Things were much different the last time the Giants were in London

The New York Giants (3-3) visit London, England for the second time in nine years, to take on the Los Angeles Rams (3-3) this Sunday. On Oct. 28, 2007, they defeated the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium 13-10. Much has changed for Big Blue since.

They went on to win Super Bowl XLII that season, their first of two world championships since then. The entire Giants roster, with the exception of Eli Manning and Zak DeOssie, has turned over. Head coach Tom Coughlin no longer patrols the sideline either.

Most surprising of all is how the Giants won that game. The NFL wasn’t the universal passing league it is now. Eli Manning’s line that day: 8-22, 59 yards. He scored the Giants only TD on a ten-yard scramble in what was an agonizingly sloppy game.

Ex-Giant RB Brandon Jacobs carried the day, going for 131 yards on 23 carries. Ahmad Bradshaw, then in his rookie season, saw his only touch on special teams. He returned a kickoff 35 yards.

The Giant defense, led by HOFer Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, sacked Dolphins QB Cleo Lemon three times and held Miami to 245 total yards.

Things are much different in 2016. For starters, if Eli Manning throws for 59 yards, the Giants will lose. Big. The passing game is Big Blue’s identity these days, however inconsistent it’s been this season. The Giants didn’t have a player like WR Odell Beckham in 2007, let alone a Sterling Shepard and Victor Cruz. This Giants team needs to throw the ball to be successful.

The G-Men are riding a wave of momentum after an offensive outburst a week ago, and need a win to keep things rolling. It’ll also help to change the narrative of Josh Brown and how poorly the organization has handled the situation.

They don’t have Super Bowl aspirations this year (then again, they didn’t in 2007 either) but they didn’t spend last offseason retooling a historically bad defense to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight year. Giants-Rams kicks off Sunday at 9:30 a.m.