View from the Other Side: A New York writer's look at the Giants

When New Orleans hosts the New York Giants on Sunday, you've likely read as much about the Saints as you possibly can.

But what do you know about the Giants?

That's where A View From the Other Side comes in. Every Friday during the Saints' season, WWL-TV.com will ask five questions to at least one beat writer covering the Saints' opponent that week.

Today we welcome Tom Rock of Newsday. Rock is in his second season covering the Giants after covering the Jets previously. He has worked at Newsday for 13 years and puts together good work on their Web site. You can read his coverage at and at

WWL-TV: Eli's heel obviously didn't bother him enough to keep him out against the Raiders last week. The Saints defense is a bit different from Oakland's, though. Could his heel be a problem this weekend?

Tom Rock: He probably won't get to stand in the pocket and gaze downfield until his receivers get open this week, that's for sure. He'll be asked to move around a bit more ? chased is probably the word we're looking for here. But Eli's never been the most mobile of quarterbacks to begin with so it's not like he won't be able to rip off those 15-yard scrambles for first downs that he's known for.

And Eli was hit pretty hard by Richard Seymour on the deep pass to Steve Smith, so the heel has been tested in that regard. I don't see it as an issue. Both he and the Giants have said that if he can't do everything he needs to do then he won't play.

WWL-TV: With all the history between some of the players and coaches with each franchise (Jeremy Shockey, John Carney, Sean Payton), is this game any more special than most of the other games on the Giants' schedule?

TR: Spoke with Danny Clark about all the connections, particularly with Shockey, and he was like "You know, I've got something to play for too!" Not only are there connections between the teams but the Giants have a pretty heavy regional flavor on their roster between Eli, Corey Webster and Brandon Jacobs all growing up within an hour or so of the city. Eli was asked about whether this will be an emotional game and had a good line: "I don't think I'll be crying or anything before the game."

WWL-TV: Steve Smith has emerged as Eli's go-to receiver this season. He has been the scourge of the first five opponents. What's been the difference in his game this season?

TR: Opportunity. Smith was always regarded as one of the best slot receivers in the league, probably right behind Wes Welker in that category. But with Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer no longer around, it's been up to Steve to step up. Boy has he. He still plays the slot when the Giants go to three wides, but he's also proven that he can play on the outside. He's great off the line against press coverages and always seems to find the soft spot in zones.

Here's the best stat on Steve Smith: He leads the NFL with 15 third-down catches and he's a big reason why Eli Manning has a league-leading and nearly-perfect 151.7 passer rating on third downs.

WWL-TV: Tight ends have played well against the Giants so far this season. How do you see the Giants attempting to stop Jeremy Shockey?

TR: Well, it would have been a lot easier for them with Michael Boley healthy. He's the athletic linebacker they brought in to handle tight ends like Shockey and running backs who can catch like Brian Westbrook. But Boley is out another 2-3 weeks with a surgically repaired meniscus, so the Giants will have to sue safeties like C.C. Brown and Michael Johnson and maybe an athletic linebacker like Bryan Kehl to try to stop him. They also might try to put a brute strongside linebacker like Clint Sintim over Shockey to keep him from getting off the line cleanly.

It is interesting that in all five games this year the opposing team's leading receiver has been a tight end. But that's just as much a factor of their cornerbacks covering the receivers and forcing check downs as it is by design of the offenses. And those tight ends haven't really hurt them in terms of big plays and yardage.

WWL-TV: Is there a weak point to the Giants defense?

TR: You would think it would be the secondary since starter Aaron Ross is out with a hamstring and Kenny Phillips is lost for the year with knee surgery and undrafted rookie Bruce Johnson has been their primary nickelback. But teams just haven't tried to test these guys with deep balls. I suspect the Saints will roll the dice there. Other than that, the Giants can sometimes get caught out of position in their gap-control run defense. That's what happened too often against the Cowboys, who gashed them for 251 rushing yards.

They seem to have gotten that together and haven't been burned in the last three games, but that's been against some pretty inferior competition. It'll be interesting to see if the run defense can still hold against a quality opponent like the Saints.