STFU Dan

[NightFire]

So when the Redskins go to overtime against the Saints it's because they are still playing hard for Zorn. When the Giants beat them like a red-headed step-child it's because the redskins are now mailing it in. Dan is a fucking idiot.

 

Bah, Humbug! These Giants Still Aren't True Contenders

 

12/22/2009 12:59 AM ET By Dan Graziano

 

LANDOVER, Md. -- Well, now we know what was wrong with the Giants: they hadn't played the Redskins in a while. Yeah, nothing cures the blues like taking the Amtrak down the Northeast Corridor line to face a crummy team with a lame-duck coach, a fourth-string back running behind a tissue-paper line and a defense that's stopped trying. If the Giants can somehow petition the league to replace their remaining two games against the Panthers and the Vikings with two more against the Redskins, they might just make the playoffs after all.

 

In reality, though (which is where they hold the playoffs), the Giants are still in trouble. Their joke of a 45-12 Monday night victory over this joke of a division rival proved nothing about the Giants except what we already knew -- that when the opponent is a creampuff, they will swallow it whole. They still face a challenging final two weeks with the same don't-bother-bending-just-break defense that ran their season into this ditch. And even if Dallas or Green Bay falls apart and helps the Giants get into the playoffs, there's no evidence that they're going to beat anybody once they get there.

 

No, these Giants are still frauds. And bullies. They are 2-6 this year against teams that currently have winning records and 6-0 against the rest of their schedule. Jon Gruden said on ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast that the Redskins have only beaten one team with a winning record, but the fact is the same can be said about the Giants, whose two such victories came on the strength of their deep-seated hatred of the rival Dallas Cowboys. Otherwise, they fattened up early against Washington, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland, then they spent October and November getting outscored and outclassed by the Eagles, Saints, Chargers, Broncos and Cardinals. You know -- playoff teams.

 

So the fact that they came down here and ate up the pack-it-in Redskins is supposed to make us think they're contenders again? Please. Bobby Boucher and the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs could beat these Redskins. The best thing that came out of this for the Giants was that their defense got to remind itself what it felt like to sack a quarterback.

 

"We've been very inconsistent," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "Sometimes we play well and other times we don't. I think (Monday) was the first time we all played well together in a while."

 

"We've been very inconsistent. Sometimes we play well and other times we don't."

-- Giants DE Osi Umenyiora This is easily explained. The best way for the Giants to make sure their defense doesn't give up any points is to keep it off the field. That's how they won this game. They held the ball for 21:51 of a possible 30 first-half minutes, rolling up a 24-0 lead that eradicated whatever minuscule amount of fight the Redskins still had left in them.

 

By the end of the first half, the Redskins were literally not even trying to score. They lined up to kick a field goal that would have cut the lead to 24-3 and -- especially since they were getting the ball to start the second half -- kept the game well within reach against a defense that had allowed the fifth-most points in the league over the season's first 14 weeks. But instead of kicking, they ran a bizarre, poorly designed fake that resulted in an interception that the Giants nearly took back for a touchdown.

 

"We didn't rewrite the book," Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "I think we just rediscovered what we knew was there."

 

Namely, a lousy opponent. The Giants recorded five sacks in this game. That's more than they had in their previous three games combined. And of their 31 sacks this year, only 10 have come in those eight games against teams with winning records. Sack a quarterback who's got a chance to play in the second week of January, then we can talk.

 

"Everybody keeps reminding me of things we've not had success with," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "How about something we did? We won the game. We were the team that had more at stake, and I think we played that way."

 

Of that, there can be no doubt. The Redskins played as if not even their pride were at stake. The only time they showed any real heart was when Albert Haynesworth got into one of those senseless, helmets-still-on fistfights with aspiring boxer Brandon Jacobs -- a fight for which Haynesworth was penalized and Jacobs was inexplicably not. But after the game, even Haynesworth sounded totally defeated. Discussing his incredibly lucrative decision to sign with the Redskins last offseason, Haynesworth said the experience hasn't been what he expected. He said he thought he'd be rushing the passer more, as he had in Tennessee, and complained that the Redskins' defensive schemes don't allow him the freedom he needs to be the havoc-wreaking disruptor they signed him to be.

 

"Totally different from what I thought," Haynesworth said. "If they would cut us loose, it would be a whole lot better."

