Now to the Cowboys, no doubt a very talented team on paper, but a team that has only won 1 playoff game in 15 years. The problem with the Cowboys is a lack of leadership and please do not try to make the argument that it is Tony Romo. The only leader of the Cowboys is Jerry Jones and it is never recommended that the owner is the face of the franchise. I have no doubt the Cowboys will be in the mix at the end of the season based on their talent level, but again lack of team leadership and Jerry Jones meddling will not result in a playoff win if they get that far.

Finally the Washington Redskins and RGIII. The Redskins beat the Giants twice last year with a strong defense and a good running game, but don’t expect RGIII to take this franchise to a winning record. Yes, he is good, but I don’t see him having a Cam Newton year and even if he does then a lot teams will get a fair share of interceptions. So how does it end? Roll the dice. The team that does scare me are the Eagles with a healthy Michael Vick. I do not see a wild card coming out of this division, just based on strength of schedule, so the G-Men should have only one goal other than winning the division and that is beating their division opponents to absolve any tie breaking scenarios.

Question 1: With Victor Cruz’s stand out game against the Eagles, what do you see his future role becoming? Lindsay:  Victor Cruz proved to Eli Manning and the rest of the Giants that he can be trusted and a valuable receiver. I think he can honestly be a star receiver and I plan on buying his jersey next!

Question 2: Which players on the GIANTS need to step up this week to make sure they do not have a let down? Lindsay: I think Corey Webster needs to step up and Aaron Ross needs to play like he did last week in order to shut Fitzgerald down.

Question 3: Which player(s) on the Cardinals scare you the most? Lindsay: Fitzgerald!

Question 4: Do GIANTS fans watch the games together on campus? Lindsay: Yeah Giants fans get together to watch the game or just a bunch of diehard NFL fans that aren’t NFC rivals of course! haha

Question 5: Which NFL team do most students root for: Lindsay: I would say that most people at ECU were raised Panthers fans, but a lot of them have lost hope and changed teams over the years.

Do you want to be the twitter GIANTS fan featured on Gmenhq? Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/tom_brant and let me know!

1. The Corners stunk – Corey Webster was picked on over and over the first half for playing 5 yards off the ball at all times, Aaron Ross with the same strategy the second half. It’s no wonder Rex Grossman had a wide berth to throw into. I’m surprised Webster came out so flat, I’m not surprised at all about Ross. But in each case I’m extremely concerned. This was my #1 concern last year week one – depth at corner – and with T Thomas out for the year and any significant backup player injured as well the Giants are in trouble. Big trouble. Don’t think Prince Amukamara will swoop in and save the day either, he’s got two practices to his name. The Giants are going to need Webster to play like it’s 2008 and Ross to get a clue if no other moves are made this week.

2. Victor Cruz is not the #3 WR. Dropping an easy pass right into his midsection for a guaranteed first down and more…. It was early but the Giants were working it with a nice mix and had the edge – it looked to me like that drive Cruz stalled was destined for a score. Why is he playing ahead of Hixon? Hixon has experience, good hands, great elusiveness, and is clearly the best option without Steve Smith on the team. The Victor Cruz project is not about being a slot receiver that can break big plays – it’s about blowing by corners on the outside and making leaping catches for TDs. Did you see Eli’s face when he dropped that ball thrown right into Cruz’s breadbasket? I’m pretty sure it was explitive filled. I can’t believe Cruz is starting ahead of Hixon – I really can’t. The man helped the Giants to the Superbowl. He’s had one drop in 3 seasons. Leave Hixon in there as the starting slot receiver, for goodness sake.

3. Let’s get back to a mix of pass and run. On the Giants scoring drives – did you notice the dynamic play calling, quick snap counts at times, and brilliant execution of both passes and runs from a variety of weapons? It’s no wonder the Giants scored on those two drives – they were so effective it never was reliant on 3rd down to move the chains. This is what the Giants need to be doing EVERY drive – finding a wat to make big plays on 1st and 2nd down. The Giants were 1/eternity on 3rd downs… snap counts went all the way to 0 seconds on the play clock, aiding the defense, and even when the Giants had an opportunity late in the game to rely on the running game they got away from it with horrible results. The Giants are clearly needing the offensive line to work their kinks out, but things should get better as the game goes on, not worse. The Giants becoming pass fist and one dimensional did not help matters. I look for a bigger commitment next week to the real strength of the Giants – their running game.

4. Antrel Rolle offically lost the game. Instead of Domenik Hixon fielding a punt off a 4th and 2 with 7 minutes on the clock, the Redskins had a game sealing TD thanks to Anrel Rolles dumb defenseless receiver penalty. All he had to do was touch a guy on the shoulder pad and the Giants had a good shot to tie the game up. Veterans need to lead on this Giants team by not making mental mistakes like this… And execution at this level seems like a pretty easy ing to accomplish. It has nothing to do with Coach Coughlin’s mantra of no penalties either, it has to do with just playing smart, solid football. Rolle needs to step it up going forward, his coverage was pretty lacking as well.

5. I hate the Giants zone right now. Backs to a blank field while receivers are running free in space uncovered does not seem like a winning strategy to me. It seems abundantly clear that the Giants have not figured out that the seams of their zone are wide open at all times, whether that be a skinny post up the middle or a quick out to the outside. It’s one thing to expect a LB to be able to make a play on a well thrown balls, it’s another to have a receiver wide open and waiting for the ball to be thrown with 5-10 yards of space between him and the 3 defenders around him. If the Giants don’t have what it takes to play man, they are really in trouble because they can’t play zone either. It looked like 2009 all over again against the Skins.

