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.

But I’ve got the game up now thanks to my subscription to NFL’s Preseason Live and I’m slowly going through it. The first point of contention we come to of course — Eli Manning’s first interception and the Giants first turnover of the preseason.

My thoughts:

• The clock wound all the way down to zero due to communications issues — problem #1.

• No one got to the blitz, and the defense had a quick, free shot at Eli… problem #2.

• Back foot throw to a receiver that wasn’t expecting that quick of  a pass… problem #3.

• Poor decision to throw that ball instead of away, problem #4.

Now, this was the Giants first turnover of the season and if you view it through last seasons turnover template — it falls into the forced pass/bad decision category.  These are the kinds of things that need to get worked out, and I think will get worked out.  As the season progresses, this play will receive more work and study, and guys will know what’s coming.  Eli will not have to put the offense at such a disadvantage by bringing the play clock down to zero.   And in the event that nothing is there, Eli needs to get used to either taking the sack or throwing the ball away or spiking it.

It’s preseason, nothing to get overly worked up over… and the offense looked pretty good up until that point.  Going for it on 4th down and Jacobs getting the physical extra yard, loved it.  That INT play looked sloppy from the outset and does not in any way make my nervous about the 2011 offense.  It will get better.

• Be A Facebook Fan!
• Follow Us On Twitter

“I’m happy with the team’s performance. You know, I feel like we could have played better on offense. It was one of those weird games….it started with the first play of the game; we had a great first play, and then we had a 2nd and 1 and all of a sudden 3rd and 7, then we get an offsides and it’s 3rd and 12. So it was kind of one of those deals where we had a 2nd and 1 and don’t convert on that. So I thought we had some good things. We need to be a little more consistent. We need to be better in the passing game, had some throwaways, some protection stuff, we had some drops, some bad throws by me — just a combination of all those things that didn’t lead to being very efficient in the passing game. But we ran the ball well, I thought we communicated very well, better than the first week. You know, the line talking to each other, the receivers and everybody being on the same page. I thought we played well and played smart.”

The full interview can be heard here:

[via Sports Radio Interviews]

QB: Solid job by Eli Monday. He was a little wild with some of his throws, but was missing where no one could catch the ball, instead of in harms way. He made great reads and audibles at the line. Eli continues to be the leader of this offense, and a very unselfish one at that.

RB’S: The running game looked solid on Monday.. Both Ahmad Bradshaw and Jacobs looked stronger and faster. More importantly they both held onto the ball while fighting for yardage and staying aggressive.. Jacobs looked bigger and stronger. Bradshaw was his old fighting self. No worries here.

O-Line: The O-Line will be a work in progress throughout the year, but they did seem to communicate better and work as a unit more on Monday. The GIANTS will again use 6 linemen on certain downs, and also use their multiple tight end sets a lot this year. The pass protection was good. The Bears really only got pressure when they moved Julius Peppers to the opposite side, and that is something the GIANTS will game plan for in upcoming weeks.

WR’S: We all know that Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are the numbers 1 and 2 receivers. After that a deep group is emerging as situational players. Victor Cruz looked good in routes and special teams, however his pre-snap reads need major improvement. The Giants do a lot of play changing at the line and Victor needs to be aware of where he needs to be, and when to be the hot receiver. Domenik Hixon looked good in the red zone, and I still think Devin Thomas will be a contributor on offense this year.

TE’S: The Giants have a few blocking tight ends, other than that they are still missing this piece of the puzzle. Travis Beckum can get open on the seam route that the Giants love to run, but Eli needs to trust him to be there, and that will take some work.

Defense:  we still look like the side of the ball that will carry this team some weeks. I am glad that if injuries have to happen, that they have happened on Defense. The linebackers and D-Line will have to help the safeties and CB’s on obvious passing downs. Perry Fewell will have to devise some schemes to get the maximum out of the talent he has. They are deep on the D-line, and at line backer. Signing Deon Grant was and is now the best move of the off season. Look for different schemes with 5 linemen, 1 linebacker, and 3 safeties. This is a tough bunch with tons of talent, and they will be called upon to come together as a unit and carry this team. Osi will be back and then the rotation up front will be stout. Hopefully “The Prince” comes back by week 6 and provides a spark and some more talent to the secondary.

Special Teams: Lots of jobs were saved Monday night. Devin Thomas looked great on kick returns, and the young players that the GIANTS would like to keep on this roster proved they belonged. Greg Jones, Herzlich, Paysinger should all find a spot.

While I know some people have reacted violently to the injury news from Monday and Tuesday….it’s not the end, it’s the beginning, so take a step back and see where we can go from here

The Giants scored three TDs on the ground and two through the air. The Bears 1 TD in garbage time with 2 minutes left came after rookie Da’Rel Scott ran in a 97 yard TD to seal the blowout by the Giants.

Here is the full highlight reel via via NFL Videos: