Giants' thoughts immediately turn toward key game vs. Commanders
Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux reacts as he walks off the field after a touchdown by the Eagles during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday. Credit: Brad Penner
The Giants were not competitive against the Eagles on Sunday.
Good thing that’s not whom they are competing against right now.
Philadelphia showed it clearly is in a different class from where the Giants find themselves these days. The Eagles' Mauling at the Meadowlands — a 48-22 victory behind their second-most points in the 90-year rivalry --- illustrated the disparity between the two NFC East programs as much more than the 90 or so miles of New Jersey Turnpike that separate them geographically.
The Eagles improved to 12-1, the best record in the NFL, and clinched a postseason berth. They’ll spend the next month thinking about seedings and byes and their best path to the Super Bowl.
Those aren’t concerns for the Giants (7-5-1). They just want to get in the playoffs. Their race is with Washington (7-5-1), Seattle (7-6) and Detroit (6-7). Two of them, as it is shaping up, will make it. Two won’t.
Brian Daboll and the Giants haven’t danced to Biggie since Nov. 13 and have won only once since Oct. 23. They received some help from the Panthers, who beat the Seahawks on Sunday evening to keep the Giants in that “if the season ended today” playoff bracket, but their best path to an 18th game remains a victory this coming Sunday in Washington.
“It’s huge now,” wide receiver Darius Slayton said of the next contest. “We gotta find a way to win.”
This loss was dreadful, ugly and humbling. Even if they had found a way to pull off an upset win, though, the season likely still would be defined by the Washington game. Right now those two teams are tied, appropriate given that they played to a tie against each other a week ago.
“We’re at the point in the season where if you lose, you’re out. That’s my mentality,” rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux said with a conviction as emphatic as it was erroneous.
There are pathways without a win, but they are far too complicated to contemplate. It’s best to simply accept the idea that the season comes down to the upcoming contest and leave it at that. It’s what the Giants already were doing as they tried to shower off this loss and quickly turn their attention ahead.
There really wasn't much the Giants could say about this game, so they spent most of their time chatting about the next one. Already they were planning their approach. Young leaders such as Dexter Lawrence were making mental outlines for the topics they want to broach.
“You challenge your guys and ask them what they want to sacrifice,” he said. “I think the edge creates itself. We’re all competitors and we all want to win.”
Offensive lineman Andrew Thomas said he’ll be the good cop, in not so many words.
“That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “If we can put something together, we have an opportunity still.”
One of the few coherent sentiments the Giants were able to muster regarding the Eagles was the idea of another game against them to close out the regular season. After an away game against the Vikings (10-3) and a home game against the Colts (4-8-1), the Giants are scheduled to play at Philadelphia on Jan. 8.
“We’ll see them again,” Lawrence said, and others echoed that anticipation.
The Eagles already know they’ll have another game after that one. Right now, the Giants can only hope.
The biggest obstacle for them: They’ve never done any of this before. Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones and all of the others who are trying to will this team forward, almost none of them have ever reached the postseason. The Giants elected 10 captains at the beginning of the year; kicker Graham Gano is the only one who has ever stepped on the field for a playoff game.
Linebacker Jihad Ward has, too. He sat in his folding chair in the nearly empty locker room Sunday and tried to provide an explanation of what it takes to get there, based on his experience with the Ravens.
“It’s December football, man, it’s about who [expletive] wants it more,” he said. “There’s more to it than just doing your job. There’s more to it than ‘I know my playbook.’ You have to do more. How bad do you want it? Nobody is going to sit there and give it to us. It’s really how bad do you really, really want it?”
He went on to answer his own questions.
“What you gonna do? Gonna sit here and sit back and just wait until next year? I want it now,” he said. “That’s the type of mindset I have and what I expect every single person in this organization to have.”
This game against the Eagles wasn’t about want or will, it was about the much better roster demonstrating its dominance. It was over in the offseason. It told us almost nothing about the Giants and provided little insight into how their future will play out.
This next game against the Commanders is the one that will.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
