LT Sports

I am sure few people realized it at the time, but the New York Giants were seriously exposed against the New Orleans Saints 3 games ago. Since that game, the Giants have still not won, and they are looking for answers.

When the Saints dismantled the Giants in the Superdome, they showed the rest of the league just how weak the Giants’ defensive backfield truly was. With the absence of Aaron Ross and Kenny Philips, it was a shock to me that they hadn’t been exposed a few weeks earlier. Then I realized that they were facing quarterbacks like Josh Johnson and Jamarcus Russell, and there was no chance for them to be exposed. Instead, the Giants were able to make these young quarterbacks look like garbage, and they looked poised for another wonderful season, as they got off to a 5-0 start.

However, once Drew Brees had a chance to pick on this defense, teams around the league were able to see exactly how to beat this seemingly frightening Giants’ defense. With a little time for the quarterback to operate, he could throw the ball all over this secondary who showed a huge problem in coverage. Now, all teams needed to do was take a page out of the Saints’ playbook, and beating the Giants would not be too difficult.

Once the defense showed it was weak, the offense seemed to follow suit.

Eli Manning has not played at the level he was playing at, and the running game, that was one of the best in football, has been held in check. This team has basically blown up from within. With their defense not leading the show, this team is not nearly as good as it appeared early on. Now it looks like all teams need to beat this team is a decent quarterback who knows how to take advantage of mismatches. Unfortunately for the Giants, there are too many quarterbacks in this league that fit that description.

With the Chargers coming up next for the Giants, I think that New York could be in trouble. Philip Rivers is one of the better passers in football, and Vincent Jackson has been a nightmare for defensive backs this season. Unless the Giants find a new way to defend teams, the 2009 season could end much earlier than the Giants once believed.