 62% in 2011 to 60% in 2012. He only had 12 plays over 20 yards and his production cratered in the second half, as he only caught 36 passes (on 62 targets) for 465 yards in his final seven games. Overall, he only ran 18.2% of his routes 15 yards or more down the field in 2012, 65th in the NFL.

Part of that is due to Nicks’ injury which kept him out for several games and which rendered him ineffective when he did play. There was also quarterback Eli Manning’s “dead arm” which caused him to struggle.

Primarily though, the league adjusted to Cruz and the Giants as a whole.  Teams started to play more Cover-2 against the Giants, leaving a deep safety down the field to prevent Cruz and Nicks from exploiting opportunities downfield. Giants backup quarterback David Carr noted in a game after the Eagles that safeties were “going straight at Victor.”

Strangely and yet not all too surprising, Nicks had 12 catches for 20 or more yards in 2012, the same number as Cruz despite missing three games and not recording a catch in two of the games he did play.

This is because Nicks is a more physical and versatile receiver than Cruz despite having just one inch on him. Nicks can beat receivers in man coverage at a level that Cruz is simply not able to.  Manning and the Giants offense as a whole suffered without a healthy Nicks and his presence helps open up opportunities for Cruz.

That’s not to say Cruz isn’t valuable. The Giants wouldn’t be able to find a receiver as good as Cruz on the street and some team will pay him.

Cruz’s problem is that he’s not elite in any one area. He doesn’t profile well as an outside receiver and while he has had success in the slot, he doesn’t have elite hands like Wes Welker, who never caught less than 68% of his passes in six seasons with the New England Patriots.

If the NFL did not have a salary cap, paying Cruz would not be a problem.  However, the Giants have limited resources to spend every year and they simply cannot and should not pay elite receiver money to a player isn’t substantially better than Smith.

Barring the unforeseen, Cruz will line up for the Giants during the 2013 season.  If the Giants are smart, he won’t be in 2014.

Phillips was listed as doubtful going into the game, he saw limited action last Monday night against the Washington Redskins.  In the Giants win over Green Bay on November 25th, Phillips aggravated an MCL injury that kept him out for most of the seasons’s first half. He’s been laboring since then.

The Giants will be without wide receiver Hakeem Nicks as I mentioned in an earlier post. Nicks is dealing with swelling in his knee and soreness in his foot. Domenik Hixon (concussion) is back and will play start tonight in place of Nicks. Ramses Barden will rotate in and is expected to see a good amount of playing time.

Inactives for the Giants tonight will also include T David Diehl (knee), CB Jayron Hosley (hamstring), and LB Keith Rivers (hamstring).

Other inactives include DE Adewale Ojomo, TE Adrien Robinson, and G Mitch Petrus

Safety Antrel Rolle is active and will try to play tonight  with a bruised left knee he suffered in a collision with a television cameraman during last week’s win against Carolina. He was listed as questionable heading into today.

The Giants are thin in the secondary as it is, so it’ll be interesting to see how much Rolle can contribute tonight. On the flipside, cornerback Prince Amukamara is scheduled to make his first NFL start. That’s a big plus for the Giants and it’ll be even bigger if Amukamara can turn in a solid performance.

Nicks missed last week’s Thursday night game against the Carolina Panthers after getting off to a hot start the first two games of the season. He posted 14 catches for 237 yards and a touchdown in the first two weeks.

The Giants will most likely turn to Ramses Barden again to step in for Nicks. Barden put up breakthrough numbers against the Panthers last week and that has to ease the minds of the Giants and their fans somewhat while Nicks is on the mend.

The Giants have also confirmed that tackle David Diehl, linebacker Keith Rivers, and cornerback Jayron Hosley will all miss Sunday’s game as well.

Photography by CHRIS PEDOTA/NorthJersey.com

Wide Receiver Hakeem Nicks broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in May and has not played in a preseason game in 2012. Nicks says he was told he will be taking snaps in tonight’s final preseason game against the New England Patriots.

