TEAMS:
New York Giants
PLAYERS: Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Mathias Kiwanuka, David Tyree, Kawika Mitchell, Justin Tuck, Renaldo Wynn, Dave Tollefson
PLAYERS: Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Mathias Kiwanuka, David Tyree, Kawika Mitchell, Justin Tuck, Renaldo Wynn, Dave Tollefson
The fat bellies and big heads of defending champions. The loss of Michael Strahan to retirement. The likelihood of David Tyree catching another pass with his helmet.
The New York Giants were going to have a hard enough time defending their Super Bowl crown as it was. Now Big Blue has lost arguably its best player to a knee injury. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora is gone for the season, and with it, so are the hopes of the Giants repeating.
To win a Super Bowl, a team must be dominant in at least one regard. For the Giants, the pass rush was their only dominant unit last year ? and Umenyiora was at the center of it. The 26-year-old had a team-best 13 sacks on a squad that led the league with 53. Take those away, along with Strahan (nine sacks last season), and the sack attack starts to look very average. The Giants also lost Kawika Mitchell (4.5 sacks in 2007) to free agency.
Justin Tuck (10 sacks in 2007) now becomes the team's top pass rusher, though his success is sure to decline with the loss of two of the game's best ends, creating a trickle-down effect through the entire defense that will expose New York's sub-par secondary.
The options for Umenyiora's replacement ? veteran free agents Renaldo Wynn and second-year pro Dave Tollefson ? are certainly nothing to get excited about. The most sensible move would be to shift strongside linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka back to end, his natural position.
Don't hold your breath for Strahan to return, either. The guy has his ring and a new broadcasting deal with Fox.
It seems the Giants used up all their positive juju during their amazing Super Bowl run last year. Without Umenyiora, it's hard to see the 2008 Giants as much more than a .500 ballclub.
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cowboydude said August 25, 2008
gmastamort said August 26, 2008
Y2kbug replied August 26, 2008
He is never gonna me like Peyton, and there is nothing he can do about it cause that's a big shadow to get out off. The only thing the giants had to keep them in the game was defense and even now that's gone. i can easily see them going 6-10 realistically
natesparks said August 26, 2008
Spotella said August 26, 2008
Justwannawinna said August 26, 2008
dbobola22 said August 26, 2008
Your just an idiot! How could you say they weren't as good as they looked? Argue all you want about the past seasons with the Patriots, but you can not argue what the Patriots did last seasons. There is NO CHANCE they were not monitored more heavily than any other team in the league so there is ZERO chance they could even 'cheat' as you were insinuating and they made NFL defenses look like a division 1-AA team.
Look at their offensive display the first half of the season which was nothing short of amazing but expecting a team to do that for 16 weeks is very unrealistic especially being in the Northeast, where weather becomes an issue.
Is it really a coincidence that Sammy Morris went down with injury in week 6 and the Pats offense had a steady decline after that. The importance of the 2 RB rotation was very important to them just as it is to most teams in the league now. Also, the Eagles did a hell of a job slowing down the Patriots as Tom Brady threw for close to 400 yards on them. and only scored 31!!!
I love fair-weather fans more than any other in sports. It absolutely amazes me how ignorant a person can be by twisting facts and how one single thing can supposedly change the history of the game.
Perhaps, you wouldn;t be so biased if Donovan McNabb could of been more like Tom Brady and not choked errr Threw up in the huddle.. Damn pressure just kills people and makes others very bitter!!!
One more thing before I go, I think the SF 49ers should be banned from the NFL for all their wrongdoings in the past and admitting that stealing signals was more common than most people even can fathom! Also the Dolphin players who admitted to stealing the Patriots line signals in 2006...
Al21gamer said October 06, 2008