No Love for the G-Men

Coach Tom Coughlin and his defending champion New York Giants enter the 2008 season with great expectations. Unfortunately, their high hopes aren't shared by the rest of the football world. Michael Strahan's retirement and Osi Umenyiora's season-ending injury have caused many sportswriters and commentators to question the team's ability to repeat. Most of them don't even think they'll make the playoffs! What do the Giants have to do to gain some respect?

The Giants will go into Thursday night's game against the Redskins with their entire championship offense intact. Sure, players like Strahan and Umenyiora are hard to replace, but Mathias Kiwanuka and Justin Tuck are good enough to get the job done. Plus, with Steve Spagnola calling the shots on defense, fans may be treated to a little magic.

And the critics seem to have forgotten about Eli Manning. The Super Bowl MVP has proven to be a big-game player who can win in the clutch. Eli no longer feels the pressure of performing in New York, and he's definitely stepped out of his brother's shadow. When will he finally get the credit he deserves? But the more Eli is doubted, the better he plays. He's also happy to be the second most popular quarterback (after Brett Favre) in New York.

According to ESPN and Sports Illustrated, last year's miraculous run means nothing. Their analysts project the G-Men to finish no higher than third place in the NFC East! Giants fans should be thrilled. The team, like Eli, tends to perform at a high level when expectations are low. Once again, they're underdogs, and they wouldn't have it any other way. -Matan Cohen, Special to Bobby v. the World