Giants Out To Prove Experts Wrong In 07
Since the Jim Fassel era and now through the Tom Coughlin run, the Giants rarely play how they are expected to. When the season looks bleak, and many so called experts pick the Giants to come in last place or win only six or seven games, they often defy the expectations and have a very solid season, ending up in the playoffs. When the Giants start to get some press as being a top flight team with championship aspirations, the Giants often have a let down and do not live up those lofty expectations.
This has been a discouraging trend that has happened frequently over the last ten years. It is why up until last year, the Giants had not made the playoffs in back to back years for quite some time, since the Bill Parcells era. Often in what many expect to be a down year, they play over their head and make the playoffs. Then following that year, when they are looked at as a playoff team capable of making the next step, injuries and a tougher schedule often catch up with them and they end up on the outside looking in for the playoffs.
This is why even though, they only won eight games last year, and snuck into the playoffs, it was still an accomplishment to get their two years in a row. They started out hot, and then were ravaged by injuries again. They only made the playoffs because the NFC was much weaker than the AFC and eight wins and some tiebreakers were good enough to get it done.
As we look towards 2007, those experts are at it once again. Many do not feel the Giants are a playoff team, and some consider the Giants to be in the bottom ten of the league. Many of the power rankings on many sites have the Giants anywhere from 15 to 20. On one site, in ranking the off-seasons, the Giants were rated as having one of the five worst off-seasons of anyone in the league and that writer said he expected the Giants to be picking in the top ten of the NFL draft next year.
In their own division, most experts are picking them to finish third behind both Dallas and Philadelphia. Dallas has a young unproven quarterback, they replaced a legendary coach, with a coach who has never won in the NFL, and do not have any more play-makers than the Giants have. Philadelphia will have to deal with a first place schedule, the controversy with Donovan McNabb and the selection of a quarterback in round two and lets not forget that until Jeff Garcia got hot, the Eagles were not playing good football last year. They finished with a flurry and therefore have become the pick for the NFC East for the upcoming season.
The way I see it, the Giants are right where they want to be. When no one expects anything and they are being disrespected around the league, it is a great motivation to go out and play your best football in the role of the underdog. As we inch closer to the 2007 season, I think the Giants will be out to prove everyone wrong and when the dust settles, will once again be playing football in January.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at 8:15 am and is filed under Giants 101 Originals.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
THE AUTHOR
RECENT ARTICLES BY DIVISION RIVALS
ARCHIVE
SPONSORS
Online Seats
NY Giants Tickets NY Mets Tickets
Ticket Specialists
New York Giants Tickets New York Jets Tickets
Coast to Coast Tickets
New York Yankees Tickets Tickets NFL Football Games New York Giants NFL Tickets Game Tickets Ð Super Bowl Sports Tickets Ð College Football
Great Seats
New York Giants Tickets Jets Game Tickets Tickets - New York Yankees Mets tickets Broadway Tickets
NFC EAST STANDINGS
| Teams | W | L |
| Dallas | 2 | 0 |
| New York | 2 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 1 |
| Washington | 1 | 1 |
GIANTS 2008 SCHEDULE
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Sept. 4 | Redskins | W 16-7 |
| Sept. 14 | at St. Louis | W 41-13 |
| Sept. 21 | Bengals | - |
| Sept. 28 | BYE | BYE |
| Oct. 5 | Seahawks | - |
| Oct. 13 | at Cleveland | - |
| Oct. 19 | 49ers | - |
| Oct. 26 | at Pittsburgh | - |
| Nov. 2 | Cowboys | - |
| Nov. 9 | at Philadelphia | - |
| Nov. 16 | Ravens | - |
| Nov. 23 | at Arizona | - |
| Nov. 30 | at Washington | - |
| Dec. 7 | Eagles | - |
| Dec. 14 | at Dallas | - |
| Dec. 21 | Panthers | - |
| Dec. 28 | at Minnesota | - |
38 Responses to “Giants Out To Prove Experts Wrong In 07”
June 10th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Paul,
You’re right on when you say we play our best football when we are rated as the underdog. Considering where I am, obviously there a bunch of doom and gloom naysayers of Big Blue, but when I hear these power rankings come out and we get pushed so far down the line after being in the playoffs two years in a row (aside from all the injuries), all I can think about is the fantasy football commercial where the guy wants to pick up T.J. Houshmandzadeh and can’t even pronounce his name, then under his breath he spurts… “Championship!!!”
