NFC East Roundtable - New York Giants
by JasonB on Aug 20, 2008 6:00 AM EDT
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The other NFC East bloggers in the SBNation network and myself got together this offseason for a little chat about the upcoming season, our teams, players to watch, and of course the dreaded predictions... We all answered the same 10 questions and over the next few days I'll posting the responses of our rivals...
Up next after the jump are the New York Giants represented by Big Blue View.
- The NFC East is brutal in terms of the depth and quality of its teams. Can you think of another conference that is even close in terms of talent and competitiveness?
BBV: No. The NFC East has four legitimate playoff caliber teams. In my mind, no other conference comes close to that kind of depth. - Was the Giants Super Bowl victory a fluke?
BBV: Absolutely not. It certainly was unexpected, but it wasn't a fluke. The Giants played incredibly, and they earned each victory. There weren't any crazy, fluke plays -- no 'Tuck Rule' plays or any of that nonsense. To me, the Giants are a talented team that had actually under-achieved for a long time. They finally had a stretch where they played up to their ability, and it came at the perfect time. That said, do I expect them to repeat? No. I expect them to be very good, but I'm not foolish enough to think they will win it all again.
- What new player on any of the teams -- draft pick, free agent or trade acquisition -- will make the biggest impact within the division this season?
BBV: Adam Jones. He's a tremendous talent, but also potentially a tremendous trouble-maker. He could help the Cowboys reach the Super Bowl. Or, he could help them implode and miss the playoffs entirely.
- Your team will win the division, and possibly the Super Bowl, if ...
BBV: First and foremost, Eli Manning stays healthy. I have no faith that the Giants can win games without him. Defensively, the Giants will need Mathias Kiwanuka healthy all season to make up for the retirement of Michael Strahan. Also, the development of young players like Aaron Ross, Terrell Thomas, Michael Johnson and No. 1 pick Kenny Phillips in the secondary could take this defense to another level.
- Your team will finish last in the division if ...
BBV: Eli Manning can't stay healthy. Also, if those young players in the secondary don't develop the Giants will have difficulty covering people. Oh, and if they can't win some games at home this season. The Giants went 7-1 on the road in the regular season, but only 3-5 at home. They can't count on being so efficient on the road, so they have to win more often in the Meadowlands. - What team in the NFC has the best shot at keeping an NFC East team out of the Super Bowl?
BBV: The popular answer to that question these days is the Minnesota Vikings. But, I'm not buying that with Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback. With Brett Favre, maybe, but not with Jackson. I don't believe in Gree Bay with Aaron Rodgers, either. I guess that leaves Seattle.
- Give me one player on your team everyone else might not know about, but who could wind up making a name for himself this season.
BBV: Watch out for No. 1 pick Kenny Phillips. This guy is a heavy-hitting, play-making safety and if he isn't starting Week 1 he will force his way into the lineup shortly thereafter.
- Rank the starting quarterbacks within the division.
BBV: Tony Romo
Eli Manning
Donovan McNabb
Jason Campbell
Giants fans will be mad at me for taking Romo here, so I need to qualify this answer. I don't think you can argue with the numbers that say Romo has been better game-in and game-out. As a Giants fan, though, would I trade Eli straight up to get Romo? Not a chance. Eli has proven that he is a winner. Romo has nice numbers and a celebrity girlfriend, but he hasn't proven that he can come up big when it matters most. Eli has, and I'll take that every time.
- Rank the coaches within the division.
BBV: Tom Coughlin. I think there is little doubt he is, right now, top dog among coaches in the division. That's pretty amazing, but I think really hard to argue with.
Andy Reid.
Wade Phillips
Jim Zorn - Finally, what is your predicted order of finish in the NFC East? Why?
BBV: Giants
Cowboys
Redskins
Eagles
The Giants are defending Super Bowl champions. I say they are the favorites until someone knocks them off. I still think it's 50-50 on the Cowboys. They could win the whole enchilada, but they could also completely implode with that volatile roster and a lame-duck head coach and miss the playoffs entirely. I almost picked Dallas for last in this division, because I think an implosion of some sort in inevitable, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The Redskins have talent, but they have a question mark at head coach. The Eagles are tough to figure. I just don't know about Andy Reid anymore, and McNabb's health is always a question.
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Man I love that everyone is picking us last!
Concretefield can suck it
by 700 Level on Aug 20, 2008 8:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Talk about homers
Jason, at least you have enough rocks to pick another squad if you beleive they are good. Your other NFC bloggers are spineless. Hey, I guess they are entitled to an opinion.
