Can the Giants Survive December?

By Matt Jussim

One thing that we now know about the New York Giant’s deflating loss against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night is that a record number of people watched it. The Cowboys burned the Super Bowl champion Giants 20-8 on Sunday night to keep themselves alive in the NFC playoff race. The game drew 23.1 million viewers, the most ever for a “Sunday Night Football” game.

After a week full of turmoil and drama due to Terrell Owens relationship with Tony Romo, it was only fitting that Romo’s first pass of the game was thrown to his best friend and roommate Jason Witten.

T.O. was booed during pregame introductions and when he dropped a long pass on Dallas’ first series. But once the Cowboys went up 14-3 midway through the fourth quarter, Romo, Owens and Witten were laughing it up on the sidelines. Owens later added, “Winning cures everything.”

Romo was 20-30 for 244 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. Romo was sacked four times throughout the night, including on back-to-back plays at the end of the first quarter that left him in noticeable pain, but he didn’t miss a snap throughout the game.

The Giants could not score at all, and could not protect Eli Manning from the Dallas pass rush. DeMarcus Ware sacked Manning on New York’s first snap, and finished the night with three of the Cowboys season high eight sacks.

Manning was just 18-34 for 191 yards and two interceptions in the loss. Manning said, “I’m disappointed, a little frustrated, but not concerned. We have to get back to playing good football. We’ll have our hands full. The defense is playing well, but offensively we’re not doing our part.”

The Giants locked up the NFC East title already, but have lost consecutive games for the first time since starting 0-2 last season. Both losses coincidentally have come after star receiver Plaxico Burress shot himself and was lost for the rest of the year.

Luckily for the Giants, they have a chance to redeem themselves by winning their next game, at home Sunday night against the Carolina Panthers, in a game that will determine the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

The game should be considered a must win for the Giants; if they falter and lose, they could conceivably kiss their Super Bowl chances goodbye. No team has ever made it to the Super Bowl after losing three games in row in December.

Since Burress’ injury the Giants offense has been anemic. Since defenses no longer have to double team Plaxico, coverage has been tighter on receivers like Domenik Hixon and Amani Toomer. On top of that, teams have been able to stack eight players in the box to deflate the Giant’s powerful running game, which have been without Brandon Jacobs the past two games.

The defense played fairly well, notching four sacks and only allowing three third down conversions. Unfortunately, for the Giants squad two of those three third down conversions came on the Cowboy’s touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

The question for the Giants is can they survive without Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress?

The team should remember they have already won without Burress in the lineup. Only a few weeks ago, the Giants handily beat the Arizona Cardinals 37-29, with Burress replacement Domenik Hixon leading the team in receiving yards. The absence of Jacobs could hurt the Giants as well, but in that same game against the Cardinals, it was Ahmad Bradshaw who led the team in rushing, not Brandon Jacobs.

Tom Coughlin is sure to keep the Giants focused on their next game, and not offer any excuses for the team’s recent poor play. Hopefully the Giants can end their losing streak, and lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs this Sunday night.