They got ’em right where they want ’em.
Sure they do.
“That’s the best place for this team, backs against the wall, hear the whole hoopla this week from the media that we’re desperate, we need to win,” linebacker Antonio Pierce said. “It plays out perfect to what we want to do.
“The same experts who said we wouldn’t be 9-5 at this time, make a prediction about this one.”
Forget the prediction. Here’s the facts: The Giants, by virtue of getting defrosted by the Redskins 22-10, are venturing further out onto an icy surface that isn’t nearly as thick as it used to be. The Giants clinch an NFC wild card playoff spot with a victory in either of their final two games, but the reality of the situation is they’d better not wait and are advised to do it Sunday in Buffalo against the Bills.
This scenario has a 1986 Mets-Astros playoff series feel to it, with the Giants knowing they had better attend to business this week in Buffalo the way the Mets knew they needed to defeat Bob Knepper in Game 6 in order to avoid Mike Scott in a decisive Game 7. Looming as a menace and playing the role of the un-hittable Scott are the Patriots, who will likely be 15-0 and seeking NFL immortality in the Dec. 29 regular-season finale at Giants Stadium.
The last thing the Giants desire is a Saturday night date with the mighty Patriots, needing a victory to avoid a collapse and squeeze into the playoffs.
“I don’t even know who we play, I don’t know who that is,” Pierce said coyly of the last game of the season. “I thought we had a bye week.”
It could be a goodbye week if the Giants don’t attend to business in western New York.
“We’ve got to start playing better football,” center Shaun O’Hara said. “Getting into the playoffs is fine and dandy but if you’re not playing well, if your play doesn’t really dictate you deserving to be there that’s probably something that’s gonna bother you more than anything. We’ve got to start playing like a playoff team and stop saying we got another chance.”
The Giants remain ahead of the Vikings (7-7 after last night’s loss to the Bears), Saints (7-7) and Redskins (7-7) but if they finish 9-7 will not own the tiebreaker edge on any of those teams.
This situation grew stickier after the Giants played not only another poor game at home but also a rather strange one. Despite gusting winds and biting cold, Eli Manning threw the ball 52 times; the Giants ran it 28 times.
Some of the disparity was based on the deficit (16-3 at halftime, 22-3 early in the third quarter) but there was only one quarter (the first, nine passes, 11 runs) when the Giants ran the ball more than they threw it. Through three quarters the Giants had 30 pass attempts and 22 running plays before they went exclusively into their no-huddle, three-receiver hurry-up mode.
“When the wind is blowing the way it was you can’t come out and throw the ball the way we did,” Plaxico Burress said.
“Those weather conditions, it’s not a day when you want to throw it 50 times,” Manning said. “We were behind, we were trying to catch up quickly, you don’t have time to huddle up and run.”
The results were alarming. Manning completed 18 of his 52 passes, never once hitting for more than 19 yards. Tom Coughlin said his staff counted eight dropped passes. This was the 18th time the Giants have ever attempted 50 or more passes in a game and they are, not surprisingly, 0-18 in those games.
Coughlin defended the play-calling of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.
“The first half we didn’t exactly knock ’em dead with the run,” he said.
“No one wants to throw the ball 52 times. You have to try something rather than just sit there and do what you are doing.”