It isn’t insane to think that the New York Giants can score 28 points per game this upcoming season, backing up the banter of quarterback Eli Manning who this week said that he thinks his team can rattle off four touchdowns a game.

Last season, the Giants were sixth in the league, averaging 26.3 points per game. Only the Carolina Panthers, the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots managed to average 28 points or more per game.

“We expect to score the ball more. We think we can score over 28 points a game,” Manning said in the NFL Network interview with Rhett Lewis. “We were close to hitting that last year. I think being my third year in the offense, getting some new weapons like Sterling, getting Victor Cruz back, getting Larry Donnell back healthy.”

It is a goal — 28 points per game over the course of the year — for this offense that the Giants have never achieved during the Manning era, which dates back to his rookie year in 2004 where he split time with veteran Kurt Warner. They’ve come close and had some prolific offenses but never one that has averaged four touchdowns a game over the full regular season.

That’s not to say that the Giants in recent times under Manning haven’t been busy changing the digits on the scoreboard. This team can definitely score.

In 2012, the Giants averaged 26.8 points per game, sixth best in the NFL. In 2008 they scored 26.7 points per game, a number that in that season was third highest in the league. And in 2005 in what was the first full season with Manning as quarterback they were third in the league with 26.4 points per game. The Giants, under Manning, have never eclipsed that highwater mark from 2012.

If everything goes right for the Giants, they can certainly be among the most prolific offenses in the NFL. Odell Beckham Jr. enters his third year in the league as one of the five best wide receivers in the league but after him, the rest of the receiving corps is a crap shoot.

Wide receiver Victor Cruz hasn’t been healthy in a couple years and it is uncertain if he’ll ever be able to play again let alone at what level he comes back at. Then there is rookie Sterling Shepard, a player with promise in the slot for sure but the Giants are asking their second round pick to step up into a prominent place in their offense.

The tight end situation isn’t bad with Larry Donnell returning but a capable young backup in Will Tye. And the backfield is solid but leading rusher Rashad Jennings led the team with three rushing touchdowns a season ago, not exactly burning things up.

And the offensive line is unproven outside of Weston Richburg. Manning might be hit a bunch this year.

That’s not to say that things can’t go right but literally, everything will have to go right for the Giants to be a playoff team let alone average 28 points per game.

Cruz will have to be healthy and make steady, solid contributions to the passing game. Then there is Donnell who will need to make a full recovery from his neck injury and become a dominant red zone threat again. The backfield will need to be serviceable and begin capitalizing on short yardage near the goal line to tote the ball across the line.

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And the offensive line? Well, they will need to make sure that ironman Manning gets to complete another full season in the pocket for the Giants to have a prayer of living up to his proclamation.

The good news is that nothing is terribly far-fetched and the Giants should have a good offense, even if they don’t put up 28 points per game. If most things break their way from Cruz to Shepard, Donnell and Tye to the backfield and some decently good blocking, the Giants can have a winning team and a playoff season, perhaps the only numbers that truly matter to their quarterback at the end of the day.