“As of right now, I was told I was gonna take some snaps,” said Nicks. He also stated that he felt 100 percent for the first time in Sunday’s practice.

Tom Coughlin’s response was a little different when asked about Nicks playing tonight. Coughlin’s response was, “We’ll see.”

Last year Nicks caught for 1,192 yds and 7 touchdowns in 15 games. In 2010 he received 1,052 yds and 11 touchdowns in 13 games. ESPN insider currently ranks Hakeem Nicks tied with Greg Jennings of the Green Bay Packers for fifth best wide receiver in the NFL.

Everyone from fans to teammates are very happy to see that Nick’s recovery is near completion and that he will return soon.

However, the Giants have gotten some encouragement. Hakeem Nicks, New York’s star wideout practiced back with the team for the first time since suffering a broken foot. He suffered the injury in OTAs.

Nicks participated in some team drills and was in on about half of the first team snaps. There was some concern regarding Nicks’ injury. The initial break was thought to be one that could hamper him into the early part of the season, but Nicks appears to have a made a pretty quick recovery.

Along with Nicks participation in practice for the first time this pre-season was a familiar figure riding a bike in the background…It was Shaun Rogers.  It was reported last week that due to blood clots in his lower legs Shaun would be lost for the season. But as the Giants signed players last week to fill some wholes, they didn’t place Rogers on IR, which would be the logical thing to do if he were indeed done for the season.  Instead the Giants and Rogers sought a second opinion on his medical situation, and he might not be lost after all.

So, while the injury bug still bites players like Will Beatty, Michael Boley, and Jayron Hosley, there just might be some good news on the horizon to offset some of the bad.

This year the opportunity to make an impact is clearly there for Barden to grab. The Giants depth at wide receiver will be put to the test in 2012. Mario Manningham is now catching passes in San Francisco thanks to free agency and big-play receiver Hakeem Nicks is rehabbing from a broken foot. If there was ever a chance for Barden to show the Giants he’s ready it’s now.

Based on what head coach Tom Coughlin has said about Barden, it’s apparent that the Giants feel it’s time to see if he is indeed the impact player they believe he can be.

“It’s time, it was time last year. The guy is going to make a mark in the league. He’s smart. He’s been around long enough. He’s been in the heat of it. You know, he’s made plays. He just needs to make them more consistently. That’s all I hope. (That) this is his time.”

It’s the size of Barden that caught my attention when the Giants started talking him up after taking him in the third round of the 2009 draft. He’s 6-foot-6 and was so impressive in his first training camp, it brought back reminders of how successful quarterback Eli Manning was throwing red zone passes to Plaxico Burress.

Injuries and a deep depth chart at the wide receiver position has slowed down Barden’s development. However with Manningham’s departure, there is a prime spot up for grabs. If Barden can stay healthy and produce, he’ll fit nicely in the passing game with Nicks and Victor Cruz for Manning.

Barden is entering the final year of his contract. The Giants went out and drafted receiver Rueben Randle and re-signed Domenik Hixon. If that’s not enough for motivation to get it done, I don’t know what else would work. Nothing is going to be just handed to him, he’ll have to earn it.

May 23, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (88) during the Giants OTA at the their training facility. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Once again the Nicks return date has changed. GM Jerry Reese said Saturday that the WR could be back for week three of the preseason.

Nicks fractured his fifth metatarsal back in May and has said he would be back in time to start the season. This week that optimism was also conveyed for the first time by the GM. He stated on Saturday ” Nicks should be ready to go for the last two preseason games, but we won’t push him out there.” The ever conservative coach has a different opinion saying,  Nicks is not ahead of schedule.

