“I want you to get on your feet, I want you to make some noise, I want you to get ready to stomp somebody out and welcome the New York Giants, Super Bowl Champions.”

 –Michael Strahan

I. Preliminary Thoughts on The Game

You have to be somewhere between pleased and very pleased with Thursday’s game. 

Yes, the offense went into the tank during the second half.  As is often the case, we left ourselves vulnerable to a comeback, which the Redskins, with their West Coast Offense not yet fully installed, happened not to be capable of making.

And for all the good things Eli did, he still did a bunch of bad things that showed he hasn’t turned into Peyton during the off-season.

As they always have, the Giants won ugly on Thursday, a trait that being Super Bowl champions will not change.

But the game provided an encouraging early answer to the biggest question mark going into this year.  Our pass rush was just fine without Osi and Strahan.  If the Tuck/Kiwanuka/McDougle combo is not a significant downgrade from the Osi/Strahan/Tuck combo, we should, at absolute worst, be almost as good as we were last year.

And if we improve in the other ways that all of us are expecting – Eli making The Leap, a healthy and potentially dominant Plax, a much better secondary, a better command of Spags’ defense – we should be significantly better, barring injuries.

More specifics on the game will follow as I pour over the game-tape.  In the meantime, here are some miscellaneous thoughts.

II. Strahan’s Pre-Game Thing:

How awesome was that?  And what would I have given to be at the Meadowlands?

A lot has been said about Strahan since he retired, so I’ll only add this:

While his outsized, eccentric personality is somewhat un-Giantlike in the traditional sense, winning the ‘Bowl has made him one of the most beloved G-men of all time.  Good for him.  His big ego and gaudy sack totals – both on display in the record-breaking Favre-sack in 2001 – masked his completeness as a defensive end and as a balls-out, team-oriented player.

(I should note that it was originally reported that he made $75,000 for his appearance, but both Strahan and the Giants denied this.)

In New York, for better or worse, you almost have to win a title to validate your career.  If the G-Men had been knocked out last year against Dallas, I think there’s a chance that Strahan might have lived the rest of his life as an underappreciated all-time great.  Fair or not, immortality almost comes only with the ring.  And now Strahan has it.  Could this have been predicted during his holdout last year?

II. Some More Thoughts on the Pre-game Intro:

–Spike Lee needs to stop getting credit as “the quintessential New York sports fan.”  He isn’t.  I’ll give him credit on the Knicks – it’s clear he loves them – but that’s it.  As far as football and baseball, he’s been documented to have worn the jerseys of the Giants, Jets, Mets, and Yankees.

The first rule of being a New York sports fan is rejecting the fallacy that it’s possible to be a “New York fan.”  It isn’t.  Being a sports fan is a monogamous relationship – if you don’t love one team and one team only, you don’t love any team.

–For those of you wondering, the Giants of Super Bowl years past who took part in the pre-game ceremony were: Harry Carson, Stacy Robinson, Karl Nelson, Brad Benson, Billy Ard, Howard Cross, Rodney Hampton, O.J. Anderson, Carl Banks, and Mark Bavaro.  Great job by those guys.

But no L.T.?  No Simms?  Kind of a bad job.

III. Giants Fans

Strahan referred to Giants fans as being “by far the best fans in all of sports.”  Frankly, I disagree.

When I was growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it seemed like the Meadowlands was an intimidating place to play.  There were the winds, the tough D, and supportive fans who intimidated other teams with their deep-throated, thunderous New York passion.

But for a while now, and especially during the Coughlin era (pre-Patriots regular season finale last year), it seems Giants fans have become an easily-quieted, early-to-leave, and an overall counterproductive bunch.  Before the December 29^th of last year, the fans took a distant, judging, and antagonistic attitude towards the team. 

And the team realized this.  Let’s be clear: The whole Antonio Pierce-led “Nobody respects us mantra” isn’t directed at the national media, but much more the local media… and the fans.  The “Road Warriors” mentality was borne out of the G-Men feeling unloved in their own home.

Now, a lot of the scorn the Coughlin-era Giants received since the promise of early 2005 has been warranted.  The team had been maddeningly inconsistent, and until last December 29^th, they always could be counted on to fade down the stretch.

Here’s hoping the upshot of last year’s run is a love-affair with this team, rather than an entitlement complex.

Note: I will be up in Albany sometime next week. Right now you have this:

Here’s the First Pictures of the Giants new Ring:

Well, they got Gibril Wilson’s replacement and for a fraction of the cost.

From Newsday:

Adding him takes some of the sting out of losing safety Gibril Wilson, who signed a $39-million deal over six years with the Raiders. Knight will compete with James Butler and Michael Johnson for one of the Giants’ safety spots.

“We were attracted to how smart he plays and how productive and physical he plays,” general manager Jerry Reese said. “We think he will thrive in our defensive schemes. He brings a lot of leadership to the team, especially to the secondary, and he is a real pro.”

