This is a great opportunity

.

At least not in comparison to their immediate competitors in the NFC LEast.

Greg, that's on you. I don't see it that way, I see an improving team that could go on a roll and everything seems to be setting up that way. Some fans can't handle adversity and find it easy to quit and look to next year and the draft. That's not me.

you didn't see a team that sucked against the Vikings?

A team that just days earlier picked up a back off the street who would start and make a difference in that game.
They obviously didn't play great, but well enough to win. That was a win to build off of, and that's exactly what they did and I think will continue to do. Time will tell.
I don't know how faithful fans tap out going thru some adversity. Last time I checked the teams still play a 16 game schedule.

... Giants are 2-6. 2-6 sucks. Giants suck....right now that is.

They beat an awful Viking team with a QB who shouldn't have been playing and a shitty Eagle team who played its 3rd string QB for two and a half quarters of the game (and they couldn't score a TD).

Forget the Raiders. Giants should beat the Raiders at the home(who might be a slight step up from Eagles and Vikings).

Litmus test are the Packers. Beat the Packers and then the conversation begins about taking this team seriously.

If nothing else, they (and really the awful NFC East) has given all of us a slight hint of optimism (I'll take it). But based upon the body of work in the first eight games of the season. Hard to say the Giants are anything more than a below average team right now.

Could it change? Sure... but as of right now Giants just aren't a good team.

What they have given delusional fans like myself on October 30, is a reason to hope - really for two reasons: a) Coughlin teams are notoriously streaky and b) #10 always gives you a reason to believe that he can do the unthinkable.

Their run game still sucks, outside of one game in Chicago (against PS DTs), no matter how badly people keep trying to claim otherwise. The passing attack is still pathetic even if they haven't had INTs the past two games.

I understand people see an awful NFC East, but the Giants, so far this year, have shown themselves to be the worst of that awfulness and maybe going forward they'll be less than bad than the Eagles and finish third instead of fourth, but the hole they've already dug is just too deep and the schedule too rough for them to climb out of it now. I can't entirely fault hope, but history isn't going to be made, at least in any good way.

I for one like the fact that the onus for the rest of the season will be largely on the D. Beason and Hill and TT back have been excellent additions, the D-line is coming around at DE a bit, all 3 of Tuck, Kiwi, and JPP playing better. Moore might very well be the "surprise" pass rusher of the 2nd half.

Then on O, you have Andre Brown returning, and if Eli and Nicks get back to 80% of what they were two years ago, maybe we'll have an O too, if the O-line progresses from miserable to merely "below average."

I'm not optimistic about what this team can accomplish over the next 8 games, but I'm looking forward to see how they evolve nonetheless.

I pray Webster can recover and play to 80% or more of what he once was too, we'll see.

offense is playing, even without the turnovers, for the team to be competitive... that's not going to happen.

I just don't see where the optimism for the offense improving to any significant degree would come from either. Eli's been broken (not just inconsistent, as he can be, but broken) for a year now. Nicks has been a below average WR since he got stepped on by Tampa Bay last season. Randle probably still doesn't understand what went wrong on that pick-6 against Chicago or any of the other screw-ups he's had. Connor improved the FB spot, but the TE bunch is still utterly putrid. The OL isn't getting new parts -- Diehl isn't suddenly going to be only piss poor instead worst in the league horrible, Cordle isn't going to morph isn't O'Hara circa 2008, etc.

Hugely, and it woudln't surprise me re either of them. And O'Donnell, g-d willing, will take over more and more of the in-line TE role from Myers (I hope!) I think O'donnell can block a bit, at least...

The OL will still stink, but maybe not as badly?

The dude has been a Jekel and Hyde guy his whole career practically - even within single games. He's certainly capable of playing much, much better than he has so far this season.

What has Dallas or the Redskins shown you that has you so convinced that this 2 game lead is insurmountable? Dallas defense is just as bad, or arguably worse than ours. Same goes for the Redskins defense. Our offense is the same offense that finished in the top half of the league for the past 5+ years.

Its not crazy to think that the offensive line can start to gel about, help the running game, which will in turn help the passing game. Granted we did not score a lot of points last week, but we moved down the field with ease against the same Eagle defense that effectively shut down Dallas' offense the week before.

Against the lowest rated defense in the league. If we were faced good QB's we'd be 0-8. Not much more needs to be said.