The WR has been doing some light running on the sidelines and could begin cutting next week. Having Nicks back to start the season would be a huge lift for the offense and QB Eli Manning. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Feb 5, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (88) catches a pass over New England Patriots cornerback Antwaun Molden (27) during Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Faytok/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

As for Nicks, initial prognosis was that he would be out about 12 weeks, effectively putting him out until the end of training camp, which would give him enough time, hopefully, to be ready for Week 1 of the upcoming NFL season, even if head coach Tom Coughlin thinks that’s too optimistic. Other reports have emerged putting a 4-6 week time stamp on the injury, which would have Nicks returning for the beginning of training camp. But whatever way you look at it, Nicks right now is out with a broken foot and we can’t do anything than hope for a speedy recovery.

For a player that hasn’t been able to play a full regular season yet in his NFL career an injury of this magnitude is going to put doubts in the minds of those getting their fantasy football rankings ready so all we can do for now is talk about Nick’s fantasy value at this very moment.

Before the injury if I were to have set my rankings for a standard 12-team non-PPR league format draft Nicks would have been in my top ten WR rankings; probably even top five. Now? Will, if Nicks is out closer to the 4-6 weeks rather than the 12 weeks I would probably have Nicks drop down a bit but stay in my top 20. A foot injury for a wide receiver is never a bad thing and if Victor Cruz were to step into the role of the #1 WR on the Giants, just like he did when he took over the slot receiver role, essentially becoming the Giants second best WR option, Eli would be hard-pressed not to keep looking Cruz’s way.

Then there’s rookie second round draft pick Rueben Randle, who up to this point in OTAs has been pretty impressive. The Giants have depth at the wideout position so an injury to Nicks isn’t the worst thing in the world for the Giants but it might be bad news for Nicks whenever he’s ready to come back to action on the gridiron. A player of Nicks’ caliber won’t just lose his spot but when he has so many other talented players to compete with he might see less targets than he normally would have before the injury.

That’s the argument Brad Evans over at Yahoo! fantasy sports makes but his reaction is a little drastic, as he sees Nicks tumbling down 20-30 spots further than his current Yahoo! WR draft average, which is 5^th amongst wide-outs. So by that logic Evans would rank Nicks anywhere from 25-35^th amongst WRs. That’s pretty low for a guy that could be a top flight #1 fantasy football WR and I wouldn’t be ready to drop him that far down my rankings.

Like I said earlier, I think he’s still a top 20 WR when it comes to fantasy football but if for some reason he were to slip in your draft beyond that he would be a steal. Conversely, Victor Cruz must now be put higher in your WR rankings, and Randle should be given some consideration as well.

What do you think GMEN HQ readers? Where would you take Nicks if you were to hold a fantasy football draft today? Let us know in the comments section.

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.

Nicks will have surgery on Friday in Charlotte, N.C., where foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson will insert a screw into the broken bone. His recovery time is 12 weeks.

Yesterday, as reported here on GMenHq, the Giants lost CB Brian Witherspoon for the season and sub-sequentially waived him today. He is expected to miss the entire 2012 NFL season. Nicks however, may be back for the opening of the regular season for the Giants.

This tells me the Eagles are in love with Fletcher Cox, DT out of Mississippi State who is a Top 10 projection. Worst case scenario for the Eagles is they stay at 16th loose Barron (to Cowboys) and Cox and draft Michael Brockers, DT out of LSU which really is not that bad of a choice. Now if the Cowboys do not get Barron (whether he is drafted higher or the Eagles make a move for him) well they have a lot of other needs on Defense with emphasis on the D-line. Courtney Upshaw, DE out of Alabama may still be available. So could Nick Perry, DE out of USC or South Carolina’s OLB Melvin Ingram who can cause some chaos in Rob Ryan’s blitz happy scheme.

Now the Giants, holding the last pick and a team that sticks to the philosophy of best available player. Okay I am going to get opinionated here; to all those Coby Fleener TE from Stanford supporters, not happening. The Giants signed Martellus Bennett, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin saw something in this TE that made them believers (maybe to a degree). That being said I can see the Giants drafting a TE like Ladarius Green from Louisiana-Lafayette, Deangelo Peterson, TE, LSU or Michael Egnew, TE, Missouri in Rounds 3 or 4. As for the OT Mike Adams (Ohio State) believers, not happening either. The G-Men have not drafted a OT since 1999 and are staunch believers they can find a good OL in the later rounds and develop him within the organization. Now add to this the rumors of Adams being a “work hard when he feels like it guy”. Does that sound like someone Coughlin would put up with?

