This New York Giants defense is a tough unit for a lot of reasons. I want to look at the other side of the ball, where we see a unit that certainly has struggled to consistently put points on the board and keep quarterback Eli Manning upright since about the midway point of last season. Still, this is Manning, and the Eagles' defense has to be ready to go on Sunday afternoon with the talent this team has at the skill positions.

Shot 1 - On offense we all know the three WR targets that must be accounted for. OBJ, Brandon Marshall & Sterling Shepard are 3 tough covers pic.twitter.com/cG1vDImbny — Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 22, 2017

The Giants have one of the best receiving corps in the NFL with Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, and Sterling Shepard. Beckham is the star. A dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, Beckham can run past you, around you, and through you. He can win short and deep, inside or outside. He's one of the best players in the league, and the Eagles showed last year that they were willing to spend extra resources in the secondary to contain him.

In my eyes, this is what led to the addition of Marshall, a player who, even at this stage of his career, demands respect on the outside. Marshall gives this team a big, physical target who is both reliable and aggressive at the catch point.

Shepard, now in his second year, is going to be a playmaker for this team from the slot. He's quick, he's crafty, he's tough, and he's really reliable. Like Cole Beasley and Jamison Crowder in this division, he's one of the better slot receivers in the NFL. For an Eagles secondary that comes into this Sunday banged up, this group of receivers will be a challenge.

Last year, the Giants led the NFL in reps of "11 personnel," which is another way to say three-receiver sets. The number 11 stands for the number of running backs and tight ends on the field, so in 11 personnel, there is one back and one tight end. For over 90 percent of the snaps last year, the Giants were in this kind of a look. That's been head coach Ben McAdoo's way of attacking defenses.

In April, I was a bit surprised when the team drafted tight end Evan Engram in the first round out of Ole Miss. Many analysts didn't view Engram as an inline type of player, meaning that he couldn't play every down right away in the NFL. I wondered how they would be able to use Engram this fall since the Giants were such a strong three-receiver team a year ago. Would he only play on passing downs? Would they try and make him a three-down player right away? Would they change their philosophy?