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
It is becoming obvious that we are too close to the Giants, because while most Giant fans are anticipating a season at least as good as last year, the consensus around the country is that the Giants are not going to win the NFC East again and will fail to have anything close to the 11-5 record with which they won that division title.

How is this possible?

Well, the Eagles were decimated by injury last season and appear to be healthy now. Another plus, sort of what people mean when they use the "addition by subtraction" cliché, is the departure of wide receiver Terrell Owens. So the Eagles are going to be formidable, and just in case anyone doesn't have great respect for quarterback Donovan McNabb, get real. He is as good as any quarterback in the NFC.

On the other hand, that "addition by subtraction" rule can apply itself in reverse to the Cowboys. They signed Owens, and for them -- and for now -- it has become improvement by addition. He is almost certainly the best wide receiver in the NFL, despite his age (he'll be 33 before the season is over) and despite his often vicious temperament off the field and in the locker room.

He does make the Cowboys better, and they were strong going in. Some question about their offensive line exists, as well as their linebackers, and there are those concerned with the age-health questions concerning quarterback Drew Bledsoe. But the head coach is Bill Parcells, and certainly no more experience could have been gained then by dealing with Lawrence Taylor and a couple of his playmates for a decade with the Giants.

The Redskins have improved, too. They signed veteran free agents such as wide receivers Brandon Lloyd and Antwaan Randle-El, safety Adam Archuleta and defensive end/linebacker Andre Carter. But the quarterback is still Mark Brunell and the offensive line is spotty at best. The presence of running back Clinton Portis and wide receiver Santana Moss adds danger and explosiveness to the offense, but it is more likely that this will be a down season.

This leaves the Giants, who are expected to fight with the Cowboys for the division. So circle the dates Oct. 23 and Dec. 3 on your calendar. Those are the games against T.O., the first one a Monday night deal in Texas. It is expected that Owens will have become the NFL's star again by the time the first game rolls around, and if defensive coordinator Tim Lewis doesn't find a magic formula for stopping him (wouldn't you rather deal with Terry Glenn?) maybe Dallas will unseat the Giants.

But there are questions to be answered, and T.O. wasn't the only missing ingredient.

Is Bledsoe capable of operating at peak efficiency for a full season? Is Julius Jones finally going to stay healthy and become the running back Parcells counted on when he drafted him? Will the offensive line hold together? Will the linebackers make up for losses in personnel? Most important, will Parcells be able to control T.O.?

Bottom line: Dallas will be very good. So will the Giants.

The schedule, of which so much has been made, is difficult. One of the elves chained to the NFL's basement computers came up with the fact that the Giants will be playing the second-toughest schedule in the league.

Huh?

The Giants play Seattle and the Cowboys don't. But they both play Jacksonville, Carolina, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Houston, not to mention the three division teams twice each. The mention of a "tough schedule" brings a smile to the wrinkled faces of the old veterans in this game. "If you have a good team, it isn't a tough schedule. If you have a lousy team, they're all tough schedules."

And if the Giants beat Seattle in the third week of the season, does it suddenly become a much easier schedule? You can take that to the bank.

Looking for a prediction? Giants 11-5, Dallas 11-5, Giants win the division on a tie-breaker (beating the Cowboys twice).

EXTRA POINTS -- Five players have been waived in preparation for training camp. They are defensive tackle Sir Henry Anderson, running back Decori Birmingham, quarterback Josh Harris, safety Adrian Mayes and guard Kevin McAlmont. All five were acquired as free agents this spring.

The release of Harris, who had some preseason experience with Baltimore in 2004 and Cleveland last year, reduces the quarterback field to four -- Eli Manning, Rob Johnson, Tim Hasselbeck and Jared Lorenzen. The Giants will keep only three. From this vantage point, it would appear that Hasselbeck is the odd man out and that Johnson will be the backup while Lorenzen once again totes the clipboard all season.

The NFL has increased the salary cap for 2006 by $17 million per team, bringing each team's permissible payroll for all players to $102.5 million. Let's see, George Steinbrenner would have to drop half his team to meet that payroll.

If you're looking for the defensive tackles who will rotate between the nose tackle and stationary tackle position, you should consider the quartet of rookie Barry Cofield (first of two fourth round selections), veteran William Joseph, second year off-season sensation Jonas Seawright and newly signed veteran Junior Ioane. So what happens to veteran Fred Robbins and second-year Damane Duckett? That's why they call it training camp.

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

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