NFL Weekly: New York Giants Look Impressive Defending Their Title

New York Giants: The Giants continue to impress by just going out and winning football games. They look to be in prime position to make the playoffs and defend as Super Bowl champs. Here is what I had to say about the Giants a few weeks back:

The New York Giants dismantled the Seahawks on their way to a 4-0 record and I have definitely been impressed with what they've done this year. You can count me as one of the people who thought that the Giants would have a letdown this season, but they actually look like they might have improved. Right now you have to say that the Giants are the best team in football. They are the defending champs and they have been playing great football. The only negative thing I can say about them right now is that they haven't really beat anyone other than a sluggish Washington team in Week 1. Their other 3 victories came against St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Seattle, who have combined for 1 win among them. Their schedule doesn't get much harder the next few weeks with games against Cleveland and San Francisco. It gets a little tougher for them after that because they play at Pittsburgh, home vs. Dallas, and then at Philly. It will be interesting to see how the Giants make it through that stretch of games.

Well, how did the Giants fare in those three games? Try 3-0. That was certainly not an easy stretch of games, but the Giants were able to win all three of them and move to 8-1 on the season. To make it through this point of the season with an 8-1 record is huge for the Giants, because their remaining schedule is not an easy one: Baltimore, at Arizona, at Washington, Philadelphia, at Dallas, Carolina, and at Minnesota. While the schedule is tough, the Giants are certainly capable of winning any of these games. At worst I think they will go 3-4 down the stretch and finish with an 11-5 record, but honestly the way they are playing right now is more like a 13 win team or better.

Atlanta Falcons: I have already talked about how impressed I have been by Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons, but at the same time I have always felt like they were going to slip up at some point and start to fade. However, that doesn't look the be the case at all and they might actually be getting better as the season goes on and they have a legitimate chance to win the NFC South. Matt Ryan has been particularly impressive at home this season, completing over 70% of his passes while throwing 5 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions. That's good for a 125.2 passing rating at home for Ryan. In order for the Falcons to win the division, Ryan is going to have to continue to play well at home, because Atlanta has two huge home games left with Carolina and Tampa Bay. I can almost guarantee the Falcons will win those two games if Ryan puts up a 125.2 passing rating in those matchups.

The rest of the Atlanta schedule looks like this: Denver, at San Diego, at New Orleans, at Minnesota, and St. Louis. If the Falcons can manage to win one of their road games and then beat Denver, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans at home that would give them a record of 11-5 and they will have an excellent chance of winning their division.

Carolina still has to travel to Atlanta, Green Bay, NY Giants, and New Orleans. They also get home games with Detroit, Denver, and Tampa Bay. The Bucs schedule is a little more favorable but includes some tough divisional road games: Minnesota, at Detroit, New Orleans, at Carolina, at Atlanta, San Diego, Oakland. I am counting the Saints out for now, because they would probably have to win the rest of their games to win the division, and with the injuries they have and their road problems I just don't see that happening.

The one strange thing about this Falcons team is that their defense is 23rd in the NFL in yards allowed (347.6), but only 9th in points allowed (19.3). Surprisingly, they are only +1 in the turnover department as well, so it's not a case of them giving up a lot of yards, but getting a high number of turnovers either. You have to wonder if the Falcons keep giving up a high number of yards a game if eventually they will start giving up more points too, which would probably lead to more losses. However, if the defense continues to give up less than 20 points a game, then I think they will have an excellent chance at winning the division.

Other NFL News:

- CB Ty Law was signed by the Jets this week just in time to face his old team the New England Patriots. With all the shenanigans that's gone on between these two teams in the past, you have to wonder if this is just another one of those moves to try and gain an edge over the other team.

- Another injury for the New Orleans Saints, who apparently got cursed by one of the natives who does voodoo. The latest injury is a season ending injury to Mike McKenzie. The CB has a fractured knee cap.

- The Washington Redskins picked up CB DeAngelo Hall after the Raiders released him. Hall is obviously a talented player, but the question is whether or not he will fit in on the Redskins team chemistry wise. I think he'll be alright, because the Redskins have enough talent on their team to win games, and I think that is the ultimate remedy that will keep Hall in line.

Fantasy Stars of the Week:

Thomas Jones: 149 yards rushing, 3 TDs

Kurt Warner: 328 yards passing, 3 TDs

Adrian Peterson: 192 yards rushing, 33 yards receiving, 1 TD

Maurice Jones-Drew: 70 yards rushing, 21 yards receiving, 3 TDs

Jay Cutler: 447 yards passing, 3 TDs

Fantasy Waiver Wire Pickups of the Week:

Tyler Thigpen, QB, Chiefs: 266 yards passing, 3 TDs

Mark Bradley, WR, Chiefs: 81 yards receiving, 1 TD

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, Patriots: 105 yards rushing, 1 TD

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