Super Sunday comes early for the New York Football Giants.
The countdown to Super Bowl XLVIII stood at 73 days Wednesday, but the 4-6 Giants are of this mind-set: unless they avenge their season-opening loss to the Cowboys, there will be no division title, and if there is no division title, there will be no playoffs and no Super Bowl XLVIII.
From the time they fell to 0-6, one game at a time has been their mantra.
Especially this one game now.
“We beat ourself that first game,” Jason Pierre-Paul said, “but that’s the past.
“This game right here is like a Super Bowl to us.
“It ain’t no playoff game, it’s like a Super Bowl to us.
“This is going to be a bloodbath out there. I’m sure they’re going to be ready, and I know my boys will sure enough be ready to back it up.”
It isn’t just a revenge game for the Giants.
It’s their season. Again. You can’t afford to fall to 4-7 and two games behind the Eagles and Cowboys with five to play. It is the only way they should think.
“It’s going be another barn burner,” Justin Tuck said.
“It’s going to be one of those games that you know you’re going to have to be in the cold tub after, and getting treatment after, because it’s going to be a lot of, I would say some violent hits. Some out in the open, some in the trenches. It’s going to be one of those … like I said, down South we call ’em barn burners, and it’s going to be that.”
Prince Amukamara, who must contain Dez Bryant, concurs with JPP: “We’re trying to earn the right to play more games, and our backs are against the wall, and we know that it’s like it’s one-and-done for us. Especially that this is a division game, so we know it’s a big game.”
Antrel Rolle: “Personally, I feel like this game is going to determine the outcome of the season. I think this is such a huge game, being they’ve already beaten us once. I think this is a game, we can’t walk away with a loss.”
Tuck, with the countdown calendar to Super Bowl XLVIII blaring 73 behind him, won’t call it a Big Blue Super Bowl.
“I hoping he’s wrong,” Tuck said. “I hope we actually play in a Super Bowl.”
Why are you downplaying it?
“I’m downplaying it because it’s not as important as a Super Bowl,” Tuck said.
But he will say this: “We’re kind of looking at it as a must win.”
“It’s going to be all or nothing,” Victor Cruz said. “It’s going to be all those traditional Giants-Cowboys games that you’ve seen in the past.
“They don’t like us, and a lot of this team doesn’t like them, so it’s going to be a ballgame, no matter which way you look at, and we just have to make sure we’re on the other end with a victory.”
Brandon Jacobs missed the first Cowboys game.
“They are really fun ’cause you know you’re going to get their best. You’ll have a whole bunch of hard-hitting, physical play going on, and I’m with that,” Jacobs said. “I like that. That’s why I always like to play against Dallas, with them being America’s Team as people call them, and so many fans around. It’s so … sickening about ‘the ’Boys, the ’Boys, ’Boys.’ ”
JPP, the pick-six hero of the Packers game, rested his shoulder Wednesday. He’s over his back issues, he said.
“I look forward to this game,” Pierre-Paul said. “First game, coming back from back surgery, it wasn’t a pretty good game for me at all. It was sick watching it. I’m basically like loafing all around the field, and that ain’t me.
“So this week, whoever lines up in front of me is going to get it. They’re going to get it.”
Tyron Smith will be standing between JPP and Tony Romo, the first legitimate quarterback the Giants have played in over a month.
“He’s a very good tackle,” Pierre-Paul said, “and I’m going to be very excited going against him to see what he got. His 100 percent, and my 100 percent, we’ll see which 100 percent is the best.
“I expect myself to be all over the field, like I always show up against them, for the four years I’ve been here. I expect to be out there making plays and helping my team get a win. It’s not a secret or whatever.
“They’re coming here, and we’re going to give ’em our best game.”
Terrell Thomas likes what he has been hearing. “When JPP talks, JPP produces,” Thomas said. “I hope he keeps talking. I hope you got good quotes out of him, because when he says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it. I think he’s getting healthier, he’s getting more confident. He’s our best defensive player, so when he’s playing at a high level it just makes it that much better.”
Eli Manning loves these big games. “At this point, every game is important,” Manning said. “You need to get wins to stay in the playoff picture.”
Tom Coughlin, who seems to believe he has a team to believe in again, who has never stopped believing in this team, has forever presented to his teams motivational and/or inspirational quotations to help keep their eyes on the prize.
“The nature of what your philosophy is and what your beliefs are sometimes can be magnified by utilizing someone of stature who may have said it better,” Coughlin said.
And so on Wednesday, Coughlin offered up this gem to his comeback Giants: “People who achieve great things that the world will never forget, start out by accomplishing small things that the world will never see.”
The world will see whether there is a chance for Coughlin and the Giants to achieve great things again on their Super Sunday.