September Report: New York Giants.

After dropping their first two games, the Giants have picked up two victories over NFC East rivals to level their record at 2-2.

New York Giants

So Far…: The Giants are 2-2. They opened with a 45-35 loss at Dallas, then followed that up with a 35-13 loss at home to Green Bay. But, it looks like something clicked at the half of their game at Washington in Week 3. New York was down 17-3, and appeared headed for a third straight loss, but outscored the Redskins 21-0 in the second half to win 24-17. Then, on Sunday night, the Giants defense held an Eagles offense that had scored 56 points the previous week to a solitary field goal in a 16-3 victory and sacked Donovan McNabb a franchise-record twelve times.

What’s Gone Right: Brandon Jacobs’ injury in the opener might have been a blessing in disguise. 4th-year back Derrick Ward, who had run for 123 yards in three seasons, has run for 353 yards and caught 17 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. While Eli Manning hasn’t been at his sharpest (59.8 comp. %, 890 yards, 7 TD, 5 INT), Plaxico Burress (19 rec., 286 yards) has caught six TD passes.

Twelve sacks in one game? Either the Eagles took the night off (it doesn’t help when you‘ve got a raw kid going up against a bunch of talented defensive linemen), or the Giants defensive line is finally showing its talent (both). Osi Umenyora had a team-record six sacks on Sunday, and young ends Mathias Kiwanuka and Justin Tuck combined for five in the sack fest.

What’s Gone Wrong: Injuries have been a bit of a worry. If they haven’t been knocked out, they’ve been banged up, including Manning, Umenyora, and other key players.

Also, Manning could be playing much better. Whether or not that shoulder that he injured against Dallas has been affecting him is unknown, but after throwing for 312 yards and four scores against the Cowboys, he’s been average in the last three weeks.

How October Shapes Up: The Giants have a matchup against the Jets on Sunday, then go to Atlanta the next week, before rounding out their home slate for the month with a game against the 49ers. Then, it’s time for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, to face the Dolphins at London’s Wembley Stadium on the 28th. The schedule isn’t overly tough, so it’s not outlandish to see the Giants at 6-2 going into November. It would be a far cry from just a couple of weeks ago, when Coughlin’s seat was starting to smoke a little. 5-3 sounds more reasonable, but that all depends on which Giants teams we see in the next month.

Grading the Giants

Performance: C+ - What a difference a couple of weeks can make, right? In the first 10 quarters of the season, they were a D, at best. But, in the last six quarters, they’ve been a B+ (points off for kicking woes and for Manning being pretty average).

Offense: B- - The contributions from Ward have been a big bonus, but I think most people are expecting more from Manning.

Defense: B- - After the first two games, this would have been a big F. But, the last six quarters have been a massive turnaround. A dozen sacks can get people’s attention, to say the least.

Special Teams: C - Lawrence Tynes doesn’t appear to have very much of a leash with Tom Coughlin, who didn’t sound too positive about Tynes and his future after he missed a relative chip shot and an extra point against the Eagles. Tynes is 7 of 9 on field goals, with his two misses coming inside 40 yards, and has made 7 of 8 extra points.

The return team has had some nice returns, however, the coverage team has had some lapses.