E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
Dallas is better than last year, and Dallas has Terrell Owens.

Washington is better than last year.

Philadelphia is healthy, which means Philadelphia is better, too.

And all three other teams in the NFC East are focusing on the Giants, who are not only better than last year but who might be significantly better. Hard to believe they are the defending division champions; hard to believe for the other three teams, anyway.

Still, the Giants aren't that good. If they are, they have been hiding so far under the radar that no one has noticed. Yes, they have improved their defense -- but how, and with whom? Is there a definite reason to expect that strongside linebacker LaVar Arrington is going to suddenly find the magic again, the same magic he lost three years ago when injuries and ego began to shred his performance?

Is Sam Madison going to be a better cornerback than he was in Miami, despite the fact that he's been in the league for nine seasons? Free safety Will Demps was a starter in Baltimore, hurt his knee, and suddenly wasn't a starter. By all logical reckoning, a repaired knee takes two seasons to prove it has healed totally, and Demps had his surgery last winter.

The offense added a lightning-fast wide receiver named Sinorice Moss, and he will join the likes of Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Tim Carter (who seems to get hurt every third Wednesday), Jamaar Taylor (more frequently than that) and tight end Jeremy Shockey.

The reason the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't go into terminal mourning when Plaxico signed with the Giants is because he often hears that funny music in his head, some of the lyrics being, "you're not the primary receiver, why not coast through this play? Show them how much they'll miss you, Plax."

Shockey has his own jukebox in his head, but it is more in touch with the real world.

Tiki Barber runs the ball, better than most backs in the league, but he is 31 years old and he hasn't had that dreadful combination of fumbles and injuries in two years now. Where is it written that he won't go through that again?

Both defensive ends -- Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora -- went to the Pro Bowl, but the guy in the middle who gave them some latitude, tackle Kendrick Clancy, waddled off to Arizona as a free agent. Is William Joseph going to be able to replace him and do what he did? That should never be considered, since he hasn't done that yet and since he was the major reason for why the Giants pursued Clancy last spring.

Injuries decimated the defense, but those injuries have healed. Injuries do heal, but they are just as likely to return -- if not to the same players, than to others just as crucial to a team. So where are the weak spots on this team?

Some of today's "experts" have predicted an 8-8 season, in part because of a tougher schedule. With all due apologies, let's get one thing straight about tough schedules. They aren't quite as tough if you are a good team; they are viciously tough if you aren't that good, or if you have too many injuries. Do you really think the Giants who won seven out of nine games in the middle of the season would have lost the way they did to Carolina in the first round of the playoffs? Not likely,

We called on an old friend, who serves in a personnel department of one of the teams in the NFC East, and there is no chance, short of being forced to listen to hip-hop music for 24 consecutive hours, that you are gong to get his name. But he was able to put his finger on the only thing the Giants truly must worry about -- not counting injuries.

"It's Eli Manning," he said. "If he really is going to be great, and we think he is, then this is the year he should start showing it. Given what he is capable of doing, he can send himself to the Pro Bowl and take along half a dozen of his offensive buddies, too. But he has to start to understand how good he can be. He has to drop the comparisons he makes in his head to his brother [Peyton]. Yeah, he denies that, but nobody believes him."

So it's Eli Manning, who can make Plaxico better; who can get the most out of an aging Toomer; who can turn Shockey into the east coast version of Antonio Gates; who can put the ball into Sinorice's hands after he makes one of those gut-wrenching moves and leaves a defensive back corkscrewed into the ground. It's Manning, who can set things up for Tiki so that he can run less and gain more yards. It's Manning, who with a trigger-quick release can even make the offensive line appear to be better than it is.

This team is on the verge of becoming something special. The prediction of an 8-8 record is built on the perceived difficulty of the schedule, nothing more. It is impossible to determine how many games a team is going to win, just as impossible as looking at a collection of rookies, both drafted and undrafted, and trying to figure out which ones can play and which ones will find gainful employment pumping gas or taking your order at a fast-food factory.

Are the Giants going to win something this year? Yes, of course they are. Are they going to win 11 games, which they did last year? They could, but probably won't, and on the other hand they could be 12-4 or 13-3. If they are 8-8 or 7-9 or even 9-7, it might be time to take a long, hard look at things other than the players. The coach and his staff? Sure, that's a good place to start. The draft that made defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka the first round pick?

Another good place to start. Maybe it will be the schedule that undermines Tom Coughlin's team, but that would be less valid than injuries or miscues or botched plays or the general conservatism-bordering-on-boredom of the offensive coordinator.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!

Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet"
Links to every newspaper and magazine that's available on the net. 

Website by Mike