Despite Loss, a Star Is Born as Odell Beckham Breathes Life into Giants Offense

You can't admit this because it violates an unwritten rule in the world of professional sports, but when you're 3-7 (now 3-8), it becomes less about wins and losses and more about signs of progress. 

On Sunday night, despite losing their sixth straight game, the New York Giants showed some serious signs of progress, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. That's because a star was born against the Dallas Cowboys, with rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. catching 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. 

Receiver	REC	YDS	TD
1. Mike Evans	24	505	6
2. Odell Beckham	31	503	2
3. Emmanuel Sanders	29	445	3
4. Demaryius Thomas	35	425	3
5. Anquan Boldin	26	378	3
6. Jordan Matthews	21	362	4

The No. 12 overall pick out of LSU pulled in all but one of the 11 passes he was targeted on by quarterback Eli Manning, manufacturing one of the greatest rookie receiving performances in Giants history.

Receiver	Date	REC	YDS	TD
1. Earnest Gray	10/14/1979	8	169	2
2. Odell Beckham	3 weeks ago	8	156	0
3. Floyd Eddings	12/11/1982	5	148	0
4. Odell Beckham	Sunday	10	146	2
5. Bobby Johnson	9/2/1984	8	137	2

But if you watched the game, you'd know that this went well beyond the numbers. As you can see in the table above, it wasn't even technically Beckham's most prolific performance this season. But this was about the way in which he was making those receptions. 

Despite drawing a defensive pass interference penalty going into the end zone early in the second quarter, the dude made what many are calling one of the best catches of all time, using only a few fingers to somehow corral a high pass from Manning for six points. 

That's the clip that'll play for decades, but it was no fluke. Don't look past the phenomenal first-down grab he made just minutes earlier, stretching out with his elastic arms moving at python speed to pull in an off-target throw.

“I guess you gotta throw it just bad enough where they gotta make a great catch,” said Manning during his postgame press conference, which aired on NFL Network. “It was pretty spectacular to see.”

It was the type of thing we've seen from Beckham—at least to an extent—during pregame warm-ups. But he cemented a playmaker image the moment that catch was made. 

The Giants will fail to finish with a winning record for the second straight year and will almost definitely miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. Head coach Tom Coughlin's future has been called into question, and there's good reason to be concerned about the franchise's perceived trajectory. 

You can make valid arguments that the G-Men should move on from Coughlin, who is the league's oldest head coach, or general manager Jerry Reese, who has run some poor drafts in recent years. You can wonder aloud about that defense, which lacks bite and gave up 136 points in a four-week span in October and November. 

Hell, even Manning's future is up in the air. He'll be 34 in January and has a league-high 95 interceptions since the start of 2010. 

But one thing became obvious on Sunday night, and that's that the Giants don't have to worry about the top end of their receiving corps for many, many years to come. That's because 22-year-old Odell Beckham Jr. is officially the future of this franchise. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon