EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Shortly after Michael Strahan stood at midfield, waving the Lombardi Trophy and exhorting fans to welcome the Super Bowl champions into this season, the New York Giants demonstrated why they must be taken seriously.
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| Justin Tuck is pumped after a sack on his first play. (Getty Images) |
He sacked Jason Campbell.
It was Tuck at his most relentless, fighting through one blocker, then another, to reach Campbell and twist him to the ground. So what? So it signaled that a defense that lost five starters -- including Strahan -- might be OK after all.
That defense, of course, is the concern with this year's Giants, but maybe, just maybe, it shouldn't be. Because while it lost luminaries like Strahan, defensive end Osi Umenyiora and safety Gibril Wilson, it retained its coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo after he spurned head-coaching overtures from Washington.
Spagnuolo is the guy who put together the pass rush that engulfed Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII, forcing him into errant throws and pressuring him again and again. And Spagnuolo is the guy charged with filling holes left by defections, Strahan's retirement and one very significant injury to Umenyiora.
So he moved Tuck into Strahan's spot, shifted Mathias Kiwanuka from linebacker to defensive end, made use of newly acquired Jerome McDougle, and -- presto! Just like that -- the Giants picked up where they finished, stuffing Washington, 16-7, behind a defense that neither bent nor broke.
Sure, there were occasional lapses, and, OK, so there were no sacks after Tuck's opening salvo. But when the Giants leaned on their D, it responded -- just as it did in Super Bowl XLII -- providing key stops, surrendering few big plays and flummoxing what was supposed to be a new and improved Washington passing game.
"A lot of people have been writing us off," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "You would think we struggled last year as opposed to winning it all. So we got all the motivation in the world. We fed off that (Thursday), and hopefully, we can feed off that the rest of the year."
Burress will take the curtain call for his game-high 10 catches and 133 yards, not to mention his new $35 million contract, but it's not Burress who takes this team to the playoffs; it's the defense. If it plays more like it did Thursday and less as it did, say, against Dallas in last year's season opener, plan on seeing these guys again in January.
I know the Giants sacrificed a lot in the offseason, but they didn't sacrifice their most important component -- I'm talking Spagnuolo -- and that can't be overstated. He put his players in position to solve Jim Zorn's offense, and they aced the final, thank you very much.
"The defense was outstanding," said winning coach Tom Coughlin, "all the way around."
And from beginning to end. Washington produced 16 yards in its first 12 plays. It had 51 yards in the entire first half. It failed on a third-and-1 in the second quarter. It failed on three third downs in the third. And it buckled only after a 50-yard Rock Cartwright kickoff return put it in business at the Giants' 45.
