Damon Harrison won’t talk guarantees or make predictions, the New York Giants defensive tackle is simply optimistic about where this team is heading ahead of their season opener on Sunday night.
The massive defensive tackle is coming off a season where he had a career high 86 tackles and 2.5 sacks as well as one forced fumble.
He was a major reason why the Giants turned around one of the league’s worst defenses into a unit that allowed the second fewest points per game behind the New England Patriots.
A major signing of the Giants last year, Harrison produced a season that should have landed him in the Pro Bowl. Now with the Giants having made the playoffs last year and the majority of their defense returning, Harrison has hope that this can be a better year and another step forward for Big Blue.
“Because we’ve got a bunch of guys who aren’t comfortable with what they’ve done last year. Whether it be Robert Thomas, or Landon Collins,” Harrison said on Thursday. “Nobody is happy, or satisfied, or content — whichever word you want to use — with what they’ve done last year. Last year doesn’t matter anymore.”
But the Giants, 11-5 a season ago, saw a disappointing loss in the Wild Card round at the Green Bay Packers. Given all the uncertainty around the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants opponent on Sunday night and the team that took the NFC East last year, expectations are simply high for Harrison and his teammates.
As such, projections have the Giants again making the playoffs and possibly being a Super Bowl contender. Harrison never made the playoffs before last year after languishing for four up and down years across town with the New York Jets, so he doesn’t have a basis for comparing this team against other contenders.
And when asked the ceiling for this team, Harrison smartly answered “As good as we want to be.”
“If you want a prediction or a guarantee — yes. I can guarantee you — write it down,” Harrison said. “I guarantee you that the New York Football Giants will be in Dallas Cowboys’ stadium on Sunday.”
