By Billy Fellin
This whole season has been one camel hump in a roller coaster after another. The Giants are no exception to this, as they have been up for most of the time, but have been down as well. But they are still very much in contentionI was yelling and crying when I was watching the Giants game at my Virginia home on Sunday. I was yelling when we missed opportunities, such as the time when Coughlin ran Jacobs three times on the goal line. I was screaming “YOU IDIOT IF IT DIDN’T WORK THE FIRST TWO TIMES, DON’T DO IT A THIRD!” But anyway, another missed opportunity when Amani Toomer dropped the pass for the first down in the second quarter. I cried happiness when Plax made that wonderful play in the third to go for the 61 yard pass (not just because it was the back breaker for the McEagles, it did wonders for my fantasy team). I held my breathe when Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan both limped off the field, though watching the vertically challenged Tiki Barber being helped off by the pillars that are Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey was highly entertaining.
Both the defenses were solid walls in the first half, not really warranting a lot of yards or points. The Giants defense improved their streak of four games without yielding a single point in the first half of play, even though their streak of not yielding a touchdown to the opponent’s offense was snapped when McMahon threw the touchdown to Brown in the third quarter. Going along with the defense, the special teams was stellar, especially with the return of Willie Ponder to the lineup. He blocked the kick that set up the touchdown pass to Amani Toomer on fourth down. You know that drive where I was hoarse from screaming as I mentioned earlier? Needless to say, I calmed down after that score. Slightly.
I would have been much happier with the Giants win, not that I was upset that we ended our four game loosing streak against the Eagles, but it would have been better if the Lions had come through and beat the Cowgirls. But what was I thinking, the Lions doing something good? Oh well. As it stands right now the Giants are 5th in the NFC behind the best in conference Seahawks, Da Bears (where did they come from!?), the Cowgirls and the Panthers. If the season ended today, then the Giants would play in the first round against the Panthers in Carolina, with the other Wild Card game being the Bucs against the Cowboys in Big D. Now that ESPN has started to bring up the playoff scenarios, I can start making my predictions.
Any uninformed, bandwagon happy, high school student, such as many of the kids at my school, would make the stupid pick of their favorite team going all the way to Detroit in February. But I legitimately think that the Giants have a very good shot at going to the Motor City for Super Bowl Xtra Large. As I mentioned before, the NFC is void of any powerhouses. The Seahawks are the closest the NFC has, with Shawn Alexander running all over opposing defenses, and Matt Hasselbeck having an under-the-radar kind of year. He’s being a very consistent passer, but he’s going unnoticed because of the Mannings, Vick, and McNabb, who is now McHurt. Kyle Orton for the Bears could potentially be another Ben Roethlisberger and lead the team to the playoffs, being his first year under center. But I think that Orton has shown flashes of his inexperience through out the year, and will probably have a big rookie mistake at a crucial time in the Bear’s bid for the playoffs. They will win the North, but I don’t think that they will get very far in the playoffs due to them being such a young team. The same thing goes for the Bucs, who are flying high with Cadillac Williams and Chris Simms. They are both good players that have bright futures in the league, but their inexperience in clutch playoff situations could come back and bite them in the butt come January, though Jon Gruden can usually find some way to win. The Panthers and Falcons were both pre-season favorites in the NFC, but they both have proved to be inconsistent. The Falcons have lost two straight, including to the dismal Packers. Personally, I loved it, because I think that Vick is the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. The Panthers have lost some tough games too, including this past Sunday’s game to the Bears. Granted, the Bears defense is one of the better defenses in the league, but in my opinion, you have to put up more than 3 points to be considered a serious contender.
So the only two teams I haven’t discussed yet are the Cowboys and the Giants. I personally think that the game in two weeks will be crucial to the Giants standings in the NFC playoff picture. That game on December 4th will decide who wins the East. I’m really undecided on the Cowboys capabilities, except if they are in the playoffs and they are put into a situation where they are down late, or tied late and can come back for a “Cardiac Win”. But, in my opinion the Giants have the talent, weapons and the opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl.
Call me a stupid high schooler. Go for it, it honestly won’t bother me. But I am certainly not misinformed and I think that The Big Blue can make it to Detroit. Whether they can win when they get there is another story, but I’ll cross that bridge once the playoffs start.