The Giants saved their season with the 31-24 victory Sunday that had playoff intensity and implications. For at least a week, the Giants are back in business, one game behind the 'Boys and Eagles in the NFC East after sweeping Dallas for the first time since 2004.
"Dallas is a team that I just absolutely can't stand," Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. "I've been hating Dallas ever since I knew anything about football. ... This feels so good."
Standing in the middle of a very noisy locker room, Giants co-ownerJohn Mara looked relieved. "I don't know where we went for a few weeks, but hopefully (we) are back now," he said. "It's a long season. You have ups and downs. I don't know what happened during that period, but I certainly like the effort and the emotion. Hopefully we can keep that going."
Now they have to do it again Sunday night with Philly coming to town.
This is the team the Giants expected to have all along. They played with heart. They made big plays. They imposed their will when it was absolutely necessary. And they didn't back down when Flozell Adams, who kicked and tripped Justin Tuck in the September game, partially tearing the labrum in Tuck's left shoulder, pushed him down from behind after a missed Cowboys field goal ended the first half.
Mathias Kiwanuka came over to defend Tuck and he and Adams grabbed each other's facemask as the benches emptied. Not that the Giants needed any more reason to get fired up, but Adams did it for them. "He's a dirtbag," Tuck said. "There's a few guys on Dallas I really admire as people. He's not one of them."
Tuck also called Adams a coward. All Adams could say was, "Justin Tuck is a nobody."
The Giants have to prove that the team that had lost five of the last six games has been put out with the trash. Are they one-weekend wonders? Can they prevent the Eagles from signing the locker room wall in their last visit to Giants Stadium?
It really makes you wonder where this team had been since starting the season 5-0. The intensity just wasn't there. They didn't look all that interested. They weren't playing physical, which has always been their trademark.
No comments:
Post a Comment