Call you mother, call your father, call your grandparents!
Today is the official first 2018-2019 NFL Sunday kickoff! A day I have waited for since last season ended. Well, ended for my Giants. We all know how I felt about that Super Bowl
Today my NY Giants are at home vs the Jacksonville Jaguars who were a surprising team last year making it all the way to the AFC Championship game. A game that they should have taken down Tom Brady and the Patriots in but blew it. The question for them becomes do they strive off from that loss and the momentum they had in the playoffs or does it carry over as a hangover? Today will tell.
As for my Giants, last season can only be summed up in one word, EMBARRASSING. The coach was embarrassing. The upper managements decisions were embarrassing, The teams effort was embarrassing. The team was embarrassing all around. I watched some pretty bad seasons as a Giants fan, but nothing was ever as bad as that.
This year they cleaned house. New coach, new coaching staff, new GM, new roster. What was old is now new. They upgraded the oline, changed things up on the defense, made some bold cuts like letting Davis Webb go and trading away JPP. They also drafted well including what some considered the best player in the draft, and signed Odell Beckham Jr to a record deal keeping him in blue for some time. If this kind of shake up doesn't get fans excited about this season, I am not sure what will.
There are many sleeping on this team. I honestly don't have any clue how I feel about them yet. Obviously I feel like this offense can score points if they can stay healthy and that offensive line can hold up. They worry me still despite the revamp since it has been so long since they have had a solid line.
The defense concerns me as well. Not a lot of big names left on the team on that side of the ball besides Jenkins, Collins, Snacks, and Vernon (who is hurt). They also changed schemes up from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Just hoping the defense will be better than what I expect.
Overall in my early thoughts, this team is a 7-9 or 8-8 team with all of the new changes and tough schedule. But, I won't make a full prediction til I see them hit the field vs a very good Jaguars team. How that game goes will be a guide for the rest of the season.
No matter how the season goes, just hopefully better than last year, I will still be chasing down more Giants cards and especially Saquon Barkley that high draft pick I spoke about earlier. In a recent mail day trade with
@DubMentality, I added a few more to my PC.
Odell Beckham Jr insert from Optic. I hope the contract thrives him today vs Jalen Ramsey and not does the opposite. Evan Engram could play a huge role in today's game but we will see.
Sterling Shepard could be a huge player today and going forward. Especially if defenses are all in on Odell.
And here comes Saquon! He is going to play a huge role in this offense I have a feeling. The offensive line plays a big role on how far Saquon can go. But, he showed in the preseason vs the Browns he has got moves and can do a lot on his own. That line let him down on his very first NFL rush and he still took it for 39 yards. You should go YouTube that run as it's amazing to watch. I hope to see more of that when the games start to count.
I really like this look of Elite Draft, but I wished Panini really wouldn't double up on so many college and NFL Products. Why not create a whole new line or bring back some classics? This is the base and variation of Saquon I should mention.
Luminance I reviewed on here and I was a big fan of. The inserts within the product look really cool as well and would be very familiar to something you may have seen in Black Gold because of their color scheme.
Whoa! I was surprised to see this one in there. Dub had teased me with it on Twitter so I wasn't sure it would be included or not in our trade and here it is even more impressive in front of me.
This Unparalleled card is /100. I am not sure if this is a base rookie or an insert as I didn't get a close look at the product this year. I assume it has to be a base rookie due to the card numbering on the back's number. It's nice to start having some cards of him in a Giants uniform.
The final card from this trade was this Kyle Lauletta autograph I forgot he pulled. Kyle is currently in line to take over for Eli when he retires with Davis Webb gone.I had a feeling after watching both of their preseason performances. Now I am out to chase down as many Laulettas as I can.
A big thanks goes out to Dub for another amazing mind blowing mail day. He completely set me up to have a great Sunday kickoff. I look forward to our next trade!
I also couldn't finish today's kickoff post without one more Saquon. This was my very first card of him in a Giants uniform thanks to @GundersonNathan who pulled it in a break and sent it my way. Very cool. I love the photography with Panini football this year. So crystal clear and no border or funky stuff going on. Plain and simple. Thanks Nathan again for the card!
By the time some of you read this, the game will be over and I will either be in a good or bad mood. There is no in-between for me during the football season.
I am just glad to finally watch this team hit the field after watching last years disaster. So on this first weekend of football, I wish the best of luck to your teams (unless you are a Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles, or Patriots fan) and let go Giants!