Since no one thinks we can have a successful season because we didn’t grab a top of the pile Left Tackle in the draft, what are they gonna say when we make it in the playoffs three sraight years???
June 10th, 2007 at 10:37 am
JD, they will say what they always say, that they are no good,or they are not a real play off team or that we barely made it, etc you know the bad same BS these so called experts say, the other day there was an article saying Eli was one of the worst QB in our div, it boggles my mind , they have Tony Romo ahead of him, that guy hasnt even played a full season WTF! And then he goes to the pro bowl…Eli had better #’s than he did, and yet eli was home watching the pro bowl or may be was in Hawai? with Bro….but in any event these experts sure dont know what they are talking about, hell id like their job s.Hell id give better analysis on teams , not the flavor of the month like they do.
Not bashing Romo but they came short of giving him the MVP…I mean am i wrong to be this pissed?
If i am im sorry, but thats just my thoughts…
June 10th, 2007 at 10:48 am
That’s why its gonna be so much fun watching the giants destroy the cowgirls twice this season and the rest of the nfc east losers.
June 10th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I wouldn’t take Romo over Eli. Inspite of his inconsistancies Eli has a lot more upside. Romo hasn’t even proven himself to be a reliable starter, with as few games as he’s played.
I also wouldn’t take Dallas’ receiving corps over ours even if TO wasn’t a total disruption. I like Terry Glenn, but I think our 5 are better than their 5. In fact I think we have one of the best groups of receivers in either league.
No way are the Giants in the bottom ten of the league.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Nice write up Paul___my thoughts exactly
June 10th, 2007 at 11:28 am
i cant agree more with you guys. the giants never play like the experts predict… my 1 ? is, if we were a SB contender last year and we just lost Tiki and really thats it in the offseason, how are we picked to come in last this year? thats ok cause i like it this way. all i know is that there will be a lot of people, experts included on the Giants bandwagon this year. one more thought… i really think tony romo is a complete joke! he is goin to be in for a rude awakining this year. and i do believe that the giants will roll pass dallas in the 1st game of the season.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Ok well I am not so storngly pissed off about this because of what this article says. The Giants read way too much of their own press and get over confident when they are being talked about as a super bowl team. That being said I think the NFC east is going to be neck and neck this year. I feel that the Cowboys Eagles and Giants are all contenders for the NFC east title. And while I do feel the Giants will rise above the rest I don’t think the experts are that crazy when they pick the Giants third.
Remeber guys we did only win two games in the second half of the season. We got in the playoffs not because of our play but because of the failure of other teams to play. If Greenbay, Atlanta, or Carolina had steped it up for one of the last games we would have missed the playoffs. So lets not act like we dominated the NFC last year and are no being picked third in or devision.
That said I do think we are getting a bum rap. But honestly our lack of a true left tackle worries me as it should everyone else. Eli was having a great season until Luke went down. I just hope if Dheil starts at LT all season he can do a better job of it then he did last season.
So call me optamistically objective.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Jex, remember that we beat Wash Dal and Philly, (wether people count the 2nd game as a fluke or not, we still won) and we were rollin then what happened?… injuries and lack of quality depth. we are a lot better than what we played like last year.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Beside all the feel good bs written about here, there is not one shred of evidence that the giants can beat anyone. Are we so desparate that all we can talk about is how the giants do when when they are lowly ranked?
