POSTED: Tuesday November 25th 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GIANTS NOTEBOOK, NOVEMBER 24, 2008
By Michael Eisen
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants are in an enviable position with five games remaining in the regular season.
Their 37-29 victory yesterday against the Cardinals in Arizona improved their record to 10-1 (tied with the Tennessee Titans for the NFL’s best mark) and maintained their three-game lead in the NFC East over the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, both of whom won yesterday. They are two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers in the race for the best record in the conference.
Were the Giants to peek down the road, they could easily see a future that includes a division title, home field advantage in the NFC playoffs and an opportunity to defend their championship in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa.
But it’s safe to say – indeed, it’s a guarantee – that the Giants are thinking only of short-term goals. Or, more precisely, goal. And that is trying to extend their winning streak to seven games Sunday with a victory over the Redskins in FedEx Field. Everything else, including the potential magic to be found in January and February, is incidental.
That includes the upcoming three-game stretch against division foes Washington, Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles, back-to-back-to-back. To Tom Coughlin, the only game, the only event that matters is the next one.
“The only one we know about is the Washington game,” Coughlin said in repeating a message he has delivered many times in his five seasons as the Giants’ coach. “That is our next game. That is the most important game on the schedule because it is the next one.\”
Asked whether he’s thinking about first-round byes and the playoffs, Coughlin today said, “I’m thinking about the Washington Redskins.”
The players take their cue from the coach and while they can’t help but think about how special this season can become, their focus is solely on, well, the Washington Redskins.
On a conference call today, Justin Tuck was asked if he thinks about “closing in” on a division title.
“You think about it, but honestly we try to take it one game at a time,” Tuck said. “We know we are getting close to the end of the season and the more wins we get the better chance we have of getting that bye week and having home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That is huge, especially with how we have played at home this year, so you definitely think about it.”
Tuck said the team will have no trouble focusing on the opponent of the week while maintaining awareness of the big picture they are creating.
“We realize what our goals are and we realize that just one of them is making the playoffs,” Tuck said. “I don’t think guys are going to start thinking they are better than what they are, because we know what we had to go through last year as far as the playoff run and things of that nature. And it isn’t going to be any different this year, just hopefully we get a lot of home games instead of having to travel.
“But either way, home or away, playoff games and down the stretch in the NFL are always going to be tough games and tough weeks and we know what to expect from it, even our young guys. We really don’t have that many young people on this football team and the ones that are young are playing and played all last year and continue to do the same things this year. I think the veteran leadership on this football team, and just as a whole with all the guys, they really understand what it takes to win in this league and prepare to do so.”
Tuck perhaps best demonstrated the players’ attitude when he was asked if he is thinking about the possibility of facing the Jets in an all-metropolitan area Super Bowl.
“Not really,” Tuck said. “It is a long way from there, but if it happens, it happens and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I would love for it to happen, because it means we made the Super Bowl. But other than that, I really don’t have anything to say about it, because we have so much more football to play before we even start to worry about that.”
*For six weeks, while the Giants became the NFL’s most productive rushing team, quarterback Eli Manning was subjected to questions about the proficiency of the team’s passing game. In the six games prior to their visit to Arizona, the Giants totaled 1,004 rushing yards and 999 passing yards. Manning did not pass for 200 yards in any of those six games.
That changed yesterday in University of Phoenix Stadium. The Giants rushed for 87 yards, their second-lowest total of the season. Manning, meanwhile, completed 26 of 33 passes (a career-high completion percentage of .788) for 240 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
And he did it without two of the Giants’ leading offensive weapons in running back Brandon Jacobs (inactive with a knee injury) and wide receiver Plaxico Burress (left after the first series with a sore hamstring).
“I’ve thought for the last couple weeks that we were going to have to throw the ball,” Manning said. “We just happened to run the ball really well in those games, so I wasn’t called upon to throw it as much. But I had a feeling that in this game, we really were going to have to throw it well. The guys did a great job. We just wanted to get out there and know that when we have to, when we need to throw it, we are able to do that and do it well.”
Coughlin had high praise for Manning after the game and again today.
“I thought Eli played very, very well,” Coughlin said. “His management of the game, his high percentage of passing, his three touchdown passes, his no-turnovers, and no turnovers throughout the game was essential as far as we are concerned, and also when you are on the road, an even stronger emphasis.”
In a follow-up question about the Giants’ offense, Coughlin continued to commend Manning.
“We also have the capability of throwing the ball well,” Coughlin said. “And I think that we have – with our quarterback, who again as I stated last night, understands the game, understands what is needed within the game, and then seems to do whatever is necessary to compliment what we need to do as a team to have a chance to win.”
*Burress, whose streak of at least one reception in 115 consecutive games in which he played ended, was undergoing tests on his hamstring today. Coughlin said he did not think the injury is worse after Burress’ brief appearance, but won’t know until the tests are completed.
Coughlin did not like to see his most dangerous receiver leave the game after only three offensive plays.
“Well, it was the wrong kind of surprise,” Coughlin said. “It is the one thing that I was hoping against hope that was not going to happen. He has been so resilient and so tough under any circumstance. When you ask Plaxico even when he has had a week where he has been injured, he is going to play if he can play. And he certainly went out and tried it and I think someone mentioned last night about the deep ball (that was incomplete on the Giants’ second play). And probably he felt like he just couldn’t stand on it. He couldn’t get that extra little bit that he needed. And that was the series and it was over and he couldn’t come back. So that was something that I certainly did not want to see happen. Fortunately, we had five receivers dressed and they all contributed. But we didn’t want to see him go out.”
*Asked about Jacobs, who hurt his knee last week against Baltimore, Coughlin said he is “always optimistic,” but he won’t know about the running back’s availability for the Redskins until late in the week – perhaps not until Sunday.
Regarding other injuries, Coughlin said, “Well, there are a bunch of nicks. Jonathan Goff came out of the game with a hamstring. Brandon did not play. We are hoping that Fred (Robbins), who jammed up a shoulder, seemed to have good flexibility today. So hopefully he will be okay as well.
“(Kevin Boss), they called it ‘a mild concussion’ that they don’t think is an issue. He did kind of bang both knees up, but they were just contusions.”
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Keywords · New York Giants · NFL football
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