NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

Five Things The Giants Must Do To Guarantee Success

Over the past few weeks, New York has made some giant, excuse the pun, strides in defending their division title. Signing Arrington and adding a playmaker at the third wide receiver position were big moves and should have a direct effect on the win/loss column. That being said, there are a few things that the Giants have to accomplish to keep their season a good one.

Improve The Defense – You can only go so far with an all-offense team. Despite what Peyton has done in Indianapolis for the last few seasons, it is rare to see teams make the postseason on the virtue of their offense alone. Even the Colts realized this last year, spending a lot of money on improving their defense. Remember how good the Chiefs were on offense a few seasons back? Well not much has changed besides the postseason trip since then.

For the Giants to really improve they have to become a good defensive team. Make no mistake that the defense is the key to the season. Healthy players in addition to some playmakers added in the offseason should be enough to do the trick, but if the defense struggles the season could turn mediocre very quickly.

Develop Eli Manning – This shouldn’t be a big problem but it is worth mentioning that Eli had a very rough ending to the 2005-06 season. Eli showed signs of being a great quarterback at the beginning of last season and I truly believe he is a Pro Bowl quarterback this year if developed right. He has all the weapons on offense and a season of experience under his belt.

Barring any sudden injury problems, Eli should be a top quarterback in the league and anything less is a disappointment.

Continue Running – What made the Giants so good on offense last year was not only the fact that they had three good receivers for Manning, but also that they got a career year from Tiki Barber. The fumbles are gone and all that is left is one of the best running backs in the league.

That being said Tiki has to prove he can do this two seasons in a row now. Teams are going to concentrate their defenses on stopping him and he has to continue to be effective to keep his offense moving. And of course, keep the fumbles down again (I think this problem is gone for the most part though.)

Beat Division Rivals – All four teams in the NFC East could probably finish first in the division. The team that ends up winning the division, and being guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, will need to have a good record (4-2 or better) against the other three teams in the East. No matter what the Giants have to do to win the games, they just have to make sure they get the job done.

Every game in the NFL is important, but division games set the tone for the year and can make or break a season. Last year Washington scored a miraculous comeback win against Dallas in the early weeks of the season and it ended up being the difference in making the playoffs and not making them. Also remember that if Philadelphia had not lost a big lead against the same Dallas team in the mid-weeks, they would have been right back in the race.

I can’t state how important this is, the Giants HAVE to win division games and give each and every one everything they have.

Have A Short-Term Memory – Last season was a fantastic year for all the Giants and they really did do something not expected of them by winning the division. But last year is last year, and it is time to move on and to start over.

If the Giants do all these things they will put themselves in a great position by week 17 to make headlines throughout winter!