Utterly Satisfying

Giants 29, Dream Team 16.

It's been a rough past 3 years for the Giants, so at the risk of overreacting to one regular season victory...I'm going to savor this one. Make no mistake, this post isn't analysis, it's gushing. So here we go!

The Giants didn't play a flawless game, but they put it all together and showed what they are capable of. Eli Manning played mistake free. Victor Cruz made the most of his opportunity, in Mario Manningham's (temporary) and Domenik Hixon's (permanent) absences. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs ran hard, and Jacobs contributed unexpectedly in the passing game. Aaron Ross really responded after a subpar performance, and benching, last Monday night. The offensive line kept Eli upright and the running game on track. The defensive line made Vick uncomfortable all day (more on this in a moment). The linebackers, and the rest of the secondary, kept the Eagles' playmakers in check.

And much respect to the Giants' coaching staff on the game plan. On both sides of the ball, the Giants were well-prepared, and seemed to have the Eagles off balance.

A couple more things that brought me personal joy:

*The Giants just have a knack for making opponents cry, don't they? If you'll recall, it was the Giants who beat the Cowboys in the 2007-08 Divisional round, resulting in Terrell Owens' "That's my quarterback..." moment. Then last night, we saw Michael Vick whining about being on the ground all the time, implying that referees don't protect him enough. Maybe your offensive line couldn't protect you enough, under relentless pressure from the Giants' front four, Mike.

*Eagles' WR Steve Smith was a non-factor in this game, and Aaron Ross's first interception came after it bounced off Smith's hands. This isn't to say one game proves the Giants were vindicated for not being able to re-sign Smith and letting him go to the Eagles. And it is still disappointing to think about his defection. But over the past month or so, Smith sort of became better than he was in hindsight. Yes, he was good, but he had his flaws (drops from time to time, and not a deep threat), and wasn't the world-beating superstar that it's sometimes tempting to think of him as when remembering his time as a Giant.

I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this win for the next few days. But it's time for the Giants to keep the momentum going and immediately shift their focus to the next opponent, Arizona. A golden opportunity to take care of business and move to 3-1, in a stadium where they achieved the greatest victory in the history of sports less than four years ago.

This win doesn't solve all their problems, and there will surely be plenty more bumps along the 2011 road. But for now, as I said before Week 1, let's go have ourselves a season!