New York Giants: Is Victor Cruz Ready to Step Up in the Offense?

Going into Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Giants knew their receiving core was absolutely depleted.

Domenik Hixon was lost for the season with a torn ACL and Mario Manningham was out with a concussion.

Plus, Steve Smith was on the other side of the field playing for the Eagles.

That left Hakeem Nicks as the only receiver Eli Manning had going into the game that was dependable.

And then, Victor Cruz emerged onto the scene.

For most Giants fans, Cruz was known as "that guy in preseason," kind of like how Sinorice Moss used to be for them, but never lived up to his potential.

Last year, we saw Cruz's potential in the preseason against the New York Jets, as he caught six passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns for the Giants.

Cruz never got to show his potential, as a hamstring injury put him on the injured reserve for the entire 2010 season.

With the loss of Smith, a lot of people felt Cruz needed to step up and give Eli another dependable target aside from Nicks and Manningham.

In Week 1 against the Washington Redskins, Cruz dropped a big third down catch that would have continued the Giants drive. Manning only threw to him once more in the game as they lost it 28-14.

Cruz heard all the criticism in the media and on the internet about if he's all hype and if he will ever do anything productive for the Giants.

In Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams, he had two catches for 18 yards and no touchdowns, hardly anything worth talking about, but he at least got the ball and into the record books.

Still, Cruz wasn't showing anything spectacular.

Then, with Manningham out and Hixon done for the season, Cruz had to know he needed to step it up.

And then against the Eagles, he had a game Giants fans were all waiting for him to have for almost two years.

In the first quarter, Manning threw to Cruz and he burned the Eagles secondary for 74 yards and a touchdown, which made the game 14-0 at that point.

In the fourth quarter, Cruz burned the Eagles defense again, as he scored a 28-touchdown from Manning, a touchdown that made it 22-16.

That was the go-ahead touchdown, and the Giants ended up winning 29-16.

Cruz finished with three catches, 110 yards and two touchdowns.

What made Cruz really stand out? During the game, Cruz made Nnamdi Asomugha miss tackles and even out-jumped him for the ball when it was thrown his way.

Asomugha, who is regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in all of football and who was also regarded as the most sought-after free agent this summer, was made foolish and downright bad by Cruz on Sunday.

That's what stood out the most by Cruz: he made that type of elite cornerback look bad.

And now, the Giants are 2-1 because of his break-out game in Philadelphia.

But now, Cruz just can't be a one-hit wonder.

No, he needs to step up even more now and become reliable for Eli.

Manningham is expected back for the game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, so that will only help the offense.

But if Cruz can play like this on a regular basis, he can be an extremely valuable weapon in the Giants offense in 2011.

Now, I'm not expecting him to get 100 yards every single game, that's just almost impossible expectations to put on Cruz.

But if Eli can start to trust throwing to Cruz, and he doesn't drop important passes, maybe everyone will forget who Steve Smith even was for the Giants.

Smith was Manning's third-down, go-to receiver for three years. Now, Eli is looking for that receiver.

Cruz could be that receiver. And with his speed, he could really burn some defenders if he gets the opportunity.

And he could end up being a difference maker in the offense for the Giants.

But, it's a lot of what-ifs on Cruz.

However, what Cruz brings to the table is something the Giants definitely need and can use in their offense going forward.