Last Place, NFC East: When the Giants were able to pull out a win against a mediocre Texans team a few weeks back, New York Giants fans got a little carried away with the “saved their season” hyperbole. I warned them not to get too excited, but they didn’t listen. But now, after losing on a 63-yard FG at the buzzer for the second year in a row, I’m here to console and give five reasons for optimism.
The Division
Remember when the NFC East was one the best divisions in football year after year? Those days are gone. The Cowboys offense is more predictable that an adult movie where a lonely lady orders a pizza but has no money to pay for it. And the Iggles are looking Igly. I’ll ignore the possibility that the Redslurs are sneaky good and assume they lost to the Saints on Monday. They will still be the division leader at 2-2.
The Offense
It might surprise you to learn that the G-men lead the NFC East in points. On second thought, that doesn’t mean much. Forget I brought it up. But the offense has started to gel a bit and Odell, Saquon, and Shepard have done their parts. The pass blocking has improved a bit and Eli has had some time the last few games.
Management
Shurmur aggressively squashed the latest Odell drama, as the WR kinda bashed Eli a little. It wasn’t that bad, but some jerks tried to make an issue out of it. But it’s Finito, said Pat! It doesn’t seem like there is going to be a McAdoo Mass Meltdown in the locker room this year. Shurmur and Gettleman have a plan and are guiding the ship with confidence in their vision. Whether the ship is headed toward Success Island or Stinkville is unclear, but it seems to be an improvement from the rudderless Reese/McAdoo Cruise to Nowhere.
The Schedule
Don’t take this the wrong way because the Giants are fully capable of losing the next five. But the schedule is suddenly far less imposing. Next up are a few winnable division games against Washington and Philly, sandwiched around a game at the inconsistent Falcons, who have lost most of their best defensive players. Then then they go to San Fran, play Tampa at home, then go to Philly.
Is it impossible for them to win two of three of the division games, let’s say split with Philly and beat Washington, and then beat Atlanta, Tampa, and San Fran? Ok, it’s not likely, but it’s not impossible. Boom 5-5.
Then they close out with the Chicago, Washington, Tennessee, Indy, and Dallas. Not exactly murderers row. I know, this team has too many holes to not stumble at least a few times in there. But hey, a guy can dream. 8-8 with a good division record might be enough.
That was five, right? What? I need one more.
Cutting Ereck Flowers
Time to move on. This bust set the Giants back a long time. Todd Gurley, Marcus Peters, Bud Dupree, Damarious Randall, Shaq Thompson, and Melvin Gordon are a few of the quality NFL players who were drafter after Flowers. Happy trails Flowerbed.
I’ll take off my blue tinted glasses now. I’m glad I had a hockey game last night and missed that debacle in the Bronx. Come by tomorrow for Angry Ward’s dazzling think piece on the life of an NFL groundskeeper. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
