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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants big-bucks, revamped defense found a way to hold off the Dallas Cowboys in the Ben McAdoos debut as coach. Facing the New Orleans Saints on Sunday will show whether spending more than $100 million to help Steve Spagnuolos unit was cost effective.The Giants (1-0) arent going to be facing Dak Prescott, a rookie making his first NFL start.Its Drew Brees this week. The 37-year-old leads the league in passing and comes into the season with 10 consecutive years of passing for more than 4,000 yards, with no less than 4,870 in the last five, which includes three 5,000-yard campaigns.If those numbers dont impress the Giants, all they have to do is recall last year: Brees passed for 511 yards and tied an NFL record with seven touchdown passes in a 52-49 win.I dont even remember that, Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie quipped.He does, though.When you are playing a guy like that who has been doing it for a long time, you know he has a good arm and has some good receivers who can definitely take the top off a defenses, and you have guys who understand football, and the way he throws and gets it out quick, Rogers-Cromartie said. Man, its going to be tough.Its also going to be tougher for Brees. He will be seeing a lot of new faces.Defensive tackle Damon Harrison and end Olivier Vernon are new, and end Jason Pierre-Paul did not play last year because of his fireworks accident.Middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard is new, as are cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple, safeties Darian Thompson and Nat Berhe, who was on injured reserve last year.I would say while its the same scheme for the most part, Steve Spagnuolo, theres a lot of good players over there that seem to be playing really well, Brees said. I dont really look at last year as any type of indication as to how this is going to go. I think theyre much improved. Theyre playing really well right now. I have a lot of respect for coach Spagnuolo and his scheme. Im sure theyre going to be ready for us. We need to make sure were ready for them.New Orleans put up 34 points last week as Brees passed for 423 yards and four touchdowns. The Giants edged Dallas 20-19.SECONDARY CONCERNS: With Delvin Breaux going out for six to eight weeks with a broken leg, the Saints are relying on a trio of cornerbacks with only one regular-season game to their name: starter P.J. Williams and reserves DeVante Harris and Ken Crawley. However, a pair of recently acquired veterans could suit up in New York -- Sterling Moore and B.W. Webb, who both practiced this week. Moore knows the Giants well from playing three seasons in the NFC East with the Cowboys (2012-2014). He also played against the Giants last season with Tampa Bay.GIANTS DEFENSIVE BACKS: The Giants limited Prescott to 227 yards passing and no touchdowns. His longest pass was 21 yards.I feel like we have guys that can match up, said Janoris Jenkins, who held Dez Bryant to one catch for 8 yards. We have Eli Apple and DRC. We can match up all the way around the board with anybody as long as we play within the system and play within the scheme.Jenkins said Brees is a `blast from the past, noting he throws deep and works the hash marks most of the time.POUND IT: Running backs Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen combined for 113 yards on 24 carries in the opener for New York. Expect them to get the ball more after seeing the Saints give up 167 yards on 26 carries in the loss to the Raiders.MORE BREES: Brees looks as good at 37 as he did at 27, if not better. Hes coming off his 14th career 400-yard game, which tied him for first for such single-game production with Peyton Manning in NFL history. His touchdowns included a thread-the-needle throw over the middle to Brandin Cooks, and a Saints-record 98-yarder to Cooks with a pass down the left sideline. That one was so well-timed the speedy receiver never seemed to break stride. With 36 yards passing, Brees will move into third in that category, eclipsing Dan Marinos 61,361 yards.BACK TO NORMAL: Giants receiver Victor Cruz returned in style from a series of injuries, scoring the winning touchdown in his first game since October 2014. This will be his first home game since that season.The only thing that is indicative of things being back to normal is you guys not asking me about my body anymore, Cruz said, and asking me about how I am feeling. But yeah, for the most part it just feels like business as usual, getting out there, playing football again and worrying about our next opponent.---AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLQuinnen Williams Youth Jersey . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. 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Curtis Martin Womens Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable.HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Nearly five years after an intense battle on the racetrack for the Sprint Cup championship, Carl Edwards found himself in the middle of a different kind of firestorm.The afternoon show on Boston sports talk radio station WEEI was broadcasting live from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A day earlier, the hosts of the show started plugging their trip to the racetrack. The hosts, including a former major league baseball player and former NFL player, debated whether NASCAR drivers are athletes.They had some harsh words, with former NFL tight end Christian Fauria saying Carl Edwards is not an athlete.Right off the bat with Edwards on the air, the hosts came clean about what they said the day before about Edwards, who got to hear some of the comments. Fauria, one of the hosts, also said a day earlier that Joe Gibbs was the worst football coach he ever played for in his 13-year NFL career. Fauria and the other hosts laughed about that comment as well in welcoming Edwards to the show.Edwards, nearly on cue, smoothly