NY Giants news: Giants home underdog, veteran DL added

Well, Harbaugh has made it clear that he is bringing a singularly focused mentality to the job. Whether that results in him building a playoff contender in Year 1 remains to be seen.

“Of course we expect to win,” he said. “How do you go out there and compete at this level if you don’t expect to win? If you don’t expect to win, you certainly aren’t going to. We expect and we plan to — and we’ll be playing to win every single one of our games this year. That’s our expectation. That’s our plan. That’s what we’ll be striving for. We think we can. We believe we can wholeheartedly.”

Mike Tomlin was on the opposite sideline in what turned out to be John Harbaugh’s last game as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the 44th and final matchup between two men who won a combined 14 AFC North titles, three AFC Championships and two Super Bowls.

Tomlin and the Steelers went 23-17 in regular-season meetings and the teams split their four postseason matchups.

Malik Nabers will win Comeback Player of the Year. Aaron Donald’s return might throw this prediction for a loop. But Nabers is just so important to the Giants’ success and quarterback Jaxson Dart’s development. The third-year wide receiver brings such a different element to the New York offense. While you never know how a player will respond coming off a major injury, if Nabers can return even somewhat to form, it’ll be huge for the Giants. His presence alone attracts so much defensive attention, it opens up space for his teammates. As Nabers said, “I feel like when I get out there, I feel like I’ll be better than what I was before.”

This summer was all about the revival for Deonte Banks. The second act.

But in the eyes of Henry Baker, who served as Banks’ cornerbacks coach for three years at Maryland, this was all about the adjustment — to the expectations that follow after being picked in the first round in a market like New York City — coming to fruition, too.