So who should it be? The Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the Draft World will never be able to predict how a draft will go and who will move up or down. Now if Kendall Wright, WR from Baylor happens to move down to 32 grab him. He will open the Giants Offense even more and make Cruz and Nicks look that much better. Now I have been a supporter of RB Doug Martin (Boise State) he is a good runner between the lines and is great in pass protection, receiving and YAC (yards after catch). But we don’t know who will be there at 32, we don’t have that crystal ball. One thing we do know if there is a highly rated DE at 32, well enough said.

This morning I started to think back a few years to 2007.  That magical season that seemed to come out of nowhere.  Starting with all the talk about Eli Manning and his “comical” role as a leader of the team called the New York Giants.  That quote, of course ,came from Tiki Barber in a conversation forced upon him by Cris Collinsworth, who will be calling the game with Al Michaels come next Sunday.

Eli did not have his best regular season that year, and the defense started out as a complete failure.  After the comment by Tiki, Eli fired back a bit saying that “It didn’t take long for Tiki to become part of the media”.  I always remember Michael Strahan saying that that little comment showed them the real Eli was about to emerge.  Eli even talked back to Strahahn later in the year when it was suggested that the team dress in all black for their trip to Super Bowl 42.  Eli wore a black suit jacket, but with a white shirt, again making a little statement that he was his own man.

Eli, this year, has had a career year statistically, and in the category of being a leader.  He has taken to meeting during the week with the running backs and discussing the game plan and their part in it.  He has taken young receivers in Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz under his wing and has pushed them to be their best.  He teaches, mentors, and leads these men throughout the game.  He does it in his own way.  He does it calmly, quietly, but with the confidence of a true leader.  He has been fried in the media for having “bad body language” and a “funny look on his face”.  Comment by people who have never met him in person, or taken the time to ask the other players how he has affected them.

Now, Ei is leading HIS team to the Super Bowl for the second time.  He stood up in front of his teammates in a rare mid-week address and walked them through what to expect in the next two weeks.  This is a business trip, and should be treated as such.  ”We have to have great preparation” he stated and prepare they will.  The Giants will practice Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week before traveling to Indianapolis.  The entire game plan will be implemented in New Jersey, and tweaked and repeated once they land in Indiana.  Eli, along with his well prepared Head Coach, will lead this team, in the proper mind set, to their second Super Bowl in 4 years.  Who would have thought we would be saying that just a few weeks back.

Whatever else will be said about this afternoon’s game, it certainly wasn’t one that did any favors for anyone’s blood pressure.

The Giants came into Lambeau Field and came away with a 37-20 win to earn a trip to the NFC Championship game in San Francisco. They’re now the fourth seeded team to defeat a number one seeded team on the road since the current playoff format was instilled, and they knocked off the 15-1 defending Super Bowl champions to do so. It’s amazing to think that just a few weeks ago, the Giants were on the verge of collapsing and missing the playoffs altogether. Now they’re be playing next week for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. It’s amazing what getting hot at the right time can do for a team.

Thoughts from the game:

-Obviously fumbles were the name of the game. The Packers fumbled four times and the Giants recovered two of them, and that combined with all of the drops by Green Bay’s receivers really helped out the Giants defense. The Osi Umenyiora forced fumble was especially big. Greg Jennings was wide open and would have easily score a touchdown if Umenyiora hadn’t knocked the ball out of Aaron Rodgers’s hands.

-I try to avoid complaining about the refs in games if I can. But there is nothing that anyone can do or say that can justify the referees ruling that the play Tom Coughlin challenged was not a fumble. Neither the Jennings’s knee nor elbow were even close to being down when the ball was coming out. It was even ruled a fumble on the field initially, until one ref overturned another. How Coughlin lost that challenge and the Giants didn’t get the ball is absolutely beyond me. To say it was a horrible call doesn’t even begin to scrape the surface.

