IT'S MUST OR BUST
JPP knows 0-2 Giants have season on the line in Philly
Jason Pierre-Paul knows the Giants are in trouble.
For the fourth time in the past five years, they have opened a season with two losses. In the previous three instances (2013-15), the slow start led to a forgettable finish, with a losing record each year.
Already, it has become an enormous challenge for the Giants to achieve their lofty preseason expectations, but with a loss against the Eagles on Sunday, even making the playoffs will be highly improbable. Since 1999, no team that has started a season 0-3 has reached the postseason.
“Honestly, it’s a must-win game,” Pierre-Paul said Friday. “We know we need this game. It’s a division game. I don’t see us going 0-3.”
The veteran defensive end doesn’t see the trip to Philadelphia as the Giants’ biggest game of the year. He’s trying to imagine it means as much as the biggest game of his career.
“This is how I see it, and this is how I play: Go out there like this is a Super Bowl,” Pierre-Paul said. “You got one game to play, and this is a Super Bowl. Don’t worry about the 14 games we got left. Go out there and play like this is a Super Bowl and you’ll come out with a win. When there’s a Super Bowl, you’re under the big lights. Forget Monday night, forget Thursday night, forget Sunday night; when you’re under the big lights, you just see those bright lights and you want to perform at your best, right? So why not do it every day?”
Why not now? Well, why not Monday? Why not in the seasonopener against the Cowboys?
Even if the effort arrives, the execution must come close to matching it, or another unthinkable spiral, like the 0-6 start of 2013, could follow.
“We’ve started 0-6 before, but this team, we’ve got good talent on this team, we just all need to come together,” Pierre-Paul said. “[The] offense needs to come together. Everybody sees it. We got to help them, too, as well. … There’s nothing the defense can do on that side of the ball, but I’m pretty sure they’re gonna come out and play [well] this week. … We just got to find that willpower to get things done.”
It has been far more difficult to get things done in Philadelphia, where the Giants have lost their past three games, and dropped five of their past six meetings overall.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you [why],” Odell Beckham Jr. said. “I was thinking about it the other day. I’m like every time I’ve gone to Philly, we’ve lost. … They just for some reason they’ve had our number, but this is our opportunity for a new year and to turn things around. This is a big game for us. We need a win and what better team to beat than Philly.”
Despite watching two straight subpar outings, Pierre-Paul expects Eli Manning to be at his best.
But no opponent makes the Giants quarterback look worse.
No team has beaten Manning (10-18 against the Eagles) more in his career. No team has recorded more interceptions (32) against him, or registered more sacks (54).
Manning needs help, and PierrePaul is looking in the same direction as the fans.
“Eli’s a great quarterback. … He is. You need to block up front and that’s just the point of the game,” Pierre-Paul said. “When you’re playing football, it starts up front. … We’ve got to play our best on the defensive line and the offensive line has to play their best. They’re gonna come out and do good this week.
“Coach has been putting an emphasis on it, so I think they get the picture.”
Should the offensive issues continue, perhaps the defensive line could carry the Giants to its first win, upgrading its solid showings into dominant results.
“We haven’t seen it yet, so that’s pretty scary,” said Pierre-Paul, who recorded a strip sack Monday. “I don’t see the players that we got are gonna allow [another loss].”