The New York Giants are an interesting team to try and decipher. The team has plenty of talented players on both sides of the ball coming into this season. But last season, the Giants went 3-13 during the regular season causing them to miss playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven years. That’s not the same success Giants fans grew accustomed to from 2004-2011.

Before these years of struggling, the Giants had a nice run under Tom Coughlin at head coach. Coughlin was hired in 2004 as head coach, replacing Jim Fassel, and the Giants traded for their hopeful future QB in Eli Manning. Just a few years later, the Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL History beating the then-undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Giants were once considered the “kryptonite” to the Patriots, defeating the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl (2008, 2012). Only one other team has defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl (Philadephia Eagles last year). Now they were a team positioned to draft second overall in the NFL Draft this offseason.

Since then, Giants decided to move on from Coughlin after struggling for a few years to reach playoffs. They then hired Ben McAdoo to become the head coach in 2016. McAdoo struggled in the two years he was the head coach going 9-23, failing to reach the postseason that the Giants once had success in.

Fast forward to now, the Giants fired Ben McAdoo and have hired Pat Shurmur to be their new head coach. All New York fans are hopeful Shurmur can turn around a disappointing run the Giants have been on since their glory years of winning Super Bowls. There is reason for optimism with a team as talented as this Giants team. Here are three reasons why they can go from worst to first in the NFC East this year.

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