Dallas Sucks
by yophillybro on Aug 20, 2008 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i find it funny the other two i read have andy at the top, but he says it’s hard to argue with coughlin being the best coach in the division. while he has a valid point since they just won a sb, it’s still funny how different the opinions are between all of the bloggers.
by eagleyosh on Aug 20, 2008 9:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Coaches
You know, I have a lot of respect for Andy Reid. At the top of his game, Reid is an awesome coach. My choice of Coughlin is based simply on the fact that — for the past couple of seasons — Reid has not been at the top of his game. Coughlin is right now at the pinnacle. I tried to be as objective as I could in doing this, but of course some of my bias is going to show. I won’t deny that.
— Ed
BigBlueView
by Ed Valentine on Aug 20, 2008 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
nice roundup, Ed
i hate to be in the minority, but that giants win was not a fluke. (homer alert) ever since the eagles almost pulled an upset on the pats, the pats were vulnerable. what the eagles did, and subsequently the giants did better, was put pressure on at the line.
my favorite line:
“would I trade Eli straight up to get Romo? Not a chance. Eli has proven that he is a winner. Romo has nice numbers and a celebrity girlfriend, but he hasn’t proven that he can come up big when it matters most. Eli has, and I’ll take that every time.”
i live with a cowboys fan and giants fan. i can’t wait to throw that gem out there and watch them go at it. dance, puppets…
also, i wouldn’t be too concerned with the last question, i.e. where the teams will finish. as pointed out in yesterday’s conversation, the competitive differences between these teams are so slim that any team can end up winning it. of course ed is going to rank the giants on top-he has every reason to.
JD
by psudrozz on Aug 20, 2008 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i hate to be in the minority, but that giants win was not a fluke.
I don’t think you are in the minority but the majority. The Giants were not the better team, not even close, but they found a weakness (whether it was uncovered by the Eagles or not) and exploited it.
by Whodie126 on Aug 20, 2008 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just Dumb
At least the Redskins guy had some sensible answers.
by jhavrk8 on Aug 20, 2008 10:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i thought he had good answers. just cause you don’t agree with them doesn’t mean they’re “dumb” responses…he backed up all of his answers with solid reasoning…
by eagleyosh on Aug 20, 2008 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't mean to rain on the Giants Parade (Then again, i suppose I do)
The Giants would have been nowhere last year if it wasn’t for the work of Tony Soprano. The only real reason the Giants went anywhere was because of the elevated play of their Defense, using Jim Johnson’s Scheme.
When you look back to when the Eagles played the Pats, the defense made the game winnable. This was also the case in both Giants game against the pats. I blame the Eagles loss to the Pats mostly upon the shoulders of AJ Feeley for throwing two interceptions that really really hurt us.
I think the Giants can blame the first loss to the Pats on the offense not producing enough points. Similarly, in the Superbowl, the Giants offense still did little, and if It wasn’t for a miraculous drive and a miracle catch, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
This is why I don’t buy any argument that says Tom Coughlin is a better coach than Andy Reid. Lets see a 13-3 season where his team played well the entire season (even without their star wide receiver) that wasn’t made good just because of a lucky drive in the superbowl. Then we can talk about Couglin being a good head coach and not just looking good due to the Defense coordinators work.
by Clyde Simmons on Aug 20, 2008 11:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Opps...typo Spagnuolo.
You know how those Tonys are
by Clyde Simmons on Aug 20, 2008 12:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I like Soprano better.
Dallas Sucks
by yophillybro on Aug 20, 2008 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
it’s tough to get angry at the guy for claiming he has the best coach, qb, team, they just won to superbowl and they are his team. I for one say bullshit the Eagles, Andy, and Number 5 are better but I am an Eagles fan.
by Whodie126 on Aug 20, 2008 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Most of the answers make sense...
and I generally think you can make a lot of strong arguments that Coughlin is the best coach in the division (only one to win a superbowl) and that the giants will win the division (they won a superbowl last year) but I think picking Eli Manning over both Donovan and Tony Romo is pretty homerish. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Eli impressed me with his win, but the guy has to be down there with some of the worst qbs ever to win a superbowl. After all, the giants didn’t win off of their offense, not for a long shot. They won because their defense limited the Pats to 14 measly points
by CMax on Aug 20, 2008 2:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Changed you Avitar did ya Remis, It that your boy? Nice.
Dallas Sucks
by yophillybro on Aug 21, 2008 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Also
I’m looking forward to looking at these roundtable discussions after the season’s over and the eagles won the NFC east.
by CMax on Aug 20, 2008 2:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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