Any of the optimists not as optimistic at 2-0?

We beat a good offense at their place, which is a tough place to play. We held them to 19 pts, and the same team just went on the road and beat Washington scoring 27.

We then beat an high scoring, top offense, who is coming off a 35 pt effort. We held them to 13 pts (wow).

Our offense controlled the game in the 2nd half of Dallas and for pretty much the whole Saints game. If not for 3 turnovers we would have scored a lot of points. Also in both games the offense was able to basically run out the clock at the end of the game (something that didn't happen last year). Plus the defense held against Dallas at the end (again something that didn't happen last year).

Just taking it week by week

and a 3rd that could have been caught and a 4th that they decided not to go for and just kick the game winning field goal.

The opportunities were there which keep me optimistic. It's not like they didn't have their chances.

Put this D, the way it is playing going into week three, on last year's team and that squad wins the east and maybe more.

I never want to get too optimistic either as we all know the bottom can fall out quickly, but there is a lot to be excited about so far.

The right side of that OL. That being said, I'm still optimistic. 6-2 should be the record at midseason. No need to worry about the offense's performance yesterday. The NYG, on a typical day where they don't shoot themselves in the foot, win that game 24-13 at minimum. They look like the best team in the East by an appreciable margin. Barring something unforeseen, they should win this division with 10-11 wins.

In comment 13131420 Bill in UT said:

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Just taking it week by week

This is what I try to do. I am just trying to enjoy 2-0 right now.

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this year we won 2 close ones and are 2-0.

we'll learn a bit more in the coming weeks.

In comment 13131420 Bill in UT said:

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Just taking it week by week

Same here.

We have won, so it is easier to be more critical of the performance. Many things in need of cleaning up.

Perhaps still holding on to the last few years of bad play because there was a point in the 4th quarter at 13-10 with the ball where I thought if they got up 16-10, they would somehow lose the game 17-16.

One drive, one quarter, one game at a time.

They need to put it all together against the Skins. It's an important early season game with Vikes, Packers and Ravens the following three games.

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And our dline starts sacking qbs I am not totally convinced that we have a great defense again.

If we can stay healthy and get to 4-0, we will have a short week to meet Green Bay in their house where they rule.
4-0 though as we face an average overall Redskins team and the Vikings may be without RB Peterson now.

In comment 13131580 SGMen said:

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If we can stay healthy and get to 4-0, we will have a short week to meet Green Bay in their house where they rule. 4-0 though as we face an average overall Redskins team and the Vikings may be without RB Peterson now.

You really think this offense is going to fare better in Minnesota than Green Bay did last night?

I'm not sure Rodgers has been in his usual form lately--even last season, the few games I watched. I might be completely off base. Point being, yeah, I think our guys are capable of a better performance. (This being an optimist thread and all.)

I mean going into Dallas 1st game of the season and winning. I almost puked. And beating NO gave ma a headache I still haven't gotten rid of. Hope we lose this week so you can be happy and I can feel better.

But when you have the pessimistic attitude that the OP has, and I swear I don't mean it disrespectfully, how in Gods name can you enjoy football? Isn't the whole fun of watching the Giants to have fun watching and following them?

So when they start 2-0, as Giant fans, we should be aware of what needs to be improved upon but we should all be optimistic and excited as hell because that's the fun of watching and following a sports team.

Wounded Skins coming to town and if anybody thinks
the Philly will not be tough is high ....
Although Wentz needs to get down quicker or he won't
be a factor .
Our O-line is shaky still can't run the ball ...

I hear are the two hosts discussing " Which 2-0 team is in the most trouble?" Not 0-2, but 2-0. Yup. Giants according to them. I was dumbfounded at the premise.

In comment 13131749 Bluesbreaker said:

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Wounded Skins coming to town and if anybody thinks the Philly will not be tough is high .... Although Wentz needs to get down quicker or he won't be a factor . Our O-line is shaky still can't run the ball ...

When exactly do we beat the Eagles if we don't this year? The Chicago OL might be as equally shaky as the NYG OL and the Philly DL was living in the Bear backfield all night. Remember, the sole reason why Philly has beaten the NYG constantly over the last few years has been their dominance on the LOS. I'm confident in our DL vs their OL (especially if Johnson gets suspended) but their DL vs our OL is an entirely different animal...

In comment 13131754 Crispino said:

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I hear are the two hosts discussing " Which 2-0 team is in the most trouble?" Not 0-2, but 2-0. Yup. Giants according to them. I was dumbfounded at the premise.

