First Giants Post of the Year!

So North Korea has the bomb. Should we be scared? Who knows. The Giants, however, have Tiki Barber. Should opposing NFL teams be scared? Up until recently the answer has been "not really." For the first three games of the season, even the Philly win, Tiki was either ineffective or just plain average. The last two games, against the hated Skins and the Falcons, however should begin to reinstill the proper level of fear for those remaining on the Gints' schedule. Against Washington, Tiki had a sub-par game for Tiki but a better than par game for the average NFL back. In yesterday's game, Tiki played at the Tiki level - 185 yeards on the ground and 40+ more catching the ball. The cascading effect of Tiki's effectiveness is amazing, i.e. Eli isn't forced into boneheaded mistakes trying to thread the needle and Brandon Jacob's legs stay fresh so he can contribute more when he does run, and Jay Feely's contributions become icing on the cake rather than must-haves.

So, we head to Dallas for a Monday night showdown with the hated Cowboys. Of course, the focus will be on T.O., which is fine, but the betting should be on T.B.

On an additional note, I don't have the data yet to make any conclusions, but anecdotally, a noteworthy story might be the D-line rookie tandem of Barry Cofield and Mathias Kiwanuka. These two are putting in good performances and making a very good line better. While it is early, Cofield and Kiwanuka could emerge as two of the best bang for the buck draft choices on the defensive side of the ball. Add Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck to the picture and you may conclude that Ernie Accorsi has an uncanny eye for undervalued defensive linemen.