And the Eagles gave up more yards to the Cowboys (who shot themselves in the foot multiple times that game) than to the Giants in this great shutdown of them.

The rest of the NFC East isn't any good and they haven't shown me much of anything, but that doesn't mean the Giants aren't worse and haven't shown even less.

might well put a crimp in Dallas' offense going forward too.

beyond being called an "optimist". I pray you're right, but I don't see how they do it. They have to sweep the 3 remaining games against the East (can surely be done) and take only one loss against Oakland, Green Bay, Seattle, San Diego, and Detroit. The Giants have not shown us they're capable of pulling that off this season.

if they take a fairly significant hit, and they've got an easier schedule, with a two game lead in hand.

and will choke. Like we did last season

and end up surprising.

In fact, in a couple of those seasons the season was basically reversed, a hot start with a cold finish. So, if we can get a shit start to end with a bang - why the hell not?

I think we ve done that several times before.

They can do it again. Depends on the OL.

1. They can't block for the run or pass.

2. Their WR's can't run the right routes or catch the ball when they do.

3. Their coaches can't make in game changes to counter act what the defense is doing.

Hard to make a run playing like this

We can't block
We don't make tackles on "D"
We don't cover on special Teams

They will fold. We need to win our next 2. If we split its over.

And I don't think it'll be long before they pass both in the standings.

Dallas? I don't know. That game in a few weeks could be a big deal. The Giants have to beat Oakland first, though. One week at a time.

The Giants aren't very good this year but I also don't know if they're quite as bad as their record indicates. The turnovers were just so killer during that 0-6 stretch. I really felt like we could have beaten Dallas and Chicago if we hadn't given it away.. but no excuses. They have no more room for error. Do or die.

Not necessarily.

We can win 2 of our next 3 and still be alive but one of those 2 wins HAS to be against Dallas.

I think Dallas will lose to the Saints in a couple weeks. The game is in New Orleans. So if that happens.. even if we lose to GB but beat Dallas, we'll be 1 back with 5 to play. Completely do-able.

and I think they'll play it that way. I'm sure TC will have some wise motto and get the team on board to start anew in the second half. Maybe they can finally finish the season strong - like 6-2 perhaps. We'll see how they come out of the gate. That will be the true indicator IMO.

...

I would feel a hell of a lot more confident if we go 2-0 between now and the Cows. But you are right.

Simms. The new motto is already being preached. Watch the Sights and Sound video on Giants.com from the Eagles game. It is said a few times. "Can't be 10 & 6 without being 2 & 6" I am sure that is going to be repeated in two weeks as "Can't be 10 & 6 without being 3 & 6"

but in 2 weeks I can see them beating the rRaiders.

Assuming they do,at that point not having lost in 5 weeks, is it a given they lose to Green Bay?

There are ome things to consider:

What kind of running game will the Giants have, assuming a healthy Jacobs, Hillis, Brown?I can easily see that trio pummelling the crap out of almost any defensive line, and tiring them out by the 4th quarter.With Connor blocking, mind you, and that much more time in the system.

Beason,JPP,Hill,Thomas,Pugh,Cordle,Hillis,Connor.

That 9, NINE changes to the starting roster, since opening day.10 if you count Diehl switching in for Snee.

Out of 22 spots 9 are different.That's 40 percent difference since what we put on the field against the Cowboys. This is NOT the same team we started the season with.

Tuck is playing better
JPP is playing better.
Willims improves

Mcbride continues to develop

O line is improving.
Randle is Improving.



Say for arguments sake a TE finally gets it figured out.
What of jernigan continue to do what he did last game?
What If Nicks, in a contract year, starts playing like himself after the bye, after some rest?

Where is the glaring weakness at that point?

You all sure they lose to the Packers at home? I'm not.We have 3 road games the rest of the year. We don't leave NY till December.

While it's possible the players may not be enamored with Fewell, the defense hasn't given up a point in 10 quarters.

Both the offense and defense have made adjustments.

While the players are on vacation this week the coaches are self scouting, and more adjustments will be made.Say what you like about the OC and DC, it's clear to me that the HC has not lost the team.

if the Giants go on a run, and Wilson comes back like week 12 or 14, a good ground game gets better.

Even as it stands Eli has more time. I expect that to improve, not get worse as the season wears on.I'm sure he will turnover the ball again this season, but I'm fairly certain INTfest 2013 is over for Manning.

