Kareem McKenzie has a simple question when he considers Sunday night’s game against the Redskins at Giants Stadium, or, more specifically, a question he considers before any home game.
“What type of atmosphere do other teams feel when they come to this stadium?” the Giants starting right tackle asked yesterday.
“Do they feel as though if we get up by a touchdown or a field goal that the crowd’s out of it? When’s the last time you hear such a loud, boisterous crowd that after game you said, ‘Wow, I really can’t hear?’ ”
Lately, the sounds the Giants have heard in their own building are the groans and jeers of a disappointed crowd making a hasty retreat to the parking lots. The Giants, road warriors this season with a near-spotless 6-1 record, are a mere 3-3 at home.
The last time they donned their home blues, they were embarrassed by the Vikings 41-17, done in by a flurry of terrible Eli Manning interceptions. Before that, the Giants lost at home to the Cowboys 31-20. Their last home victory was Oct. 21 vs. the 49ers.
This is not a new trend. Last season, the Giants again were better on the road (5-3) than they were at home (3-5), making the team and coach Tom Coughlin 6-8 at Giants Stadium the past two years.
“It bothers me that the last time we played, for example, we weren’t very good,” Coughlin said, “but we certainly would like to take full advantage of the home-field opportunity and play well going for ward. I don’t think there is any one rea son we are not. We need to play well at home, obviously.”
The Giants (9-4) clinch an NFC wild- card berth with a vic tory, but this is a strange way to orches trate a playoff drive.
They actually do not need to win another home game to stamp this season as a success. If they don’t clinch a playoff berth this weekend, they can do so the following week in Buffalo.
Once in the playoffs, the Giants will hit the road and stay on the road as long as they last, unless they are the No. 5 seed and somehow the No. 6 seed advances all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
“Since we’re going to be on the road if we make the playoffs, it will be better to be a good road team, because I don’t believe we’re getting too many home playoff games,” reasoned receiver Amani Toomer.
The road-field advantage has been the calling card of the Giants. After dropping the season opener in Dallas, they have run off six consecutive road victories, and after each one credited their success on the ability to stick together and draw strength rather than shrink from the enmity around them.
Now they have to transfer that attitude to home.
“I would like to see us keep the same mentality at home,” Coughlin said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with comfort or anything like that. For whatever reason, we didn’t play, especially the last time, as well as we are capable.”
McKenzie says he knows why the Giants at times do not appear to be overly inspired at home.
“What we give the fans is four quarters of football,” he said. “It’s not as if we go out there an intentionally perform bad. The best thing the fans can do is support us throughout four quarters of football.
“We thrive on crowd participation also. You’re playing a game in which you hear boos to your performance, I mean, who really wants to hear their home crowd boo them? I could see if we were 1-7, 0-10, if we completely stunk up the joint but that’s not the case.”