There is no telling how the New York Giants will fare in the playoffs. But at least they are going to be there.
The Giants won the NFC East and a playoff spot by beating the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The performance featured an impressive mixture of strong pressure on a good quarterback (Tony Romo) and solid offense. This type of play on both sides of the ball in a single game hasn’t been the case much of the season, but it was on New Years Day. New year, new Giants perhaps?
Meanwhile, New York’s other football team, the Jets, are packing up their locker room on Monday, heading home to watch the playoffs on television or from some distant vacation destination. This season the Jets were better than their New York counterparts in one area: running their mouths. That’s exactly what coach Rex Ryan and others did all year long, while the Giants — safety Antrel Rolle may be the exception — simply put it all out on the field. Plain and simple, the Jets never backed up the talk, especially when Ryan said the Jets were New York’s best team.
After beating the Jets in Week 16, then taking home a conference championship, Ryan should sit behind his desk in Florham Park with his tail between his legs.
Six comeback victories. That’s where the Giants were most impressive in 2011-12. Rarely were they in control for most of a game. Eli Manning, however, was in control in the fourth quarter. His passers rating was among the best in the game during the last 15 minutes, and that type of poise and commanding presence is what any NFL team would love to have.
Four losses stand out the most: 1) The two losses to the Washington Redskins in Week 1 and Week 15. The Redskins will pick sixth in this year’s draft, and to have been swept by the NFC East’s worst team is tough to swallow. 2) Week 13’s 38-35 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Giants put together another last-minute comeback, only to leave 58 seconds left on the clock for Aaron Rodgers to drive the Packers down the field to set up a game-winning field goal. 3) The 36-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5. The Seahawks were playing pitiful at this point of the season. During the game, the Seahawks lost their starting quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, and the Giants still couldn’t win. It was at this point many fans thought the Giants were not a playoff team.
The wins that should be front and center thus far are the two against Dallas, which certainly shifted the landscape of the NFC East. Had the Giants lost even one of them, the Cowboys would have likely taken the crown and the Giants would be in the same situation as the Jets. The 24-20 victory over the New England Patriots in Week 9 was also huge. The Patriots showed signs of a dynamic offense heading into this one. The Giants defense stepped up though, and so did the offense.
Outside of the 49-24 thrashing the Giants suffered against the New Orleans Saints, they seemed to play better against better competition. The Packers, Cowboys and Patriots — all playoff caliber teams. New York was either in or won each of those games. That brings a sign of hope to next Sunday’s home playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons. At 10-6, Atlanta finished one game better than New York. They were a .500 team on the road, led by quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner.
New York last played Atlanta in 2009, winning at home 34-31. Atlanta was without Turner in that one, but since they’ve also upgraded at wide receiver by drafting Julio Jones. Ryan has also become more seasoned, and that could equal a much tougher contest than last time. With temperatures expected to be in the 50s, it’s not going to be a typical winter in New Jersey-type contest.
As for the Jets, there is a lot of uncertainty heading into the offseason. We know that Ryan will in all likeliness be back. His offensive coaching staff, starting with Brian Schottenheimer, probably will not though. The Jets offense simply did not perform well this season, especially at quarterback. Mark Sanchez continues to get praise from the coaches that he can be great, but now a three-year veteran, he hasn’t shown remote signs of that.
Sure, before this season, Sanchez took the Jets to the AFC Championship game in back-to-back seasons. But as was suspected, it was truly the defense that was the primary reason behind those tremendous runs. This season the Jets’ defense was completely inconsistent and Sanchez played the same as in the past. This time the result was an 8-8 record and an early trip home.
One player likely to have played his last game in green and white is Santonio Holmes. The wideout is one of the best in the game, but his display at the end of Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins was pitiful. Holmes not only argued with teammates in the huddle at the end of the game, but then sat on the bench and didn’t even pay attention to the action. Later he would not discuss his future with the team. Teammates were very candid afterwards that Holmes quit before Week 17, likely cutting his short tenure with the team. It’s amazing to think that Plaxico Burress could be back, but Holmes not.
The Jets must also upgrade on defense. Linebacker Bart Scott, who was also with Ryan in Baltimore, likely has played his last game for the Jets. That will be a key position to upgrade. The Jets must also add depth to the safety spot if they want to keep Jim Leonhard on the roster. Leonhard has had season-ending injuries the last two years. He’s such a key player on the field, but his ability to stay healthy creates too much uncertainty.
This is the Giants’ town now and for the foreseeable future. Until the Jets can prove people wrong, they’ll continue to be green with envy of their in-house rivals.
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