2011 New York Giants: Now It Gets Interesting as They Run the Gauntlet

Barely seconds after the New York Giants closed out their fifth win of the season against the struggling Miami Dolphins, most Giants fans probably went through a short range of emotions.

First they felt the inevitable joy at the fact that their team is now 5-2, sitting alone two games atop the formidable NFC East.

The second emotion (which probably arrived only seconds after the first) came as a distinctly sharp pang of anxiety.

Of course, it should be disclosed that anxiety is nothing new to fans of the NYG. They live in an almost perpetual state of anxiety (look at all of the close games this season).

Yet this was a new species of anxiety, born out of a simple glimpse at their upcoming schedule.

Without question, the 2011 New York Giants will face the most difficult string of games to close out their season of any team in the NFL.

Starting with New England this Sunday and ending with a potentially pivotal battle against the always-tough Cowboys, the Giants are scheduled to run the gauntlet.

If they make the playoffs, it will be because they undoubtedly deserved it.

Not the average Giants

Normally, the discussion about the Giants revolves around whether they can pass the ball and, conversely, stop the pass. This year, things are shaping up slightly differently.

Ranking 30th in the league in offensive rushing yards and 28th in rushing yards allowed, it seems the shoe is on the other foot.

In the history of the Eli Manning era, no Giants team has looked less like dominating a game on the ground.

The reason for this has been multi-faceted, including some good and bad news.

Bad news (which I figured I’d go with first since everyone likes the bad news first): the Giants are working on replacing key members of an offense that played together for years. This clearly won’t happen overnight, though there have been promising signs (such as the Giants allowing Eli to get sacked a comparatively low 15 times).

Good news: The low rushing totals are deceptive. The Giants, by any measure, have spent a majority of their games catching up, so they haven’t been trying to run out the clock or wear opponents down as in the past.

(It's worth noting however that the Giants still rank 13th in the league in rushing attempts, so they are still trying to run. But averaging only a combined 3.1 yards per carry, it's clear that they aren't running very efficiently.)

Yet the more worrying anomaly has been the poor rush defense. Reggie Bush’s 103-yard effort helped the Dolphins become the latest in a five-game streak of teams to rush for at least 145 yards against New York.

That’s not a recipe for success in close games. And it wouldn’t take Frederick Fleet to spot the wealth of potentially close games on the horizon.

The Gauntlet

Facing the Patriots is the obvious hurdle in front of the Giants right now. The Super Bowl XLII rematch will rekindle visions of what make the Giants great: their defensive line.

As any opposing fan will tell you about the Giants, it’s their defensive line that scares them. With Kiwanuka, Osi, Pierre-Paul and Tuck, the exterior pass-rush of the Giants is second to none.

Against not just New England, but the games that follow, they’ll need all of those players firing on all cylinders.

Thumbing through the basic numbers about the Giants upcoming schedule, the combined record of the Giants remaining non-divisional opponents is 27-9. It’s a list that includes away games at the Patriots, the 49ers and the Saints.

And then it includes arguably the most bizarre away game in years, as the Giants play “at” their own stadium against the Jets. That will be as mentally challenging a week as a team can face. Who wouldn’t be a little thrown off by that?

Interwoven in these non-divisional games are the always-brutal NFC East clashes. The Eagles seem to be righting their ship with each passing day.

The Cowboys (who the Giants play twice in their last four games), will surely do as they have always done. Undoubtedly their incredible array of athletic talent (whether DeMarcus Ware, Dez Bryant or Tony Romo) will cause serious problems. But their lack of discipline always opens the door for success.

And don’t forget the Redskins. Predictable as it was that Rex Grossman and John Beck wouldn’t actually turn out to be good choices for a starting quarterback job, their defense will continue to be a fearsome force and a tough game.

How the Giants fare in this stretch will determine not only whether they make the playoffs, but what the expectations can be for them if they make it.