Get ready for it; here come the millions and millions of rationalizations as to why the Giants won’t repeat as Super Bowl contenders.  I’m talking about things like “Well, our division was the strongest in the NFL so…” or “Losing Osi Umenyiora cost us, big time.”  What about the idea that the Giants just weren’t that good of a team anyways?  I can’t take away the fact that they won the Super Bowl because that’s pretty relevant but lets also not forget that this team backed into the playoffs and had nobody outside of the Meadowlands excited about their prospective Super Bowl chances until they actually flew into Arizona to play the Patriots.

Losing defensive end Osi Umenyiora for the year is a big blow to the Giants; losing a guy who had 13 sacks will have a big impact on any team.  But was this team even a playoff caliber team with Umenyiora in the lineup considering what they’ve lost this off-season and the strength of every other team in the division?  The Giants defense lost its leader in Michael Strahan, lost arguably its best linebacker in Kawika Mitchell, and traded away tight end Jeremy Shockey.  And don’t give me crap about Shockey not being an incredible loss; losing a guy who was good for 60 to 70 catches a year and took attention away from Plaxico Burress is a loss no matter how much he blasts gays in the media or calls Bill Parcells a ‘homo’.  Now the Giants are left with a less than impressive defensive line, a pissed off receiver who wants a new contract in Plaxico Burress, and a guy in Eli Manning who still hasn’t sold me on his ability.  His QB rating was 73.9 last year, I don’t need to justify it.  And as for Strahan being encouraged by ESPN to come out of retirement, I hope he doesn’t fall victim to the same pressure Favre did.  There’s no reason for him to come back and get frustrated with the double team for 16 weeks.  It’ll be a waste of everyone’s time.

During ESPN’s most recent waste of time poll, they asked if the Giants could still make the playoffs despite losing Osi.  55% of the people who responded said yes.  55% of the people who participated in that poll are high.  Outside of a small miracle happening in the Meadowlands, there’s no way this team can be as good as the Cowboys and I dont even feel like they’re as good as the revamped Washington Redskins.  This team finishes 7-9 and relaizes that Tom Caughlin is still the mediocre coach everyone wanted to fire last year at this time.  So go ahead Giants fan, load up your ammo and take your shots at me.  I’m not wrong.