Every team has question marks at this time of the season. With the probable exception of the Lions, Browns, Jaguars, Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams and Bucs, the other 24 teams are either Super Bowl contenders or pretenders.

Who and what are the Giants?

CONTENDER: Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora looked exceptionally quick and agile chasing down the quarterback and the running back. Both of them look like men on a mission, and Mathias Kiwanuka, entering his contract year, doesn’t plan on coming off the bench. Rookie No. 1 draft Jason Pierre-Paul should have recorded a sack, which means if you’re looking with blue-colored glasses, he was in the quarterback’s kitchen.

PRETENDER: Antrel Rolle and Ahmad Bradshaw didn’t start because they missed a team meeting. Rolle was the Giants’ free agent prize, and is being counted upon for leadership, which was sorely lacking last season.

When Tom Coughlin was asked about it in the postgame press conference, he said: “That’s between me and the players.” The coach has his players’ back. The players need to have their coach’s back.

CONTENDER: Steve Smith made a beautiful downfield catch against Bryant McFadden. He simply wanted the ball more than the Steelers’ corner did. He’s no longer The Other Steve Smith, and trust me, he believes he can be a downfield threat for Eli Manning and not just a possession receiver.

PRETENDER: Hakeem Nicks was ejected four plays into the game because he was provoked into punching cornerback Ike Taylor, who also was ejected. Nicks is a dynamic player who is poised for a breakout season. If this teaches him a lesson about discipline, it will have been worth it.

CONTENDER: Bradshaw looked like a bigger, stronger Barry Sanders on one short run and bounced outside effortlessly on his 9-yard touchdown run. There is no reason why this should not be a 1,000-yard season for him now that he has sweet feet again. And Andre Brown, back from the dead, looks like a keeper.

PRETENDER: Brandon Jacobs was a surprise late scratch because of a sore neck. Let’s look on the bright side: Maybe the unscheduled rest will be a blessing in disguise for the Raging Bull, who was hobbled and a shell of his battering ram self a year ago.

CONTENDER: Safety Kenny Phillips was in for just six plays. But he reported no swelling in his surgically repaired left knee, and general manager Jerry Reese continues to hold out hope that the young playmaker will join Rolle as a Batman & Robin duo in time for the regular-season opener against the Panthers.

“He looks like you want your safeties to look,” Reese said. “He’s really a prototype-looking safety.”

Phillips’ workload will now increase.

“We’ll try to get him more plays next week,” Reese said. “We’ll get him more plays in practice as well, and slowly integrate him back into the defense, and try to get him to Carolina.”

Veteran middle linebacker Keith Bulluck, the 33-year-old tackling machine who was imported to be the starter, was also on the field for six plays in his Giants debut.

“It’s exciting to see that many athletes out there at the same time,” Reese said.

PRETENDER: Any healthy tight ends in the house?

CONTENDER: Aaron Ross looked like he was back at Texas with that 45-yard punt return. Just wondering: Who was that imposter wearing No. 3 who muffed that punt? Couldn’t have been Victor Cruz.

PRETENDER: Rhett Bomar is one tough dude, but he’s not ready for primetime. Nor should anyone expect him to be. Then again, if Jim Sorgi has to play, fuhgeddaboutit. Welcome back, Eli.

CONTENDER: Coughlin is obsessed with stopping the run. A healthy Chris Canty, Barry Cofield, Linval Joseph and either Jay Alford or Rocky Bernard, backed by Bulluck and Rolle and Phillips, motivated by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, will mean tough sledding for Felix Jones, Marion Barber, LeSean McCoy and whichever faded running back Redskins coach Mike Shanahan prefers.

PRETENDER: What if the aging offensive line doesn’t hold up? If Shawn Andrews isn’t Shawn Andrews ever again?

SERBY SAYS: The Giants have as many playmakers who are 28 years old or younger as anyone. Manning and his receivers will have better chemistry. Bradshaw is a stud. Here comes the pass rush again. CONTENDER.

steve.serby@nypost.com

