Giants hope to prove doubters wrong

Anybody remember the New York Giants?

After all, they did win the Super Bowl last season, derailing New England’s bid for a perfect season.

But between the trade of Brett Favre to the crosstown Jets, the hype of the Dallas Cowboys on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, and the expectation of another Super Bowl run by New England, the Giants are yesterday’s news.

In fact, the Giants’ dramatic, wild-card run through the NFC playoffs last season — including road wins at Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay — capped by the improbable Super Bowl upset of the Patriots, has been largely overlooked or considered a fluke.

And that’s just fine with Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning.

“I don’t mind going under the radar,” Manning said. “If we’re not the team to beat or we’re not expected to be the best team, it doesn’t bother me. This team knows what we accomplished last year and what we did.

“We also know we have to become a better team. Last year, we didn’t always play our best football until the playoffs. During that time we were playing better than anyone else. We have to work on being more consistent and play on a high level week in and week out.”

No one stepped up his game more in the playoffs than Manning. During the regular season, he threw 23 touchdown passes but tied for the league high with 20 interceptions. His passer rating was a mediocre 73.9 — 25th in the NFL.

But in the postseason, Manning completed 60.5 percent of his passes, threw six touchdowns with just one interception, and punctuated the Super Bowl victory with his implausible escape from the rush and 32-yard pass to David Tyree, whose circus catch set up the go-ahead score.

“Last year was a fun ride, but it’s time to turn the page and try to have another great run and fun time this season,” Manning said.

“Every year you’re always trying to become better … better player and better teammate. My goal is to get us to the playoffs and see what we can do from there. We’re not going to talk about how far we’re going to go. We are just going to try and become a better team and put ourselves in position to win games.”

The Giants have lost several key pieces to their championship team. Defensive end Michael Strahan, the club’s all-time leader in sacks and an inspirational presence in the locker room, retired. Disruptive but productive tight end Jeremy Shockey was traded to New Orleans.

Also, three defensive starters — linebackers Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor and free safety Gibril Wilson — left as unrestricted free agents.

“People doubted us before Strahan retired and Shockey was traded, so nothing has changed,” center Shaun O’Hara said. “We like it like that. We know there is a lot to prove, and the truth is there is a lot of room for improvement. We won the Super Bowl, but we didn’t play great football all the time, and we know that. So, we’re looking to improve on that.”

The Giants are well aware of the history of teams coming off Super Bowls. During the Super Bowl era, just eight of 41 champions have repeated, the last being New England in 2003-04. And the Giants have a little of their own history of Super Bowl hangovers.

After losing to Baltimore in Super Bowl XXXV, the Giants went 7-9 in 2001.

“In 2001 we were just going through the motions and the sense of urgency wasn’t there,” said wide receiver Amani Toomer. “We thought we were a lot better than we were.

“It’s different this year. Can we harness what we did in the playoffs and do that for a whole season? Hopefully we can keep that edge. We have a lot of people doubting us already. That’s good in a sense, because it’s going to help keep us down to earth.”