Who's Got It Better Than the San Francisco 49ers? Part 2: New York Giants

You all had to know this was coming. The New York Giants got it better than the San Francisco 49ers.

They beat the 49ers 26-3 on Sunday, and did so in a way that left no doubt the Giants are still among the NFL's elite.

The best way to settle an argument on who is the better team is to line up and play.

The 49ers had their chance to prove they were the better team on Sunday, but as Robert DeNiro said to Sylvester Stallone in the movie Copland, "you bleeew it!"

Tom Coughlin and company have stumbled a few times this year. The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles are responsible for the two in their 4-2 record. Both teams are division foes, and expect the Giants to come full-throttle when they meet again.

Records can be thrown out the window when you're talking about the New York Giants. Am I right?  Havn't they won the Super Bowl twice since since 2007 with six or more losses in the regular season?  Darn right they have!

This brings me to my first point. Tom Coughlin can coach, and he does it well. He is constantly making adjustments. When things go bad, he doesn't panic; he simply adapts.

How many times in the last five plus years have we heard that Coughlin is on the "hot seat?" Plenty, but he never listens, he puts his head down and goes to work and does his job. Two rings in the last five years is proof he doesn't listen when the media has it out for him.

Players

Coughlin is the man in New York, but he couldn't do it without the guys who step between the lines.

Eli Manning is also the man in New York with a 63.6 completion percentage, 1,772 yards and 11 touchdowns against five picks, and his quarterback rating is 94.9.

No. 10 takes a page out of Coughlin's book. He has a short memory and does not let outside noise distract him from the task at hand. Even in-game gaffes don't get Manning down. Again, he has a short memory and always seems to give his team a chance to win in the end.

In Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Eli was sleepwalking in the first half with three picks in the second quarter. When it was all said and done, he finished with 510 yards and three touchdowns to nullify the the three picks.

By the way, the Giants overcame a 27-19 deficit going into the fourth quarter and won that game against Tampa Bay. Two of Manning's three touchdowns came in the fourth quarter.

Eli has some nice targets to throw to in guys like "Mr. Come Out of Nowhere" Victor Cruz, who is definitely not experiencing a sophomore jinx, with 43 catches so far with 496 yards and six touchdowns.

Hakeem Nicks is a big threat when healthy, but keeping him on the field has been a bit of a problem so far. Nicks is still very good, and he was on the field Sunday and registered three catches for 44 yards against the 49ers.

Manning also has a nice weapon in the newly acquired 6'6", 265-pound tight end and former Dallas Cowboy Martellus Bennett.

Bennett's numbers are as follows: 20 catches for 226 yards. He has found the end zone three times, and that is why they brought him to New York, so he could be a big target come red-zone time.

Improved Running Game

Running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Andre Brown have turned a bottom-tier running game into a top-10 running game to help compensate for the defense. It is averaging 125 yards per game, which is good enough for sixth overall in the NFL. Although good at times, has the absence of Brandon Jacobs and his mouth helped the Giants run game?

Defense Has Been Questioned

Defensively, the Giants have been better in years past.

The defense is not bad, though. It still has guys like Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Michael Boley, and they will most likely not be held down all year. The 49ers game is a good example.

On Sunday, the defense allowed only three points to a 49ers team that had scored over 70 points in their previous two games. New York recorded six sacks, with Pierre-Paul adding two of his own. The secondary took full advantage of the defensive line's ability to harass 49ers quarterback Alex Smith with three interceptions.

Veteran safety Antrel Rolle was responsible for two of the Giants' three picks against San Francisco.

For the second straight year, the Giants have been hit hard by the injury bug in their secondary. In fact, some might credit the Dallas Cowboys' Kevin Ogletree's big game (eight catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns) on that opening night in New York to the fact that the Giants had to dig deep into the depth chart at cornerback.

Numbers Be Damned

Records, stats, who cares?

When it is all said and done, yes, there will be some numbers worth noting for the Giants. Again, they don't care, though; they are a good example of the team-first concept, a group of individuals who play together for one common goal and they don't care who gets the credit.

That will do it for the second installment of who's got it better than the 49ers.

Again, this is not meant to pick on the 49ers. It's simply a different way of rating the NFL's top teams at this point without a list with just a few words explaining why they are where they are.

Did you notice how I said top teams? Yes, the 49ers are still a top team—just not the top team.

First article in the series.