The New York Giants aren’t quitting on their season, even if the season for all intents and purposes has quit on them.
Sitting at 1-7, the Giants are technically still alive and have a chance at the postseason. Technically. They could rattle off eight wins and be above .500 and possibly sneak in to the playoffs. It is possible, then again, given their 51-17 loss this past Sunday at home to the Los Angeles Rams…what is a mathematical probability and what is reality are two vastly different things.
Giants head coach Ben McAdoo talked to his team on Wednesday, underscoring that he thinks the team is better than last week, better than their recent form. In fact, he things they “have a run” in them.
Maybe McAdoo has a point. After all, to date his Giants have their fans running to the bathroom during most games.
But McAdoo might have a different definition of the runs in mind.
“Talked about let’s begin again. That was really the message for them. Don’t buy into the lies. The lies that your feelings are telling you. This thing is not about feelings. It’s a decision and let’s make the decision to begin again. We talked about, you know, you may think I’m a little bit out there, but I believe we have a run in us. I believe to the core we have a run in us,” McAdoo said. “We have to be hungry. We have to get our football right. We have to be disciplined. Be where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there. Do it as well as we possibly can and do it all the time and it’s between our ears. In the locker room, if you’re in a pro locker room, whether you’re a player or whether you’re a coach, the word ‘legacy’ shows up quite a bit. It’s important to all these guys and it all starts between the ears. So, that was the message to the players.”
The message, at least on the surface, seemed to spark the team a bit, something the veterans say resonated in practice.
The Giants were pegged to be in a battle with the Dallas Cowboys this year for the NFC East title. Instead of fighting for a division, the Giants are now seemingly locks for a top pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
What a fall from grace for a team that is loaded with veteran talent.
“I just know in this league the way it goes, it’s so cyclical. You look at it, who’s the best team right now? Philadelphia is 8-1, they are the best team. They needed a 61-yard field goal,” lineman Justin Pugh said. “It’s crazy how competitive and close these games are. It really comes down to confidence. We got to get our mojo back and getting some guys healthy. Hopefully [Olivier Vernon] can go this week, getting Janoris [Jenkins] back, getting me back out there. We can kind of spark these guys a little bit. We signed Kelvin Sheppard today and he kind of brought some juice out there in practice. A veteran guy that’s been around before so that’s good and I’m excited about that.”
