Full Disclosure- I do not like Bleacher Report.  So I am biased.  I feel they are 'the rag' of blogs, putting together any story to catch eyeballs.  I was forwarded one of their posts by a friend, which lists "9 reasons the Giants will make the playoffs."  After walking through their 9 reasons, I whittle it down to 3.  The motivation for discussing this is not to undermine Bleacher Report (they do a good enough job of that on their own), but to objectively look at where this Giants team is at the bye.    

Here are the "9 BR reasons" and our responses. 

Carl Banks checked in on WFAN yesterday and touched on the #1 pick of the Giants in 2004 along with a quick comment about their upcoming game after the bye week.  In Part II, Belichick, Pompeii and Bruschi talk about the spread offense.  Click 'Read More' to continue.

Here is where the Giants are out of 32 teams in the following Defensive categories (ranking is 1 best/desirable to 32nd worst)..

Yards/game allowed- 22nd
1st downs allowed- 20th
3rd down %- 8th
Penalty Yards allowed- 23rd
Sacks- 1st
Turnovers- 7th
Pts allowed per Game- 24th
Rushing Yards per game- 27th
Rushing Yards per Attempts- 18th
Passing Yards per game- 18th
Passing Attempts per attempt- 19th
(QB) Passer Rating- 14th
Completion %- 18th  

Next, we need to normalize all of the stats above.  If you take the OFFENSIVE ranking of the 6 teams the Giants have faced, this is what it looks like:

Yards Gained Per Game
WAS 344 (15th)
STL 301 (28th)
PHI 442 (3rd)
AZ 339 (17th)
SEA 263 (31st) 
BUF 379 (10th)
Average 345 (which would be 15th in ranking)

So what this says is that the Giants defense played against a typically ~average offense thus far, making the numbers at the top fairly representative.  There is enough to glean from the data:  as we all implicitly understand, the pass rush is outstanding.  And as we know from last year, Fewell gets those turnovers.  But the problem is that overall, this is still a pretty mediocre defense.  By allowing yards per game and pt per game that are in the ~ in the bottom quartile of the league, this is not a stingy defense in any sense.  When you consider the turnovers that the team creates, it means when it is not turning over the ball, it is giving up even more points.  So what that means is that it is going to live and die by the turnover- when it faces a team that can protect the ball, the Gmen will have trouble.   

The Giants are 27th in Rushing yards allowed per game, giving up 128 yards per game.  Where is the NY Giants identity?  This may be a passing league, but if you cannot defend the run, what that means is that you are vulnerable to any playcall.  

Let's also look at the rankings of the "offensive" teams the Giants face in the last 9 games: 

MIA20, NE1, SF27, PHL3, NO2, GB4, DAL6, WAS15, NYJ29, DAL6

That is an average of the ~11th ranked offense.  If you wanted to be utterly simplistic and say that the below average defense of the Giants will lose to single digit ranked offenses and win vs double digit ranked offenses, then the Giants will win vs MIA, SF, WAS and the NYJ and they will lose to NE, PHL, NO, GB, DAL and DAL.  That would make the NY Giants 4-6 in the post bye, and 8-8 overall.  Life is not a script.  The Giants rate to win a few games they would normally be expected to lose (PHL Week 3) and lose a few games they would normally be expected to win (SEA Week 5).  So much depends on health and other factors, but the Giants still control their own fate in a significant way.  As an example, the Patriots, Packers and Saints all have defenses that are for the most part ordinary.  If Gilbride and the offense can step it up and take on more responsibility, the Giants can win a couple of shootouts with some of the better teams that they face.  If they take care of business vs the lesser teams, they can turn 8-8 into 10-6 and win the division.  That is still a big "IF."  Defense wins championships and we have yet to see in ANY game the Giants play 60 minutes of strong defense.  At the end of the day, we know Gilbride's offense will leave a few points on the field, but how tight will the defense play?  Here are three questions: (1) Can this secondary come together?  (2) Can Tuck play the rest of the season? (3) Can Jacquian Williams improve in the second half of the season or will he tire like many rookies?  If Fewell can provide some answers, the Giants can provide a few more wins.

