Why 2015 will be a major frustration...

because all of the fans getting their panties bunched up over guesses, opinions, and their own ability to think they can predict the future.

...but I am not optimistic this season.

We've got explosive potential with Eli and the receivers, but beyond that... bleh.

OL will probably be a mess - nobody should be comfortable with the tackle situation at this point. No big improvement at Running Back - I don't know if Eli can do it alone.

But defense - oof - the most red flags on that side of the ball... honestly, maybe since I've been a fan. DRC is the only definite impact player - JPP was the last great 2000-era DE, the middle was SO pourous last year - these plug in's at LB do NOT inspire confidence, and I am not on the bandwagon with these Safeties...

I smell LOTS of high scoring games, with the Giants on the short end of the stick in terms of TOP and points.

I hope I'm wrong.

as far as current injuries, how the team will play, or what problems will occur in the future...well, we have no control over any of this.

Just sit back and enjoy the ride. This years team promises to be exciting if nothing else.

because they've obviously accepted the mediocrity (at best) over the past 3 years. If they suck this year too, Mara has no one else but himself to blame for accepting this for the past 3 years. *shrug*

Could be bad, could be average but I doubt it will be great. We have too many unknowns ( De play, oline play, Cruz health/ can players grasp new def scheme quickly).

Don't see Coughlin going out in ignominious 4-season losing streak and don't see him surviving one either.

So I think we'll win.

Worst case scenario we'll plug Jerry and Schwartz in on the right side and run left a lot behind Flowers and Pugh.

Both Mosley and the Newhouse will be given a chance to beat out Jerry. And they're not done trying to improve. Honestly, I think if they thought Long was ready to play they would have made a serious effort to sign him.

Meantime they're keeping track if his progress. But the most important thing is for our own guys to step up. OL looked like a potential strength before Beatty went down. We'll keep trying to improve.

In comment 12397007 x meadowlander said:

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...but I am not optimistic this season. We've got explosive potential with Eli and the receivers, but beyond that... bleh. OL will probably be a mess - nobody should be comfortable with the tackle situation at this point. No big improvement at Running Back - I don't know if Eli can do it alone. But defense - oof - the most red flags on that side of the ball... honestly, maybe since I've been a fan. DRC is the only definite impact player - JPP was the last great 2000-era DE, the middle was SO pourous last year - these plug in's at LB do NOT inspire confidence, and I am not on the bandwagon with these Safeties... I smell LOTS of high scoring games, with the Giants on the short end of the stick in terms of TOP and points. I hope I'm wrong.

Its Eli and receivers, a couple good corners, a MLB that is good but can't stay on the field and a potentially talented but unproven an thin OL.

sounds like 8-8 to me.

Still lacks talent in several areas and depth in others. This is still not a very good football team. We have some good parts, but it's nowhere near a good team, the defense is abysmal and getting worse.

THere will be growing pains on offense with the OL for a while, how long, no one knows. We still can't run the ball until we prove otherwise and we definitely can't stop until we prove otherwise.

I think 8-8 would be a hell of an achievement but with pretty much no secondary beyond two oft injured veteran CBs, we are in big big trouble.

until Beatty gets back. If we could I'd be relatively optimistic. But as it stands now I'm concerned about the play of both lines.

In comment 12397036 Dave in Hoboken said:

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because they've obviously accepted the mediocrity (at best) over the past 3 years. If they suck this year too, Mara has no one else but himself to blame for accepting this for the past 3 years. *shrug*

They haven't accepted anything. Oh wait they didn't clean house so that means they don't care?? That's a pretty interesting way of looking at things...I disagree. What part of the last 2 off-seasons did you miss where the OC and DC were replaced and countless vets were released?

8-8 would be a disappointment. It would be anything but an achievement.

And this year it remains the same,except we have a few promising draft picks and a real defensive coordinator.

Starting to think that Rams game was like the Superbowl to the Giants front office.

I'm sorry...that was nasty...but I've been saying the same things re the O-Line for the past two months and it's getting tiresome.

The Giants are moving Weston Richburg to Center...his natural position...the one where he started 50 games in college...the one where he impressed the hell out of guys like Daniel Jeremiah and Phil Savage at the Senior Bowl. He'll be a huge upgrade from J.D. Walton.

The Giants are moving Justin Pugh to Left Guard. Why? Because they believe (as I do) that while he was a serviceable Tackle, he can be an outstanding Guard, and outstanding beats serviceable every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I believe he can be as good as Marshal Yanda. Pugh has embraced the move, even if some on BBI haven't.

The Giants ran to the podium at warp speed to draft Ereck Flowers. Why? I believe it's because they viewed him as Will Beatty's heir apparent, and while I'm sure they would have liked to have him play a season at Right Tackle first, when Beatty got hurt Flowers was the guy who took his place at Left Tackle in the Spring, doing double-duty to get up to speed. It's not an ideal situation, but it's the best option they have. No doubt he'll have some growing pains, but he's young, smart, strong as hell and tough as nails. I look forward to the Giants running to the left side with impunity.

The right side is a bit more problematic.

Right now, Geoff Schwartz in penciled in as the starter at Right Guard. No doubt that pencil comes with an eraser, because durability is a big question with Schwartz. If he can stay healthy, fine. If not, the next big question is who will take his place? I hope the Giants don't have to rely on John Jerry, because even though he's a fair-to-middlin' pass-blocker, he's an abysmal run-blocker, and the Giants must be able to run the ball. We'll see if one of the younger O-Linemen has the wherewithal to keep Jerry on the bench.