As the weather turns cold I can see a running game that punishes opponents.A pass rush developing.A passing game that starts to go from short to long.

This isn't a dead team.

We were a bad ,winless team. We aren't anymore.
Now we are a bad team with a losing record.I can see after the Green Bay game us simply being a team with a 4 game winning streak and a losing record.

It's possible we become a good team, and I am pretty certain we will be by seasons end.If we do become a good team, somewhere along the way we may shed that losing record.That starts to become unlikely, and a reach. As for the rest I think it not so hard to imagine.There's also a huge difference between unlikely and Impossible.

May not be their team, but their record.

All I know is that there's still a chance here and no matter how slim or shitty it seems.. the bottom line is that they need to make up 2 games on Dallas in 8 weeks of football. You can throw the records out the window. That's the bottom line.

Am I being way too positive or glass half full? Probably. But I have to be. It felt like it took an eternity for this year to start during the offseason.. it's here, we're in the middle of it and we're not out of it yet. I'm not giving up. This team looks like they're fighting harder at 2-6 than they were in Baltimore last year during a

I just want to see this team find a way to get through November and still be alive and in a position to make it happen. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I couldn't care less right now.

in Baltimore during a crucial late season game with serious playoff implications*

Quote:

A month from now the biggest problem the Giants have Great White Ghost : 8:12 pm : link : reply May not be their team, but their record.

The OP is highly optimistic, but as he mentioned, the NFC and this division is weak as fuck.

And with today's NFL, it's only about who's left standing..

The main problem against them is the hole they dug left zero room for error. and that's a tall task.

and potentially David Wilson healthy again.

Watch out Cowboys!

When the Redskins were 3-6, no one thought that team had a chance on the planet. And that was in a year where they needed 10 wins to win the division. We could easily be 3-6 in a week and a half and not even need 10 wins at the end.

Even in 2011.. after games like the Seahawks game where we lost to Tavaris freakn Jackson or the Redskins game in Week 15.. the thought of this team even making the playoffs let alone winning a Super Bowl seemed silly. They looked like an average-bad team a couple of different times that year.

You just never know. Almost any other year, we'd already have dug a hole too big. But we caught a huge break with the division sucking total ass this year.

The main issue is, they used up all their wiggle room.

the Giants totally need to keep in mind what the Redskins did to them last season.

3-6 became 10-6, NFC East champ.



They have FIVE home games to play. Make them count.

I think they almost have... but not yet.

Like I said before.. I think they can afford one more loss.. MAYBE 2 if things really break favorably.. but we cannot lose to Dallas on the 23rd.

If we beat Oakland and Dallas but lose to GB in the middle, we're still alive.. barely if Dallas beats Minnesota (they will) and New Orleans but only 1 game back and very much with 5 to go if they don't beat New Orleans (good chance they lose that game).

So yeah there's really not much wiggle room at all but I think we still have a lifeline left. Hopefully we don't use it any time soon.

Quote:

So yeah there's really not much wiggle room at all

bitch.

with games @ San Diego, Home vs Seattle, and @ Detroit.

I hope they can get 2 out of those 3 games.

I said there's still a tiny fuckin' bit.

See the difference shitbag?

you shitbag.

There's no fuckin wiggle room, end of discussion.

Yes.

Is it likely to happen again? Very unlikely.

Am I just going to accept the team sucks with 143 minutes of shutout football going and counting? Hell fucking no. I'm a fan. When the math eliminates them, then I'll give up.

.

If the defense keeps up their play the giants could look like the 2011 playoff giants. But the TEs need to start playing lights out. OL too. And Eli has to hit Nicks on these TD passes

They are not making the playoffs. The offense is a disaster. No pass rush. Injured. Awful. Although, I think they can get back to prominence with Eli. I think he will get one more ring with the Giants and it is going to be a great story.

let's go to the Super Bowl!

...

Hillis, Beason, Conner, Jacobs ....

All of them have made major contributions.

Jacobs, among all of them, is the most forgotten (despite putting 100+ on the Bears); a game the Giants came within one dropped pass of winning.

Then, there are the unexpected contributors (Thomas, especially, coming off NFL defensive player of the year) and Will Hill. The loss of interception phenom Stevie Brown was a great loss (not well replaced by Mundy); Hill represents amazing talent at the position.

So going into the bye week, the team can catch it's breath and is positioned to "shock the world".

I was referring to a stretch of 2-6 at some point in that season. Nice try, though.