The Madden 2011 ratings were released last week – and although it’s only a video game, the majority of football fans will play this game, and the ratings in Madden provide a sense of speculation among the players and teams and the impact they will have this season. These ratings are also met with controversy within the public (Chris Johnson the best player in the NFL?) but, nevertheless, this years Giants ratings can be found here – on ESPN.com.

A little preview and the biggest storylines: Osi Umenyiora fell from a 92 to an 83 this year. Steve Smith is still an 88 after a fantastic season. Chris Snee is the Giants best player (96), and Justin Tuck is the best defensive player (92). Newest Free Agent additions – Michael Boley (84), and Antrel Rolle (83), join the Giants three top draft picks -Jason Pierre-Paul (76), Linval Joseph (69) and Chad Jones (65) as the newest New York Giants.

The Giants can see the NFC East slipping away and so could the entire nation on Thanksgiving. In the Giants’ Thanksgiving night loss to the Broncos, Kyle Orton outplayed Eli Manning, Knowshon Moreno outplayed Brandon Jacobs, Brandon Marshall outplayed Steve Smith and the Broncos’ defense outplayed the Giants’ defense. This added up to a 26-6 win for the Broncos.

Both teams have had similar seasons thus far starting the season on long win streaks and struggling since. The Broncos started out 6-0 before losing four straight games before this one. The Giants started out 5-0 and have since lost five of six including the loss on Thanksgiving.

“We’re a good football team,” Osi Umenyiora told the Associated Press. “We just played bad today. …From here on out, every game is a must-win.”

The Giants can’t afford to play “bad” anymore. Not with the Cowboys and Eagles in the division. The NFC East is the most competitive division in the NFL with the AFC North a close second. The Giants’ next two games are pivotal as they host the Cowboys and Eagles in back-to-back weeks. They can either remain in the division race or fall far behind.

At 6-5, the Giants are going to need to win at least three more games to have a shot at a playoff birth. Four wins would put them at 10-6, which may lock them into a wild card. Four wins won’t be easy. After the Cowboys and Eagles, the Giants have to play the Redskins, Panthers and Vikings. None of those opponents are going to lay down for the Giants.

The Giants beat the Chiefs 27-16 but the score doesn’t truly reflect the dominating performance by the Giants. The only pitfall of the game for the Giants was an injury to quarterback Eli Manning. Manning left the game early in the fourth quarter after hurting his right heel while dropping back to pass. The injury was not caused by contact. 

“It was a noncontact. It just happened into the drop. It was the play before the touchdown, where I had Steve Smith deep and threw it a little short,” Manning said after the game.

On Monday Eli said, “I don’t think it’s nothing to be worried about. It will be getting rid of the soreness.”

An MRI will tell if there is more damage but for right now it is just sore and Manning expects to start Sunday against the Raiders.

Even without playing for most of the fourth quarter Eli was able to put up great numbers against the hapless Chiefs. He threw for 292 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Giants receiver Steve Smith had another phenomenal game catching 11 balls for 134 yards and two touchdowns. He has 411 receiving yards and four touchdowns on the season through four weeks.

The Giants led 27-3 in the fourth quarter before the Chiefs scored 13 points in the final ten minutes of the game.

It was everything we expected Sunday night when the Giants and Cowboys went to battle to open up Jerry Jones’ new stadium in Arlington; Tough, physical and exciting football. It was anything but pretty but the Giants’ Lawrence Tynes kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to propel the Giants over the Cowboys 33-31.

The hit on the Giants has been they don’t have a number one receiver on their roster but on Sunday night they had two players who put up number one receiver type numbers. Mario Manningham caught 10 balls for 150 yards and a touchdown and Steve Smith caught 10 balls for 134 yards and a touchdown.

Eli Manning put up big numbers (25/38 330 yards 2 TD’s) while Tony Romo looked like a mediocre quarterback (13/29 127 yards 1 TD 3 INT’s). The Cowboys had a better game on the ground but Romo’s ineffectiveness and turnovers proved costly in the end.

Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora lead the Giants to a 23-17 win over the Redskins. Tuck recorded 1.5 sacks and Osi forced a fumble, recovered it and took it to the house for six points. Eli Manning hit 20 of 29 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and interception. The Giants went up 17-0 in the second quarter and never looked back. 

It was a game we’ve come to expect from the Giants. They had great play out of the irdefense, Eli did enough to propel the offense, but what wasn’t normal was that they didn’t excel in the running game. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw combined for 106 yards on 28 carries. 

