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Even in bad seasons, there are good players. Even when expectations are not met, there are those who rise above the expectations. A study of the Giants’ roster, though, reveals why they are about to be on the outside looking in come playoff time, why a year after ringing in the holiday season so joyously someone spiked their eggnog with castor oil, why they have regressed to the point they aren’t merely losing, they are barely competitive.
Every team has a Most Valuable Player, but a search party is required to find that player on this team. Sure, Stevie Brown and his seven interceptions is the greatest surprise of the season but he’s not exactly a coverage monster. He probably earned himself a contract for 2013, but if he’s the player who made the most positive impact, something, in the words of former Giants coach Dan Reeves, is bad-wrong.
Find the player who rose out of the rubble. Consider it a dare. Eli Manning was being hailed in some circles as an NFL MVP candidate in the first half of the season, but even then it was a serious stretch and he’s put together some god-awful performances when it counted most. We all know Eli is worth more than his numbers, but when you’re ranked 17th among all quarterbacks in the league in passer rating, just behind Carson Palmer and just ahead of Sam Bradford, you haven’t had much of a season.
Where else can we look on offense? Victor Cruz proved his breakout 2011 season was no fluke, as he’s matched his output in terms of receptions (82) and touchdowns (nine), but his yards per catch of 12.7 yards is way down from his gaudy 18.7 yard mark. Cruz has been tough and remarkably durable, making a statement he deserves to be here for the long haul and he’s probably the closest there is to a team MVP. Still, no “wow’’ factor.
Tight end Martellus Bennett in his first year with the Giants has 54 receptions and no one would have anticipated he’d be second behind Cruz. He’s solid on the field and entertaining off it, but not a difference-maker. Ahmad Bradshaw likely won’t get to 1,000 yards — he’s at 908 — and plays so hard that his body can’t keep up. Will Beatty at left tackle hasn’t missed much time and is worthy of the starting job but not someone to build around. No one else on the offensive line has come close to his best season. David Wilson was an MVP for one game, his record-breaking performance against the Saints with all his happy returns.
If you think you’ll find an answer on defense, think again. Antrel Rolle is a fierce competitor but he’s yanked around the field in different roles and admitted he was “absolutely horrified’’ with the way he played in Atlanta. Jason Pierre-Paul, last year’s breakout star on the line, is way down across the board and he’s either going to deal with all the extra blocking schemes or else he’s never going to approach his 2011 production. He needs a sitdown with Michael Strahan. Osi Umenyiora stayed healthy for the entire season but was far from dominant. Justin Tuck has three sacks in 14 games and say whatever you want about sacks not being the end-all and be-all, but it’s simply not enough out of the defensive team captain.
No linebacker played at a level approaching greatness. Corey Webster in his eighth season was so far from a shutdown corner that the $7 million price tag he carries in 2013 is going to feel like an albatross. Prince Amukamara got out of the cold tub to show real improvement but he’s got a ways to go before he shows he’s a bona fide first-round talent.
Lawrence Tynes has an NFL-high 33 field goals but he sagged down the stretch. Steve Weatherford provided consistency and often excellence from start to finish but whenever a punter is in the MVP consideration it’s usually the sign of a rough year.
Nope, there’s no truly bright light amid the darkness that has befallen the Giants’ season.
Average skewed by Super highs
In the previous three seasons, the Giants went 8-8, 10-6 and 9-7, and they will go either 9-7 or 8-8 depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game against the Eagles. Unless everything falls their way this weekend — highly, highly unlikely — the Giants will have missed out on the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. The one year they made it, they happened to win the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons.
It’s a strange resume. The Giants are mired in something just above semi-mediocrity, except when they soar to great heights, captivate a region and stun a league. The central question should not be what the heck happened to them down the stretch this season but what the heck happened to them down the stretch last season?
It is likely the Giants hierarchy, a year removed from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, will be in less of a nostalgic mode this offseason and will take a hard look at this meltdown.
Reid it and weep
Andy Reid started the 2000 season by calling for an onside kick, and in his swan song with the Eagles he might pull every trick out of his bag and then create some new ones to make the Giants disappear. It is altogether fitting that on Sunday, the day the Giants likely go from defending Super Bowl champs to former Super Bowl champs, Reid and his Eagles are in the building.
This is it for Reid after 14 years in Philly. The NFL’s longest-tenured coach will be dismissed following his worst season. Back on Sept. 30, when the Eagles came back to beat the Giants 19-17 to improve to 3-1, it appeared as if Reid was once again gearing up for a big year. Since then, he’s gone 1-10. He’s 17-13 all-time vs. the Giants, and you know he wants to go out a winner and stick a fork into the Giants for one last time. His club is for the Birds, mistake-prone and turnover-crazed, and now turns to Michael Vick one last time before he, too, is sent packing.
Down in D.C., the Redskins and Cowboys later Sunday night will battle for the NFC East crown. In Jersey the Giants and Eagles stage a very different regular-season finale, two erstwhile heavyweight contenders reduced to the undercard.