Ahhh....hmm.

Just read an interview with Justin Tuck pertaining to the Lions. He made some pretty intelligent observations, mostly regarding the competitiveness of the Lions, vocalizing how they should be 4-1 right now, maybe even undefeated.

The tone of the rest of the article, however, seemed to intimate that the Lions have a twinkie's chance in fat camp. The Giants physically destroyed Jay "the Incredible Sulk" Cutler; I've seen shark attacks that were more merciful than what NY's defensive line did to the Pouty One. The Giants then went out and put a shellacking on Houston. Houston, supposedly this year's "It" team.

Now, granted, my tirade against the Rams was fueled by irritation born of many pundits picking them as a better team against the Lions. I railed against them and presented them as a sham. I was wrong - they're no sham team, they're a team on the rise. The point I was trying to get across was that the Lions are the better team. However, some of my observations weren't that far off. Let's try a bit of that with the Giants, eh? Schedule examination!

Sunday, 9/12	1:00PM ET	FOX		W, 31-18
Sunday, 9/19	8:20PM ET	NBC		L, 38-14
Sunday, 9/26	1:00PM ET	CBS		L, 29-10
Sunday, 10/3	8:20PM ET	NBC		W, 17-3
Sunday, 10/10	1:00PM ET	FOX		W, 34-10

Their first game is against a Panthers' team that may or may not be deserving of a top 5 pick this April, and they got murderized. The Colts are a wounded animal thsi season, and they murderized the Giants. The Titans, well, I can't seem to get a read on them, but they beat the Giants. The Bears? Probably the definitive sham team right now, and the Texans, although a good team, have collapsed previously against the Cowboys and did so against the Giants.

What does that tell us? Aside from the fact that parity has rendered the NFL a crapshoot in terms of picking a winner, it tells us that the Giants run either hot or cold. They are a good team, but their consistency seems a bit off, as exemplified by Eli Manning and his unpredictable performances (as many INT's as TD's). The parity thing actually seems to work in the Lions favor, though: if the Cardinals can topple the Saints then certainly Detroit can beat NY. Actually, it seems like there's a weird upset every week, and I certainly don't see why Detroit can't be that upstart this weekend.

So, for now, I'll say that if it's a clear day void of rain, the Lions will win this game as long as they force Eli into bad choices (not that difficult) and contain Bradshaw and Jacobs (this can also be done). Also, God willing, the Lions offensive line can play its best game, because this game will feature a Giants' defensive line that could be arguably better than the Lions, and that's terrifying.

Yikes.