The Beasts Of The East

It's worth considering the Giants 4-0 record against the rash of injuries they've had:

Chris Canty, a big-money free agent from the Cowboys, never really made it out of the gates with a hamstring tear and he's only played in one game this season. Jay Alford, a valuable member of the team's defensive tackle rotation, is out for the season.

The Giants haven't had both regular first-string cornerbacks on the field this season and nickel corner Kevin Dockery just returned from his own hamstring issue. Safety Kenny Phillips was poised to have a Pro Bowl-worthy season, in my opinion, but his campaign ended after two games. He'll have to undergo microfracture surgery on his knee.

Heading into a Week 5 game against the Raiders, the Giants will be without starting linebacker Michael Boley and quarterback Eli Manning is questionable with plantar fasciitis. But the funny thing about this is that no one, including the team's fan base, seems to be panicking.

The Giants are 4-0 and they actually appear to be gaining steam as they continue this crash course toward an intriguing Week 6 matchup with the Saints in New Orleans. In order to try to understand why this team seems almost to embrace adversity, I tracked down Pro Bowl defensive end and soon-to-be proud father Justin Tuck on Thursday afternoon.

I suspect, at some point, the injuries will start to take their toll. But that said, they've been remarkable so far this year. I really believe that football, at some level, is about hunger. I hate cliche intangibles, but I do believe that some teams just "want it more" than others.