With eight weeks of the NFL season now in the books, we’re approaching the midway point of the NFL season -- which, because of a 17-week season, basically falls in the middle of this week. If mile-marker 8.5 is similar to the equinox, you might be able to balance an egg or something of similar shape, like a football. Roger Goodell is planning to mark the occasion by balancing on his head.
Many football observers use the midway point of the season to make note of the teams and players who are playing exceptionally well or exceedingly bad. The winners! The losers! The overrated! The underrated! The players in the MVP discussion! The coaches most likely to get fired and become ESPN commentators!
But when you focus all your energy on the extreme poles of success and failure, you overlook the wide tundra of mediocrity -- the vast expanse of gray where legions of players, coaches and owners toil away in relative obscurity. In short, the domain of the 2015 New York Giants, the most mediocre team in the NFL.
At 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the NFC East, Big Blue is the embodiment of mediocre. They've scored 215 points and allowed 208 points, a plus-seven that is the closest of any NFC team to net zero.
They're dead last in the NFL in total defense, allowing 427.7 yards per game, but somehow they're also leading the NFL in turnover margin at +11. They're last in the NFL in sacks with nine, but tied for first in the NFL in interceptions (13).
Only a perfectly mediocre team could pull all that off.
Eli Manning is having a career year with 17 touchdown passes, only four interceptions and a passer rating of 99.9. But with a running game that's 27th in the NFL, the Giants have an overall offense that is only middle of the road, ranked 14th.
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The G-Men are the most blatantly flawed good team in the NFL. Who else could score 49 points on the road behind a quarterback who threw six touchdowns and no interceptions -- and still lose?
So what does this week's game against the 3-4 Buccaneers and rookie quarterback Jameis Winston bring? It brings an opportunity for the Giants to prove that they can beat an almost equally mediocre team.
The Bucs, Saints and Giants all basically subscribe to the same defensive philosophy: "We hope our offense scores a lot."
Tampa Bay allows 28.4 points per game, which is 28th in the NFL. They're middle of the pack in sacks (ranked 16 with 17 QB take-downs) and they've got the second fewest INTs in the league (four). But they're tied for second in forced fumbles (12) and they lead the league in recoveries (nine).
Thanks to the renaissance of running back Doug Martin, the Bucs are fourth in the NFL in rushing. With wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, they also have the weapons to throw down the field against the Giants, which can be said of all 128 schools in the FBS, as well.
Winston has not thrown an interception in his last four contests, and his team has won two of its last three games. After pulling out a 23-20 victory on the road against Atlanta last week, the team is definitely feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, which is why it's imperative that the Giants once again have the services of four players who've been injured: Jason Pierre-Paul, Prince Amukamara, Jon Beason and Orleans Darkwa.
It's simple, really: Pierre-Paul can make a dreadful pass rush into something more respectable, i.e, mediocre.
Amukamara can make a dreadful pass defense into something more respectable, i.e., you know where I'm going with this.
Beason can make a linebacker corps into something more respectable, i.e.., there's a theme emerging here.
And Darkwa can make an offense that is too pass-reliant into something less predictable.
The Giants already have a lot of great parts in place. These four players can help make the league's most mediocre team into something more than middling.
