Do the Giants have the heart of a champion?

Big Blue will need to show great intensity to defeat the Eagles in the Sunday night showdown at Giants Stadium.

Sure it takes talent and execution to win in the NFL. It also takes confidence.

But high intensity often leads to wins, and wins create confidence. I believe there is little difference in talent between teams in the NFL. The team that wins most of the time is often the team that plays the hardest.

Take for example the Pittsburgh Steelers. They won the Super Bowl last year and were expected again to compete for a championship this season. So far they are 6-7, and have lost games against teams like the Chiefs, Raiders, and Browns. All clubs that were supposedly less talented then they are.

Think back to the Giants home game against the undefeated Patriots back in 07. The Giants played like a team possessed, and nearly defeated New England while at the same time propelling themselves to a Super Bowl victory.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Giants turned out to be the biggest turkeys this past Thanksgiving when they lost to the Broncos in Denver. During that game they showed no pulse.

So which team will show up tonight against the hated Eagles? I would suggest they will play at an energy level somewhere between the high-charged Patriot game in 07, and the lifeless Denver game this season.

The level of intensity that the Giants play with against the Eagles will be the difference between a victory and defeat. Sure there are other factors, but for me I will be watching closely to see if the G-Men come out to dominate.

For an early idea as to whether the Giants will be victorious, take a look at the speed with which they play the game, and the look on their faces on the sideline.

This is a BIG game for the Giants and their fans. It should give us a better idea about what kind of heart this team has.

As the regular season turns down the home stretch, we’ll see if Big Blue has the heart of a champion.

To make room on the roster, the Giants cut Alex Derenthal.

Flash back to the 2007 season. Justin Tuck had ten sacks rotating in with other players on the Giants defensive line. In the Super Bowl, Tuck was a monster, recording six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and two QB hurries.

Can Mathias Kiwanuka duplicate Tuck’s success in 2007 in 09?

I say yes.

Last season Kiwanuka was up and down. While he did record eight sacks, an injury at the end of the Washington game set him back for the first part of the year. He said,

“I played the first four games at less than full speed,” he said. “I had so much tape on my ankle that sometimes I found it hard to lift my foot up, and that affected my initial burst.”

In addition Kiwi seemed to wear down late last season, similar to other Giants players.

Some fans question why the Giants picked up Chris Canty, and Rocky Bernard in the off season. Don’t forget it was the DL rotation in 2007 that helped the Giants reach the Super Bowl. Add Osi Umenyiora to the mix this year and Big Blue has the potential to wreak havoc this season on opposing quarterbacks.

When Kiwanuka came into the league in 2006 he had a very good season for a rookie. In nine starts he had fifty- five tackles, twenty-three QB hurries, four sacks, and two interceptions. He moved to SLB in 2007 and broke his leg on November 18th against Detroit. He missed out on the run to the Super Bowl, and that was hard to take,

“I understood what Shockey meant when he said all those things because I felt the same way,” Kiwanuka confessed. “As much as I wanted to be a part of that, in any capacity, I understood why I couldn’t. But I won’t lie to you. It hurt me deeply.”

2009 is a new season. A new slate for Kiwanuka,

“A lot (of ) this is still a dream,” he said about his NFL career. “Playing in the NFL is definitely a privilege that has to be earned. If you’re committed to working hard, doing what the coaches tell you, and focus on your job, which I am, there’s no reason why anyone can’t be successful.”

So can Kiwanuka duplicate the success he had in his rookie season? Absolutely. Look for him to have a great year. If all goes well the Giants defense could lead the league in sacks.

This year, Kiwanuka has a real shot of  playing in the Super Bowl. A shot he’s eager to take.

This year he has Domenik Hixon who is 6-2 slated to start on one side, and the 5-11 Steve Smith on the other. Sinorice Moss who is set to play in the slot is only 5-8.

Eli Manning says there are some things he can’t do as easily with this group of receivers that he could with last year’s crop,

“Naturally, you just see them and you have to put it in a spot,” Manning said. “Some throws we threw to Plaxico, we might not be able to throw to these guys — some back-shoulder, high balls.”

On the other hand, some different throws should open up for Manning. He explains,

“But these guys will be able to run by some guys and get deep on them. So what you lose in something, you gain somewhere else.”

Hixon, Moss, and Mario Manningham can fly, but Hakeem Nicks, and Smith don’t have that kind of speed. What they can do is run nifty routes, and hang onto the ball.

It appears the Giants have a good mix at the wide receiver position. Don’t forget about Ramses Barden, who is 6-6 and should see some playing time this season, especially in the red zone.

