Rams vs. Giants: Counting Giants out of Playoff Race Would Be Huge Mistake

It seemed that the window of opportunity for the Giants to be a serious contender to make a deep run into the postseason had closed.

Their Super Bowl season was getting further and further in the rear view mirror and they had the look of a team on the decline. They had missed the postseason in the last two years and head coach Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat.

Based on their performance on Monday night against the Rams, it was a horrible mistake to think that the Giants are done.

Their 28-16 win over the Rams is only one game, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what they can do.

The biggest key for the Giants on Monday was the running game and they will have to stick to that to have success the rest of the season. The duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs is simply too good to have the offense leaning heavily on Eli Manning.

That's not to say that Eli isn't a solid quarterback. You can win with Eli Manning as your quarterback, as their Super Bowl title can attest to.

Statistically, their defense hasn't been very good over the last couple of seasons, but they still have talent on that side of the ball. In particular, their pass rush is still very good, led by Jason Pierre Paul, Mathias Kiwanuka, Justin Tuck and, when healthy, Osi Umenyiora.

The pressure that a group like that can put on a quarterback is more than enough to make up for shortcomings elsewhere on defense.

The biggest thing the Giants have working for them is experience.

Tom Coughlin is one of the better coaches in the NFL and it's ludicrous that he was considered on the hot seat.

That experience isn't limited to Coughlin, either. They lean on very few unproven players and they have veterans with five or more years experience littered up and down their roster.

The Giants aren't a perfect team. The have serious flaws on defense apart from the defensive line and they still throw the ball a little too much when you consider how good their running game can be.

What they are, though, is a playoff contender once again. You can't count out a team with as much talent as they have, that's been there and done that like they have.