New York Giants make an opening statement

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – He popped up at the 50-yard line, held the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft and here, four miles south of the Vince Lombardi rest stop, Michael Strahan shouted a question to New York Giants fans.

“You thought I was never coming back?” Strahan said.

Actually, they knew he wasn’t coming back. Not wearing shoulder pads and No. 92 anyway.

This did nothing to diminish pregame festivities celebrating the Giants’ stunning road march to Super Bowl victory, of course, just as it did little to diminish questions about the Giants of a new NFL season. Strahan was primed to play the role of Michael Buffer on this Thursday night, charging up Giants Stadium for another rumble before the 16-7 victory over the Washington Redskins, but that gap between Strahan’s front teeth was nothing compared with the gap he and Osi Umenyiora have left on the defensive line.

Defensive end Justin Tuck has been quoted in recent days saying he isn’t crazy about the way folks are saying the Giants’ Super Bowl victory was a fluke. Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce and receiver Plaxico Burress have said similar things. This is, at least in some portion, a verbal maneuver on their part to create a champion’s version of lack of respect, being dissed, etc. It’s always good for a team to set rallying cries, and this one is as good as the next for the Giants.

The Dallas Cowboys are favored in the NFC East for good reason. They should finish ahead of the Giants in the regular season.

What really mattered as Strahan screamed into the public address system and as the Giants he left behind talked into tape recorders was how well Tom Coughlin would fill the holes on defense. What really mattered was if Good Eli would become a permanent fixture at Giants Stadium or if Bad Eli was not yet ready to announce his retirement.

The Giants finished 3-5 at home last season. Coughlin and his players seem genuinely embarrassed by that mark, just as they are deservedly proud of an 11-game winning streak away from Giants Stadium that didn’t end until they had pounded Tom Brady into the Arizona turf and ruined the New England Patriots’ perfect season.

“There are a lot of things we can clean up,” Coughlin said. “But the key thing is we opened at home and we won at home. We wanted to start fast and we did.”

Eli Manning led the offense on an 11-play, 84-yard opening scoring drive capped by his bootlegging a one-yard touchdown run and, yes, spiking the ball. Take that Bambi! Take that Deer In The Headlights! A Manning pump-fake had led to a wide-open Burress catching a 30-yard pass. Under pressure, four plays later, Burress made a juggling catch.

“I could tell before the game, he had a lot of energy,” Manning said of Burress, who agreed to a two-year contract extension earlier in the day that will give him $35 million over the next five years.. “He was excited.”

By the time Tuck sacked Jason Campell on the Redskins’ first play from scrimmage, shoot, who the heck misses Strahan? Who’s missing Osi? Who’s missing 22 of those league-best 53 sacks? Fluke? What fluke? The Giants are going 16-0. They’ll be perfect when they meet the Patriots again in the Super Bowl.

OK, OK, maybe we’re a tad over-caffeinated.

But this much is sure. New Coach Jim Zorn’s move to a West Coast-oriented offense, ah, needs some work. The Redskins barely broke 200 yards of offense They were three for 13 on third-down conversions. The Giants’ defensive tackles got a strong push. Tuck broke in a couple of times to sack Campbell and stuff Clinton Portis. Qualitatively, how much we should nakedly praise the Giants’ defense – especially with the injured Osi out for the season – is something we should probably hold off on to see how it develops. But, quantitatively, there is no argument. The Redskins’ only score late in the first half arrived in no small part because Rock Cartwright returned a kickoff 50 yards to the Giants’ 45.

The biggest scare of the night, however, was the ankle injury Mathias Kiwanuka, who has moved from linebacker to defensive end, suffered at the end of the game. He said was OK afterward. We’ll see.

“We didn’t [force] any turnovers tonight, which is something we’re working and working and working to get better at,” Coughlin said. “But the defense did an outstanding job all the way around.”

Coughlin wasn’t happy about the seven penalties. He wasn’t thrilled about the kickoff coverage. Twice after the opening drive the Giants got inside the Redskins’ 10, but came away with only two field goals. And after scoring on their first four drives, the Giants never scored again. Coughlin was obviously pleased with recently signed John Carney kicking three field goals. He obviously was pleased by Brandon Jacobs’ 116 yards rushing. He obviously was pleased by Burress’ 10 catches for 133 yards.

“One area we need to improve on is our completion percentage, to keep drives alive and score when we’re in the green zone,” Coughlin said. “Eli controlled and managed the game. He had the one interception [in the second half] which I’m sure he feels is one that shouldn’t have been thrown.”

“There were a few miscues and inside the 10, things have got to be precise,” said Manning, who completed 19 of 35 for 216 yards and one of those Bad Eli interceptions. “It’s something we need to get better at.”

On this opening night, however, it was good enough.