New York Giants: 5 Reasons the G-Men Are NFC East Locks

The New York Giants have lost two straight games heading into Monday night’s battle with the NFC South-leading New Orleans Saints. With the Dallas Cowboys winning already in Week 12, the Giants have also lost their share of first place in the NFC East.

Big Blue can reclaim that share of the division lead with a win at the Superdome Monday night but as fans have images of late-season collapses in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010 dancing in their heads as the holidays approach, there are several good reasons why the Giants will emerge with the NFC East crown in 2011.

A major factor is the Giants have full control of their own destiny, with both divisional matchups with Dallas still on the schedule in December as well as winnable games with the Washington Redskins and New York Jets. Big Blue also has a chance to make a statement next Sunday when the unbeaten Green Bay Packers visit the Meadowlands. The last time an unbeaten team came to visit in December, the Giants spoiled the perfect dreams of the Denver Broncos in 1998.

So here, in no particular order, is why the New York Giants are a lock in the East.

The Dream Team Already Said Goodnight

The Philadelphia Eagles’ 38-20 loss Sunday to the New England Patriots effectively ends their hopes of winning the division. At 4-7, Philadelphia trails Dallas by three games in the division with five games to play.

However, the Eagles have not been an easy out in the NFC East. Philadelphia split with the Giants this season, beat Washington in their first meeting and hammered Dallas at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 8.

The Eagles close the season with back-to-back divisional games at Dallas and home with the Redskins and would love nothing more than to complete season sweeps against a pair of divisional rivals even during what has become a tremendously disappointing season overall.

Dallas’ December Doldrums

With their win over the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys improved to 19-2 in November with Tony Romo as their starting quarterback. That’s the good news for Dallas.

Now the bad: With Romo under center, the Cowboys are just 9-13 in December from 2006-09 (Romo missed all of last December with an injury).

Besides the home-and-home with the Giants, Dallas has road games at Arizona and Tampa Bay in December and a home game with the Eagles, who blew them out in Week 8.

The Cardinals have been feisty of late, winning three of their last four games. The Buccaneers are much like the Eagles in that 2011 has been a huge disappointment, but one that could be assuaged a bit with a big win over a contender in December.

Pressure Equals Production

The Giants came into Week 12 tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the NFL lead with 31 sacks. That sort of pressure is what has led to a plus-7 turnover ratio through 10 games—fifth-best in the league through Sunday’s games.

Even as New York has struggled to stop the run this year, its trademark pass rush has still been something the Giants can count upon. Jason Pierre-Paul is among the league leaders with 10.5 sacks.

Osi Umenyiora has seven sacks in just seven games. Even unheralded Dave Tollefson has gotten to the quarterback three times this year.

This is despite not having Justin Tuck for almost half the season.

What the pass rush provides is opportunities for guys on the back end of the defense to make plays. Aaron Ross and Corey Webster have four interceptions apiece this year, Kenny Phillips has a pair and Antrel Rolle, Mathias Kiwanuka and Deon Grant each have an interception.

Even more encouraging, first-round pick Prince Amukamara had his first career pick in his injury-delayed debut last Sunday against the Eagles. The 14 interceptions ranked fifth in the NFL heading into Week 12.

Coughlin Has Done This Before

Giants’ fans are, of course, familiar with Coughlin’s role leading the 2007 club to three consecutive road playoff wins at Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay before stunning the 18-0 New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

That Giants team finished 10-6 in the regular season and secured a wild-card berth, clinching in Week 16 with a win at Buffalo before a memorable loss to the Patriots on the final Saturday night of the season.

But that wasn’t Coughlin’s first miracle.

With the second-year expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1996, Coughlin brought a team back from the scrap heap to the AFC title game.

After losing at Pittsburgh 28-3 in Week 12, the Jags were 4-7 and left for dead in the AFC playoff race.

Or so everyone thought.

The comeback began modestly enough with a 28-25 overtime win at Baltimore in Week 13. Next came a 30-27 win at home over the Cincinnati Bengals. A 23-17 win over the Oilers at the Astrodome in Houston got Jacksonville back to .500 and the Jags improved to 8-7 with a 20-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16.

That brought the Atlanta Falcons to Jacksonville for a win-and-in scenario. Atlanta sent dependable Morten Andersen out for a 30-yard game-winning field goal. Andersen missed the kick and the Jaguars were in the playoffs.

But they weren’t just happy to be there.

Jacksonville upset the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card game then knocked off the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the 13-3 Denver Broncos, in the divisional playoffs. The run ended with a 20-6 loss to Bill Parcells’ New England Patriots in the AFC Championship.

The Division’s Best Quarterback Plays in New Jersey

Eli Manning declared himself an elite quarterback in the offseason, and everything he’s done on the field in 2011 has backed that up.

His interceptions are way down from the NFL-leading 25 he tossed a year ago. Through 10 games, Manning has thrown just nine interceptions along with 18 touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 94.7 is ahead of his career-best 93.1 mark he had in 2009.

He’s also picked up the slack from the Giants’ lackluster running game. With 2,952 passing yards through 10 games, Manning is on pace for a career-high 4,723 passing yards—a figure that would shatter Kerry Collins’ franchise-record 4,073 set in 2002.

Manning is the only quarterback in the division with a Super Bowl ring. Rex Grossman of the Redskins is the only other QB in the division who’s even played in the big game at the end. Dallas’ Tony Romo has one career playoff win on his resume.

He’s doing it despite being on pace to match a career high in sacks taken. Manning has been clutch in 2011, coming into Week 12 tied for the NFL lead among quarterbacks with four fourth-quarter comebacks and led the league outright with five game-winning drives this season.