6. Lets dial up the pressure more, eh? On the first 10 passing plays for the Redskins, the Giants got to Grossman as or after he was throwing the ball 9/10 times. The Redskins scored 0 points. See how that works? The beginning and ending of the game were similar for the Giants defense – they got to Grossman often and forced some bad throws and sacks but the entire middle of the game the defense seemed like they forgot the key to success. Next week, I want to see the Giants stay with that intensity through out the game.

THE GOOD

The Giants running game. Talk about depth, the Giants have their choice of about 4 quality RB’s that bring a unique flavor to every snap. And while Andre Brown did well enough to give Danny Ware cause for concern, both of these guys better watch out for the next guy in the good column.

DaRel Scott. Dude had a night. After thinking Andre Brown was going to supplant Scott for the final roster spot – DaRel made the absolute most out of every opportunity he had. Every single snap. He went for 114 yards over 12 carries and a TD coming off a brilliant fake punt. Talk about break away speed! But to me he moment I knew he made the roster was when he took a typical draw play up he gut for a first down and about 20 yards. He was into the secondary before I had a chance to blink… I mean his quickness was unbelievable. God am I glad the Giants took a flyer on this guy. Welcome to the final 53 DaRel.

Special Teams. How about taking a page right out of Belichick handbook and winning that third facet of the game… And in doing so the Giants gave themselves a chance to beat the Patriots outright. A combination of good returns, utilizing a great fake punt, and at the same time providing good coverage gave the Giants the advantage they needed to win that battle. Extremely exciting momentum builder heading into week 1 of the regular season.

Defense. After rattling off a quick 10 points following offensive turnovers, the Giants defense held firm for the rest of the game and I would say took over he second half of the game. Particularly when the game was on the line. Giants front 7 swarmed and overwhelmed the Patriots and got much needed pressure to deliver the win for the Giants. While injuries continue to be a concern, the Reserves showed some backbone last night and some pride. Created opportunities with turnovers, got pressure – I’m excited.

THE BAD

Offense continues to struggle. 2 turnovers back to back did not give anyone confidence that the Giants are committed to eliminating mistakes this season. It’s preseason, but avoidable fumbles and INTs deep in your own territory are a recipe for disaster. Good thing the defense didn’t roll over.

Jernigan’s first half. Dropped balls, muffed punts, bobbles. Very shaky and could very well be this years Matt Dodge. Great upside, no experience or confidence – and jitters out the wazoo. His redemption for his 42 yard return and game winning 2 point conversion cannot go unnoticed though. Coughlin will likely be patient and hope Jernigan turned the corner last night.

David Carr had an off night. Turnovers aren’t just reserved for Eli I guess. His best asset is clearly his legs and scrambling for first downs is something I wish Eli could do more of. But you can’t teach that — which is why Aaron Rodgers and Michael Vick are so highly regarded as passers. If Eli ever goes out and he line breaks down, Carr needs to think run first, throw second.

THE UGLY

Clint Sintim. 9 months after tearing an ACL he does it all over again. Coughlin was right, this is going to be devastating for him. For the Giants – we’ll see more of Greg Jones hopefully now.

There’s been some discussion around the blogosphere and NY Giants blogs about Domenik Hixon’s dropped passes, and frankly it’ a misnomer.  No drops in 2009 if you can believe it.  And if you go back to 2008 Hixon has one dropped ball to his name, and that was the big drop against Philadelphia after Plax shot himself that would have went for a TD and changed the whole complexion of the game for the Giants.  They ended up losing to the Eagles giving the Birds a sense of confidence without Burress, and then losing to them again at home during the playoffs.

Sorry to bring up all those bad memories, but Hixon’s one dropped ball is usually associated with that whole can of worms.  Needless to say, in 3 years he’s had one dropped ball and it’s time we forgive and forget. In fact, Mario Manningham of all the receivers has the worst case of dropping deep balls from Manning, not Hixon.

Hixon is truly a great slot receiver with very good hands, but he’s also quick enough to get behind the defense and can become that deep threat that Steve Smith never really became.   The Giants WR core will be a good one in 2011, and here’s forgiving and forgetting Hixon’s ONE drop in 2008 so that we can all move on collectively about the state of the 2011 Giants offense without Steve Smith and Kevin Boss.  Ouch, still hurts to say that.

Too soon?

The truth is I started this post a long time ago, shortly after the Eagles signed Nnamdi Asomugha.  The reason?  I’m secretly hoping he turns out to be an overrated player who looked like a diamond in the rough on a bad overall Oakland Raiders team.  But the truth is he may end up being just another tin can on a trash heap now that he’s in Philadelphia surrounded by more overpriced talent, with bitter rivals of the NFC East looking to tear that team a new one.  And with the Eagles looking to revive a fallen defense ever since the passing of Jim Johnson and the departure of Brian Dawkins to Denver… the pressure is going to be on the Eagle secondary now more than ever.  If last night was any indication – the much hyped and revamped Eagles defense has a long way to go before they’re ready for prime time.

My opinionated, long overdue rant about why the Eagles aren’t that good is after the jump.

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