Last night was a wonderful, seasonal autumn evening in London, great for walking around downtown with just a jacket.

Today it’s lousy. Wind, rain, pretty cold out. And we’re going to be stationed outside at Wembley Stadium, as is the custom for all the soccer reporters there. Have to see, I may scurry inside and set up there if it’s too chilly. Most likely, I’ll stay outside. Hey, when in Rome, er, uh, London…

A friend of mine made a very astute observation last night. The raw price of goods and services here are almost identical to what we’d pay in the States. In other words, if a subway ticket costs you $5 back home, the Underground costs about five pounds here. If a cab ride costs $14 back home, it costs about 14 pounds here. The problem is the exchange rate. It’s more than two dollars to the pound, so we really get hit hard. Just shows how the dollar has fallen in Europe. Went to Italy this summer and it was almost $1.50 per Euro. Oh, well, the price of doing business.

Meanwhile, the Giants have a little business of their own to attend to. Let’s ask a few questions about the Dolphins today.

1) Will the Giants’ running game be effective?

Well, it should be. Linebacker Zach Thomas is out with whiplash, and the Dolphins’ run defense was ranked 31st with him in there. No jokes, please. Thomas was hurt in a car accident, not from watching rushers wiz by him. The point is, Brandon Jacobs and Reuben Droughns should be able to run consistently today, and maybe break a few big plays. If that happens early, the Giants will have an easy time of it.

2) Can Michael Johnson hold down the fort at strong safety?

Yes. The seventh-round rookie, filling in while James Butler recovers from hamstring and ankle injuries, showed himself to be a fast, aggressive kid. Sometimes speed can cover up mistakes, which I’m sure is what happened in the second half against San Francisco last week. But that’s okay for now. Getting a whole game of experience will only help Johnson. Let’s face it, the Dolphins don’t have much going for them offensively, anyway.

3) How about handling the quarterback?

Glad you asked. Cleo Lemon can make some plays with his feet, but he’s not a great passer. Look for a lot of Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora in the backfield today as the Giants try to get him out of the pocket. He doesn’t have a real deep threat, but at least Marty Booker is accomplished. Shouldn’t be too hard to cover those guys.

4) Will the prospects of an idle week have any affect on the Giants?

Probably not. The Giants do pretty well going into bye weeks. They’re 14-4, actually. It’s coming out of the bye that gives them problems. Tom Coughlin has probably planned a long weekend off for them if they win, so it’s in their best interests to get past this odd game and into the bye at 6-2.

5) Will the Giants play down to 0-7 Miami’s level of competition?

Don’t think so. Unless they’re still dragging from jet lag (they shouldn’t be, since the Londoners set back their clocks today and afforded everyone an extra hour’s sleep), I don’t think they’ll falter much. The thing about this year is that they really haven’t played down to the lesser competition. They might not have looked great at the start, but they eventually go on to comfortable wins. They outscored their last two opponents 64-25, and Miami is in worse shape physically than either of those teams were.

Prediction: That last question is the key. On paper, the Giants should run away with this one. In the past, it would come down to a field goal either way. But this year the Giants have played so well on defense that close games haven’t been an issue. I think they keep it up today. Giants 30-14.

Cherrio, er, Ciao for now.