Good morning, Giants fans. The first order of business is to remind everyone not to overreact to one game. If recent years have shown anything, it's that a team (specifically, this team) can end a season very differently from how it began: in 2007, the Giants started 0-2 and won the Super Bowl; in 2008 they started 4-0 and lost their first playoff game; last year they started 5-0 and didn't even make the playoffs.
That caveat out of the way, I think it's OK to feel great about the this past Sunday. The Giants opened up their new stadium with a fairly convincing win over the same team that blew them out in the last game at Giants Stadium, and at least for the time being have quieted some critics. At the same time, division rivals Philly and Dallas both lost and had some major potential weaknesses exposed. The Jets were humbled, quieting the "who owns NY" talk for the time being. The Giants could lose their next 15 games and nobody will remember this weekend, but at least for the time being Giants fans should be pretty happy. Now, let's get to some links:
- Michael Eisen goes inside the numbers of the Giants week 1 victory
- Matt Mosley says the NFC East decisive moment of week 1 was Kenny Phillips' shoestring tackle of DeAngelo Williams just before the end zone early in the game.
- The NY Post sees the same thing that we've been talking about here for a while: the Giants special teams must improve.
- Zach Berman of the Jersey Star-Ledger says that the Giants merry-go-round of defensive players won't be ending anytime soon.
- Interesting article in the NY Times about some fans who have been priced out of the new stadium. On the one hand, I hate the idea of PCL's and feel for fans who have been priced out, but on the other hand I think some people have been overreacting to this whole issue. The Giants are far from the first team to use PCL's, and they unfortunately won't be the last. And, to be honest, as much as I respect the older generation of Giants fans, I'm not so sure it's a bad thing to get some new blood at the games, people for whom going to the game is still an experience and who will be pumped up weeks one through 17.