When they emerge from the MetLife Stadium tunnel on Sunday and see those burgundy and gold Redskins uniforms on the other sideline, the Giants would be well served to remember how they felt last December on the same field.
For those who might have forgotten, here’s a sample of the exasperated sound bites that emanated from the Giants’ locker room after that game, an inexcusable 23-10 home loss that left them mired with a 7-7 record at the time and nearly derailed their Super Bowl ride:
***“Call it whatever you want: shocked, stunned, appalled. I can’t explain it,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said.
***“We looked like the four-win team out there today rather than the Redskins. It’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed,” defensive tackle Chris Canty said.
***“I’ve got a big knot in my stomach right now for how we just played,’’ defensive end Justin Tuck said.
***“I expected to see quality, quality execution, and really, quite frankly, we didn’t get much of that,” Tom Coughlin said.
Quite frankly, the Giants will need more quality everything Sunday against a Washington team that’s now equipped with an explosive franchise quarterback, rookie Robert Griffin III, and is a lot better than the one that embarrassed them last December in what was the Redskins’ second win of the year over the Giants and fifth of the season overall at the time.
A week ago, Coughlin’s rallying call was the tried-and-true us-against-the-world claim that no one was giving the Giants a chance to go into San Francisco and win.
This week, with the Giants facing a human-nature fight against complacency after dominating the 49ers, the rallying cry is centered around the their 0-2 record in the NFC East and the hurtful memory of that late-season loss to the Redskins.
To a man, the Giants who were a part of that loss vowed to remember and not to let it happen again.
“That was a tough loss, because it was an opportunity squandered,’’ Canty said yesterday. “Our football team this year is much more cognizant of trying not to miss opportunities such as those. We are trying to take advantage of our current situation. I don’t think anyone is taking anything lightly.
“Everyone around here has had a taste of humble pie before and we don’t like the taste of it.’’
Left guard Kevin Boothe said he’d be more concerned about complacency if the Giants were 2-0 in the division.
“We realize how important it is to get a divisional win,’’ Boothe said. “It’s great to be 4-2, but those two loses were in the division [to Dallas and Philadelphia]. I don’t think you have to worry about us having a letdown, because everyone in here realizes how important the next game is. This is [the Redskins’] first division game and our third and… we’ve already put ourselves in a hole with the two losses.’’
Linebacker Michael Boley, who recalled last year’s second loss to the Redskins as “major letdown,’’ said it has been key for the Giants to “stay focused and make sure you keep paying attention to the little details that got you the win the week before.’’
Rolle said the Giants “definitely remember’’ the loss, calling this week “an extremely crucial game.’’
“We’re 0-2 in the division and we need this win bad, for the sake of our division and where we’re trying to get to, which is the postseason,’’ Rolle said.
Tuck called the Redskins “kind of a thorn in our side the last couple of times we have played them.’’
“It is always a dogfight playing them regardless of if they win or we win, so we know what kind of game to be expecting — a game that will come down to the wire and a game we have to play our best to win,’’ Tuck said. “A win against us and they will be No. 1 in the division. There is a lot of motivation on both sides.’’