Last year could not have been any more disastrous for the . Locker room fighting and poor football led to the franchise, a proud bastion of blue bloodine s, being humiliated in very public fashion. Coach Ben McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese conspired to bench franchise quarterback late in the year for , a slap in the face in the face for a man with a pair of Lombardis O.J. Howard Jersey on his resume.Enter Dave Gettleman, who spent most of the season out of work after being dumped by the at the last minute. The long-time personnel man returned home to New York, where he'd worked from 1998 through 2012. Gettleman quickly put his stamp on this franchise, hiring Pat Shurmur as his coach, reinstating Eli and publicly proclaiming Manning the future of the franchise despite his advanced age. Gettleman spent big in free agency on to protect Manning and just unloaded on a draft that is designed to help Eli.The me sage is clear: the Giants are trying to win now. But can they? Vegas is not quite as bullish on them as the general consensus coming out of the draft, . Why they'll go overIt was only two years ago the Giants won 11 games with a fairly similar roster -- Reese made it rain in free agency and it actually worked out well for him, which is a rarity in the NFL. If you squint hard enough, you can picture an offense that involves Eli being protected, playing 16 games in a contract year and exploding for 1,500 receiving yards, continuing to develop as a threat down the seam and cruising to NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year behind a season of 1,400 yards from scrimmage. The defense gets an injection of life from some rookies ( , B.J. Hill), takes advantage of his clean slate, has a next-level breakout (he's still only 27!) and things go poorly for the rest of the NFC East.The might not get back at 100 percent to start Week 1. The are in a transitional period, switching quarterbacks from to . The might not be good! Gettleman has a history of coming in and Christian Benford Jersey making a team a contender quickly; Carolina was considered something of a rebuild when he took over, but he helped make them competitive quickly.Why they'll go underThe offensive line is improved but it is not a strength. Barkley is one of the most impre sive running back prospects to enter the NFL in years, but it's much harder for a running back to make a significant impact when his team is losing and playing from behind. Eli could be washed. He has looked bad the past few years. If the locker room goes to hell in a handbasket under Shurmur in Year 1 -- there are still a ton of personalities on this roster -- it's not difficult to imagine OBJ doing something weird and things Frank Reich Jersey getting awkward. He has already done a dog pee celebration and proposed to a kicking net. Good luck predicting what he'll do next. The defense has the personnel to be succe sful, but a couple of injuries or bad, ahem, apples and things could easily fall apart. Early schedule analysisThe standard "May schedule analysis" caveat applies here, but this is a BRUTAL start for the Giants. They open with the in Week 1, a VERY quick test of the offensive line improvements. Then they do a Texas Two-Step with the Cowboys and the next two weeks, before drawing the at home in Week 4. The Panthers on the road in a Revenge Game looms large for Week 5 before they get the defending champion Eagles at home four days later on Thursday night. At least they get a mini-bye before playing the in Atlanta the next week on Monday night!The NFC East drew the NFC South this year and the Giants drew the three best teams in that division before Week 8, plus the Jaguars, plus the Texans (a bounceback candidate), plus two divisional games. 4-4 into their bye -- they play the Redskins in Week 8 before getting a Week Boogie Basham Jersey 9 break -- would be impre sive.What they're saying"You know why they're going to go under? Because ... they ... STINK. Because the team's not any good. And the offensive line's not any good. You know what Nate Solder is? He's an above average tackle being paid like Walter Jones because the Giants needed a left tackle. Maybe Will Hernandez is Alan Faneca. Maybe he's not! I still don't think this offensive line's very good. I think Saquon Barkley -- it's not a knock on the player or the prospect, I think he's great, but I don't think it's a great place for him to be in. I think Eli Manning, and I'm the biggest Eli Manning fanboy of all time -- I think Eli's washed. I think this team's screwed! I think there's a better chance the Giants are back at the top in two years than they are competing for a Super Bowl in the next two years." -- CBS Sports ( and make sure and watch Nick on CBS Sports HQ, our live, streaming OTT network that or via Amazon/Apple/Roku/Xbox/Playstation/etc)The pickAfter looking at their schedule, the Vegas number makes more sense. You run through it and, even giving them a split Redskins and Cowboys divisional games, they're in a dogfight to get to 8-8. I had them 7-8 heading into Week 17 against the Cowboys at home, which is probably not good enough to be a playoff team. I'm high on Barkley on how he helps Greg Mancz Jersey the team in the immediate future, so I'm fine buying on this over, but I don't love it as much as I did when I saw the numberinitially.VERDICT: OVER