Let’s get some perspective and look at facts (disclaimer - not for fans who can’t deal with reality):
1. Tiki gone - bad
2. Eli still sucks and always will - bad
3. Coughlin still here, sucks and always will - bad
4. If by some miracle we can get into the playoffs, we would not win a game. Yeah, then you can say we were in the playoffs three years in a row. But for all of you who love this type of mediocrity, have fun at your minimum wage jobs.
Sorry to burst your collective bubbles but the giants are going to suck this year.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:59 am
the titans have signed Kelly Herndon, that eliminates them from the Paul Oliver sweepstakes.
now it’s down to the Giants and Bills in the supplemental draft to see who takes Oliver, according to John Clayton.
P.S- Chad Johnson beat the horse in the race. Next, I’d liek to see Brandon Jacobs and a gorrila have a fight.
June 10th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Injuries and a difficult schedule were the downfall of last year. As long as we stay healthy we should at least make the playoffs. I probably will get bashed for this comment, but in my opinion I think Jacobs will be an upgrade over Tiki. Here’s why: Jacobs (as well as Droughns) is going to wear down defenses come the the 2nd half. This will benefit not only our offensive line, but it will allow Eli more time to throw. Tiki was a great player don’t get me wrong, but he did not punish defenses which Jacobs and Droughns will do. If we get leads early in the game, it will be nearly impossible for teams to come back on us because of this pounding running game. Mark my words this will be a break out year for both Eli and BJ.
June 10th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Nice article Paul. Well written (well, except for a few minor grammatical errors - so you’re not an English major - big deal!). Couldn’t have made the point much better. I agree wholeheartedly and relish the prospect of being the underdog. That DOES seem to be when we play our best ball - when little is expected. If we can stay relatively healthy with the lighter schedule this year … Look-out NFC East!
GO - BLUE!
June 10th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
The only thing I didn’t like about the article is when you suggested that the only reason we didn’t make the playoffs in past years was because experts rated us high.
June 10th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Terrance T-we lost the 2nd game to the Eagles, it was no fluke, the bottom line is the game counted as a loss. We would have lost that 1st game to them, had it not been for that extremely bizzare 4th quarter. I really beleive that this Giants team is better than Dallas and the Redskins. Tony Romo is a fraud; Jason Campbell does look promising, but the Redskins do not have much of a D line. The Eagles do concern me, Westbrook and McNabb have been Giants killers over the years, I dont see any reason for that to stop now.
June 10th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
@ arch: did you actually pay half attention to what you were writing? “Let’s get some perspective and look at facts”. ok so
1. you started out just fine. tiki is gone. it being good or bad we wont know till we give BJ a chance at it. so half of 1 is fact and half is opinion.
2. Eli sucks? ok i see all your “facts” there ::sarcasm in case you missed it:: this is as debated as shock being at OTA’s.
3. Coughlin sucks? again great fact finding skills. hes done more for the Giants then any coach since Tuna but the fact back2back playoffs didnt lift your skirt shows that “fact” is being purposely overlooked..nice
4. If we make the playoffs we will lose? wow the Nostradamus of football is dropping facts that havent even happened yet…sweet! Now i guess having faith my team might be able to do something means i have a minimum wage job? guess i better be one of those team hoppers that wears Steelers one year then Colts the next. maybe then ill get that executive job…thx for the pointers ::thats sarcasm again::
Great post Paul. We all see it happening year after year. Beyond that there isnt much going on in the Giants world so nice filler post that is dead on :o)
June 10th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
It’s been strange the last couple years seeing the Giants start off hot, then plummet in the second half of the season. Injuries were there, yes, but I believe Hufnagel was as much to blame as anyone. Once opposing defenses caught on, the offense sputtered. Of course Eli threw interceptions, the defense had his receivers triple covered, because the same play had already been run 1,000 times.
So, I think with Gilbride calling plays, it’ll mix it up enough that maybe the team puts up points through an entire year. Small sample size, but things were a lot different in his 2 games as OC last year. Running the ball with the fattest QB ever, wrinkles like that. I even had a dream last night that William Joseph threw a 3 yard TD pass to Kiwanuka in the season opening drive. A little excessive, but Gilbride is going to make the offense better. He’s no Mike Martz, but he will be much better than Huf.
