McAdoo: This is when real football begins
Ben McAdoo sounded a call to action as the Giants closed out November with a sterling record of 8-3, firmly entwined in the NFC playoff picture and riding a sixgame winning streak as they head into the month of decision.
“As a team, where do we go from here?’’ McAdoo said Monday. “It’s December football. This is where the real football begins. All our hard work to this point has set the table for December. It’s an exciting time against a lot of playoff teams and playoff environments. The margin for error is small. This is where our identity needs to take over.’’
There is not much more the Giants could have done to improve their position or enhance their chances for their first postseason appearance since 2011. After an uninspired loss in Green Bay to the Packers, the Giants looked upon their schedule and realized there were games to be won, with four of five games at home, a trip to London to face the mediocre Rams and a road game in the most hospitable place in the league: Cleveland. The Giants ran the table, but to characterize them as riding high would be the clichéd description and not close to accurate.
One of the reasons all the Giants, even those on defense, were so selfcritical of their performance in a 27-13 victory over the winless Browns is that they know what lies ahead. The Steelers (6-5) are not a great team and they have not had a great season, but they have a threeheaded monster on offense with Ben Roethlisberger throwing it to Antonio Brown and handing it off to Le’Veon Bell.
The Giants understand a steep upgrade is awaiting them in Pittsburgh and they hope what happened in Cleveland stays in Cleveland.
“I’m not happy with it,’’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “I think I missed three tackles myself. I knew we blew a couple of coverages, let some guys run free. For our defense, we got such high character we don’t want to put bad stuff on film and I feel at times we did. Some things we allowed to happen and against a really good team like the one we’re gonna play this week, they’re gonna expose us.’’
Cleaning up during the six-game winning streak, the Giants disposed of teams with a combined record of 20-45-1. Their last five games are against teams with a combined record of 34-20-1. Four of the five — the Steelers, Cowboys, Lions, and Redskins — are in the thick of playoff races, with the Eagles (5-6) starting to fade.
“We’re going to have a week-toweek mentality, but I think it’s important to address the elephant in the room, so to speak,” McAdoo said. “Everything gets cranked up a notch in December, everyone jockeying for position. ”
The elephant in the room?
“All of our hard work to this point has set the table for us to be playing meaningful football in December, which is what everybody in the league shoots for,” McAdoo said.
The Giants realize they probably cannot continue to meander on offense and maintain their winning ways. Their 192 net passing yards against the Browns were a seasonlow and their 13 first downs tied the season-low they had against the Rams. Failure to possess the ball and an inability to score much more than 20 points a game with their offense is not going to get the Giants very far when the level of the competition rises.
“We got to pick it up,’’ Rashad Jennings said. “We got to find a way offensively to keep our defense off the field longer and put more points on the board. It’s exciting to win, but we still ain’t done it the way we want to.’’
Is has been five years since the Giants went into the final month with a clear path to the playoffs but not so long ago that those who remain have forgotten what it feels like.
“This is where you want to be,’’ Eli Manning said on WFAN. “You want to be in this position going into December and be in the picture. We got to prove that we belong. If you’re gonna be a good team, if you’re gonna make a run and make the playoffs, you got to beat good teams. That’s the stretch we’re going into. Once you get into December, you kinda know where you stand and what you got to do. We got to keep winning.’’