What, did you really think the Giants were going to lose to that team on Sunday?
Surely when rooting for the Giants you still keep one open, one eye closed and keep a bottle of Pepto Bismol on the side just in case, but there was no need for any of that.
The Dallas Cowboys are a team in name only. Pro Bowl players still exists there, but most them are a creation of media hype or overinflated bypeople that simply do not watch football correctly. Seeing them now and they are nothing more than a collection of players. They are not a T-E-A-M.
Looking at the New York Giants, and they are the consummate “TEAM”. It is a thing of beauty of watch. No one player is bigger than the team. It all goes back to Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s main principles:
“Team first. Team last. Team always.”
I didnt know until last year what Coughlin was trying to preach and get through to his players. But after reading "The GM" and his own book "A Team To Believe In", you begin to understand that complacency is not something that exists within this man. His dedication and drive to be successful did not go away after winning the Super Bowl. Each and every day, he strives for perfection and his players have bought into it completely and (most) will run through a wall for him.
As the Giants slowly went about dismantling the Cowboys in Giants Stadium, it was difficult not to notice this serious difference. It was seen in the playoff game at Texas Stadium in the NFC Divisional playoff game last January and it has continued to play out through the first eight games of the 2008 season.
At the same time, you are seeing a team beginning to develop the mentality of an assassin. Going on the road is not tough terrain. You think after winning three straight playoff games on the road to get to the Super Bowl and then beating the Patriots that they are going to be scared of going into a place like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia?
Please.
Winning in Giants Stadium in the last two years was never an easy task. It was a place where they would regularly hear more boos than cheers, and saw more losses than wins. This year, the Giants are 5-0, turning the Meadowlands into a “House of Pain” for opponents. If this continues, you think one of these other NFC teams want to make that trip into that house in January with that crowd and attempt to get a win?
All of this was in play from the word “go” on Sunday against the Cowboys. The Giants knew that Dallas wanted to establish their defense early if they were going to have any chance of competing with them on this day. There was even this foolish thought that Dallas was even going to win. For someone like me who lives off pessimissm, even I had a sense of calm and self-assuredness.
What happened?
75 yards traveled in 11 plays for a Giants touchdown. It was disgusting in its easiness. Any hope that Dallas may have even considered was destroyed right there in the first quarter. They could have called it a night right there.
It could have been easy to simply rest on laurels and be content, but no. The Giants wanted to stomp them and rub their noses in it. From 14-0, 21-7, then 28-7, they continued to put their foot on the gas and were not stopping. The final score was only 21 points but they could have named the score if they wanted to.
You know what was the unique part was? The team still did not play its best game. Eli Manning’s statistical numbers were not eye popping. There were still some communication issues on routes (one miscue with Burress led to an interception for a touchdown), and Manning did turn the ball over three times. Even the players said so afterwards.
Winning by three touchdowns? Sure it is nice, but there is always room for improvement.
This is bad news for the rest of the league.
Despite the toughness of the remaining eight games of the schedule, the hardened toughness of this team and its championship mettle will not allow them to wilt. In many ways, they smell the possibility of potential greatness that awaits them if this season ends in Tampa with another Super Bowl title.
The Cowboys (despite missing players) found all of this out first hand on Sunday. Until further notice, they are not to be heard from or seen. Watching the Redskins (especially after watching their loss to the Steelers) leads you to the conclusion even though their record may be very close to the Giants; there is a sizeable gap that exists between the two teams. Only one team currently stands in the way and they play in Philadelphia.
With a win Sunday night at “The Linc”, the Giants can put the 5-3 Eagles out of their misery. Like the Cowboys, they are two games behind and they would be three games in the loss column behind with seven games to go.
Translation: It is over.
Don’t think this is not on the minds of the Giants. The media and the rest of the league may be back on the bandwagon after taking a three-week vacation, but they are (and I am) not listening. This is another chance to let the Eagles, the NFC East, the NFC and the entire NFL just how good this team is. On a national stage with the world watching, a group that loves to prove all of its doubters wrong gets one more chance.
They would not want it any other way.
No comments:
Post a Comment