Before Week 6, the Giants were on top of the world. Eli Manning was being annointed "The Better Manning" and was involved in premature MVP discussions. The Giants were fresh off a Super Bowl ring, and had won 8 straight games, dating back to the playoffs last year. Plaxico Burress was ready to focus after his one-game suspension, and the Giants had actually proved against the Seahawks that they could even win big without Plax, if they needed to. Things were looking up for the Giants.

However, one game against the hungry and struggling Cleveland Browns may have brought the Giants back to a very harsh reality, and some very ominous truths that have been hidden by a few good weeks at the end of last season, and a very weak schedule at the beginning of this one.

1) Deep down inside, Eli Manning is still a turnover machine.
2) The losses of Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan have affected this Giants' pass rush more than they thought.
3) The Giants simply aren't the wonderful team that everyone thought they were, when they started the season 4-0.

In their loss to the Browns, it seemed as though Eli Manning reverted back to the Eli Manning that we knew and loved for 3+ seasons, when he averaged more than an interception per game, as opposed to the QB who threw 6 TD passes and only 1 INT in the first 4 games. But was there really any sort of transformation? Did Eli really start playing well, or was it just statistical variation? Have the Giants really been playing that well this year, or have they just been playing a weak schedule?

The weak schedule claim is a very strong one:

Week 1 - The Giants opened the season against the Redskins. Although the Redskins looked good during their 4-game winning streak from Week 2 to Week 5, they still lost to the Rams in Week 6. Their loss to the Giants was their first regular season game under new coach Jim Zorn's offensive system, and Jason Campbell looked about as bad as any QB could. He was lost in the new system, and it clearly took him a little while to get the hang of it. And then they lost to the Rams. As good as the Redskins have looked at times, a loss to the Rams speaks volumes. Very bad volumes. Although the Giants won the game, their 16 points scored is still less than the 19 that the Redskins allow in an average game.

Week 2 - The Giants visited the aforementioned Rams. The Rams have the most generous defense in all of football, averaging 32.8 points allowed per game. Before somehow holding the Redskins to only 17 points, the Rams were allowing an obscene 37.25 points per game.

Week 3 - This was the first sign that the Giants might not be as good as people wanted to believe. The Bengals took them into overtime, but the Giants ended up winning 26-23. The Bengals are still winless, but the Giants were the team that gave the Bengals their best chance. The rest of their 6 losses were by at least a touchdown.

Week 4 - Bye.

Week 5 - This was the week where the Giants removed all doubt, in many people's minds. Many were fooled by the 44-6 beating that they put on the Seahawks. This was a team that had made the playoffs 5 years in a row, and had won their division in each of the past 4 years. However, this Seattle team is definitely a shell of their former selves. They are 4th worst in the NFL, allowing an average of over 30 points per game, and their offense has been stagnant all year. They have only scored more than 17 points once so far, and that was in a 33-30 loss to the 2-4 49ers. Simply put, the Seahawks are not a good team this year. Also, Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck spent much of that game hobbled by a hyperextended knee, and was clearly not his normal self.

Can the Giants still make the playoffs? Certainly. They're still 4-1, and their division has been struggling as of late. But are they the Super Bowl favorites that everyone thought they were? Certainly not.

When they intercepted 3 Eli Manning passes and beat the Giants by 3 TD's, the Cleveland Browns began what will be a season-long process of expelling the myth of the New York Giants' greatness. Don't look for a Super Bowl repeat, because this Giants team simply isn't good enough.