Manning hit Mario Manningham for a 30 yard touchdown down the right sideline in the second quarter that highlighted the Giants day on offense. Steve Smith caught six passes for 80 yards and Kevin Boss caught three for 62 yards. Eli spread the ball out, completing passes to seven different players.

The Giants go on the road for the next three weeks playing at Dallas, at Tampa Bay and at Kansas City. All are winnable games. With Osi back at full strength, the Giants defense is poised for a big season.

So how did the Giants and Jets look in the 40th version of their annual preseason meeting?  Both teams are still working the kinks out but that’s what the preseason’s for.  The third preseason game is most telling of how teams will play in the regular season because the starters play well into the third quarter.  There were some good things that happened and there were some bad things that happened in the game for both teams.

The Good:

Jets:

• Mark Sanchez and the Jets receivers were clicking for most of the game.  Sanchez went 13-20 with 149 yards and one touchdown.
• The Jets defense played better against the run and forced two turnovers in the first half.  
• Leon Washington had another great preseason game with 62 yards on nine rushing attempts.  

Giants: 

• The Giants used a no-huddle offense that lead to a touchdown on the first possession of the game.  
• Rookie receiver Hakeem Nicks had six receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns, including a 71 yard touchdown.
• The Giants have found a very viable backup quarterback in David Carr.

The Bad:

Jets:

• Penalties.  The Jets’ defense had five penalties, three offsides and two pass interferences, in the first quarter alone.  Even Kris Jenkins, the nose tackle, jumped offsides.  The Jets had 12 total penalties in the game.    
• The Jets looked susceptible to the big play in the air, although the Giants didn’t convert on two long passes that were open.  

Giants:

• Steve Smith dropped a perfect pass from Eli Manning that would have been a 90 yard touchdown.  There were a few other dropped balls by Giants receivers that needed to be caught.
• The defensive and offensive units played better than last week but still didn’t seem to be fully in sync.  They sacked the Jets rookie quarterback just once. 

There’s still a lot of work to do but Rex Ryan and Tom Coughlin will have their teams prepared for opening weekend.  The teams are nowhere near where they need to be.  The Jets host the Eagles in their final preseason game and the Giants will travel to New England.  Starters won’t play for more than one or two series if they play at all.

The Giants have seven receivers that are fighting for the top few spots on the depth chart and none of them have more than three years of NFL experience.  Domenik Hixon, Sinorice Moss and Derek Hagan are each entering their fourth season in the league, Steve Smith is entering his third, Mario Manningham is entering his second season, and Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden are rookies.  There are no veterans like Burress or Toomer on the team anymore and the current Giant receivers are almost all on an even playing field.

Eli Manning weighed in about the receiving situation saying, “I think we’ve definitely grown in the receiving group. Guys have gotten a lot of reps, a lot of work. They’re continuing to learn within the offense. I think we’re definitely better off than we were a few weeks ago when we got here.”  

Right now Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon are one and two, respectively, on the depth chart but that could change.  If any of the receivers get hot they can jump up the depth chart.  Tom Coughlin has a touch decision to make on who will be the top three receivers on the depth chart and he should get a better feel for the receivers as the starters play longer in the third preseason game.

The New York Giants ended their 2008 campaign with a 23-11 loss to the Eagles in the Divisional round of the playoffs.  They won the NFC East with a 12-4 record and were the top seed in the playoffs.

Offense:  The Giants retained running back Brandon Jacobs and have Ahmad Bradshaw as his backup.  They did not retain  third string running back Derrick Ward.  Without veteran receivers like Burress and Toomer, the running game will be much more important this season.  Both Jacobs and Bradshaw rushed for over 1,000 yards each last season and will need to do the same in 2009.  Eli Manning will be throwing to young receivers like Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon and first round pick Hakeem Nicks.  The receiving corps is weakest part of the offense.  I could see rookie Hakeem Nicks playing a big role in the offense.

Defense:  The Giants lost their defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, to the Rams and replaced him with linebackers coach, Bill Sheridan.  The defensive scheme will remain very similar although there will be some new faces on the field.  The Giants dove into the free agency pool over the offseason and signed linebacker Michael Boley (who will be suspended for the first game), defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, and defensive end Chris Canty.  The front seven looks as strong as ever and they have great depth on the line as well.

Overall:  The Giants have a stout defense and an offense that will need to run the ball and wear down opponents.  Inexperience at the receiver position may be the only downfall and hopefully will not hurt them too much this season.  The Giants will play the AFC West and I think they will match up well against those teams.

Prediction:  I think the Giants will go 11-5 (losses to Dallas, Philly, Atlanta, New Orleans or Arizona, and Minnesota) and win the NFC East.