Said coach Tom Coughlin: “Sammy Knight is a durable, physical player with 42 career interceptions. He comes to the line of scrimmage extremely well. He’s a smart player who gets everybody lined up. He played in Kansas City for [secondary coach] Peter Giunta, so we know all about the quality of the man. We feel like with his love of the game and his attitude about the idea of team that he’ll be a real nice fit for us.”

Now, I don’t know why, because they have a pretty stocked WR core, with Plax, Amani Toomer, and Steve Smith.

But here is what it says:

At least 10 teams have been in contact with the agent for the wide receiver who was released Friday by the Denver Broncos, including all four NFC East clubs, according to a source.

The 49ers, Bills, Bucs, Panthers, Raiders and Vikings also have reached out to agent Kennard McGuire regarding Walker. No visits had been scheduled as of early Saturday.

The Cowboys and Eagles have a couple connections working in their favor in pursuit of Walker. Dallas receivers coach Ray Sherman coached Walker in Green Bay. Walker is friends with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and the two have been training together in Arizona for several weeks.

According to the Newark Star Ledger, the Giants are looking at free agent Sammy Knight to replace the departed Gibril Wilson.

Knight, 32, had four interceptions last season with the Jaguars, who allowed him to leave after playing only one season in Jacksonville. Previously, Knight spent two seasons each with the Chiefs and Dolphins in which he had a total of 10 INTs. Knight began his career with the Saints from 1997-2002 and made the Pro Bowl in 2001 after picking off a career-high six passes.

Knight, who turns 33 in September, would likely be a short-term fix for the Giants at strong safety, meaning James Butler or Michael Johnson would have to slide over to free safety to fill Wilson’s former role. But in the Giants’ defense, both safety spots are similar, so it won’t be that much of an adjustment for either player.

The Giants lost free agents Kawika Mitchell, Reggie Torbor and Gibril Wilson today to the Bills, Dolphins and Raiders, respectively, essentially leaving Jerry Reese with holes to fill.  

From Newsday:

Wilson’s deal was the biggest of the three. He agreed to a six-year, $39-million deal with the Raiders, a blockbuster contract for a safety. The Giants had heard Thursday night that Wilson was going to get a deal in the neighborhood of $6-6.5 million per year with the Raiders.

Mitchell agreed to a five-year, $17.5-million contract with the Bills, who were burned by Mitchell’s interception return for a touchdown in the Giants’ win over Buffalo in Week 16 last season. Terms of Torbor’s deal were unavailable. He filled in at strong-side linebacker when Mathias Kiwanuka went down with a fractured fibula in a Week 11 game against the Lions.

The Giants lost several players to free agency and/or release last year, but wound up winning Super Bowl XLII with a stirring series of playoff performances. General manager Jerry Reese signed only one free agent — Mitchell — last offseason, but plugged holes with the acquisition of fullback Madison Hedgecock and the drafting of players such as cornerback Aaron Ross, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Kevin Boss.

In the Star Ledger today, Mike Garafolo says the Giants will go to the draft looking for a corner if DeAngelo Hall slips away.

If they don’t get Hall (because another team offers a better deal to Atlanta or they can’t negotiate a new contract with Hall’s agent), the Giants will likely go to the draft to find their corner. And while it’s still extremely early in the process, there’s a chance they could wind up with their second consecutive winner of the Thorpe Award (for best defensive back in college football) after drafting Aaron Ross last year.

Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason is projected by many draft gurus to be selected late in the first round or early in the second. A few scouts, who requested anonymity because they don’t want to publicly reveal their team’s draft boards, agreed Cason is currently a late-first to early-second selection. The Giants, at No. 31 overall, are likely taking a long, hard look at Cason.

There are a few other cornerbacks who might be available late in the first round: Troy’s Leodis McKelvin (5-11, 190 pounds), Tennessee State’s Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (6-2, 183) and Kansas corner Aqib Talib (6-1, 202), who grew up in Trenton before moving to Texas.

At 6-0, 191 pounds, Cason has a similar build to Ross’. And like Ross, Cason played a lot of zone coverage in college but has a long build — something the Giants knew would help Ross play tough on receivers at the line of scrimmage. Cason has also shown the ability to play man-to-man coverage.

Good plan, since they need help in the secondary.

Not taking credit for the turnaround, Mets manager Willie Randolph admitted he gave Eli Manning a peptalk at a last year according to Dave Lennon of Newsday.

“I met Eli [Manning] right when they were on that run,” Randolph said today. “Not that I want to take credit for it, but I guess it sounds like that, I gave him a nice little pep talk. I saw him at a jewelry store. He got hot after that and never stopped, so that was kind of a cool. He’s a nice kid.”

As for today’s visit by Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Randolph was thrilled to have some of that Lombardi Trophy magic in camp.

More on Lennon’s blog at Newsday.

According to his blog over at the Bergen Record, Vinny DiTrani says Gibril Wilson may hit the open market next week.

The Giants winning the Super Bowl also addsd to Wilson’s bargaining power. Teams like to bring in guys from successful organizations to bring that winning attitude to the locker room.

And let’s not forget Gibril is a pretty good player.

To me, it will be a big loss, but the Giants have overcome those type of losses last year.