ATLANTA – The bridge has unofficially been torn down, forcing the Giants to create their own identity, no longer tethered to the Super Bowl glory of a year ago. There is no way to say anything that happened last season has anything to do with this season, not after the Giants went down to Georgia and were bedeviled by the Falcons in an historically bad loss.
Seven days after a joyride 52-27 pounding of the Saints, the Giants believed they were a team on the rise but indeed found out the folly of that thought. They did nothing on either side of the ball and were thoroughly and completely humbled and embarrassed by the Falcons 34-0 inside the Georgia Dome in a statement game for both teams.
The Falcons (12-2) showed they are for real. The Giants (8-6), leaving themselves with no playoff-entry margin for error, showed they are capable of anything, anywhere, good, bad or indifferent, which is no way for a true contender to operate.
“I’m tired of that, ‘We’ve been here before,’ forget all that,’’ Jason Pierre-Paul said. “I’m tired of hearing it. There’s no ‘we’ve been here before.’ ’’
He’s right. These Giants – now the second-place Giants — have not been here before, not after absorbing the worst shutout loss by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history. It was the first time the Giants under Tom Coughlin have been shutout in the regular season – the only other shutout was a playoff loss to the Panthers in 2005.
“I don’t want to say I’m shocked by it but where was it?’’ Coughlin said, wondering where the heck his team’s consistency went.
Coughlin likes to say “destiny is a matter of choice’’ but at the moment that destiny is owned by the Redskins, as his Giants are no longer in control of anything when it comes to winning the NFC East.
The Giants dropped to 8-6 as the Redskins rose to 8-6 with their fifth-straight victory, beating the Browns in Cleveland without Robert Griffin III. The Redskins gain first place based on their better record (3-1) in the division than the Giants (2-3). The Giants, though, do control their destiny when it comes to gaining playoff admission via the wild card route. If they win their remaining two games to finish 10-6 they will gain a wild card berth ahead of the Bears or Vikings, both 8-6, based on a better NFC record.
The playoffs seemed a long, long way away as the Giants trailed 14-0 after one quarter and never threatened. Eli Manning tossed two first-half interceptions, gift-wrapping 10 points for the Falcons, and completed only 13 passes. Rookie David Wilson in his first start ran for 46 yards in the first half but the Giants went 0 for 3 in fourth-down conversions in a complete reversal of last season’s 24-2 playoff pounding of the Falcons, when the Giants defense dominated in short-yardage.
Matt Ryan, playing free and easy, shredded the Giants defense, firing two touchdown passes to Julio Jones and one to Tony Gonzalez, targeting rookie cornerback Jayron Hosley. A bad tone was set early when, trailing 7-0, a strong drive ended with Lawrence Tynes missing a 30-yard field goal attempt.
“It’s just just one of those games where you look up and just that quick, it’s 17-zip, 24-zip and it just keeps going on and on and there’s nothing you can do about it,’’ Victor Cruz said. “It was a tough one to play in.”
Coughlin in the team’s Saturday night meeting had an emotional moment of silence for the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shooting, players wore the initials of Sandy Hook Elementary School on their helmets and Osi Umenyiora said “Everybody played with a heavy heart. Nobody came out here with any joy out here at all, both teams.’’ Umenyiora also said “That’s no excuse, we just came out here and got beat down by a team that played a lot better than us.’’
Where to the Giants go from here? Mathias Kiwanuka said the performance was “embarrassing not only to us but to anybody who ever wore a Giants decal on their hat or shoulder or anything like that.’’ Justin Tuck said he cannot wait until the next game, Sunday in Baltimore. “What’s the girl in the Wizard of Oz and Toto? Dorothy?’’ Tuck said. “I wish I had some red shoes so I could kind of wish myself right to next Sunday because it can’t get here quick enough.
“We’ve had crappy games like this and came right back and played like Super Bowl champions. My confidence is not shaken.’’