The New York Giants got physical this week. They made a statement Monday night in Big D, after they beat the Dallas Cowboys in pretty much every way you could beat them. The one apparent thing was that the Giants did indeed get physical. They were aggressive, they put pressure on Bledsoe, and they ran the football with Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs. And now, the Giants are where some people thought they would be after six games. They're in first place in the NFC East. Fortunately for the Giants, they've overcome some bad performances early on and have rediscovered what it will take to be a perennial playoff contender in the NFC conference -- defense, running the football, special teams and forcing turnovers. These factors have been the key to Big Blue's success over the last three games. Unfortunately, the Giants suffered some significant injuries Monday night. LaVar Arrington, after showing some glimpses of why the Giants signed him for $35 million in the offseason, tore his achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the year. Arrington, who complained of his achilles tendon being sore all training camp, finally ran into an unfortunate situation where it just gave out on him. It's one of those injuries that is like a tire with a slow leak. Eventually, it will just pop, and it did. You have to wonder what the future for Arrington will be. Also injured is Osi Umenyiora. A hip flexor will probably force Umenyiora to miss some time, but it certainly won't be as bad as the Arrington situation. Due to the Giants schedule over the next two weeks, hosting Tampa and Houston, the Giants might be able to get by without Osi. And with two weeks rest, they can actually get him healthy. The drafting of Mathias Kiwanuka at the defensive end position makes this situation a lot less drastic. The rookie has had some flashes, showed some promise and looks ready to get on the playing field for an extended period of time. Justin Tuck also hurt his foot after being stepped on, so he also may not be available this week against Tampa. So the Giants will have to overcome some injuries. However, they're playing their best football at a time when Tampa comes in after an emotional win over the Eagles courtesy of 62-yard field goal by former Giant kicker Matt Bryant. This is a different situation for Tampa. They travel to Giants Stadium on Sunday. They won't be able to play in their cozy, warm weather. They're coming up north with a young quarterback and with a Giants defensive line that has been overpowering the last three games staring them right in the face. Fred Robbins is having a career year in the middle, and the emergence of rookie defensive tackle Barry Cofield, who has been a steadying force, has helped the Giants stop the run and put teams in third and long situations, which allows the likes of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora to get to the quarterback. They've harassed quarterbacks the way they did Bledsoe Monday night. Six sacks and four interceptions: that's the Giants defense that will get them deep into the playoffs. On offense, Tiki Barber has been a force the last three games. Defenses have come in with some pretty impressive stats and have left embarassed. The Falcons were number one in the league against the run and Barber ran all over them. The Cowboys were next in line behind Atlanta in the run defense department, and Tiki did the exact same thing. And when the Giants really need to get physical, they'll bring Brandon Jacobs inside the red zone on a short-yardage situation. That really demoralizes the defense. It's like a truck coming at you, and you have to hope you don't get hit. In addition, if you haven't noticed, the yellow flags have not been coming as much as they had been during the first three games. The Giants have found a way to stop taking silly penalties and stop beating themselves. It's a formula that the Giants hope they can continue to utilize in order to pick up wins. And with Tampa and Houston coming up, they should get their record ready for a tremendous contest. 6-2, against a possibly undefeated Bears team during primetime, Sunday, November 12. It doesn't get any better than that. Giants fans will be going crazy with the Bears coming into town. We'll get to find out just how physical this Giant team is, because there isn't a more physical team than the Bears this season in my mind. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE HAND YOU'RE DEALT As for the Jets, is it me or do they keep playing 1-5 teams every week? But you know what, you can't blame Eric Mangini and his Jet team for taking advantage of what's up next on their schedule. They're not playing down to their competition, they're beating their competition. And although the teams they've been playing have had their problems, the Jets haven't helped them out by turning the ball over or by letting them believe that they can steal a game. This week, they go on the road to play the Browns. However, this is a Cleveland team that has many problems and is currently in a state of controversy. Maurice Carthon is out as offensive coordinator, and now Romeo Crenel, who worked with Eric Mangini in New England, has to find a way to turn this thing around and quickly, or he'll be back to doing what he does best: being a defensive coach. The Jets bring in a team that has confidence, is in the midst of a winning streak, and has the look to improve to 5-3, one more win than they had last year. And that to me is the biggest story. But make no mistake about it, the reason behind the Jets success, number one and number one only, is health. They're healthy at the quarterback position. They're healthy for the most part at the remainder of the positions. And last year, they were an accident waiting to happen, playing with third and fourth string quarterbacks. It makes a big difference. If you don't think so, you really don't know the National Football League. You can't win when your quarterback can't play the game or isn't ready to play the game. The Cowboys found that out in the second half Monday night. So look for the Jets to continue what they have done, beating bad football teams. But Bill Parcells said it best: you are what your record says you are. And with a win against Cleveland this week, the Jets will improve to an impressive 5-3 on the season.