All they had to do was win that very important Monday Night game in Landover, and they were in!
The Giants had their season right in front of them. They had another playoff appearance in their sights, and the chance to defend their Super Bowl crown, and they dropped the ball. So now you have a team, who won it all the season before with a 9-7 record, sitting at home with the same exact record. So much for the team saying that they were better than that 9-7 record. So the question here is, what went wrong for the G-Men? How did they go from having the division title right in the palm in their hands to sitting home wondering what happened to what was a promising season? I'll tell you exactly what happened: they lost fight, focus, and hunger.
That Monday night in Landover, Maryland was basically a playoff game for the Giants. The game started out as if the Giants were gonna win. Controlled the clock, had long drives, even RGIII didn't look like the superhuman he's been for most of this season. What killed the Giants big time in that game was the penalties, and inability to score a touchdown once reaching the red zone. That has always been a killer for this team under head coach Tom Coughlin. It's not his fault so much. Us Giants fans point the finger right at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, or as we like to call him "Killdrive". You'd expect them to have a bounce back game in Atlanta, and ended up scoring a goose egg in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons came to play, and also wanted revenge from the blowout loss by the Giants in last year's wild card game in the Meadowlands. The next week in Baltimore didn't get any better. From the snap, the Ravens basically controlled the game. You can look on the players faces. They looked down and out. No fight, no surge of energy, no type of motivation. Sure, we can put up 42 on a pathetic Philadelphia Eagles team, but when it was time to show that type of energy, it was too little, too late. Needing Chicago and Minnesota to lose, and they both ended up winning. The defense of the New York Football Giants showed no type of life at all whatsoever, and the offense looked totally out of sync. We can easily put the blame on Eli Manning for not putting up the yards that he did in the early part of the season, we can blame Kevin Gilbride for his offensive playcalling, or lack their of, but ultimately blame goes on the whole entire franchise for not putting forth any fight or motivation to even repeat as champions.
If you ask me, the New York Football Giants have the players and coaches to become a top tier team in the NFL for years to come. They're a couple of pieces away from truly being a contender and a dominant team in the league. What doomed this team was everything. Suspect play calling, and effort from each and every player. Yes, there were some bright spots in those horrible games down the stretch, but ultimately you have to blame everybody. We all watched in front of our very eyes, a Washington Redskins team that was not even close to making the playoffs, and only needing one Giants loss to catch fire. That happened. We all watched a Giants team who finally gave the Saints a taste of their own medicine and put up 52 points on them in the Meadowlands, just to get blown out completely by Atlanta and Baltimore. If Jerry Reese is paying attention, this team is in need of a new secondary, faster linebackers, and a new pieces on the offensive line so Eli can definitely have time in the pocket next season. If i had my way to be near this team this past season, i'd walk right up to them and tell them how badly they sucked. Maybe that'll put some pep in their step and get them to play with heart.
Next season, the Super Bowl comes to the Meadowlands. East Rutherford, New Jersey. If the Giants play with heart, pride, and passion, they can be the 1st NFL team to ever play in their home stadium in the big game. I have the ultimate faith that the Giants will be there next season. Fight and play hard for it, and it will happen. Believe.
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