New York Giants: 10 things we learned last season

Aug 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals in a preseason NFL football game at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 23-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

4. Losing Is Contagious

Vince Lombardi famously said that confidence was contagious, and so is lack of confidence. The same can be said about winning and losing. After starting off 0-2 it looked like the Giants had figured it out and were on their way to a good season after a three game winning streak. But when the 3-2 Giants found themselves in the loss column in week six they didn’t win again until week 14.

The Giants got rocked in that week six game against the Philadelphia Eagles; they lost Victor Cruz for the season and the were shut out 27-0. The next week the Giants gave the Cowboys a real fight. But when the Giants couldn’t stop the Cowboys offense in the big moments, the team fell short. The Giants were in a rut, stuck in an unforgiving quicksand. That’s what happens when you lose consecutive games in the NFL, the harder you try to get out of the more you fall into the quicksand.

The Giants weren’t a complete team last season but their 6-10 record was a mark of under achievement. The Giants lost two games to the Cowboys, despite Eli Manning throwing for three touchdowns in both games. The Giants lost four games by eight points or less. This was a team that could have been competitive but they couldn’t come up in the big moments.

That’s because losing is contagious. It is a sickness that kills confidence and tears away at your will. It creates sloppiness on the field and the inflicted team runs into their own way, trying to fix it. If the 2014 Giants proved anything at all to us, it is the psychology of a losing streak.

Next: 5. It Takes More Than A Quarterback