This is not about proving anything or receiving credit, because the Giants cannot garner much of either this afternoon. There are few plaudits for beating up on the Eagles. Winning is imperative, losing is not an option.
That about sums up the state of affairs with the Giants, who look to get well at home and position themselves, after one month, within striking range of NFC East-leading Dallas. It is never too early to start making moves in your own division, and considering the Giants have already lost the only divisional game they’ve played, what takes place today at Giants Stadium is akin to making those mortgage payments or filling out those insurance forms. It may not be terribly interesting, but it has to get done.
It will be difficult to take the Giants seriously if they cannot get past an Eagles team that is 0-3 and has scored five points in the last two games. Think the Giants are offensively challenged? Those guys in Eagles uniforms haven’t scored a touchdown in 35 consecutive possessions. And you thought “Seinfeld” was about nothing.
For the Giants, inflating their record to 2-2 means they will have at least stayed in touch with the Cowboys (2-0) and Redskins (2-1), two teams who at the moment look to be the class of a weak division. Before the Giants face Dallas Oct. 18 on “Monday Night Football,” the Cowboys face the Cardinals at Texas Stadium and the Eagles in Philadelphia. Translation: The Cowboys should be 4-0 when they invade Giants Stadium. The Redskins (2-1) are home today to face the Panthers before a bye week. Translation: The Redskins should be 3-1 after four games.
If the Giants somehow are 1-3 after today’s game, there will be too much distance between themselves and the Cowboys and Redskins.
“We dropped a game last week [at New England] where we should have won that one, and we didn’t play well against Washington,” said running back Gary Brown, whose sprained left knee has healed, allowing him to play today for the first time this season. “So there is a sense of urgency around here because we don’t want to be 8-8 anymore. You want to go to the playoffs. You don’t want to be 8-8 anymore and have to worry about somebody else losing to get into the playoffs.”
Talking playoffs in Week 4 is getting ahead of ourselves, but the time certainly is right for the Giants to get on the right track after a disjointed start. The surprising 17-13 victory at Tampa Bay in the season opener was all about defensive pressure. Since then, there’s been one lousy defensive effort (against the Redskins) and a solid one in a 16-14 loss to the Patriots.
There has been absolutely no consistent offensive flow, an embarrassingly bad running game and little evidence that Kent Graham is going to be the answer at quarterback. This doesn’t mean Graham is one game away from being replaced by Kerry Collins, but it does mean that he needs a feel-good performance to blow away all the doubt circling overhead.
“We’re not an offense with a superstar carrying the offense,” Jim Fassel said. “We all need to be functioning across the board. Not any one guy is going to carry the load.”
Fassel is being a realist here. No doubt, he feels pressure to get his offense in gear, and what is growing increasingly more evident is that this is going to be a struggle. There is no one player on the scene who strikes fear in opposing defenses, and without complete cohesion, the offense is not going to amount to much.
Fassel knows what he’s dealing with. His quarterback? “We don’t have a situation where no matter what happens, the quarterback is going to be making plays all over the field,” he said. His running backs? “[We don’t have a situation] if you hand the ball to the running back and we block six of them, he’ll take care of the seventh and make him miss.” His receivers? “We don’t have a guy they have to double-cover all over the field.”
The outcome? “We can be good enough, but we’ve got to all function together.”
The Giants probably don’t have to put everything together to get past the Eagles, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important to start doing things right. Bad habits are hard to break.
“We got to realize this season can get away from us real quick if we don’t get things turned around,” defensive tackle Keith Hamilton said. “People better get some can-do attitudes around here. I’ve been here long enough to make excuses about this and that; it’s time for people to play. It’s not panic time, but it’s time to get this win. We need this one.”