The “roughing the passer” call on Umenyiora in the fourth quarter was pretty bad too.

-I couldn’t have been the only one who flashed back to Super Bowl 42 during New York’s opening drive. It was very similar to the one the Giants had to start the game in Phoenix; Giants received the opening kickoff, converted on a few key third downs, ran a lot of time off the clock and came away with a field goal.

-Give the offensive line credit. They played well for most of the game and gave Eli Manning enough time to locate his receivers and throw the ball. There were a few exceptions of course (like on the Manning’s interception) but overall, they were up to the challenge. At the very least, they certainly didn’t look soft.

-It has to be said- there are no words to describe the Hail Mary catch made by Hakeem Nicks. I still can’t believe that he came down with that ball. It was a huge play, giving the Giants a 20-10 at halftime and a boost for the team as well.

-The Giants secondary has not gotten enough credit in this victory. It was a complete defensive effort, but the Packers had very little to work with downfield most of the game. They chipped away at yardage but had few- if any- really big passing plays. It was frustrating to watch at times, but it paid off in the end.

-I’m still concerned by the Giants lacking a strong running game, and their poor performance on third down defense reared its ugly head again. Just some stuff that needs working on.

The Giants offense, on the other hand, was spectacular on third downs, especially third and long. That is a recipe for success.

-Once again, an all-around team effort leads to a victory for the Giants and they took care of things in Green Bay. Now they travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, another team they have unfinished business with from the regular season. It’s going to be a 1990′s flashback for some of the older Giants fans.

-The Giants run defense had, for the most part, been playing much better in the last two games of the season and it carried over into this game. It’s just about impossible to contain a running back like Michael Turner but the Giants defense did a fine job of limiting his productivity today.

-Not only has the Giants run defense improved but so has their own productivity on the ground. And both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw have had more success when the Giants run the ball behind left guard Kevin Boothe, not right tackle Kareem McKenzie. McKenzie has been rather soft on run blocking all year and he looked lost at times today, especially on the safety where he failed to pick up the blitz. But when they run it to the left behind Boothe, or pull him to the right, it is overall more effective.

-I bet Mike Smith wished that he’d kicked those two field goals instead of going for it on fourth and short, especially the first one when the game was still 0-0. He would’ve had less of a deficit to overcome in the fourth quarter.

-Speaking of fourth and short, do the Giants have the best fourth down, short yardage defense in the NFL? They stuffed the Cowboys on fourth and short last week and managed to contain the Falcons both times they went for it. Atlanta was in Giants territory both times too, so they could’ve easily could’ve come away with six points instead of turning the ball over on downs.

-The defense choose the right time in the season to get hot. They pitched a shutout today, since Atlanta’s only points came off a safety. Not too shabby considering they were facing a team that can boast Turner, Julio Jones, Roddy White and Matt Ryan. Kudos to them for holding the fort while the offense was trying to find their rhythm.

-It’s nice to have two quality receivers, isn’t it? The Falcons focused on shutting down Victor Cruz, allowing Hakeem Nicks to run wild and get two touchdowns.

-Congratulations to Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin for their first home playoff victory! Remember, the Giants won four straight road games in their playoff/Super Bowl run in 2008 since they’d gotten into the postseason as a wild card team. It was also Manning’s first career playoff win outside of their Super Bowl winning season.

-Overall, it was another complete team victory for the Giants. Their play definitely got better as the game went on and once they were settled in, they dominated the Falcons. If they play like this, next week’s game against the Packers should be another close game.

We here at Fansided.com are lucky enough to have access to bloggers and fans from all 32 teams.  Jamie Kelly from BloggingDirty.com joined us this week for a little Q and A.

1. It’s been a roller coaster season for the Giants, having some highs with wins over the Cowboys amongst others and some lows with losses such as Washington at home a few weeks ago. How good are the Giants? Do they have a shot in the playoffs?

