Of course they watched.
“Got excited, got upset, got excited, got all the emotions in play,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday, not specifying what got his blood flowing over the weekend. Not that he had to.
The Giants aren’t desperate for help but they aren’t about to refuse any, either, which is why when the lowly Browns took a lead on the Cowboys in the last minute on Sunday it was, if not cause for celebration, certainly worth a fist pump, or two.
“When you see Cleveland all of a sudden take the lead with just a little time left … ’’ Eli Manning said, before quickly changing his tune. “Tony [Romo] did a great job of making some plays, getting the pass interference and getting the win.’’
Yup, just like that, the Cowboys turned a 20-17 deficit in the final 67 seconds into a 23-20 overtime victory, pulling them within one game of the still-in-first-place Giants in the NFC East. No help there.
“Hey, it’s going to make this final stretch more exciting and it’s really going to come down to what we do and how we handle our own business,’’ Manning said.
The Giants are trying to sell “exciting’’ as an alternative to “collapse’’ and for now it still is a worthwhile investment. “For now’’ should be right up there with “Finish’’ when it comes to Giants’ rally cries because following the bouncing ball with this team is a dizzying ride.
“It’s crazy how quickly things are flying by and how things can change,’’ guard Chris Snee said. “We went from being comfortably in the lead to being back in a position where we’re going to have to fight. We’re ready to fight.’’
The Giants hope the TV viewing this Thanksgiving is more to their liking, as they will practice early in the day and go home to their families by 2 p.m., plenty of time to settle in to see if the Cowboys will move to within one-half game of them when they face the Redskins.
Objects in the side-view mirror may be closer than they appear, but, in this case, Hakeem Nicks isn’t looking.
“We’re not worried about the Cowboys, we played them already,’’ Nicks said, fairly dismissively.
When the soft-spoken receiver gives off a little edge you know he is feeling better about himself, which he says he is coming off a restful bye week.
“I literally just shut my body down,’’ he said. The season’s been a struggle for Nicks, dealing with foot and knee issues, but he sounds assured he can once again be the monster playmaker Manning has come to depend on, starting this Sunday against the surging Packers.
For the Giants to turn these final six games into a sprint to a division title and not an agonizing free-fall they most of all are going to need Manning, Nicks and Victor Cruz to do their thing, which is once again be a feared and lethal trio.
When last we left Manning, he had not thrown a touchdown pass in three consecutive games and playing the worst he’s played since his rookie days. There was no evidence to confirm the theory floated out there that his arm was tired, but after picking up a football for the first time in a week, Manning yesterday used all sorts of colorful terms to describe the sensation.
“It felt good,’’ Manning said of his arm. “Felt like the ball was coming out where I wanted it to, I think it definitely had a little bit more pop to it, that’s something you take a week off, it will definitely give it a little more fire.
“Usually after the bye you have a little more pep in our step and your arm’s a little more alive.’’
Manning said he made good on his promise that he would completely get away from football for the week. He went home to Mississippi, where his wife and daughter have been since Hurricane Sandy compromised their Hoboken, N.J., apartment. Manning said he didn’t even bring his laptop with him on the trip.
When he threw a few deep passes upon his return, Manning said he “didn’t have to struggle to get it out there.’’
That’s precisely what Nicks saw.
“Definitely he was putting it right there where it needed to be,’’ Nicks said. “You can’t doubt Eli, man. We got full confidence in Eli and his arm, just like he got confidence in us. We got his back as a team and he got our back.’’
Now all that’s left is for Nicks and Cruz — and whoever else wants to join in — to take flight and run under those passes launched from Eli’s rejuvenated right arm.