New York Royal Giants (9-1)
Easily the surprise of the season: nobody would have predicted that Eli Manning would be leading the league in QBR, or that Victor Cruz would be 2nd in the league in receptions, or that the Royal Giants’ defense would be 1 of 3 teams giving up fewer than 20 points per game.
A strong team that shows no sign of falling from the top of the division.
#Bottom Line
Draft Needs. LB, OL/G.
Week Four Draftee Update: Ed Meador, has played very well in the secondary.
#QB
Eli Manning has been fantastic, shockingly so: nearly 2500 yards, 27 TDs, and only 6 interceptions, along with a QBR of nearly 104. There was nothing in Manning’s Year I performance that hinted at this being possible, so it’s been a great thing for New York.
#RB
Tiki Barber has rushed for 963 yards as the primary back, but has only scored 3 TDs, which is a surprise. Maurice Jones-Drew has added another 400 yards, making them 1 of the strongest running tandems in the league.
Dave Meggett adds a change of pace out of the backfield as well.
Ed Danowski, who was a bit of a QB/RB hybrid experiment in Year I has been injured for most of the season.
#WR & TE
Between injuries and constant double teams, New York has focused more on Victor Cruz than Odell Beckham, Jr. Cruz has 56 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and 10 TDs, but it’s not like Beckham, Jr. has been absent: 40 catches for over 500 yards and 9 TDs.
Jimmy Smith and the now-injured Plaxico Burress have been solid as 3rd and 4th options.
Jeremy Shockey has added decent production from TE.
#OL
Mel Hein and especially Pete Henry have been pretty fantastic, but the G spot has been a bit rough, with both Chris Snee and Brandon Brooks being a bit too inconsistent. Brandon Linder was not great filling in for an injured Tony Boselli, whose return is certainly welcomed.
#DL
Jason Pierre-Paul has been dominant, and Michael Strahan and Sen’Derrick Marks quite good. That trio has 10 sacks and over 30 hurries between them, and have been solid against the run as well with a dozen stuffs.
Neither Mike Patterson nor Leonard Marshall have done enough to warrant additional playing time.
#LB
While Jon Beason continues to be a tackling machine in the middle, and Lawrence Taylor continues to not live up to his reputation. No LBs have sacks for New York, and Brad Van Pelt‘s return from injury should help quite a bit, as B.J. Goodson was less than impressive as his replacement.
#DB
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been among the best in the league, shutting down opponent receivers and picking off 3 passes to go with 14 deflections. Tramaine Brock, Prince Amukamara, and Rodgers-Cromartie have combined for over 130 tackles, and Brock and Amukamara have a pick each.
Antrel Rolle has been the best of the group at S, with 2 interceptions and Emlen Tunnell also has a pick.
#P & K
Pat Summerall started the season as the placekicker, and while he made 4 out of 5 FGs, his longest was 35 yards, and he missed on 7 of 13 XPs. That led to Matt Bryant being brought in, and while Bryant has been perfect on his XPs, he has missed half of his FGAs, but all 8 of his misses are from 40 yards plus.
Don Chandler has done fine as a P.
#Returns
Meggett has been great on kickoff returns, averaging over 30 yards per return. But he’s under 7 yards on punt returns, which is a minor concern.
#Awards
Offensive Player of the Week: Cruz
Teams of the Week: Barber (1), Beason (1), Cruz (3), Henry (1), Manning (5), Rodgers-Cromartie (1), Shockey (1).