As the lights went out over the New Meadowlands Stadium early in the third quarter, I felt it matched the energy level of the Giants perfectly. For much of the game, they looked like the one-win team with no hope for making the playoffs. Instead, the dead-in-the-water Cowboys entered this game exactly how they had to, with energy and a real sense of urgency.
Jason Garrett made sure this team was emotionally prepared to give this game everything they had in order to protect their jobs for the time being. It is frustrating that the Giants did not attempt to match this intensity out of the gate, especially at home. Instead they relied on conservative play calling throughout the first half while the Cowboys picked the Giants secondary apart.
In today’s game, there were multiple penalties, one of which overturned a fourth quarter touchdown that could have changed the outcome of this game. The offense finally became energetic in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately it bypassed a healthy level of urgency and went right into panic. And the defense was a virtual no-show, especially the secondary, where Jon Kitna and Dez Bryant had their way with this team.
This is the first game since week three against the Titans that we did not see a noticeable improvement from the previous week. These things happen in the NFL, but what is most problematic is the timing of this game. By the second half of the season the elite teams should have greatly reduced their sloppy mistakes in order to make their run for the playoffs. Under coach Tom Coughlin, this team has traditionally underperformed in the second half, and last season it cost them the playoffs.
Based on this one game, there is no reason to panic. Yet. The Giants thrive when they can play with a chip on their shoulder, and they need one or two bad losses to bring the energy level back up. While this certainly qualifies as a bad loss, this is not the worst one they have suffered this season, and they came back with gusto after that awful outing against Tennessee. Next Sunday is a primetime game against the Eagles, and I fully expect to see the Giants bounce back and raise the intensity level. They will have to if they do not want to repeat their infamous second half collapse from last season.