Perhaps the media can back away now.
For at the foreseeable future, I do not have to hear the constant slurping on how good our team is.
After weeks and months of hearing that our team was not that good, the praise finally came. The problem was that it came in a very sinister way. Not having the Patriots (season ending injury to Tom Brady) or the Cowboys (losers of two of their last three) to hype to the public anymore for reasons of sound intelligence, they finally descended upon the Super Bowl champions after their 44-6 thumping of Seattle last week.
Whether it is power rankings (which are a measure of nothing but to fill page space), or silly discussion (Is Eli Manning better than brother Peyton) littered with hyperbole, it infested itself in the Giants locker room. It was so much that it was difficult to ignore and easy to get caught up in the newfound love.
But once the Giants took the field on Monday night against the Browns, the hard lesson of reality set in. Just because the Browns were 1-3 did not mean they were a pushover in their own building. And just because the media anoints you the best team does not mean that you actually are. The games still have to be played and played with efficiency, toughness and poise.
It was something that these Giants developed on their surprise playoff run and carried into the first four games of the season. On Monday though, it was lacking severely. Timing appeared to be off on offense and assignments were missed on defense. The Browns controlled the line of scrimmage from the outset and forced them to play “catch up” from the outset. When it is time to get a stop on defense, they mysteriously could not get it done. Manning, who has shown incredible maturity, reverted back to careless turnovers that led to points the other way.
Maybe this was needed. They were going to go undefeated or even go 15-1. The Giants are a very good team, but not a great team. It still has its flaws that will show up from time to time. If they were truly a great team, there is no way; even in the hostile environment against a desperate team would they have lost.
Great teams put a chokehold on their opponent and would not let go. Of course, this past Monday’s performance could have been nothing more than a fluky set of circumstances that played into what took place on the field.
Losing brings out your flaws that you would normally not examine closely in victory. The inability to consistently score points inside the 30-yard line (two interceptions). The ability to generate pressure on the quarterback has been inconsistent in two of the last three games. Of course, when you are winning, this does not get much attention. But as the Browns began to pick apart the Giants defense on Monday night, it became apparent that the team is still a work in progress and much has to be done to make this a complete team in position to repeat as world champions.
Admittedly, I fell into the same trap even though I did my hardest to guard against it. Every time a positive mention was made of the Giants, I attempted to be cynical about it and look at it as the media trying to brainwash the public (including myself). Before Monday, I simply felt that as long as the Giants played “their game”, there was no way the Browns would have a chance. As I looked at the upcoming schedule, I always had the team pegged for a 6-0 start before traveling to Pittsburgh in two weeks. The possibility of a 7-0 record and the injury racked Dallas Cowboys got my thinking in loftier terms. My arrogance may have gotten the best of me despite taking measures against it. While I am nervous before every game, there was no way I could have foreseen the results of Monday night.
But this is good thing. Losing is never good, but every so often, it is good to be humbled. To be honest, I did not want the team to be undefeated for any indefinite part of the season. The last thing I wanted was talk of “Will the Giants go undefeated?” to permeate the week, threatening to spoil my enjoyment of the season unless another Super Bowl championship was the result. All off-season and into this year, I have taken this 2008 season as nothing more than gravy after winning it all last year. However, the once a week marathon of the four (and sometimes five) month schedule has so many stock market type ups and downs that it is tough sometimes to keep a level-headed approach to these games.
Win two in a row and you are printing Super Bowl tickets.
Lose two in a row and you are asking when the coach will be fired.
Such is life in the NFL. It is the design of the league.
The Giants will take their hard loss and regroup for this Sunday’s game with the 49ers. For us fans, we will absorb this loss too and be back cheering again on Sunday. Losses will happen along the way this year. It is how we respond that will matter most.
The same can be said for the Giants.
No comments:
Post a Comment