Not so very long ago, the Giants couldn’t win a single game, couldn’t get out of their own way, couldn’t do a darn thing right and specialized in doing almost everything wrong. That team, now on the precipice of doing something very special, is overflowing with confidence, and even brashness.
Cornerback Terrell Thomas, a reborn player on a rejuvenated team, says the Giants are going to beat the Cowboys on Sunday. And Thomas wants the Cowboys to know it.
“No doubt. We’re gonna win this game,’’ Thomas said Friday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “You can tell ’em, put it on the bulletin board, it doesn’t matter because we have to win this game. Our season is on the line right now.’’
This is the boldest statement yet from the Giants in a week filled with several outward displays of assuredness. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, fresh off NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his interception return for a touchdown sealed the deal against the Packers, said, “We’re going to put it on them’’ and went on to proclaim, “There’s going to be a lot of blood spilled out there.’’ Antrel Rolle had his teammates’ back, saying, “If JPP says there will be blood, there will be blood.’’ Rolle also said he cannot in any way visualize the Giants losing.
Indeed, this is a crucial game for the Giants, who at 4-6 are on the cusp of the NFC East race after their miserable 0-6 start. They still trail the Eagles (6-5) and the Cowboys (5-5) in the division, and if they do not knock off the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium they can kiss goodbye their chances to, as coach Tom Coughlin has urged, “Keep the dream alive.’’
This is a rematch of a 36-31 Cowboys victory in the season-opener in Arlington, Texas, a game the Giants to a man believe they gave away. Even coach Tom Coughlin, looking back at that six-turnover atrocity, recalled “the devastation of it for me’’ was the fact the Giants “quite frankly, just kind of wrapped it up and handed it to them.’’
There’s a strong sense from the Giants they believe they’re a different and much-improved team, but confidence and certainty are not one and the same. Why is Thomas — making a comeback from two reconstructive knee surgeries — so sure the Giants will win and so willing to shout his conviction for all the world to hear?
“We had six turnovers in the first game, we felt we gave that one away,’’ Thomas said. “As bad as we played on offense … as bad as we could have played on defense, we felt like we really could have won that game. And it really just kind of led to the 0-6 start, that we didn’t win that game kind of left a bad taste in our mouth. So it’s definitely a redemption game for us.
“It’s kind of a chance to finally play an elite quarterback. Everybody’s doubting our defense, how good are we. It’s a chance for Eli [Manning] to redeem himself. We’ve got Brandon Jacobs back running the ball, we’ve got Andre Brown, everything’s clicking for us right now. So come Sunday you’re going to get the best out of the Giants and it’s gonna be one of the classic Giants-Cowboys games.”