When you're hot, you're hot and, right now, the Giants are smoking hot.
Two wins on the field, the best receiving corps in the history of the franchise and a defense that seems to be scratching the surface of its talent are all major pluses. Now the team seems to be on the verge of getting back a couple of injured starters who would presumably help make sure that all the winning won't be stopping any time soon.
Shaun O'Hara has missed the last three games with ankle and Achilles problems and Keith Bulluck has been out for the last two with turf toe, but both men practiced on Thursday. Paul Schwartz of the Post gave each man high marks for their movement on the field, although it is too soon to know if they will actually make it back to the starting lineup against the Lions. Of the two, O'Hara would rank as a higher priority.
His return would give the Giants another weapon inside to use against the talented Lions defensive tackles Corey Williams and Ndamukong Suh. Suh, the second overall pick in April, is not playing anything like a rookie and he is going to require special attention as the Giants try to run the ball inside and when they decide to throw it. He's already got three sacks on the season, Williams has one and keeping them from pressuring Eli Manning is vital to anything the Giants hope to accomplish on Saturday.
While there's some debate to be had about how much anyone needs to worry about Manning's eight interceptions through this point in the season, the one thing that's clear is that he's been awful whenever there's pressure on him in the pocket. Adam Koets hasn't been terrible in O'Hara's place and he's certainly not the main culprit, that's David Diehl, but he isn't O'Hara either.
Other than special teams, the play of the line is the biggest reason to doubt the Giants' ability to keep the ship pointed in the right direction. O'Hara can't fix it all by himself but his return would be a step in the right direction.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