The Giants are as good as their health will allow them to be.  The Giants, like all teams have had injuries, but the timing of those injuries has been the key.  They lost their starting cornerback Terrell Thomas in the last pre-season game. They lost their starting middle linebacker three days before the opener in Washington.  They lost Osi, Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Boley, and 5 players in the secondary, including their #1 pick, at different times.  They have played without Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, TE Jake Ballard, starting center David Baas, and All Pro Guard Chris Snee during the season.  This is the first time everyone who is not on IR is back and playing their positions.  A healthy Giants team poses many problems to the opposition.  The Giants are fianlly as healthy as they can be.

The Giants finished their regular season in style, with a little flash, and according to the script we laid out last week in an article titled Giants All In  The Giants are looking stronger as a team each week and are NFC EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPS.  They now host the Atlanta Falcons in the first ever playoff game at New Giants Stadium Sunday at 1:00 Eastern.  Let’s take a quick look back at the Cowboy game.

The Giants for the first time in a long time started quickly.  Electing to defer after winning the toss, they figured they would test Tony Romo and his bruised hand quickly, and see how he did in the wind and the rain.  Tony actually had a pretty good statistical night finishing 29/37 with 2 TD’s and one INT. A rating of 106.  However after running just 7 plays in their first two drives the Cowboys found themselves down 7-0.  One of the keys we discussed was the Giants healthy defensive line against the Cowboys Offensive line. The rotation of fresh players took it’s toll on the Cowboys as a combination of J.P.P., Tuck, Canty, and Osi Umenyiora accounted for 5 of the 6 sacks the Giants had on the night.  There were a few errant snaps from the Cowboy centers as we had discussed, and overall their line played poorly.

The other topic we touched on last week was the playmaking ability of both teams in the passing game.  Both Laurent Robinson and Victor Cruz made some big plays, but on this night Victor was the star again…even though Laurent thought he could dance the salsa too.  Cruz finished the game with 6 catches for 178 yards and another memorable TD.  Hakeem Nicks had a solid game as did Dez Bryant, but the Giants FINISHED their plays, as the Cowboys seemed to muddle along.

In the running game the Giants, although it sure didn’t seem like it, rushed for 106 yards, while the Cowboys managed just 49.  The ability to get some production out of the running game for the Giants is paramount to success.  The fact that Ahmad Bradshaw can run it in from anywhere, and Brandon Jacobs punishes those that dare get in his way when he makes it into the secondary, allows the Giants to be balanced and keeps defenses on their heals.

The Giants have FINISHED the seasons of the Cowboys, Eagles, and Jets, the past three weeks.  Let’s see if they can’t send the Dirty Birds from Atlanta south for the winter.

2012 started off on the right foot for the New York Giants and their fans as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the second time this season by a 31-14 margin to clinch the NFC East title, guaranteeing at least one more week of New York Giants football in perhaps the sweetest fashion possible. The Giants will face the Atlanta Falcons in New York next Sunday in the first round of the playoffs.

Thoughts from the game-

-Surprise, surprise- Victor Cruz came up big once again. What else is there left to say about him that hasn’t already been said?

-Hakeem Nicks get a lot of attention for his receiving talents (and rightly so). But he also deserves to get some props for the job that he does when it comes to blocking downfield for his teammates. If he doesn’t make the blocks that he did on Cruz’s touchdown catch and Ahmad Bradshaw’s first tally, those guys might not have scored.

-Travis Beckham really needs to work on his blocking. He struggled last week against the Jets and again tonight against Dallas. The Giants are definitely missing Jake Ballard in that regard.

-My fondness for Henry Hynoski continues to grow. It’s nice to have a fullback with hands, isn’t it?

-Eli Manning’s touchdown to Nicks was his fifteenth of the season in the fourth quarter- a new NFL record.

-Speaking of Eli Manning, it was mentioned tonight that his pocket awareness and movement has been so much better this year than in previous seasons, and that has a lot to do with his success this year. I could not agree more.

