that there is a legitimate chance the Giants are playing a very meaningful game in three weeks against the Cowboys, which is what dreamers like me were still hoping for after an 0-6 start.
Yes I know it is not a given the Giants beat either the Raiders or the Packers, minus Rogers, at home, and if they don't, then I will join "the season is over crowd".................but the chance that they do beat them is legitimate
Add to that the Saints having a letitmate chance to beat the Cowboys in New Orleans, and what you have is a meaningful game coming up Sunday.
I realize there is nothing new here and nothing all the rest of you haven't figured out for yourselves. But often during the first 8 weeks of the season when I shared a "season isn't over yet sentiment" there was ridicule directed my way.
Not saying the Giants are going to get right back into this NFC East race, but they are playing a meaningful game in Nov. and have a chance to do so beyond that, if they win a few games they will be favored to win
All along that's what I have been rooting for, some meaningful games to look forward to.
If they do get on a roll, let's see where it takes them.
Win and they get one more week.
To some that means, our defense is finally shaping up....to others, it's just a game of matchups....
All I know is, this offense is what it is.....with this OL, it's just a matter of time during a drive that it screws up by missing a block, taking too much time to get the play off, or creating some kind of penalty.....that trickles down and affects the play of Eli, the receivers, and the RB's....
To think this defense has become a shutdown defense, that they somehow have seen the Fewell light, is more in part by the lack of competition, rather than competition....
But once again, this defense faces an injured Pryor, or his backup, and the following week it faces a Rodgers-less Packer team....who knows, maybe the defense gets some kind of confidence playing like this.....or maybe the floor falls out when they actually play a team with an offense....
We won't know the answer, until we play Dallas again....and then the season really begins....
I too think this team can and will be in it, regardless of how they played for most of the first half which to be honest was just awful, they have improved greatly over the last 3 games (should've been 3 in a row if not for that bad pass by Eli). The East is so bad we will stay in this thing for most of the second half of the season. As long as the Giants don't lose more than 2 games they will have a shot at stealing this division. The remainding division games will be huge and I love the stance the team is now taking. This is now nothing but an 8 game season starting with Oakland. I like our chances the next 3 weeks.
Anyone who has paid attention to football the last few years, particularly Giants football, should know making leaps three weeks into the future is foolish. How many 'The Giants are definitely winning this week!' threads did we see here the first six weeks? They were all wrong. So now you're tripling down on those.
That's the point I was making.
but im not allowing myself to think it.
The Raiders could easily have a bounce back game - Just like Philly did and folks wrote them off a week ago.
If we can keep that up, we'll be competitive in every game.
Stink at the beginning then confound an befuddle the experts by snatching the gold ring from those "who deserve it"
There is no denying the fundamental problem which is the O-line, but recall the this team won their last Superbowl with basically the same problem (I believe they were last in rushing stats). The big difference was that they had two hard running guys (Bradshaw & Jacobs ) who never got the long yardage but got the crucial 3-4 yards, when they had to (mostly on their own).
This year, Bradshaw was shipped out of town (for bad feet) and Brown broke his leg. Wilson could not make his own holes, so we got blown out by Denver, Carolina and KC - for this very reason.
There's five reasons to be optimistic at this point (which weren't around earlier - Beason (who has solidified MLB); Jacobs (who is still and outstanding pass blocker and can hurt linebackers trying to take him down); Hillis who is still young and a darn good football player; Brown (almost as good as Bradshaw was, same hard-nosed style); Hill (probably the best athlete on the team. next to JPP), who is playing very well.
Don't turn the ball over, continue solid run D and run the ball for 3-4 yds a carry. If we can do those things, we'll be in every single game no matter who the opponent is.
Beat the Raiders and then let's start talking about Green Bay. No sense in looking ahead, even realistically, because if they lose this week, it's all but over.
Maybe be you think it is foolish, but the whole idea of being a fan and getting so much joy out of a win from our team, or being so upset about a loss, which most of us do..........is foolish.
But in this case, the team in the state it is in, you never know what you're going to get from drive to drive, let alone game to game.
Because Giants fans have never seen a team play terrible one week then lights out the next?
Because Giants fans have never seen the Giants not just play down to their competition, but beneath it?
Because Giants fans have never seen the Giants embarrassed by a second string, scrub QB?
So with all that knowledge being a fan has left me with, it wouldn't occur to me to assume I know what the Giants will be playing for (or not) in 3 weeks. Much less to tell a whole group of fans what they 'must admit'. It strikes me that the size of the pom poms on display here is greater than the insight. Which is your prerogative.
Just as it's this fan's prerogative to observe the premise here seems foolish.
They can simplify their schemes more than most other teams can, and reap instant benefits. I don't think either are naturally inclined to do so, but with the addition of Beason on defense, and Hillis on offense, they were forced to
Perhaps you will agree that, my three week scenario is more "probable" than it seemed at 0-6.
In any event, it makes this Sunday's game more fun for me to anticipate, because there is a "realistic" "glimmer" of hope, that there might be meaningful games left in this season. Now that sounds realistic to me.
Although after everyone else won in the NFC east this past Sunday that special feeling in the air did dwindle just a tad.
Odds are the Raiders are going to have a bounceback game of some kind, as they're no where near as horrible as looked on Sunday, and any slight uptick in an opponent's performance signals potential and even likely trouble.