New York Giants: When The Going Gets Tough...

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I still remember being excited for the NFL draft way back in April. Following the draft and investigating all of the picks the G-Men made. I remember how excited I was about the free agent signings as well. The team looked so deep on paper and the combination of the draft picks and free agents seemed to address the areas of concern perfectly. Jerry Reese had proven once again, why he is an elite GM in the National Football League. 

Then Big Blue started the season at 5-0 and had earned 1st place in the NFC East. Everything seemed to be clicking in New York and the Giants looked like the team to beat in the NFL. Many experts had them ranked the No. 1 team in the entire NFL. The standards by which they make these calculations vary but nobody could deny that the Giants were a very good football team. 

I slowly began to notice more names popping up on the injury reports. Some of them placed on season ending IR (currently six players) and some siting out of games for weeks at a time. I became concerned but I wasn't panicking. Then players began dropping like flies. At one point, eighteen different players showed up on the injury report or on IR. I began to get nervous.  

Week six arrived and the injuries could no longer be ignored. The New Orleans Saints exploited the 2nd stringers and thoroughly beat the G-Men like no team had done before this year. I thought to myself, the team will regroup and perform better next week. Being 5-1 is not a bad way to start the season.

I was wrong. The Giants would end up losing the next three games. Their record dropping to 5-4 and they found themselves in third place in the NFC East.

This brings us to the current day and the bye week at week 10. No doubt, Coach Coughlin chopped the season up into three or four sections and set goals for the team in each quarter or third of the year. With seven games left in the regular season, the Giants need to come up with a plan of attack that will allow them to make a run at the playoffs. It is difficult to imagine the frustration of the coaches who are not only trying to make the team healthy but also make the players stepping up perform at the same level as the starters. The clock is ticking. 

The schedule following the bye week doesn't help Big Blue much either. Five of the seven teams they face are dangerous teams. Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia & Minnesota have all been playing very well. The Giants have only three days off in between the Atlanta game and the Thanksgiving day game against Denver. Washington and Carolina seem to be the only two teams the Giants should beat. The other five games are question marks at this point. At full strength, the Giants could dominate any of these teams. But having so many players injured or playing injured, you have to see the writing on the wall. As bizarre as it may sound, the Giants number one concern should be getting healthy and fast. 

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This is the attitude Big Blue will need to compete in the later part of this season. They know they will be facing some very good teams in the near future and certain players will need to step up. The bad taste of losing must resonate through the locker room and fuel this team to at least five victories. If they finish the regular season at 10-6, then they may still have a shot at the playoffs. That is the reality plain and simple. 

The season is not over yet and anything can happen. The Giants will need to take one step at a time and concentrate on their November 22nd game against Atlanta. Winning that game would be the first step and make things interesting at the top of the NFC East. Having Dallas and Philadelphia lose in week 10 would be a help as well. The Cowboys face the Packers and the Eagles play San Diego.

The Giants have a tough road ahead of them but I believe they will make the playoffs again this year. Getting some of the injured players back into the mix will help. Building confidence week by week as they win games will also help. Each player must focus on his job and responsibilities and perform. The clock is ticking and the regular season will be over before you know it.

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