June 10th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
When McNabb gets hurt(which he will) the Eagles will be down. Romo gonna choke Giants go for the green. They will win the East.
June 10th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
We’ve all discussed the Supplemental Draft lately that will take place on July 10. To review, Paul Oliver, a CB who is a potential top 10 pick for next years draft just flunked out of school and will be in the Supplemental Draft. According to John Clayton the Oliver sweepstakes are now down to the Giants and Bills in the Supplemental Draft since the Titans just signed Kelly Herndon.
Right now we have 6 solid CB but two of them are getting old and Corey Webster is in his make-it or break-it year. I personally think we’d be super intelligent to grab him with either a 2nd or 3rd round choice and have some young stud CBs who can learn under RW and Madison for this next year. Ross, Webster, Underwood, Dockery and then Oliver would be a rich young class of CBs and could turn a weakness into a strength sooner than later. I’d rather keep an extra CB on the roster than a 7th LB if it means getting a top prospect for a cheap price. Thoughts?
June 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Zac when Mcnabb got hurt a couple of seasons ago, Feeley stepped in and led them to the NFCCG, and than last year when McNabb got hurt, Garcia stepped in and led them to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
June 10th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
What I don’t understand is why everybody has the eagles ranked so high. I live in Philly and McNabb was quoted this week saying he probably won’t be ready for the first few games of the season. In addition, there receivers are very week. Brown and Curtis are ok but their production is contigent on a stud #1 receiver…. but no stallworth, no TO, nobody to throw the ball or catch the ball.
Now on to the Gmen. I know Tiki is gone but i thought Jacobs should have had more carries last year. Jacobs can do some serious damage and control the game. LB’s and CB’s have commented on how they dislike tackling him. Now think about the how much they will hate tackling him 20-25 times a games. This along with a healthy Toomer, a great pick in Steve Smith and whatever Moss can bring to the table will lead to a passing game that looked more like the firstt 8 games rather than the last 8 games.
I am usually a nay sayer but I feel good about this year. Unfortunately this will lead to another extenstion for Caughlin.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Tim. Feely beat a bunch of non playoff teams at the end of the season. He did not play one playoff game. That team won beacuase the D carried the team. The philly D is a shell of its former self.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I don’t know if anyone caught this article on Gibril Wilson:
http://www.nflplayers.com/news.....px?id=6852
what do you guys think?
June 10th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I just don’t see any team in our division being able to dominate us. The Eagles and Redskins have as many question marks as we do and Dallas is playing with a new head coach that (at least I think) has never had a winning season at head coach. It’s not reaching to suggest we could win the division.
June 10th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Wade Phillips brought the Bills to the playoffs 2 out of 3 years.
Kevo is right, the Eagles defense is what carried them all those years, and now the defense is shot. It wasn’t a coincidence that Garcia inherited a .500 team and won the division last year, he’s a better QB for that system than McNabb.
June 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
gianthinker-
i reported that earlier. With The Oliver sweepstakes down to 2 teams( GIANTS AND BILLS) it will become easier to get Oliver. Reese needs to add this guy. go get’m Jerry.
Maybe this is why Reese passed on Herndon. you can have him Tenesee, we want Oliver
June 10th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
The thing I like most about being an underdog is that when we win my bets on the giants pay off more. :-)
June 10th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Reese passed on Herndon because he is a 30 year old nickelback.
June 10th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Kevo-I think the thing with the Eagles is that they dont have any “well known” WRs with big names, but the system that they run does not require a dominant WR. Dont forget they use there RB and TE in there passing game alot. Brown, Curtis, Smith, and Westbrook are not a bad receiving core. And we shouldnt forget that the Eagles, with Todd Pinkston-Freddie Mitchell-James Thrash went to 3 straight NFC title games.
Joe-I dont understand how you could say Garcia is a better QB for that system over McNabb. McNabb led the Eagles to 3 NFC title games and 1 SB. If Eli Manning could do that, I would be thrilled.
