Identity Crisis: Which Giants Team Will Show Up This Week vs Ravens?

It’s almost playoff time in the NFL and about a month ago it seemed like a sure thing for the Giants that they’d be there as NFC East division champions. Well, that was then and right now the Giants find themselves on the brink of not making the postseason at all. The Giants need to win this weekend in Baltimore and get some help in order to remain alive for one of the wild card spots.

This is what it’s come to for the Giants. Two games left in the regular season and they no longer can concern themselves with winning their division, they now must battle to just get a playoff spot. According to the NFL, the bottom line for the Giants against the Ravens this week is this …

• A loss to the Ravens along with wins by the Cowboys, Redskins, and a win or tie by the Seahawks will eliminate them from playoff contention.
• As far as the division title goes, basically the Giants have no shot at it if either Dallas or Washinton wins their last two games of the season.

What the Giants must do here is keep it simple and gets no more simpler than just winning this weekend in Baltimore and then next weekend at home against the Eagles in the regular season finale. Now if it was only that simple when it comes to this team.

If anyone can make sense of the New York Giants in 2012 then I’d love to have them pick out my lotto tickets. They are this year’s poster team for Jekyll and Hyde because one week they look like the best team in the league and then another week they are getting ran off the field by their opponents. It wouldn’t be much of a reach to conclude that no one knows which Giants team will show up this weekend in Baltimore.

The issues for the Giants throughout this season have been their inconsistency with running the football, stopping the run, and rushing the quarterback. Eli Manning has struggled to maintain consistent positive production with his receivers and his throws have not had the same touch or crisp feel to them as in past seasons. The lack of pass rush on the defense has been alarming this season and it’s caused a trickled-down effect while also putting more pressure on a very banged up secondary unit. The Giants must find a way to take away Ravens running back Ray Rice and force quarterback Joe Flacco to beat them. This means that defensive line of the Giants must step their game up.

According to reports this week, head coach Tom Coughlin is counting on his team leaders to set the tone for the rest of the way. A spot in the playoffs being in jeopardy might be be the spark that ignites the flame for them. It’s worked in the past. Win or lose this week, the questions surrounding the Giants about their true identity will be answered.