So what can we expect from Manning and his new look receivers this year?

I think we will see them take more shots down the field. The reason being so they can keep opposing team’s safeties out of the box to open up the running game. Big Blue will look to use play action to hit medium and short range throws.

Manning went on to say,

“Some of the receivers might be a little smaller than what we’ve had in the past, but they have a lot more speed,” Manning said. “They can get deep on the corner backs and get over the top of them. That’s exciting. That kind of takes a lot of the reads out of things.

“You just say, ‘You’ve got a go-route. Let’s go win. Let’s go back to a little backstreet football and let’s see if we’re better than the other guys.’”

There will be an offensive challenge for the Giants this year, but they do have the talent at the wide receiver position. Also they have training camp and the preseason to work out the kinks.

Of course all that doesn’t matter until September.

Ex-Giant QB Tim Hasselbeck ripped into Burress, saying the following,

“If you want to wait for a guy to show up to meetings, if you want to have to beg a guy to run full-speed in practice, if you want a guy that would disappear in games because he doesn’t get the ball early — then look, Plaxico Burress is your guy.

“But if you don’t want those distractions, and you don’t want to deal with the other headaches that come along with Plaxico Burress, then you better stay away from him.”

“We create objectives, we create goals and we work towards accomplishing those things.  Just like in anything else, perfection.  But you know you are human, but let’s keep that as our goal regardless of that fact.  So we have had an outstanding off-season program.  The attitude has been really good for all of the OTA’s, for the work here in the mini camp.  The attitude has been great.”

“It is a longer stretch than normal for us.  I gave them some notes about the number of practices up there and how it is reduced.  Let’s face it; we don’t get the same number because we play the Monday night game.  So we have to make things count when we get them.  I wished them and their families, “God bless them for the summer.”  But they need to think long and hard about the disappointment of January in terms of what we have created for ourselves and how badly we want to prioritize our 2009 season.”

Other thoughts:

• Sinorice Moss looked great in camp before tweaking his hammy. Let’s hope he’s at full speed for training camp.
• It looks like the Giants are going to attempt to have a deep passing attack this season. Domenik Hixon is looking to improve off of last season where reports are that injuries slowed him down near the end of the year.
• Kenny Phillips looks stronger due to putting on some muscle in the past few months. Look for him to have a big season.
• Patricia Traina notes that the Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan appears to be adding some new wrinkles. Patricia  wrote that the defense looks more aggressive, and is disguising more pressure packages. Look for more safety blitzes.
• Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden didn’t look out of place this spring, and I hope they make an impact this season.

CB Corey Webster (shoulder), DT Fred Robbins (knee), DT Barry Cofield (knee), OT William Beatty (hamstring), DT Rocky Bernard (shoulder), WR Taye Biddle (finger), TE Travis Beckum (hamstring), and TE Lee Vickers (unknown) did not practice. LB Clint Sintim (hamstring) was limited. WR David Tyree (hamstring) started to practice, but left after a few plays.

From The Giants Afternoon Practice:

• Sinorice Moss strained a hamstring in a 2:00 drill to end practice. He did make a diving catch on the ball thrown by David Carr.
• Lawrence Tynes was 3-4 on field goal attempts.
• Hakeem Nicks made a nice grab on 7-on-7 drills

Gerris Wilkinson is fighting to remain with Big Blue. He hopes to put questions on his ability to play for the Giants behind him:

“I feel like I’ve definitely been improving,” he added. “Now I’m just trying to work on the details. I’m pretty comfortable with his defense. I’ve been in it for three years now. And I’m comfortable with the coaches and the team and everything. It’s just a matter of focusing on details and staying healthy.”

Terrell Thomas On Sinorice Moss:

“I think his back is against the wall. We drafted two wide receivers and he really hasn’t played to the potential that he has. He’s one of my good friends and we talk about it all the time. He’s just waiting for his opportunity. He’s a hard-worker and I think it’s really starting to show. Plus he’s in a contract year this year and for some reason when people are in contract years they play better.”

Morning Big Blue Practice:

• Sinorice Moss (there’s that name again) made a pair of nifty over-the-shoulder catches on deep passes
• Kevin Boss made a nice play in the end zone, pinning the ball to his butt with his right hand on a pass from Eli Manning
• Hakeem Nicks made some nice catches
• David Carr looked sharp
• Mario Manningham made a nice over-the-shoulder catch with Terrell Thomas in close coverage.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned for more New York Giants news.