Special to the AmNews
In the NFL, coaches dissect their 16-game regular season into fourths. Heading into week four, the Giants can significantly alleviate their disastrous beginning to the 2015 campaign and plausibly look forward optimistically with a win over the Buffalo Bills in New York this Sunday at 1 p.m.
After crushing losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons in weeks one and two respectively, the Giants overcame intense scrutiny and external pressure to defeat Washington at home by 32-21. Fortuitously for the Giants, the NFC East has been a division decimated by substantial injuries—Tony Romo and Dez Bryant of the Cowboys—and unexpectedly poor play—the Philadelphia Eagles—which has allowed the Giants, despite a record of 1-2, to remain in the middle of the pack.
The Cowboys lead the NFC East at 2-1, and the Eagles and Washington sit tied with the Giants at 1-2. The highly anticipated return of wide receiver Victor Cruz this Sunday could have an immediate impact on a Giants offense glaringly in need of another consistent pass catcher to pair with sensational second-year receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
“Even driving in today, I was kind of like, ‘Man, I’m driving in and I’m actually going to be putting a helmet on,’” Cruz said Monday. “It was a little emotional. I can’t lie, there might be some emotions spread out there on the field Sunday as well.
“I think it’s just a matter of the emotions and the anxieties and the adrenaline, that’s what I have to get used to again. I haven’t felt that in a little while. But everything else just feels good. I’m just ready to get my first catch out of the way so I can get going.”
By empirical observation, the Giants look like the best team in the division—and whether that is an indictment on how unimpressive the Cowboys, Eagles and Washington have been is immaterial.
