George Willis

George Willis

NFL

There’s no next week for disappointing Giants

The blue and red football cleats were piled in the middle of the locker room, and empty cardboard boxes were strategically placed nearby to collect any other unwanted belongings.

A few players walked around gathering signatures from teammates on footballs and helmets. Phone numbers were exchanged. These are the signs of a Giants team preparing to end the season.

The last practice before the last game had ended moments earlier, though coach Tom Coughlin was in denial.

“I don’t like the word last,” he said Friday. “I actually told [the players] I’d like to slow it down. I’m not one that’s in favor of the 16th game of the year being this weekend. I wish we had some more to play.”

There is no next week. Not for these Giants. No late season run to the Super Bowl like in 2007 and 2011. No playoffs. No parade. A journey that began in July ends Sunday with the regular-season finale against Washington at MetLife Stadium. “One last war with my brothers,” is how defensive tackle Linval Joseph put it.

The Redskins (3-12) have gone through their own horrifying season, somehow derailing the career of their franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin III, along the way. But the Giants (6-9) are focused on the reality of their own misery.

A 0-6 start put them in a deep abyss, though four straight wins offered some hope of recovery. But a 24-21 home loss to the Cowboys on Nov. 24 wrecked their spirit and two weeks later they were mathematically eliminated with a 37-14 defeat at San Diego. They have known for a while this Sunday would be their final game. But that hasn’t made accepting the reality any easier.

“This will be two years in a row for us where we haven’t made the playoffs,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “It’s just something that you don’t want to get used to. You have to shift your focus to thinking about what next year can be because obviously this year is kind of a lost cause.”

There may not be a next year for a lot of these Giants. It’s a group that needs to be upgraded at several positions if it’s going to contend for another Super Bowl title any time soon. The offensive line needs quality at center and guard. Help also is needed at running back and wide receiver where Hakeem Nicks is likely to leave through free agency.

The defensive line could take a hit if Joseph and Tuck aren’t re-signed and the secondary needs depth at cornerback. Coughlin also will have to take a hard look at his coaching staff, and general manager Jerry Reese can’t miss in free agency and the draft.

Yes, there’s plenty of work that needs to be done between now and the draft and the opening of training camp next August. But there is one more game to play, and Coughlin is demanding maximum effort. “We expect to play as hard as we possibly can,” he said.

If the Giants beat the Redskins, they will have won seven of their final 10 games. That will be the positive about this season. After 0-6, they didn’t quit on their coach or each other.

“They fight, they persevere,” Coughlin said. “They’re resilient. They’ve stuck together. That’s the No. 1 thing is they stayed together as a team and believed in each other. There’s an awful lot of team values that have come through the adversity and the difficulties that we’ve had this year. But it is to be honest with you, a very, very coachable group.”

It’s a group that largely will be forgotten in the storied history of this franchise. There will be no banners with the players’ names hanging among the past Super Bowl winners. No trophy to add to the four Lombardis already in the case. Instead of playing in a Super Bowl in their own building, the Giants signed their own eviction notice.
Sunday, they say good-bye to each other and their season.