An Inside Look at The New York Giants 2009 Schedule

The summer is winding down and pretty soon, the 2009 NFL season will be kicking off.

For Giants fans, the last image they had from football season was watching the Eagles triumph over them in the NFC Playoffs 23-11 back in January.

Most blamed the loss on the absence of Plaxico Burress since the offense was never able to prepare a strategy without him.

That was last season, and that is now history.

This is a brand new season with a whole new game plan and a new schedule in 2009 (and 2010 as well.)

Let's break down the 2009 schedule for the Giants:

Week One: September 13 vs Washington Redskins

For the second year in a row, the Giants will open up their season at home against the Redskins. The Giants have always had success at home against Washington. Last season, the Giants defense really pounded the Redskins offense into submission in the 16-7 victory. It will be the first true look of the Giants offense with the new wide receivers and it will be Osi Umenyiora's first game back from the knee injury that sidelined him for 2008.

Week Two: September 20 at Dallas Cowboys

The NFC East opponents continue as they will be opening up the new Cowboys Stadium on Sunday Night Football, so this will be a nationally televised game on NBC. At Dallas last season, the Giants were without Brandon Jacobs and the Cowboys capitalized in the 20-8 win at the old Texas Stadium.  This will be a emotionally-charged game as the Cowboys will look to win their first game in the new stadium while the Giants will look to spoil it.

Week Three: September 27 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay is starting from scratch. They have a new head coach in Raheem Morris, replacing Jon Gruden. This is a major re-building year for the Bucs and it could be a long season for them. Jeff Garcia is out, and Byron Leftwich is on and they added former Giants 1,000-yard rusher Derrick Ward. The last time the Giants played in Tampa Bay was January of 2008 in the first round of the NFC Playoffs where the Giants went on to win 24-14.

Week Four: October 4 at Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are another team in re-building mode, but are headed in the right direction. They hired Todd Haley as head coach, who was the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals. They traded for Matt Cassel and locked him up long term. They brought in Mike Vrabel in on defense to be the leader. They did lose long time leader Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta. The Giants will also be facing long-time receiver Amani Toomer. The Chiefs defense is always been the weak point and if the Giants want to air out the ball or have Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw run wild, this can be the day for that.

Week Five: October 11 vs Oakland Raiders

Oakland has been an awful team since their trip to Super Bowl 37 in 2003. JaMarcus Russell has yet to establish himself as the leader, which is why they brought in Jeff Garcia. They drafted Darrius Heyward-Bey at wide receiver, a move many considered to be questionable since he wasn't a top receiver from the college draft. The Raiders have never been a good road team in the past either, so this could be a game where the Giants take command early and show why the Raiders are still a few years away.

Week Six: October 18 at New Orleans Saints

Get ready to watch a lot of points be put on the board in the Superdome, because the Saints offense is fun to watch. The Giants will see their former offensive coordinator from Super Bowl 35 in Sean Payton, the Saints head coach. This will be the first time the Giants will be facing former tight end Jeremy Shockey. After his bad-mouthing comments when he departed, I'm sure some of his ex-teammates would love to put a hit on Shockey. Drew Brees has established himself as one of the league's top quarterbacks and plays well at home, so this game could turn out to be a shootout and new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan's biggest test for a gameplan.

Week Seven: October 25 vs Arizona Cardinals

The NFC Champions come into Giants Stadium and Kurt Warner plays again against hi former team. In 2008, the Giants came into Arizona last season and defeated the Cardinals 37-29. This year, they will be in New Jersey on Sunday Night Football. It will be late October, it will be cold. If history says anything about Warner and the Cardinals, he has never played well on the road and especially never played well in Giants Stadium as a visitor going back to when he was on the Rams. The Giants corners will have a challenge in stopping Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston, but the Cardinals showed last year they couldn't stop the Giants offense.

Week Eight: November 1 at Philadelphia Eagles

This game will be circled in red for the Giants as it was the Eagles who knocked them out of the playoffs in January. Before the Burress incident, the Giants came into Philadelphia last season and won a slugfest with the Eagles 36-31 in Lincoln Financial Field. The Giants were able to stop Brian Westbrook, who has been banged up in recent years. The Eagles also added Michael Vick, who could be reinstated by this point, but has yet to play an NFL down since 2006. These two always play an intense game and nothing should be different.

