Giants need to make a statement that lasts beyond this weekend: an editorial commentary….

Giants need to make a statement that lasts beyond this weekend: an editorial commentary….
By Dr. Bill Chachkes-Executive Editor-Football Reporters Online-Special Contributor-Pro Football NYC

Everyone knows the Giants have had their “moments” this year, both high and low. Although they have already managed to win more then they have lost, it seems to be a very fragile success that they have enjoyed since the “comeback” win over the Bears by the score of 17-3 early in the season. By “comeback” I mean it was the comeback game of the year for the defense. If anything is clearly evident about the 2010 NY Giants, they are not without fault or weakness. Losses to the Cowboys and Eagles have shown that in recent weeks. But this team is not without heart and soul. The offense may put the points on the board, but as Coach Parcells used to say, as many coaches before him, “the defense has to drive the truck here. Defense wins championships.” No truer words were ever spoken on the game.

Several of my fellow writers and reporters both on this group of websites and elsewhere will fill you with stats, most about the resurgence of the defense under coach Fewell. It’s the defensive assistants here that fly under the radar net, kind of like the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter during the opening minutes of the first gulf war. Shock and awe is an understatement when discussing the Giants defense, and it’s defensive backs.

It’s my learned opinion that Coach Dave Merritt and Coach Peter Giunta, are two of the best in the business. You might remember Coach “G” as the defensive coordinator of the 1999 Rams that outlasted the Titans on the last play of the game for one of the most exciting game in Super Bowl history, until the Giants topped New England in the Arizona Desert in Super Bowl 42. It’s what these coaches are doing for the Giants defense that goes far beyond the stats culled each week.

This summer I watched intently as Coach Merritt ran a tip drill for the defensive backs the first few days of training camp. Clearly the defensive backfield has become the most improved unit on the team this year under their combined watch. Ronnie Lott told us on a conference call not long ago that he’s hard pressed to identify a better group of defensive backs. High praise from one of the game’s all time greats.

As great a compliment as that is, the Giants got here on total team effort. Clearly the whole is greater then the sum of it's parts and that’s the way it needs to be on this team. Visions of last years collapse are almost as far behind in the rear view mirror of our minds as the mundane and listless play that was the hallmark of the end of the 2009 season. It’s time for this defense and this entire team to make a final statement going into the home stretch of the 2010 season that makes their faithful fans forget the pasting the team took through the middle and end of 2009.

I personally don’t attend every game anymore as I did for many years, but I have been there enough the last two plus seasons to continue to know the pain the fans feel after a loss, as well as 25 plus years of joy and adulation after countless victories. If it is truly “all clicking at the right time” as many of the players suggest, even through another rough spate of injuries, then you will see this team finish off each of their last three opponents, starting this week against the dreaded Eagles.

Offensive Lineman David Diehl, when interviewed by John Fennelly and myself several weeks back, said that this team is indeed a big extended family, as coach Coughlin often suggests. Then it’s time for the “family” to pull together as hard as they can once again, as they did late in the 2007 season.

This is the moment, this Sunday, and the next two after this, to show the NFC East and the NFL, that “The NY Giants” are back, truly back, and they are taking no prisoners in their quest for the division title, and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.