Despite countless injuries and loss of players, the New York Giants seem to be pulling their weight this season.
After the return of football, the offseason saw more trades, signings, cuts, and re-signings than the NFL has seen in years. Many teams went overboard with their activity using as much money as they could without going over the salary cap. The Philadelphia Eagles, in particular, quickly became infamous during the offseason for being the team who probably signed the most players. One of the only teams that decided to take a back seat instead of taking the chance to capitalize in the chaos was none other than our own New York Giants. The Big Blue failed to re-sign key players, such as star tight end Kevin Boss, wide receiver Steve Smith, and offensive linemen Rich Seubert and Shaun O’Hara.
Giants owner John Mara claimed that losing these players was not going to affect the Giants’ season, and that they would still succeed. While that may have been true, something happened that Mr. Mara could not predict, and it happened more than once – injury. Terrell Thomas, Marvin Austin, Brian Witherspoon, Prince Amukamara, Clint Sintim, and Justin Tuck all suffered injuries before the beginning of the season. Five out of these six injuries (that would be exempting Tuck) are season-long, and they will not be returning to the field for the rest of the year.
The Giants lost their first game of the season to the Washington Redskins 28-14. It was the first time the Big Blue lost to the Washington Redskins in nearly five years. Although the Giants did achieve a victory over the St. Louis Rams in their second game on September 19, the victory was bitter-sweet. The next game saw the Giants defeating their long-time rival: the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants have suffered a mind-boggling number of injuries and losses, but they have fought through this curse and made their team into something that has the potential to be great. As of now, the Giants have a 3-2 record, which puts them second in the NFC East.