Week 9: November 8 vs San Diego Chargers

This will be a battle of the two quarterbacks who were traded on NFL Draft Day in 2004, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers. The Chargers went 8-8, but won the AFC West and eliminated the Colts in the playoffs. LaDanian Tomlinson is still one of the best all-around running backs in the game and Darren Sproles is a speedy compliment. The Chargers are always a tough team for anyone to handle. However in 2008, the Chargers played poorly on the road as they were only 2-6 and lost in the second round of the AFC Playoffs to the Steelers, so the Giants could use the Chargers poor road play as an advantage.

Week 10: Bye Week

Last year, the Giants bye week was in Week four, so they had to play 12 straight weeks before getting a rest with their first round bye in the playoffs. This year, their bye is right in the middle, which is better, so if any players are banged up, the Giants will have a week to rest and get healthy for the second half.

Week 11: November 22 vs Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons are much improved and they made the playoffs in 2008 under first year head coach Mike Smith and rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan has already established himself as a leader despite being so young. The Giants will have to deal with Michael Turner and Tony Gonzalez, one of the league's best tight ends. The Giants will need to take advantage of Atlanta's defense, which has been able to surrender 400-500 yards of offense in games like they did in 2008. The Falcons were 4-4 on the road compared to their 7-1 at home, so the Falcons could be more exposed on the road for a loss.

Week 12: November 26 at Denver Broncos

The Giants will be playing two games in a matter of four days as they will play in their first Thanksgiving game in over 20 years on the road against the re-building Broncons. Denver has a new head coach in Josh McDaniels and a new quarterback in Kyle Orton, who struggled in his time with the Bears. Brandon Marshall is a top receiver in the league, but is always in some legal trouble. Their defense has been one of the worst in recent times after being one of the best and the Giants could have a great day on national television and run the ball or have Eli pass the ball on the Denver defense.

Week 13: December 6 vs Dallas Cowboys

This will be the second meeting between the division rivals and the last time the Cowboys were in Giants Stadium, the Giants easily defeated Dallas 35-14. By this week, we will see what kind of team the Cowboys are without Terrell Owens. If the Cowboys do struggle, will Wade Phillips still be the head coach at this point? Tony Romo has yet to win a big game for the Cowboys and this could in fact be a division determining game in December.

Week 14: December 13 vs Philadelphia Eagles

In both contests against the Eagles at home, the Giants lost both games; 20-14 in the regular season and 23-11 in the playoffs, so the Giants will be looking to regain the home field advantage they once had against the Eagles in previous seasons. With Umenyiora back, he has always been a terror to Donovan McNabb, he sacked him six times in their game back in 2007. This game will also be determining playoff position and where these teams rank in the division. Will the Eagles be a playoff team in 2009? We might know by this week.

Week 15: December 21 at Washington Redskins

This is the Giants only game on Monday Night Football, and it's another divisional game against the Redskins at FedEx Field. The Giants have won the last three years in Washington and usually this is a time where the Redskins start to crumble. Last year, the Giants easily defeated Washington 23-7 and always find a way to handle Jason Campbell and Clinton Portis. The Giants will look to take down Washington to gain ground in the playoff chase.

Week 16: December 27 vs Carolina Panthers

Because of the flex option with the NFL schedule, this game could get moved from the 1 p.m. start to Sunday Night Football on NBC. This will be the second year in a row these two teams will be playing in late December on Week 16 at Giants Stadium. Last year, these two teams played a classic game that saw the Giants beat Carolina 34-28 in overtime where the Giants running attack went wild over the Panthers defense (301 yard rushing). Carolina's running attack of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart is very good, so this may turn out to be another fight with the Panthers in the cold weather of New Jersey.

Week 17: January 3 at Minnesota Vikings

I know what some of you are thinking, and no, I am not copying down the 2008 schedule. Weeks 16 and 17 are exactly identical, as the Giants will play their season finale in the new calendar year in the Metrodome against the Vikings again. Last year, the Giants wrapped up the NFC East title, a first round bye and the number one seed the week before, so the starters were benched after this first half, so the Vikings defeated the second string team 20-19. If the Giants first team offense and defense plays, the Giants have always had success playing in the dome. Minnesota won the NFC North last year, so this game could be determining playoff positioning for both teams.

The Giants schedule is a very tough one, not as tough as last year's, but there are a lot of quality opponents on it, but the Giants are still one of the league's top teams. They were 7-1 at home and 5-3 on the road last year, so if they stay near that pattern, a 12-4 or 13-3 record could definitely be in reach for the Giants.