by Ben on December 25 at 12:42AM
Fueled by two Buffalo Bills special teams miscues - a botched punt by Brian Moorman and roughing the kicker on safety Donte Whitner - the Giants stormed back (pardon the terrible pun) to tie the score on two Brandon Jacobs TDs from 6 and 43 yards respectively. After 30 minutes of play the Giants lead 17-14.
The second half got off to an inauspicious start as Eli Manning threw an interception on the first play, leading to a Bills TD a few plays later to make it 21-17. However, this would be the last lead Buffalo would enjoy thanks to the Giants defense which stepped up in crunch time yet again. Kawika Mitchell made arguably the biggest defensive play of the season, returning a Trent Edwards interception for a touchdown giving the Giants a 24-21.
The nail in the coffin came following an impressive defensive hold as little used rookie RB Ahmad Bradshaw ripped off a dynamic 88 yard touchdown run putting the Giants up 10. On the next Bills possession Corey Webster closed out the Bills funeral proceedings with the Giants' second interception return for a td on the game.
Key contributions came from all over the place as this was a true team win. Amani Toomer showed a lot of fire and grit in Jeremy Shockey's absence reeling in several huge third down conversions while compiling 99 yards receiving. Osi Umenyiora's relentless pass rush forced Trent Edwards' hand on a bunch of throws and Kawika Mitchell supplemented his potential game winning interception return for a TD with two sacks and sure tackling. The biggest contribution however came from the Giants RBs and O-line who more or less dominated this game. The RBs combined for 291 yards and 3 TDs lead by Brandon Jacobs (145 and 2 TDs) and Ahmad Bradshaw (151 and 1 TD).
The Giants fought back from a 14 point deficit on the road against a formidable foe, in wretched conditions no less, to clinch a playoff spot for the third straight year. Most impressively, this win marked the seventh straight on the road for the Giants who's lone road loss came in the shootout in Dallas on opening day.
The Giants win combined with Minnesota's loss on Sunday night clinched the 5 seed and sets up a date at Tampa Bay in the first round. So what is with the high level of cynicism among Giants fans? Why do the newspaper articles and fan commentary throughout the web focus on negatives like Eli Manning's recent play or Brandon Jacobs' durability rather than this team's heart or inspired play on the road? If I didn't know any better, I would assume that the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago and were preparing to make a high draft pick in April.
In fact, it is getting to the point where Giants fans actually appear unhappy about making the playoffs because they don't want to be "disappointed again." Maybe we should ask the fans in Arizona, Detroit or Miami how to deal with these issues of consistently rooting for a playoff team. I am almost certain Lions fans will have no problem remedying our woes by lending us Matt Millen for a few seasons to decimate our roster.
Looking back at the beginning of the season, many of the "experts" predicted a last place finish for the Giants in the NFC East with about 5-6 wins. A majority of Giants fans I know and around the web set similar expectations for the team with the optimists saying .500 was a good goal in what was to be a rebuilding year after Tiki's retirement.
Well a funny thing happened on the way to a top 10 draft pick, we OVERACHIEVED people. The running game and offense really hasn't skipped a beat after Tiki chose Project Runway over football, better acclimating himself with his feminine side. A collection of good young backs lead by Brandon Jacobs have run well behind an ever-improving young o-line and Plaxico Burress has emerged as one of the elite WR in the business. Most importantly however, a Giants defense that was soft and ineffective under the reign of Tim Lewis (creator of the swiss cheese defensive scheme with a genuine, inherent ability for ruining talented NFL defenses and alienating star players) has transformed into one of the fastest and most aggresive units in football under first year coach Steve Spagnuolo. Additionally, as is the theme throughout the roster, many of the key guys on defense are still pretty young or freaks (Strahan) who will be around for a while. Overall, this roster will continue to improve and has a chance of being good for some time to come.
Considering all of the positives and promise displayed this season, topped off by a playoff game against a beatable opponent, it is shocking that so many Giants fans remain fixated on dissecting and trashing Eli Manning's performance. I agree that Eli has struggled late in the season; however, it hasn't all been bad. Eli played well in a win at Detroit when the Lions were playing at a high level and he engineered an improbable 4th quarter comeback in Chicago. Yes he has played terrible the last three games and the Minnesota game is inexcusable but look at the numbers for the opposing QBs in the last two games which took place in terrible conditions.
Looking around the league, analyzing the stats and game to game performances of other young QBs, it becomes apparent that there are more than a few growing pains that go into developing into a good QB. Carson Palmer has struggled with all his weapons in Cincy, Phillip Rivers has matched Eli's performance at best while Jay Cutler remain inconsistent in Denver. Additionally, other young QBs like Vince Young and Alex Smith have struggled mightily and regressed from their performance level of a year ago. The fact is, Eli is by no means perfect and has plenty to work on; however, so do many other young, promising QBs carrying the franchise label around the NFL.
It's important to remember that this makes three straight playoff appearances for Eli as a starter and by all accounts, he has the full respect and confidence of his teammates in the locker room due to both his late game performances and playing through a shoulder injury all season without so much as uttering a complaint or missing a game. If his teammates are content with Eli and are displaying patience and restraint with him, what more reason could the fans have to follow suit?
Saturday January 5th at 8pm the Giants will take the field for a playoff game looking for their first postseason win since 2000. Rather than focusing on petty negatives and setting impossible standards on this young team, take a step back Giants fans. Understand how far they have come since opening day and be excited that there is a lot of potential yet to be realized in the future. But most of all, sit back and enjoy the game as a devoted fan and leave the Giants bashing to trained professionals like Daryl Johnston
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10-5 = beating up on bad teams all year. i'll give you a dollar if eli manning ever wins a super bowl.