Burress: Centre of the debate

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It would be easy to think the New York Giants thrive on chaos. The more there is, the more it seems to focus their attention on business on the field with laser-beam intensity.

The way they brushed aside the Redskins last weekend with the fallout from the Plaxico Burress self-inflicted nightclub shooting still landing around them was a lesson in concentration of the highest order.

And it follows a recent trend where they shrugged off the distractions caused by former player Tiki Barber and the disgruntled Jeremy Shockey last season, and turned them into a collective positive in their surprise march to Super Bowl XLII. It is almost as if this Giants outfit, from the top to the bottom, can absorb all the negatives and transform them into a kind of armour-plating which they carry on to the field with them.

But there has to be a saturation point at which even this formidable organisation can no longer soak it all up. And I believe that point is fast approaching. The amount of media scrutiny on Giants Stadium in the last few days has been truly extraordinary, with lurid headlines on both front and back pages of the New York press, hours of debate on the airwaves and all the TV talking heads devoting their attention to it at some stage.

You simply can't escape the 'Plaxico debate' anywhere, and the cumulative effect of this concentrated barrage of unwanted attention simply has to take its toll, especially on basic things like their routine practices, which have already been disrupted several times by the need to deal with the various consequences.

The build-up to Sunday's game at home to Philadelphia, normally one of the biggest on their calendar, is rapidly being occluded by the off-field clamour. It is not so much a case of preparing for an arch-divisional rival as surviving the prolonged media onslaught.

It will probably be a relief for the players to take to the field on Sunday afternoon, which may work in their favour, but their all-important preparation will not have been as thorough and well focused as normal. And it is also possible their temporary 'escape' from the Plaxico furore might even make them a little demob happy - pleased just to be away from the incessant questions and less than 100 per cent attentive to the job at hand.

Tom Coughlin will certainly make sure the distractions are kept to a minimum - no-one circles the wagons quite so well as the disciplinarian head coach - but a certain amount of drop-off from their regular authority is inevitable. The real issues can therefore be classified as three separate questions, all of which are likely to have a certain amount of impact on the Giants' current air of invincibility in the NFC.

1) How much of a drop-off will there be come game-time on Sunday?

With the way they performed at Washington, it's hard to see a big loss of concentration in just a week. And, the simple fact is, this team could operate at 75% of its recent level and still be too good for most of the league. Unfortunately for Coughlin's men, Sunday's opponents are a dangerous bunch, all but written out of the play-off picture but still keen to put one over their old rivals - especially in the circumstances.

There is a sudden desperation about the Eagles which acknowledges that their next defeat will mark the end of any post-season hopes, and that is the last thing the Giants need just now. It doesn't get any easier in the final three weeks either, as showdowns with Dallas, Carolina and Minnesota (two of them on the road) all promise a similar measure of unremitting energy.

Happily for the Giants, their early-season dominance has put them in a near-impregnable position, and they would have to lose all four games to lose their grip on the top seeding and that is just unthinkable, even in such turbulent circumstances.

2) How much will they lose without Burress on the field?

This is easier to answer and the response is almost certainly: not much, if anything at all. After a career year last season - 13 touchdowns from his 88 receptions, including the clinching score against the Patriots in Phoenix - his 10 games this term have been less than stellar. In those 10, he has 35 catches for 454 yards and a paltry four TDs. Take out his Game One explosion of 10 receptions for 133 yards, and it is just 25 in nine games, or less than three grabs per outing.

Happily for the Giants, they are incredibly deep at wideout, with Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon and Sinorice Moss all capable of filling the void. Indeed, combine their stats for the season to date and you have 78 catches for 894 yards and four TDs. Add Amani Toomer's veteran savvy and the pass-catching ability of tight end Kevin Boss and running back Derrick Ward and this is a team that shouldn't miss a beat without Plax.

3) Will the fall-out affect middle linebacker Antonio Pierce?

Defensive captain Pierce has become 'the other man' in the whole sorry story and it is still unclear whether he faces any further police scrutiny for his part in the nightclub episode. As of Wednesday night, Coughlin was counting on Pierce to be in the line-up against Philly, insisting that his involvement was a "completely different case".

Pierce has been the glue on the Giants' defence this season, but it's hard to imagine the week's microscopic media attention not having some impact on his steely demeanour, although against Washington, he played as if nothing unusual had ever occurred. Whether he can continue to shake it off or becomes further embroiled in the sorry story are the two real unknowns here, but I suspect the latter remains a distinct possibility.

Not so happily for the Giants, they can ill afford to lose any of Pierce's influence and on-field contributions. He has picked up much of the slack after the retirement of Michael Strahan and the pre-season injury to Osi Umenyiora, and his combination of team leader and dynamic play-maker just cannot be replaced. His 66 tackles (50 solo) also lead the team and he has two sacks and two forced fumbles.

Therefore, it is the defensive side of the ball with most to lose in this whole sad saga. That remains the team's strength, but Coughlin is going to have to work hard to keep the 'glue' from coming apart.