joined the brofest: My god ... and this is the best Boston has?And then he rationalized with them: No. 1, you dont have to be an athlete to drive a race car. ... I might argue that guys in both of your sports are probably not the best athletes. Edwards explained that he believes his fitness level helps him on the hot, taxing days -- that it allows him to relax and focus instead of feeling worn out.Its hand-eye coordination, you have to be somewhat brave. There are a lot of risks, Edwards said. You have to be pretty technical. ... Its a semantic thing.Heres the deal: You want to get in my car and give it a shot? Its a skill set. Lets say Im the best athlete in the world, the decathlete gold medalist, I cant go line up in an NFL game and do it.Afterward, as he walked back to his hauler to get ready for qualifying, Edwards said he enjoyed the segment.It was great, Edwards said. At the end of the day, its cool for those guys to come to the track. Theyre not race savvy and ... to be able to talk to a new crowd and have those guys ask those questions and talk like that and bust right through the door, I think thats cool.In other words, Edwards appreciated the opportunity to promote his sport and perform at his best in a public setting.Now four months later, he gets to do that on the track. Just like that radio show, he appreciates the opportunity he has to add a Sprint Cup trophy to his mantel and participate in what could be an epic finish to the season.Hes had championship opportunities in the past, ones that ended in epic disappointment. He finished tied for second in points behind Tony Stewart in 2005. He was second behind Jimmie Johnson in 2008. And then in 2011, he finished tied with Stewart, losing the title on a tiebreaker as Stewart had five wins in the Chase. The final Stewart victory came with Edwards on his tail at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Edwards is one of the four drivers with an even shot at the title Sunday at Homestead. Whoever finishes best among Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano will be crowned the champion.Its an opportunity to go do that again, to go be a part of that weekend with everything on the line -- thats as good as it gets, Edwards said. When that race was over in 2011, I wanted to line it up again and do it again. Obviously I wanted the outcome to be different.I really enjoyed that competition, leading up to it, the whole week, qualifying, it was great.The 37-year-old Edwards ranks fifth among drivers with the most wins (28) who have not won a title. He is one of threee drivers who have finished second multiple times in the standings without winning a championship.dddddddddddd.That could feel demoralizing, but its not too shabby for a driver who once passed out business cards looking for a ride before he got his start on a part-time basis in a truck in 2002.He can remember those days and what they taught him. Hes no Busch, who drove for Roush Fenway Racing at age 16. Hes no Johnson, who had some backing from Chevrolet to break into NASCAR and then joined Hendrick Motorsports at a time when it was one of the top teams in the sport. Hes no Logano, who signed a major NASCAR deal before he turned 18.Edwards crew chief, Dave Rogers, also knows what its like to struggle. His initial Cup crew chief job, with Jason Leffler in 2005, ended in 12 races, and he wound up in the Xfinity Series before working his way back atop a pit box in Cup.We have two things in common, Edwards said about him and Rogers. We have experience. We understand how to do the job.Because of everything weve done, were really grateful for the opportunity. We really value this chance to go win a championship. Thats cool. Its pure racing.Rogers, crew chief for Denny Hamlin last year and for Kyle Busch from late in the 2009 season through 2014, has never had a chance to win a title at Homestead.Weve both been in situations where weve come up short, and we know what its like to lose, Rogers said. Now we want to go down there and try to figure out how to win it. ... I know Carl was disappointed last year that he fell short.The 11 [team of Hamlin] was disappointed last year that we fell short. But now were teamed up together, our first year together, were going down there with the option to win it, and were just excited about it.If Edwards learned any lessons from his past championship runs, especially from 2011, hes not detailing them.I learned a lot [in 2011], he said. Not going into specifics about my mindset, Im really grateful for that experience. Yeah, I wanted to win just as bad as I want to win every year. But that experience -- I wouldnt trade it for anything else.Edwards wouldnt, however, say that he had to lose a championship in order to win one.You dont have to, he said. We happened to. One way to look at it is in 2005, we had a chance and I was like, Oh we will win it next year. In 2008, I was like, That one hurt a little bit.In 2011, I was like, I want to go again right now. [It means] I will be really appreciative of the championship. It will mean a lot to me because of those battles.Edwards and Johnson are the two drivers among the four who have not competed in the elimination-style Chase championship event. In each of the last two years, Edwards has been knocked out in the semifinal round.He has the best average finish of any of the finalists at Homestead as he tries to join an elite group of drivers -- Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte -- who have won titles in both the Cup and the Xfinity Series.Really, this whole thing for me is simple: We have a shot to win the championship and weve got the team to do it, Edwards said. Im excited for the opportunity. The last two years ... you go to Homestead and youre like, Damn it, I know if we just were in that group we could have a shot at this.So now we get the chance. Thats as good as it gets. Its like passing out those business cards saying, Somebody just let me drive the car, please. Now we get to be a part of it. Its cool. ' ' '