--RB Derrick Ward (26 carries, 157 yards) is averaging six yards per carry and appears on the way to earning more time and touches. Starter Brandon Jacobs (50 carries, 244 yards, 4.8) has apparently balked at running the middle despite his 260 pounds and prefers the "glamour" of running wide. He had 14 carries but only 35 yards vs. Cincinnati in the last game.

--DT Fred Robbins, who "lifted and dieted in the off-season," credits his DT partner, Barry Cofield, for his sudden success. Robbins has four sacks in three games (his career high has been 5 1/2 twice). "Barry is in such good shape and so quick for a tackle that it gives me more chances to penetrate," he says.

--QB Eli Manning has only one interception through four games, along with four TDs. But perhaps his greatest improvement, even over last season when he was the Super Bowl MVP, is in his 91.1 QB rating (it was 73.9 in 2007) and his 7.1 yards per attempt (it was 6.3 last year). "He is more patient and he is seeing things a little better," said QB coach Chris Palmer.

--There are no injuries aside from LCB Aaron Ross (sore right shoulder), and the team spent its bye-week practice sessions tuning up defensive tactics and red zone offense. "There is always something to do, something to improve," said head coach Tom Coughlin. "We spent the first couple of days, when the players were off, analyzing our own tapes."

--The NFL announced that "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band" will be the halftime entertainment at Super Bowl XLIII, prompting one of the Giants to say: "Wow, I hope we get back. I've never seen him in person."

--TE Kevin Boss plans to host two random-drawing winners to a turkey dinner and seats at the team's Nov. 16 home game against Baltimore, the last home game before Thanksgiving.

REPORT CARD AFTER 3 GAMES

PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus -- Through their three games, all wins, the Giants have maintained a slightly higher number of passing attempts than rushing attempts. They have, in fact, thrown 107 passes -- all by QB Eli Manning -- and he has gained 765 yards while throwing four touchdown passes and just one pick. He has been sacked four times, none in the last game against Cincinnati. Pass distribution has been relatively even, with the exception of passes thrown to the tight ends. WR Plaxico Burress is the leading receiver with 18 receptions for 259 yards, while WRs Amani Toomer and Steve Smith are close. But the tight ends total just three receptions, all by Kevin Boss in the last game. "We are not keeping the tight ends out of the passing offense," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. "They are always in the game plan, week after week, it's just that when Eli does his reads he sees other guys open first."

RUSHING OFFENSE: B -- The coaching staff has built a three-headed running back, and so far the experiment is working well. Starter Brandon Jacobs along with Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw have combined for 73 carries and 467 yards, which is 6.3 yards per pop, astonishingly high. Jacobs had a paltry game vs. Cincinnati with 14 carries for 35 yards, traceable to two reasons: the Bengals' defense tried to take him out of the game early, and he is still running wide inside of inside, where his power would prevail in most cases. The line is blocking well, primarily RT Kareem McKenzie, RG Chris Snee and C Shaun O'Hara. There is some concern that coordinator Kevin Gilbride's play selection has become too easy to read, especially with runs to the right on first down. But as the late Vince Lombardi said: "I'll tell you where we'll run and when, and if you can stop us you'll win."

PASS DEFENSE: B-plus -- The Giants' opponents have gained less than 200 yards per game in the air and allowed only three touchdowns. Much of the reason has been the play of the front four and the linebackers who jump in and out of pass-rush techniques to keep quarterbacks off-balance. The team has 13 sacks in three games and six in each of the last two games. Surprisingly, DT Fred Robbins is the sack leader with four, while the high number of sacks have come without the presence of defensive ends Michael Strahan (retired) and Osi Umenyiora (knee surgery, out for the season), who had 22 of the team's 53 sacks last season. Moving Mathias Kiwanuka back to right defensive end from outside linebacker has helped to make up for the loss of Umenyiora, while Justin Tuck, who had 10 sacks as a reserve last year, is the new left defensive end. MLB Antonio Pierce has played intelligently and has smoothed over the potential rough spots caused by two new players flanking him, SLB Danny Clark and a rotating WLB combo of Gerris Wilkinson and rookie Bryan Kehl. The secondary has no picks (Tuck has the only one this season) but has played with great efficiency.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus -- Opponents have totaled 254 yards rushing in three games, less than 100 per, and that is on pace with last year's total of just under 100 yards per game for the 16-game regular season schedule. MLB Antonio Pierce leads the team with 26 tackles while LCB Aaron Ross and FS Michael Johnson each have 18. RDE Mathias Kiwanuka has 16. The scheme installed by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, which constantly changes (another aspect of his overall defense) selects various players to be run-responsible. Not only closing down the middle with DTs Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield but sending safeties and corners on run-force assignments prevents a similarity to his methods. He has been alternating rookie WLBs Bryan Kehl and Gerris Wilkinson with each series, so as not to tip off to the offense who is better vs. the run or the pass. The theory to which Spagnuolo appears to subscribe is to shut down the run on first and second downs and force the pass on third. Pierce seems to have full responsibility to assign instant read roles to his teammates on the field while he is constantly roving and filling.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- This is kind of tricky, since K Lawrence Tynes suffered a sprained knee immediately before the end of training camp. That forced the Giants to sign 44-year-old John Carney as a temporary stop-gap replacement on cutdown day. But the difficulty that has developed is that Carney has been perfect. He has kicked all nine field goals and eight extra points while improving on Tynes' 2007 KO distance by 2.1 yards per kick. Tynes is supposed to be ready to return prior to the next game, Oct. 5 vs. Seattle, and there is a growing conviction that Tynes might be placed on Injured Reserve for the rest of the season in order to keep Carney active. P Jeff Feagles has been more than satisfactory in his 21st season, averaging 41.9 yards per kick (38.7 net) and reinforcing the belief that he is the best positional punter in the NFL. WR Domenik Hixon has taken over the punt return duties from veteran R.W. McQuarters and has been spectacular -- boasting a 50-yard return among his nine returns for 124 yards. RB Ahmad Bradshaw handles kickoff returns well; he has taken back eight thus far for an average of 23.7 yards. Kick coverage has been exceptional.

COACHING: B -- Head coach Tom Coughlin deserves some praise, or at least recognition, for keeping the team grounded immediately after its Super Bowl success, repeatedly reminding them that it all took place last year and that nothing has yet been won this year. Last year his mantra was "Talk is Cheap, Play the Game," and this year it could easily have been "Last Year Doesn't Count." He has also allocated more authority to his coordinators and that has allowed for the offense to use deeper pass routes and more stylized defensive coverages. Offensively, coordinator Kevin Gilbride is still "vanilla" in most of his play-calling and mysterious at other times, but he appears to have reached a level of understanding with QB Eli Manning. With both of them on the same page, the offense appears to have moved smoothly. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has done a good job making up for the loss of DEs Michael Strahan (retired), Osi Umenyiora (knee surgery, out for the season), FS Gibril Wilson (UFA-Oakland), WLB Kawika Mitchell (UFA-Buffalo) and SLB Reggie Torbor (UFA-Miami). Special teams coordinator Tom Quinn showed no reluctance to replace punt returner R.W. McQuarters with Domenik Hixon and has retooled kick and punt coverage to achieve better numbers.