June 10th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Tim M… i was talking about the 1st game in my post not the 2nd 1. i blame the 2nd game loss on the D. you guys have done a great job in ignoring the toll…aka arch. keep up the good work giant nation
June 10th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Where is everyone getting these reports that we’re pursuing Oliver? I’ve looked around and the only thing I’ve seen is BBI saying we’re unlikely to invest a high draft pick in him.
Anyone have a link or is this just internet fodder?
June 10th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Good article. for Giants Fans by Giants fans. Now…
Offensive changes: Tim carter gone, Amani Toomer coming back. Luke petigout gone, Tiki Gone. Brandon takes over, Eli gets rid of the ball fast enough to help his new left tackle, its all good. Our Offense will be good this year, Also, Gilbride will make up for some things because he will help us win some more games than huff would have done in ‘07. Why? Because he wont throw the dam ball when they’re up by seven with 3 minutes to go!! Hello somebody??? he wont have to because brandon will pick up the first down on 3 consecutive runs, plain and simple. did everyone forget that? You gotta love that! Everyone wants to jump on the “Giants didnt get a left tackle band wagon” and “tiki’s” gone (thanks to Huff and coughlin), But its all good. People dont want to give Brandon the credit he deserves because they want to compare him to tiki. Brandon is what “HE” is and not what tiki is, and thats OK because B.J. is a pretty darn good running back. Everythign else is the same. I will miss Tiki, but I’m feeling really comfortable with B.J. Defense dont look so bad, as long as they stay healthy. If the Giants stay healthy They will have a good year. Our corners going up against top wideouts in the league; thats my biggest concern. Not any of that other crap. At least Spags will fix that debacle of wr’s running around lose in the secondary picking up 20 first downs in a row. Those are my concerns. Everything else will be fine. i think we will exceed .500 this year and our team will perform better than the so called experts predict.
June 10th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
I would love to see big Blue have a super year. Our Giants presently reside in a fairly weak division. Winning it will take an easy schedule (which we have compared to last year) and “luck” with injuries which we haven’t had the past couple of years.
I disagree with most of the posts. The main reason being is that this team gave up on Coughlin last year. Does anyone remember that????!!!!
It would be fairly amazing if he rallies the troops this year. Most players do NOT like playing for him. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants come out with guns ablazin’ in the 1st half of the season and crash in the 2nd half (as they have in the past three years). Injuries and lack of team espirit have played a large part in the yearly demise of our team during the 2nd half of recent seasons.
June 10th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Tim,
As I said, the defense carried that team for years. Garcia turned that team around last year, as McNabb wasn’t doing a damn thing with the defense not carrying him through the season as in years past. Need I remind you Trent Dilfer has a Super Bowl ring?
June 10th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Bobby-I know you wrote it. You wrote it the day after I wrote it under the previous comment section. I was illustrating the numbers game and breakdown of our CB core.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:04 am
This is for all the People that always got something
bad to say about Shocky…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-TghKmg2vM
Thank GOD for He’s a NY.Giants!
June 11th, 2007 at 11:45 am
The Giants have A LOT to prove. I think they are middle of the pack in terms of overall talent and what one can predict from them. They def. aren’t a top tier team at this stage. Those things change rather quickly though.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Tim. I agree that the system works without big name players, however there was a reason they went out and got Stallworth last year because they did not have faith in the offenses ability to stretch the field with brown, smith and lewis. So my question is “does adding curtis” give them that ability. Now I don’t think the Eagles will be awful but the fact that they are the “team to beat” with a weaker WR core, QB coming back from major knee surgery, and a D that is much weaker than precious years is ridiculous.
June 16th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Michaelis_menten…
Clock King (comics) U.S. Route 66 Business (St. Louis, Missouri) List of state leaders in 583 Huey Archie Hunter Auto Du Fae Who Will Love Me Zion Township, MN Farm system The Great Mom Swap …
Leave a comment