 

You could describe Haynesworth's postgame remarks as veiled shots at coach Jim Zorn, except that they were delivered with complete calm (resignation, even) and they weren't veiled. With two games left in the season, Haynesworth sounded as if he were talking about a year and a coach that were already over.

 

"Disbelief, I guess," Haynesworth said when asked what he was feeling. "I don't think this team is that bad or our players are that bad. The score and the record say we're horrible, but I don' t know. I think we're all going in different directions and we just need somebody to lead us in the right direction."

 

So yeah, the Redskins have shut it down. But the Giants, thanks in large part to Washington's lack of effort, have life. They have tiebreaker advantages. They have hope that, if they can beat another losing team in Carolina next week, they can get to Week 17 with a chance to make the playoffs.

 

"We just want to win out and see where that takes us," running back Ahmad Bradshaw said.

 

Hey, anything can happen in this loony league, and things can look different from week to week. But we've seen the Giants play 14 games now, and we know what they are. When the opponent is a weak one, they're a monster. When the opponent is a playoff team, they're a sieve. So even if they made the NFC playoff field, they'd be the worst team in it. And it would be a major upset if they won even one game.

 

That's reality, folks. The Giants could still find their way into the playoffs. But they won't be lucky enough to find the Redskins there to play if they do.

[fishgutmartyr]

Wow, some of his points are valid, but he's a little bitch about it.

[Sephiroth]

What fishgut said.

 

NOBODY should be thinking playoffs simply because the Giants whipped up on a team with FOUR wins on the season.

[Nas]

Wow, some of his points are valid, but he's a little bitch about it.

 

I read the first two paragraphs... and I think "Bitch" is an understatement... won't waste my time reading the rest.

[JackStroud]

I would not be expecting praise from the media at this time.....especially a Hogs fan after the Hogs had all been just slaughtered

 

Up unti now on National TV

 

we disgaced ourselves on Thanksgiving and could not stop anyone sunday night against Philadelphia

 

 

Only one thing will shut them up...........a 4TH LOMBARDI

 

I see one on the horizon.....we just need to win out and hope 2 teams with 4 games to go lose one of them

 

Thank God Airhorn is HISTORY......our D has cut anchor and is now sailing like a Yankee Clipper

[Balloonknot]

Look guys, not for notihng all we did was beat a bad team. If you look at all our other wins this season thats all we have done.

 

Even if by some miracle we do make the playoffs it will most likely be one and done

[Iceman_NYG]

"Outscore and Outclassed by the Chargers & Cardinals"?? I think thats a real reach. We actually outplayed them those 2 teams the entire game. Just that a couple bone headed decisions, penalties or mistakes cost us that W. I wouldnt by any means call those games outclassed. Eagles & Saints I agree. But not the Chargers and Cardinals.

 

Our execution was perfect in the last game. If we can continue with that fire, the NFC is wideopen if we make it to the playoffs.

[Balloonknot]

of course that is assuming the Cowboys lose a game in the next 2 games. Because without that no matter what we do we don't get in

[fishgutmartyr]

of course that is assuming the Cowboys lose a game in the next 2 games. Because without that no matter what we do we don't get in

We get in if we tie the Packers as well. We beat them by common opponents.

 

But of course, we have to win out; and one win doesn't mean much considering the recent past.

 

I just think the article is written by a 10 year-old in a man's body.

 

The Giants are "bullies?" Come on, now...

[Nas]

of course that is assuming the Cowboys lose a game in the next 2 games. Because without that no matter what we do we don't get in

 

What Fish said is correct. First we need to win our last two..and hope the packers or the cowboys lose just one game... ideally I'd want Dallas and Giants in the playoffs... have 3 teams from the NFC East in there... and let's dance.

[NightFire]

Wow, some of his points are valid, but he's a little bitch about it.

 

About as stupid an article as I have read in a while. I don't think many fans think the Giants are suddenly SB bound but the way he writes the article you'd think a Giant fan kicked him in the junk and stole his lunch money.

[Sephiroth]

About as stupid an article as I have read in a while. I don't think many fans think the Giants are suddenly SB bound but the way he writes the article you'd think a Giant fan kicked him in the junk and stole his lunch money.

 

 

Holy shit... THAT guy wrote the article?!?! I was just really hungry and thought he looked stupid in his Redskins jersey!