Yep because this team is bound to drop 3 tds every game and commit 3 TO's...zero respect...no surprise there

brutal seasons in a row, no I need to see this team beat teams they are supposed and get a big win against the Vikes or Green Bay on the road.

I believe this could be Eli's year many signs point to it !

Lots of good signs though. The most impressive thing to me is that the Giants have come out on top in close games. That did not happen last year. Plus our secondary looks really good and we don't give up big plays, YAC, or big run yards. What's not to be optimistic about? The rookies are playing well and have shown improvement. If we keep improving and can get into the playoffs we'll be dangerous and Eli can take us to the promised land.

will feel a lot better about it if we beat the skins and eagles when we play them the first time.

In comment 13131673 BillT said:

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I mean going into Dallas 1st game of the season and winning. I almost puked. And beating NO gave ma a headache I still haven't gotten rid of. Hope we lose this week so you can be happy and I can feel better.

I Hope your ma feels better.

The Giants defense is more competitive and the Giants offense even with that offensive line, is also competitive. This unlike the past three seasons gives them a chance to have a winning record and be legitimate contenders for a play off position.

Going back to the very early days with lots of chatter between the optimists and pessimists (who called themselves "Realists" - LOL)

In the NFC who looks better. Carolina is probably the best team. Who else

GB has all sorts of issues on their OL. Jordy looks slower
Min - OL issues, QB issues, RB issues
Sea - OL issues
AZ - Secondary issues, OL, Defensive questions
ATL - Defense, OL
Phi - QB, OL, Defense
Was - Defense, QB, OL
Dal - Qb & defense
Chi - see last night - bad
Det - there Detroit

Everyone has issues

The Giants have ability on both sides of the ball. Do they maximize it or not. it is there for the taking this year

In comment 13131676 Craigg619 said:

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But when you have the pessimistic attitude that the OP has, and I swear I don't mean it disrespectfully, how in Gods name can you enjoy football? Isn't the whole fun of watching the Giants to have fun watching and following them? So when they start 2-0, as Giant fans, we should be aware of what needs to be improved upon but we should all be optimistic and excited as hell because that's the fun of watching and following a sports team.

No disrespect taken, I'm an optimist, well, let's say causiously optimistic.

Fun? Being a Jints fan is fun? Better off than most team's fans I guess. I never really thought of it as fun. A birthright, an obligation, it's been fun occasionally, I wear the colors proudly.

It's more like a life event, prepare for the worst, hope for the best, yeah, I guess maybe it could be fun.

That doesn't mean they don't have a bad game or two in them, but they are a good unit. The offense is what concerns me, and I say that realizing that our WRs are likely to be very good.

I just see an offense that has the same issues that have stumped us for the past several years. Yes, the year totals have been good, but there have been games lost where the offense could not get it done. Specifically, drives stalled after falling into unfavorable down and distances due to ineffective runs (those negative runs are like mini sacks) and then can't convert on 3rd. Also, Eli having a costly brain fart in an untimely spot or just missing on a throw we need him to make (often 3rd and short where they go for the long one and throws it just out of reach). Lastly, settling for FGs instead of TDs in the red zone.

These things concern me against better defenses. The culprit here is the Oline. This team has few major weaknesses outside of that, and some obvious strengths, but its enough to minimize an otherwise potentially dominant offense, and the offense bringing down an otherwise potential SB contender.

That said, this team has enough firepower to find themselves a hot team. I think this team has similar overall talent than 2011. If Eli could tap into that '11 mojo again, I would not completely rule out another run. But more than likely we are a year away. I like where they are headed, but may need to be a little patient.

In comment 13131915 UberAlias said:

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These things concern me against better defenses. The culprit here is the Oline. This team has few major weaknesses outside of that, and some obvious strengths, but its enough to minimize an otherwise potentially dominant offense, and the offense bringing down an otherwise potential SB contender.

After sleeping through that shitfest last night, our oline looks to be better than those two last night, especially the Bears.

it. I'll feel alot better if they bury WAS this week before the more difficult part of the sked starts at MIN, at GB home against BAL.

Strong post, and agreed.

OL just might not have enough talent, when all is said and done.

The other big concern is the offense MUST clean up the mental errors, protect the football, and build an increased level of in-game awareness. Any one of which could have prevented a fumble, a crucial drop, insert brainfart here.

Great stats like your QB throwing for 6 TDs and losing OR

Your QB throws for 368 yards, 0 TD's BUT YOU WIN

The only thing that matters is a W. Go back to 2007 or 2011 and look at the NFL standings, no where will you find style points for victories, but you will see Super Bowl Champions: NY Giants

In comment 13131921 section125 said:

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In comment 13131915 UberAlias said: Quote: These things concern me against better defenses. The culprit here is the Oline. This team has few major weaknesses outside of that, and some obvious strengths, but its enough to minimize an otherwise potentially dominant offense, and the offense bringing down an otherwise potential SB contender. After sleeping through that shitfest last night, our oline looks to be better than those two last night, especially the Bears.

