The Nfl

GIANTS AGAIN

Now we are going to find out what the 5-1 Giants are made of. A day after taking sole possession of first place in the NFC East, surprising New York learned that one of its indispensable players, wide receiver Mike Sherrard, had suffered a hip injury that sounds hauntingly like the one that felled Bo Jackson. Sherrard, the Giants' leading receiver, partially dislocated his left hip and suffered a fracture of the back wall of the hip socket in the Giants' 21-10 win over the Eagles on Sunday at the Meadowlands.

Coping with Sherrard's loss—he will miss at least three months, the club said Monday—will give the Giants of coach Dan Reeves another opportunity to confound their doubters. Heaven knows they've been debunking a slew of misconceptions throughout this young season.

Misconception No. 1: The wholesale loss of talent from the good old days would make them a 5-11 team.

A lot of fans remain attached to familiar players even when those players are no longer producing. Before the '91 season the Meadowlands faithful grieved over the departure of tight end Mark Bavaro. The mourning resumed in this preseason with the losses of linebackers Carl Banks and Pepper Johnson and the demotion of nosetackle Erik Howard. "I still get questions from the Sons of Italy on Bavaro," says general manager George Young. "Hey, we can't stuff them at the taxidermist and keep putting the same guys out there for 10 years." Giant fans are drying their eyes now that they've discovered that a bunch of free agents—led by Sherrard and linebackers Carlton Bailey and Michael Brooks—and young draftees like linebacker Corey Miller are remaking their team into a contender.

Misconception No. 2: The defense, 26th in points allowed in '92, did little to improve itself in the off-season.

"We lost great players on the defense," says Miller, "and replaced them with guys lots of people had never heard of. I'm sure some people thought we'd go 1-15."

Through Sunday's games the Giants were third in points allowed—11.8 per game. Their linebacking has been superb. Brooks and Bailey are one-two on the team in tackles, and Miller has four sacks, two interceptions and two pass deflections in the past two weeks.

Misconception No. 3: With Rodney Hampton injured, the offense was through.

Through four games, Hampton was averaging 108 yards and New York was leading the NFL in time of possession. Then, on Oct. 7 Hampton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. The rushing burden has fallen to Lewis Tillman, and in the space of eight days, the Giants ripped the Redskins and Eagles by a combined score of 62-17, with Tillman darting and powering his way for 273 yards, 169 of them on Sunday. Hampton is due back on Oct. 31 against the Jets.