The According to the NFL schedule we are going into the final week of the regular season. Can the Giants stay in it and make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2008? That is a question that will soon be answered on the field tonight when the Giants faceoff against the Cowboys in an epic battle for each teams survival.
The Giants’ elimination season began with an emotional 29-14 Christmas Eve victory over the Jets in what was billed as the brawl for New York.
The excitement and raw emotion will certainly continue with tonight’s battle against another rival, the Dallas Cowboys. This Sunday night at the Meadowlands the Giants will put it all on the line in an all or nothing battle against the Cowboys. It is surreal when you realize that two teams with 8-7 season records are battling for a postseason berth as the NFC East champions and the conference’s No. 4 seed. Whatever team loses tonight will face a mountain of criticism the coming year.
“It started last week,” coach Tom Coughlin said of the week of practice leading up to Saturday’s victory over the Jets to reporters. “We knew that if we won two that we would be the winner of the NFC East and be in the playoffs, so we have two games and no one under our belt.”To be honest with you, we need to put this one aside as fast as we can and go to work on Dallas with the same attitude we had last week.”
It is weird to think a team with an 8-7 season record will be the #1 team in the NFC east, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Most true fans are not worried about the game on Sunday night because it is right up the Giants alley. No team performs better than the Giants with their backs are against the wall. Given the track record of the Giants this past season though it will certainly be a nail biter for fans, and ratings gold for the network covering the game.
Just a couple of weeks ago the Giants were brimming with excitement after a miraculous fourth-quarter victory against Cowboys, only to lose momentum the following week at home when they suffered a humiliating loss to an inferior Redskins, thus leaving them in the their current dilemma.
Tonight will be the second time the teams will face each on other in a month. This type of high stakes matchup is exactly what the NFL was aiming for in the last week of the regular season. Due to intense interest, Sunday’s game was moved from its 1pm slot to primetime.
On Dec. 11, the Giants overcame a 34-22 lead with 5:41 remaining on the clock dealing a devestating defeat to the Cowboys. Giant’s fans hope to duplicate that game tonight.
“That’s a little different,” Kiwanuka said of playing the Cowboys twice in such a short span. “When I looked at the schedule, it looked a little odd, but given the situation, this is a beautiful situation to be in.”
Last season, the Giants were in better shape record-wise when they headed into their final weekend with a 9-6 season. They cleaned up nicely beating the Redskins, 17-14. But it was different from this year because they needed help from other teams to earn a berth in the postseason, which they never received.
This time like it has been said over and over the
Giants control their own destiny in their attempt to avoid missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
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