MORE: Hot images | Week 3 injuries By season’s end, order will be restored. The Giants will have surpassed the Jets again. In fact, prepare yourself for a visit to the playoffs for Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and Co. – and for the Jets to be tiptoeing into another offseason of uncertainty. Yes, it sounds preposterous, not so much because the Jets are 2-1 and justifying Rex Ryan’s faith in his defense and in Geno Smith at quarterback. A case can be made for the 0-3 Giants as the worst team in the NFL so far – and one has been made by colleague Vinnie Iyer. The Giants’ problems do seem beyond solution. But they’re just beyond immediate solution. At the risk of sounding like someone who’s consumed a few gallons of Big Blue Kool-Aid, the Giants aren’t going to be this bad all season. There is a lot of time left. Lots of time for the Giants to look like themselves again … and for the poor Jets to look like themselves again. More on them later. Between now and January, the most glaring weakness on a flaw-filled team – the line that’s failing to anchor a running game and to protect Eli Manning – will get healthier, more cohesive, back to what everybody is used to. The domino effect potentially is huge. David Wilson and the rest of the backs won’t look as if they’re in over their heads. Defenses will have to respect the running game, which none do now. They would no longer be able to tee off on Manning, who won’t be running for his life and making (as many) unconscionable decisions. The drives get longer, the sacks go down, the turnovers go down, the short fields and huge momentum swings for the other team go away, the pressure on the still-troubled defense (weak up front and in the secondary early on) is lessened. And teams like Carolina, who otherwise can’t get out of their own way, don’t bolt out to 17-0 leads and then pile on. It all goes back to the line, whose offseason and preseason injuries got overshadowed by the ones to the likes of Jason Pierre-Paul, Antrel Rolle, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Stevie Brown. The various absences and delayed returns of Chris Snee, David Diehl, David Baas and tight end Henry Hynoski, it appears, were much more serious and devastating in hindsight. Diehl is still out after thumb surgery last month. They have a rookie, first-round pick Justin Pugh, at right tackle. The left tackle, Will Beatty, whom the Giants gave $19 million guaranteed to keep after a solid 2012, got beaten like a drum Sunday.
VIDEO: Giants postgame press conference
Logic dictates that the line, as a patchwork unit unable to find a rhythm in training camp, can't be that bad for 13 more games and will click over time. They shouldn't be this bad right now, of course, and they know it. "It's unacceptable, no matter who you are, especially if you are the New York Giants," Baas told reporters. "We take a lot of pride in keeping Eli clean, and that was definitely not the case (Sunday). We have to take a good, hard look at it and get it corrected, fast." Bet on them correcting it, and thus leaping off the double-digit-loss path they're on. Also, don't count them out of the NFC East race -- for lack of a better term. Sure, at 0-3, the division is there for the taking for the Giants. So is ownership of the Big Apple. The tightrope the Jets walked in their home win over Buffalo on Sunday can't be ignored. Credit them for quickly breaking a late tie with a cold-blooded Smith bomb to Santonio Holmes. But their latest emotional implosion is indefensible. Ten days after Jets players engaged in and accelerated the scuffle on the sidelines at New England after the Patriots' game-clinching interception, Kyle Wilson essentially gave the Bills the tying touchdown with a series of dust-ups with Stevie Johnson that earned him a benching from Ryan. Smith is playing like a very good, deserving rookie. The Jets found a running game. The defense had a third straight strong performance. They're in the thick of the AFC East scrap in a season most people were sure would be a joke.
VIDEO: Jets vs. Bills highlights But they’e asking for it. Once again, they’re speeding around town with open vials of nitroglycerin. Remember, besides their inability to maintain poise at certain times, at some point Mark Sanchez will be back, rattling the truck even more. Until further notice, with September not even over, expect both the Giants and Jets to seek their normal levels. “Normal” means that the joke won’t keep being on the Giants. By playoff time, the laughter will have stopped.