Penciled in at Right Tackle is the much-maligned (with good reason) Marshall Newhouse. Hard to believe this guy was the starting Left Tackle for a Packers team that went 15-1, but that probably says more about Aaron Rodgers' "escapability" than it does about Newhouse's "protectability." Green Bay couldn't wait to dump him, and his stint in Cincinnati was awful. With any luck, the equally-maligned Brandon Mosley might have a shot to replace Newhouse as a starter, or, maybe, a kid like Michael Bamiro could shock the world. Stranger things have happened.

The O-Line was a hot mess last year - a revolving door of injury, inefficiency and ineptitude. The Giants have taken several steps to clean up that mess, and even with the setback of losing Will Beatty, I believe they're headed in the right direction. I'd at least like to see them practice for a little while with pads on...maybe even play a preseason game or two...before I declare the season over before it's even begun.

At 75, I can't wait until next year for a winning season. My expectations for this year are 9 and 7 at the minimum and a trip to the playoffs. Unlike all the analysts here I can't use past performance to judge this year's effort. I'll wait until I see some preseason play to let you know whether I'm frustrated or elated.

or 8-8 is what I am predicting. I just don't think we are that good of a team to make any noise. A lot of things would have to break right for us. It could happen, but I am not banking on that.

It's difficult to remain optimistic. However, we see teams go from "worst to first" all the time, and to declare anything categorically at this stage of the game is, in my opinion, premature. Keep hope alive.

before the first practice. Both lines were horrible with them last year. Should be a great season.

In comment 12397346 arniefez said:

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before the first practice. Both lines were horrible with them last year. Should be a great season.

Beatty was an average OT at best, and the writing was on the wall for him the moment the Giants drafted Flowers. The only thing that changed was the timetable for the succession. And because the O-Line was horrible last year is the reason that Richburg is going to Center and Pugh is going to Left Guard, where the Giants believe they'll be most effective.

As for JPP, I doubt that he and the Giants would have agreed to a long-term deal even if he hadn't blown his hand up. I believe he would have priced himself off the team. I also believe the Giants have been preparing themselves for that possibility for the past two years, drafting Moore and Odighizuwa, and signing Wynn, Ayers, and Selvie. Will they miss JPP's production? I'm sure they will. Will it be impossible to make up for it? I'm sure it won't be, just as Tiki Barber's "60% of the offense" wasn't impossible to make up for in 2007.

Keep sucking on lemons if it makes you happy. You have plenty of company in that regard. I'll remain optimistic.

thanks for the optimism. These Jeremiahs make me tired!

But when I read things like this:

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We will try to establish the run and fail because of horrendous blocking

It just drives me nuts. How the hell can you make that kind of prediction on the first day of camp?

And:

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Watching the best group of offensive skill players the Giants have had together on the field not be able to perform due to horrendous line play is insane. Maybe there will be no one available that will make our Oline any better, but just going in with the group we have is certain to be a disaster.

I'm sorry, but what's insane is labeling the play of the O-Line "horrendous" when you haven't even seen them play yet! And in my opinion, the only thing that's "certain to be a disaster" is the next thread started by the OP.

Every 4 years since Eli's first title.It will be a great year.

On both sides of the ball last year the problem was more up the middle. Fewell had ineffective ends at the tackle positions on passing downs. You don't get sacks without collapsing the pocket. That should improve this year. Especially with Hankins set to emerge as a star.

Same thing on offense. The middle was horrendous. Especially Walton. Eli, more than other qbs simply cannot play with pressure up the middle. With Richburg Schwartz and Pugh, they should be a lot better. If
Flowers or Newhouse (or hopefully Mosley) wiff , at least Eli will be able to step up. So I M optimistic.

Why? I saw an OL that would be massively improved over the previous 2.5 years.

Beatty-Pugh-Richburg-Schwarz-Flowers, if healthy and getting through a camp together & in-sync, would give Eli more pocket time and would definitely be superb run blocking. We haven't run the ball well in a long time.

But Beatty got hurt and now we must shuffle. No matter what anyone says, I don't believe Flowers will be ready to START at LT this year. RT, yes, as he could get some help and his run blocking will be solid. Therefore, I think the opening day lineup will end up being:

Pugh-Schwarz-Richburg-Jerry-Flowers, a veteran group except for the rookie RT.

On defense, losing JPP hurts of course.

I personally think this defense will struggle the first quarter of the season as it must learn a new Spags defense AND our safeties are green as baby grass. We'll be exposed early and deep but improvement will come much like it did in 2007.

So, given we can't take back the injuries and assuming we aren't hit with any deal breaker injuries in camp or early season, my projection for the season is now a solid 11-5.

I am putting my chips in the middle of the table and using the four year "itch" for Eli as my momentum builder.

I think our offense will move the ball and run well this year. I think Donnell, Robinson and Cunningham will all see the field this year and play well at TE. I think the OL will run block and A. Williams will bull his way to 1,000 yards at a 4.5+ clip.

I think we'll see the real V. Cruz the second half of the season and he'll be "Mr. Automatic" for 3rd down conversions.

On defense, we just need to stay healthy and hope the youth develops. If they do, we will manage "middle of the pack" and that may be good enough in the NFC East.

If we stay healthy, get hot late, we should make the playoffs this year. I am not sold on the Eagles and Redskins. The Cowboys look good on paper, esp. with WR Bryant under contract (I was hoping he'd hold out and come back AFTER game 1 to make his point...sigh....).

Giants 30-27 over Cowboys as Eli hits Beckham for a TD in the greenzone with less than 10 seconds left.

1-0 start, health and momentum at home for next two games and we are 3-0.

Yup.

Just keep that in mind when looking at the schedule.

Bowl. It just has to stay relatively healthy.

that first preseason game can't come fast enough.....