Giants: Supe Bowl week has arrived II

I just loved the article Filip Bondy wrote in the NY Daily News today, where he called Indianapolis "the city that always sleeps". Apparently in Super Bowl Village there is a "zip line" ride, where you attach yourself to a wire and are hoisted in the air to survey the entire city. Wow. The Midwest is flat and the sky line isn't exactly Paris; it's not the city of lights, it's Nap Town, USA. I was fortunate enough to score tickets to the game and am going, but will not be attaching a wire to myself and flying up in the air like I am auditioning for the lead role in the Broadway revival of Peter Pan. I am going to watch the game.

Osi is getting a lot of attention, especially for a guy that only played 8 games this year. He is getting lots of credit for the revival in the Giants defense. He has played well, but JPP and Tuck are the ones that make this front 7 perform at its highest level. Boley and Phillips coming back healthy was also a big boost to the overall defense. Osi is playing well and when he is not the focus of the OL, he can really put some pressure on the QB. I still think that there is a good chance he may not be on the team next year, but let's enjoy the ride now and worry about next year some other time. The reason I think Osi may go is because the Giants have two front 7 players whose contracts run out conterminously - Osi and Kiwanuka, both contracts ending after the 2012 season. Kiwanuka is several years younger than Osi and is probably a more complete player. He handles the run better and, as he showed this year, can play some LB also. If there were no salary cap, I would like to keep both players, but of course that is not the case. Giants may have to make the difficult choice of trading Osi, extending Kiwanuka and giving the LB position to the young, talented LBs that they drafted and signed this year - Williams, Jones, Herzlich and Paysinger. With the continued trend towards athletic, fast TEs, the LBs need to match their speed. That means that Kiwanuka is not a 3-down LB, so his value there is limited. His best position is DE.

The biggest offensive threats that the Patriots have are Gronkowski and Welker. The other skill position players do not seem as dangerous. Giants have to find a way to handle them, or at least hold them down to play an effective game on defense. I wouldn't mind having Corey Webster line up on Gronkowski at times - he has the size to handle him. But Boley and Williams will play important roles in defending the talented Patriot TEs. It would be nice if the Giants could avoid making mistakes like they did in the 49ers conference championship game, letting Davis go for two big plays. (How's that for coaching advice - "don't let that guy score a touchdown.")