GIANTS HAVE MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR (NO, REALLY!)
Despite rough season,there are plenty of things Big Blue can be thankful for
The Giants and Big Blue’s fans have plenty to be thankful for as Thanksgiving and Week 12 arrive, despite a miserable start to their 2018 season.
Presenting a cornucopia of optimism for your holiday feast. Five reasons Big Blue nation should be thankful. Dig in.
1. SO YOU’RE TELLIN’ ME THERE’S A CHANCE ...
The Giants have a sub-1% chance of making the playoffs, per fivethirtyeight.com. They have a 1.3% chance of winning the NFC East, per footballoutsiders.com. So … it’s not impossible!
Bovada’s odds for the Giants to win the Super Bowl actually have increased in the last week from 750-to-1 from 300-to-1. Their odds to win the division have risen from 200-to-1 to 80-to-1.
And Odell Beckham Jr.’s goal of winning the final eight games is still alive with the Giants (3-7) having won two straight going into Sunday’s visit to Philadelphia to face the reeling Eagles (4-6).
“Six games left,” Beckham said Sunday. “It’s really only crazy until you do it.”
2. AN NFC EAST RIVAL LIKELY WILL LOSE ON THANKSGIVING
Dallas (5-5) hosts firstplace Washington (6-4) on Thursday afternoon in the second of three NFL games on the Thanksgiving slate, which means one of the Giants’ division rivals likely will suffer a defeat.
Eagles coach Doug Pederson laughed on a conference call Wednesday when asked if he’s rooting for the hated Cowboys. “Well this time of year you have to do what you have to do,” he said.
Pat Shurmur said he will watch and won’t have a rooting interest but will be intrigued to see his former Browns QB Colt McCoy in his first start of the season after replacing the injured Alex Smith last week.
“I worked with Colt McCoy, I was a young head coach and he was a rookie quarterback. We spent a lot of time together, I think we grew up together in a lot of ways,” Shurmur said. “Colt’s getting the opportunity to start with (Washington), so I’ll watch him with interest.”
Eli Manning said “no,” he won’t root for the Cowboys. “We’ll watch the game, but you never know how it’s all going to end up or play out, so just watch,” he said. Asked if he would admit it if he were rooting for Dallas, Manning said: “If it had a direct impact, I’ve rooted for a divisional team if I thought it would help us out one way or the other.”
3. THE SUPER BOWL CHAMPS ARE REELING
Philly is vulnerable. The Eagles have lost two straight by a combined score of 75-27. Their secondary is decimated. Safety Malcolm Jenkins said after last week’s 48-7 bludgeoning by the Saints in New Orleans, “It was just embarrassing. I didn’t feel as a team we had a lot of fight. I’d rather get thrown out of a game than just lay down and take it … The demeanor of the team really bothered me.”
Then offensive coordinator Mike Groh said it’s been “challenging to integrate” wideout Golden Tate, a trade deadline acquisition from Detroit who was supposed to help their offense.
Pederson admitted on Wednesday: “(This is) uncharted territory a little bit. I think the guys really handled it well. I mean they’re disappointed, they’re frustrated, quite frankly, as we all are. We haven’t played up to the caliber we’re capable of playing, but listen, nobody is gonna feel sorry for us. We’ve got to come to work ready.”
The boo birds will be out on Sunday for the Birds, though, if the Giants punch them in the mouth early at Lincoln Financial Field.
4. THE O-LINE IS TOGETHER (AND BETTER)
Left tackle Nate Solder and his family are hosting the Giants’ offensive linemen and other friends on Thanksgiving Day, so one turkey won’t be enough.
“We’ll have a couple of ’em,” Solder said this week with a smile.
The O-line has reason to be in better spirits, too, after grinding out 5.3 yards per carry in the run game against Tampa and surrendering just one sack the previous week at San Francisco. Right guard Jamon Brown, claimed off waivers at the trade deadline from the L.A. Rams, has been a major reason why.
Shurmur said on Monday of why his line has improved: “I think we’re playing better as a unit, and we added one new player.” GM Dave Gettleman started the season with his own signing, Patrick Omameh, at right guard and holdover Ereck Flowers at right tackle. And since he has cut both.
The new unit, though, has made strides, and now on Thursday it’s time to see who brings the best sides -- the Solder’s Thanksgiving is a potluck, so each lineman will be expected to bring something tasty to the table.
“We’ll all be together and will have a great time,” said Solder, who promised all the day’s games would be on the TV, as his wife is “a huge football fan.”
5. SAQUON IS SIZZLING
Saquon Barkley was the lone bright spot of the Giants’ 34-13 Week 6 blowout loss to the Eagles, gaining 229 allpurpose yards on 22 touches and scoring on a 50-yard TD run. Now he is the NFC’s offensive player of the week after his 152-yard, three-TD performance in last week’s win over the Bucs.
And the Eagles are the next opponent (victim?) in his path.
“He’s just hard to bring down,” Pederson said. “You’ve got to tackle, and he’s such a big powerful guy that has breakaway speed, sometimes it’s impossible. But you’ve got to get two or three bodies on him. He’s a tremendous running back and a load to bring down.”
The improved run game against Tampa resulted in Manning’s most efficient game of his career (17-of-18, 231 yards, two TDs), and if the Giants can replicate this recipe against better defenses, they believe they have a chance at accomplishing Beckham’s outlandish -- but not statistically impossible -goal of winning out.