At long last the NFL season is here.
With a divisional match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants set to go Wednesday night at MetLife Stadium, it seemed appropriate to preview the NFC East. There are a lot of intriguing story lines and personalities strewn throughout all four teams in this highly contested division.
New York Giants (9-7):
2011 was a year where Eli Manning took the next step in becoming an elite quarterback and the emergence of Victor Cruz as a play-maker alongside Hakeem Nicks allowed New York to weather the storm until their defense picked up steam towards the end of the season and carried them through the playoffs to a Super Bowl victory. The Giants were clutch when they needed to be while the rest of their division floundered in mediocrity.
Fast forward to this year where not much has changed with the 2012 New York Giants. There were some additions and subtractions like every team but the Giants still have Eli, Cruz, Nicks, and Ahmad Bradshaw to provide an electric, deep threat, offense. Their defense is shored by one of the fiercest front fours in the league with Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.
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| Can Eli and the Giants repeat? Wiki Commons Fair Use |
The Giants are something of an enigma every year. During their two Super Bowl runs, they started out slow, finished strong and somehow found a way to sneak into the playoffs. This year could be different as teams have had a whole off-season to find ways to develop blocking schemes against their defensive front. This could lead to shootouts where Eli Manning is forced to put up 30 points in order to win.
Of course this offense has that potential and it will be interesting to see how the Giants will fare this year. I think a powerful offense mixed with a defense that is good enough to cause some turnovers results in a winning season for the Giants.
Prediction: 10-6