Got a chance to watch some non-Giants yesterday.  Here are some observations:

1) Plaxico.  When you catch 3 TDs in a single game, it is impressive.  Plaxico is adapting to a different role, that of red zone TE.  While we are first to admit he is having more success than we would have expected, it is a reminder of how important coaching is, to recognize how to utilize the players you have.  At 34, Plax is no longer as fast for the Yards After Catch.  But he is Big and Tall- a good red zone target.

2) The NYJ still have many problems.  That they somehow found a way to beat the Chargers is another wacky NFL 4th Quarter turnaround.  The Chargers are driving down the field, practically in the red zone, the ball gets batted and deflected perfectly into the hands of Revis, who proceeds to return the ball all the way to the other red zone.  Instead of the Chargers sealing the win, the Jets go ahead.

3) I heard a stat that was so outrageous that I am not going to reprint it here because I cannot confirm it, but suffice it to say that there have been a record # of Q4 comebacks this year.  Think BUF over NE.  NYG over AZ.  DET over DAL.  SF over PHL.  NYJ over SD.  Another stupid one was DEN over MIA yesterday. 

4) With the Skins losing and the Cowboys winning, it should be a reminder that Dallas is the one to watch.  Just look at their remaining schedule to understand that at 3-3, they are in a good position.  The good news for Giants fans is that they control their own fate, playing Dallas twice in the last 4 weeks.  And of course, don't forget about the Eagles either.

5) Cam Newton and Christian Ponder have taken different routes to starting positions, but they both look good.  We panned Ponder going so high, yet the early returns look like they did well.

6) Pete notes that Kevin Boss went out yesterday with another concussion.  This blog was much more upset about the loss of Steve Smith than Kevin Boss.  This was because we acknowledged how vulnerable Boss was to a shortened career due to more concussions.  We truly have more concerns for this man's health than we do for him playing football. 

7) When we talk about how bad the NFL is, we bring into evidence CLE-SEA.  The game was won 6-3, and I really do not care to know who won.  One of the analysts on NFL Gameday said the contest was "unwatchable."  You have two 2-3 teams playing one another and one of them is going to go to 3-3.  Amazing.  This is the mediocrity that is the NFL.  All in all it was a pretty pathetic week for the NFL.  Dallas blowing out a Bradford-less Rams team.. the Saints putting a hurting on the not-ready-for-primetime Colts in primetime.  There are about 5-10 teams that are watchable on any weekend and the rest can be worthless.  The rust from the lockout should be over, yet all of these bad teams and crazy comebacks makes me ask aloud if that is the case.  If I were a head coach, I'd use the bye to make sure my players were doing more practice, even if it is without pads.    

Phil Simms joined Mike Francesa on WFAN for Week 7.  Here are Simms' comments on the following NFL topics..

1. Carson Palmer- "He can be a great addition. Take a chance for greatness.  I like the move."

2. Tim Tebow. "His chances for success are pretty good.  Tebow fits that offense better than Orton did." Over time, they all change.  Tebow can change.  Aaron Rodgers is not the same QB he was in college.  Peyton Manning changed his mechanics completely from Year 1 to Year 2.  So it is not true that Tebow can change.

3. John Beck.  Not convinced he will be the answer in Washington.  Not a great OL.  WR corps is average.

4. Christian Ponder.  Surprised at the job he did last Sunday night.  He moved more in his first week on the field in the NFL than he ever did in college.

5. The Colts and Andrew Luck.  He is very strong as a running QB, not Tebow-like.  Not a great thrower of the ball yet. The Colts will not have Luck and Peyton Manning on the same team.  (IF the Colts get the #1 and IF they want Luck, they will be trading Manning.)

6. SD-NYJ.  The Jets win over MIA was tainted by just how bad Miami is.  Miami is 0-5 for a reason, bad decisions, very deserving of that W-L record etc.. Sanchez has not taken a step back.  Sanchez is not perfect or great, but he has not regressed.  Rivers has not been super crisp thus far this year.  People are playing the Chargers differently this year, trying to stop the longer passing plays.  If Rivers gets protection this afternoon, it will be a rough day for the Jets.  Chargers are healthier, more speed on defense.  A lot of components are there for the Chargers to be the team that we thought they'd be 2 seasons ago.