Perhaps. The main thing for me is the penalties and the ineffective runs. The running game was not terrible last week.

If my count is correct (quick scan so could be off), they had 13 runs of 3 yards or more. Not horrible, but zero runs of 10 or more.

They had 10 runs of only 1 or 2 yards. Five runs for a loss. The runs for a loss are pretty much like mini sacks.

So that's just over half the runs going for 2 yards or less with no big runs, and about 18% going for a loss.

But when you consider this was not a good defense and a defense that was scheming to shut down the deep ball, so you assume they were running against favorable fronts. That's just not good.

And Obama, of course.

and then beat either GB/Minn and we are in the drivers seat. Just get to the dance.

In comment 13131978 Klaatu said:

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And Obama, of course.

You forgot Bush as well.............

In comment 13131985 section125 said:

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In comment 13131978 Klaatu said: Quote: And Obama, of course. You forgot Bush as well.............

I could never forget Rachel Bush:

but my concern, at this point, is simply the OL and their ability to protect Eli against the upper echelon teams.

Wouldn't it be crazy if Will Beatty was actually the guy to stabilize the OL??

Defensively, we have players now, not guys off the street. Special teams seems to have turned the corner........and I think the coaching/game management/time management is right there.

preseason. Our first two games were close wins as we figure stuff out but the defense looks damned good and Cruz is healthy.

Wait until we get rolling.

In comment 13131628 The_Boss said:

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In comment 13131580 SGMen said: Quote: If we can stay healthy and get to 4-0, we will have a short week to meet Green Bay in their house where they rule. 4-0 though as we face an average overall Redskins team and the Vikings may be without RB Peterson now. You really think this offense is going to fare better in Minnesota than Green Bay did last night?

The Giants have a better offense than the Packers. Rodgers is better than Eli but the skill positions arent even close. Both teams lines are shaky and offer nothing of note at RB.

this defense is the real deal - and the offense shows dynamic potential

the Oline is still a work in progress -- I am hopeful that Beatty will step in and give them a new energy and gel --

the running game is predictably anemic -- but the play calling has to give some running game to use play action -- McAdoo's offense is predicated on that - and that's really where the problem is - it doesn't look like it can perform against a real defense (kinda like what happens when our defense is on the field.

The good news is that our defense is taking the scoring pressure off of our offense -- me likey -- me likey a lot

I'm not worried about the field miscues -- that can be cleaned up and will -- take away the miscues and the Giants hang three more TDs and two less FGs on the Saints -- net 15 points -- making it a 31-13 game on SUnday

except for during the winters of 2008 and 2012. I was pretty upbeat then.

I don't like the prospect of going up against a Division rival and two very good teams (Minn and GB) with a banged up OL that was suspect to begin with. I don't like our LB crew, although I'm pleased that they've played better than expected so far. And there's a kind of sloppiness about the offense in general that has prevented them from executing properly to date.

I'm hoping that we clean up the mistakes quickly and that either Newhouse gets out of the boot or Beatty steps up and plays well: otherwise, we're in for some trouble.

Coaching-we have an organized assassin for coach, knows how to fire the coup de grace.
Defense-can stop the run, or the pass, held DB under 300 yards, EE to 50 in 30, tackle with violence, hard to move, quick and violent on the back end.
Offense-Three top WRs, and a King in reserve. Not yet in tune, but a lot there to tune up. Beatty getting ready, adequate without him. Eli at about 70%, with brain farts now,but we know he can sharpen up. ODB hasn't even started yet. Jennings not yet in stride. Donnell talented but inconsistent. Aware he is being watched and challenged. Lots of offensive weapons. Secret weapon (gamechanger, guess who)once again available.
Youth and Age-Team is young and many inexperienced, but sprinkled with older leaders, and the youngsters have already flashed their potential.
Tradition and Character-Team is tough, like the most successful Giant predecessors, already knows how to win, and hates to lose.

1/8 of the way there. :D

we are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Considering we have started 2-0, the math is in our favor so far. Optimistic!!

saints seemed to know when giants would run and their LB moved up filling holes. Maybe the OL is giving it away

Enough confidence that we should be able to hang around a lot of games even when the Offense goes thru times when it sputters.

I just think the O-Line weaknesses will continue to cause offensive sputtering, and sometimes to the point where it cannot get out of its own way...