A Giant Disappointment

Is there any other way to describe the Giants loss yesterday? They were seemingly in control of a game at home and let it slip through their fingertips. Worse yet, they lost, on their home turf to Shawn Merriman, Phillip Rivers (both Merriman and Rivers were traded for Manning), and Norv Turner (one of the worst coaches in the NFL). Why? Because they couldn't execute when they needed to most. Let's take a look.

In the first quarter, the Giants, while on offense had a choice of either accepting a holding penalty and having 1st and 5 or declining the holding penalty and having 2nd and 2. I said they should decline and Ari, sitting with me watching the game said they should accept. The Giants were unable to get a first down on two chances and then elected to kick a field goal. They could have easily tried to go for it with less than a yard to go, but Tom Coughlin decided to play it conservatively and kick the field goal--one that Lawrence Tynes decided not even to kick. Instead of a big drive, the Giants were left with zero points.

So maybe it was foreshadowing what would happen to the Giants when they had first and goal later in the game on the 4-yard line. A penalty and a totally unimaginative and conservative driver later, the Giants were giving the ball back to the Chargers with a chance to win the game with a touchdown. And they did just that. 1st and goal with four yards to go. Four. That would have put the Giants at 6-3 going into their bye with a great chance of making the playoffs. They would have still had a chance at the division and home-field advantage in the first round.

Now the Giants need to hope for a big push after their bye. They sit now at 5-4 and play Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina and Minnesota the rest of the season. If you figure that they beat Washington and Carolina (which is no guarantee at this point), they still need to find 3 -4 more wins to have a shot at making the playoffs. .They've already beaten Dallas this season but both teams have gone in opposite directions since then. Can Eli Manning and the Giants get things back on track? One good sign from this game against the Chargers is that the Giants held the Bolts to only 34 rushing yards which had been a problem spot for the Giants so far this season. But can the defense step up in a big spot (boy do they seem to miss Steve Spagnuolo, Aaron Ross and Kenny Phillips)? Do they have the offensive firepower to put the fatal blow on teams when they are ahead? Can they get all their pieces healthy at the same time and make a run at a playoff position in the NFC?

This is a long way from the Giants 5-0 start to begin the season. The team looks tired and old and gets beat too often on both sides of the ball. And they've made some history too according to John Clayton: "The Giants are only the second team in NFL history to start 5-0 and then drop four (the other team was the 1989 Rams)."

The Giants will have one week off (during which I'm sure Coughlin will make sure they stay focused) and then come back home to face Atlanta. The Yankees season is over so the back pages are wide open for the G-men to find there way back on. They have a week to find a way to make those positive headlines. Hopefully by then they'll have figured out how to win again. If not, it'll be a long rest of the season for Big Blue.


Who do you think is going to make the playoffs from the NFC? Select 6 teams in the poll to your right (four division winners and two wild cards).