The season might have ended in heartache, but the Giants gave plenty of reasons to get excited for the future.
Despite missing out on the NFL playoffs, despite a slow start and a limping finish, despite an unproven first-year coach, their best offensive weapon missing the season, and their starting kicker and starting corner being arrested and subsequently released from the team before the season even started, the NY Giants had a pretty damn good 2020.
It’s always harder to look on the bright side of things when you come up just short, and the Eagles’ approach to ending their own season certainly added salt in the wound.
It’s also a bit tougher when in a historically weak division, the NY Giants only managed a 6-10 record.
But, this season should be considered a success for the Giants, even though it marked their fourth straight losing record.
It’s been a long stretch of mediocrity and poor performance since the Giants won their last Super Bowl in 2011, which was also the last year they won the division. Since 2012, the Giants have had just two winning seasons — 2012 and 2016 — and made the playoffs just once.
Over that stretch, and especially since that last playoff appearance in 2016, the team was in a complete tail spin. The Giants have gone through three coaching regimes, two general managers, and retired one legendary quarterback.
But the winds of change swept through MetLife Stadium in 2020. And this season feels like a crucial turning point.
Giants’ staff, players, and of course their fans find themselves in the familiar position of watching the playoffs from the outside looking in. But for the first time in a long time, they can watch with the perspective that they belong there, and that they could hang with the NFL’s best.
This year’s team played with heart and effort, something that they lacked over their poor stretch. What’s more important, that effort brought results.
Outside of a few blowouts, the Giants were in the majority of their games. And even late into the games they had no chance of winning, the players played like the game was on the line.
While there is plenty to opine about from another losing season, there’s just as much to look forward to. So let’s review seven reasons to be excited about the Giants moving forward.