Giants’ Landon Collins calls season “a success,” but “not complete”

It was a good season for the New York Giants, a success according to All-Pro safety Landon Collins. But it wasn’t anything more than that.

Collins made his playoff debut on Sunday and was far from being at fault in the Giants 38-13 loss at the Green Bay Packers. After a season, his second in the league, where Collins showed he was a dominant safety it was a disappointing end to the season.

Still the Giants finished 11-5 and made the postseason for the first time since 2011. Still, Collins expected more and while he said “It’s a definite success” he wasn’t going to term this season anything more than that.

“It’s not complete unless you win the Super Bowl. It’s not complete at all. It’s a success just from the outcome that came with having a new coach, the season we had last year, and the overall unity that we accomplished.”

Truthfully, Collins helped hold a revamped Giants defense together with his play during the first half of the year. At one point, he led the team in tackles, interceptions and sacks, underscoring just how important the second-year safety out of LSU is to the defense.

And he stayed a vital cog as the defense came together over the season’s final month and became one of the hottest units in the league. With the vast bulk of the starters under contract, this defense could be poised to be an elite group in 2017 and beyond.

“Phenomenal. We have the same guys that we had this year,” Collins said of the Giants potential on defense. “Just the energy that we have and the confidence that we have. The guys know each other. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. We feed off each other. It’ll be fantastic if we get all the guys to come back.”