-It’s amazing how much better the entire Giants defense plays when the defensive line dominates. And it wasn’t just Jason Pierre-Paul getting pressure tonight. Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Chris Canty all contributed. New York managed six sacks tonight and Tony Romo never really got much of a chance to get comfortable.

-The Giants did manage to get a few breaks tonight, managing to recover one fumble and then DeMarcus Ware being flagged for jumping offsides when the Cowboys recovered another Giants fumble.

-The offensive line has consistently played well as a whole in the past week or two. Jay Ratliff and Ware hardly got a sniff at Manning all night. The Giants running game still isn’t a strong as I’d like but they’re definitely better off running the ball to Kevin Boothe’s side when he’s in at guard.

-It was, once again, an overall team effort, with both the offense and defense playing well. The defense managed to contain the Cowboys well and the offense was able to score when needed. The Giants are on a bit of a hot streak right now and if they play like they did tonight, they can beat just about any team they’re up against.

Merry Christmas Giants fans!

As expected this was a tight game that was came right down to the end. But no fourth quarter comeback was necessary today. The Giants were ahead 10-7 at half time and never relinquished the lead. It was a huge “road” win for the Giants

-The Giants might have been able to run away with this one earlier if they weren’t on the brutal end of two big calls in the Jets favor. The first was the too many men on the field call on fourth down in the first quarter. It was the right call of course, but take that away and the Giants had a defensive touchdown. Instead, the Jets get an automatic first down and score to go up 7-0. Add it to the list of times the Giants have hurt themselves with penalties in key moments all year.

The second one was, of course, the fumble that Ross recovered and ran back. It was a very close call, but honestly I didn’t think that there was enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. Thankfully it didn’t end up costing the Giants anything since Nick Folk missed the ensuing 44-yard field goal.

Then, of course, there was the pair of incomplete pass challenges that didn’t help either. It definitely felt like there were more reviewed plays in this game than any other this season.

-After that first drop by Hakeem Nicks, did anyone else have flashbacks to last week, when early dropped passes could have changed the whole tone of the game? Luckily the Giants managed to hold it together much better than they did against the Redskins.

-I think Darrelle Revis knows who Victor Cruz is now. His 99 yard touchdown reception was the longest play in Giants history, tied for longest in NFL history. (The former longest play by a New York Giant was Earl Morall to Homer Jones for a 98 yard reception in 1966.) That was a beautiful play by Cruz from start to finish, from making Antonio Cromartie miss the initial tackle to staying in bounds to make sure the touchdown stood. He has also now broken Amani Toomer’s single-season record for most receiving yards in Giants history. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that but it’s hard to believe that the Giants signed Cruz as an undrafted free agent.

-Jacquian Williams played one of, if not his best, game of the season. His awareness on his tackles was excellent (including a huge third down stop), he wrapped up well and he had a goal line fumble recovery as well. I was impressed with him today.

-Can someone please explain to me why Tom Coughlin couldn’t challenge the Santonio Holmes fumble? There was absolutely no explanation given to explain why he wasn’t allowed to throw the red flag. Again, it didn’t end up costing the Giants anything as Ahmad Bradshaw scored on the ensuing possession but still. At least we got this, uh, interesting headline as a result:

(Last I checked, the Giants and Jets weren’t even in the same conference, much less the same division.)

-I cannot say enough about how well the Giants defense played, especially in the second half. They gave the Jets almost nothing to work with, put pressure on Sanchez, were stingy on third down for a change, and came up with big turnovers and sacks, and a safety to ice the game. They’ve been heavily criticized in recent weeks- rightly so- but they won the game for the Giants in the second half.

-Overall, the Giants played disciplined football. They weren’t perfect, the running game and offensive line still struggled, a few play calls were questionable, but they didn’t take stupid penalties and won the turnover battle. They played well enough to win, despite some very questionable calls, and it was enough to stay in the hunt for the NFC East division title.