Giants Look to Atone for Giant Losses

What are your realistic 2009 season expectations for the team you'd like to cover? What will it take to exceed them, and what obstacles could cause the team to fall short?

The Giants 2008 season can be summed up in one phrase: Two Losses. One off the field, the Plaxico Burress catastrohpe, and a more conventional loss on the field, the 23-11 home playoff heartbreaker to the rival Eagles.

Following last season's sizzling 11-1 start that culminated in Plaxico-Gate, losses in three of the team's four regular season games, and the bitter playoff loss to the rival Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants management and coaching staff firmly believes that they have everything in place for a trip to their second Super Bowl in three years.

With an already strong defense, bolstered by the return of star pass rusher Osi Umenyiora and the signings of Bronx native Chris Canty from the Cowboys and Rocky Bernard from the Seahawks, the Giants are confident that they can replicate the defensive line depth and pass rush that were integral to the 2007 championship run.

After losing Umenyiora to injury and future Hall-of-Famer Michael Strahan to the broadcast booth, the talented defensive end tandem of Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka held up strong for the first three-quarters of the 2008 season. But, lacking the depth of the season before, the Giants vaunted pass rush was a shadow of itself down the stretch, especially in the playoff loss, when the Giants failed to register a single sack of the elusive Donovan McNabb following Justin Tuck's first quarter hurry of McNabb, which resulted in a grounding penalty that was ruled a safety. 

In addition to Canty and Bernard, the Giants also signed former Atlanta Falcon Michael Boley and drafted Clint Sintim out of Virginia in the second round to bolster the linebacking corps.

Despite the talk following Burress' arrest and suspension, the season-ending skid, and an offense that often looked lost down the stretch of the season without their star receiver, General Manager Jerry Reese ultimately did not stray from the less is more philosophy that defined his first two seasons as General Manager: collecting as much talent as possible without mortgaging the team's future and salary cap flexibility.

With flashy and talented receivers such as Terrell Owens and T.J. Houshmandzadeh available, and many fans clamoring for Reese to bite, it appeared that Reese might revert to predecessor Ernie Accorsi's ways of bringing in big-name free agents such as Kerry Collins, Plaxico Burress, and Lavar Arrington. Instead, the Giants stayed away from the free agent market to fill the team's most glaring need.

With the entire offensive line intact to protect their franchise quarterback, a potent one-two punch of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw in the backfield following the expected departure of Derrick Ward to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a stable of tight ends led by Kevin Boss that effectively fill several roles, Reese proved to be content to wait for the draft to begin the reconstruction of the receiver position.

Even as the draft approached and rumors of trades for Cleveland's Braylon Edwards and Arizona's Anquan Boldin were widespread, the Giants ignored the high demands of the Browns and Cardinals, and patiently waited for the 29th selection in the first round of the draft, selecting North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks.

Then, with their third-round selection, the Giants made a low-risk high reward selection that has been the trademark of Jerry Reese led drafts, trading up to choose the 6'6'' Ramses Barden of Cal Poly.

The selections of Nicks and Barden represent an effort by the Giants to create in the receiver position what they have done in the past with the running back and defensive line position groupings: create as much depth and competition as possible in order to receive contributions from many players throughout the course of the five month marathon of a season.

With third-year man Steve Smith entrenched as a slot receiver and the talented Domenik Hixon having an entire offseason to work with Eli Manning and grow into an increased role, the Giants have several intriguing options. These options include holdovers Smith and Hixon, the two rookies; second-year man Mario Manningham, and the grisled veteran, Super Bowl hero, and special teams ace David Tyree returning from injury.

While the question of who exactly will emerge and in what roles remain at the wide receiver position, Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin are confident that there are enough playmakers on the outside to effectively complement the Giants strong running attack.

With an abundance of talent on both sides of the ball, a championship quarterback just entering his prime years, and a chip on their shoulders following last season's disappointing finish, the Giants should certainly qualify for the NFC Playoffs for a franchise record fifth consecutive year, and contend for a trip to Super Bowl XLIII in Miami. 

Even with the losses of Burress and beloved defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo departing for the top job with the St. Louis Rams, the Giants will prove to be a formidable foe and possibly a champion.

While division foes Dallas and Philadelphia are both talented and also looking to atone for disappointing ends to their seasons, man for man, the Giants are more talented than the Eagles, and far more of a cohesive unit that the Cowboys are until Dallas proves it can grow up and handle prosperity.

While the other three NFC divisions contain some strong teams such as the defending conference champion Cardinals, the Falcons, and maybe a surprise team like the Bears, these divisions remain weak sisters of the powerful NFC East.

In all likelihood, we'll be watching the Giants try to win a second championship in three years come Super Bowl XLIII.