Telling: Giants happy after loss to Patriots

[Patriotic Fervor]

I have no problem with the Giants not being unhappy after we beat them. They had a wild card game to play in a week, and the reality is that their loss did not affect the standings or their chance for a championship one bit. But they felt they made significant progress towards being able to win the championship, and subsequent events have proved them right.

You can't say "winning the game is the only thing", that's wrong. Getting to and winning the SB is the "only thing", and given that emotion and motivation plays a large part in football, if they felt the close loss to us helped them then it did.

But that does that mean anything significant at all now? No. Nothing. Neither positive nor negative.

The last Patriots/Giants game in week 17 was indicative on a number of levels.

First, win or lose, the Giants are in the playoffs, their standing unaffected. They tried to win (tried their best!), but couldn't do it. Make no mistake - they wanted that one just as much as the Patriots did. And while, yes, getting to the Super Bowl is important ("the only thing"), there is really no substitute for winning. That's why they play the game.

Second, after 28-16, the Pats shifted gears, and it was all Patriots after that. The Giants can't draw too much confidence from that, as it appears that is the point where the Patriots woke up and finally started playing football. In all likelihood, that is the team the Giants will be facing next Sunday.

Third, no more vanilla, and the Pats have some big starters returning to the offensive line. Strahan and Osi are great, great players, but that won't be the point of attack offensively for the Patriots. The weakness is up the middle, and I think we'll see the Pats taking advantage of that.

Weather will not be a factor here at all, and because of that, the offense, under the direction of the 2-second master decision-maker, will negate most of the Giants' pressure schemes.

Likewise, look for big contributions from Maroney, especially in the second half, after the Giants' defense has been worn down a bit.

Defensively, it should be more of the same "bend-but-not-break" defense. Belichick will tell Samuel and Hobbs to be real careful about route jumping. The idea for them will be to always keep the play in front of them. That will be the path to success.

I expect continued success with their red-zone defenses. I mean, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The occasional blitz package will doubtless be employed in the course of the game, and the thinking here is that, of the 2 quarterbacks, Manning is the most likely to make mistakes, at least, mistakes that count and impact the game.

As I've said before in other threads, if the Pats are up 14+ at the half, it's likely all over save the final score. There's just too much of a gap between these 2 teams to call it otherwise.

And, yes, if they do lead by 14+ at the half, they will cover.

 

[SoCalPatsfan90]

What about the mystery call on Amani Toomer that backed the G-Men way back when all they needed was 3 to tie? You know, the call that the announcers themselves couldn't figure out, since the camera showed him doing nothing on a late hit out of bounds by a Pats player (not called, obviously). Or the Wilfork eye gouging, also not called. Funny how things like that never get mentioned on this board.....

The player was still in bounds when he was hit. I agree that PF on Toomer was a bit over the top, there was no contact there that we saw after the play was dead. Somehow the pats player ended up on the ground either tripped or pushed or tripped over himself...

As for the wilfork poking... I can't call it an eye gouge as he didn't even make contact with the players face... THEY SCORED ON THAT DRIVE, so it's not like that negated any points (should have been called, but thats a moot point since they put 7 on the board 2 plays later)

 

[Tunescribe]

The player was still in bounds when he was hit. I agree that PF on Toomer was a bit over the top, there was no contact there that we saw after the play was dead. Somehow the pats player ended up on the ground either tripped or pushed or tripped over himself...

As for the wilfork poking... I can't call it an eye gouge as he didn't even make contact with the players face... THEY SCORED ON THAT DRIVE, so it's not like that negated any points (should have been called, but thats a moot point since they put 7 on the board 2 plays later)

Further to my original point: The two Patriots personal fouls arguably played a huge role in two Giants touchdowns.

 

[Truck]

Luckily, they have another chance to be happy when the Patriots beat them again

 

[spacecrime]

They are still a good team , and they have a great smart coach , i just hope he doesn't pull some crazy plan on us .
Pats need to be vigilant , they are a good team ....don't under estimate them ,

I won't underestimate them if you stop overestimating them

 

[CapePatsFan]

The Giants week 17 may be the happiest losers in all of sports history.

Dolphins 1 and only win this year might be right up there