New York Giants Season Outlook: A Path to Optimism

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00:00I mean, I think that there's only one way to go for the Giants going into the season,

00:05and that's got to be up, you know?

00:07It just kind of feels like everyone is so down on them going into the year.

00:11I'm trying to find the silver lining here for them.

00:13Look, you never know.

00:15It's the National Football League.

00:16Anything can happen.

00:17Washington last year, oh, my gosh, they're going to win five games.

00:20They end up looking like a Super Bowl contender.

00:23I know Jane Daniels is not walking through the door in New York,

00:25but maybe there's some optimism at the end.

00:26You never know.

00:27Yeah, I think that's a fair way to spin it, Craig.

00:30You know the NFL has a higher turnover rate than any other of the four main professional sports leagues.

00:36How many teams do we see, right, change over that make the playoffs,

00:39that miss the playoffs the previous season?

00:41So from that standpoint, optimism is allowed, and it's welcome,

00:45especially during this time of the year.

00:47But the Giants still have plenty of work to do.

00:49This is an offense, okay?

00:50Let's not push that to the side that has struggled mightily

00:54to get near 20 points per game over the last few seasons.

00:58And if you just look at league-wide trends, you're not going to be competitive.

01:03Forget winning football games if you hover around the 15- to 17-point barometer.

01:09So that's the first thing that I'm looking at this season.

01:12How much of a step can the offense take?

01:14Because the defense struggled last season in stopping the run.

01:17They clearly have a lot of weaponry up front with the arrival of Abdul Carter,

01:22but you can't expect one facet to rescue this team.

01:25So to me, the onus is on the offense, Craig.

01:28They have to be able to consistently put points on the board for them to stay in games

01:33down the stretch, which was clearly not a factor and not something that came

01:37to the forefront at all last season.

01:40Yeah.

01:40I think, you know, really the key for what most people say, Lance,

01:43you would know more than me because I don't follow it nearly as closely,

01:46would be the guys up front on the Giants' defense.

01:49The takeaway from the training camps and these joint practices is that's going

01:53to be the strength of the Giants, Thibodeau, and everybody else up front

01:56getting after the quarterback this season.

01:58So that's a good sign because then maybe boring football works for you.

02:02You play close games, you attack the back, you kick some field goals,

02:05you win some 19-10, you lose some 13-0.

02:09Well, you don't get brownie points or style points,

02:12if you want to word it that way, in the National Football League.

02:14So if the Giants want to get down and dirty and play ugly, to your point,

02:19that style of football can win.

02:20We've seen teams in the past do that, where they keep games low-scoring,

02:25they play the game of field positioning, and maybe their defense is opportunistic

02:29and is able to put a touchdown or two on the board.

02:32Now, the Giants, interestingly, that we're talking about this right now, Craig,

02:36struggled to take away the football last season.

02:38Now, turnover differential, much like wins and losses, fluctuates from season

02:42at the season, there has been an emphasis this offseason.

02:46Can the Giants take the football away?

02:49Can they shorten the field for the offense?

02:51If they can do that, and once again, they have the firepower up front to do that,

02:56I don't know how reliable that is, but that could go a long way, to your point,

03:00in not telling Russell Wilson and company,

03:02you have to put 30 points on the board every single week.

03:05So that's where the defense, I think, can meet the offense halfway.

03:09But they still have a relatively young secondary.

03:12Deontay Banks is looking for a bounce-back season.

03:14He was their first-round pick a few years ago.

03:17He had a sophomore slump.

03:19They have some new safeties.

03:20So there's pieces of the puzzle here.

03:22As good as the pass rush may be, Craig,

03:24how reliable can the back of the unit perform

03:28where you can manufacture those takeaways?

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