Home is where heartbreak has been for Blue

When is home field not an advantage? When it's the Giants playing at MetLife Stadium, apparently.

The Giants will be hosting the Cowboys in Sunday night's NFC East championship game, a winner-take-all clash between the two division rivals who come into the game with 8-7 records. It should be a tremendous advantage for the Giants to be playing this game at home. But because of their 3-4 record as a host (they're 4-4 in the building counting the "road" win Saturday against the Jets) and some of the more uninspired performances of the season coming at MetLifeless Stadium, it's hard to give the Giants any kind of territorial advantage in this one.

They may win. They may be the better team. But they've already proved that home is not always where their heart is. They were a no-show for the Eagles, were uninspired against the Redskins, and were smacked around by Seattle, all in their own living room. And that doesn't count the game they had to pull out late against a then-winless Dolphins team, a victory that left the crowd booing their dissatisfaction.

The Giants were 5-3 at home last year, their first in the new place, but two of those losses cost them their season: the one to Dallas, and the collapse against the Eagles. It's worth noting that the Giants and Cowboys have spent upward of $2 billion combined on their new homes -- the Jets split the cost with the Giants here -- and neither has a home victory against the other yet.

So why have the Giants struggled at home? Some wonder if they are too comfortable, too relaxed by their familiar surroundings.

"Maybe," defensive captain Justin Tuck said. "I think on the road, you always have that mindset of you against the world. At home, you have a tendency to relax and play a little looser in some ways. But that's no excuse. We have to play better at home and we all know that."

Tom Coughlin also dismissed the "too comfortable" theory. He was, however, very eager to point out at each turn last week that the Giants were the road team. Part of that may have been inspirational for his team, to have them feel the stinging insult of someone else putting their feet up on their coffee tables. But part of it was also the knowledge of how much better the Giants have performed on the road, even when "the road" is a state of mind and not an actual trip.

Strangely, one of the ways some players defended their home malaise was by pointing out that they have played poor, uninspired football on the road, too. The game against the Saints in New Orleans was certainly an example. But home games are supposed to be amped-up affairs with the crowd behind you and the 12th man making an impact. Like they do in New Orleans.

The Giants won't be able to get that kind of a frenzy Sunday night. But they are counting on some of what Victor Cruz called the Giants fans' "natural hatred of the Cowboys" to make it a little hostile for the visiting team.

Then again, maybe not thinking that home field should be an advantage is the way to go.

"We're looking at it as we're playing against a very worthy opponent who knows us very well and we're looking forward to the matchup," Antrel Rolle said. "It doesn't matter home-field advantage, it doesn't matter where we're playing . . . I'm happy this game is home [for the fans] but at the same time. it doesn't have any effect on the game whatsoever."

Here at MetLife, it's certainly been proved that it doesn't.

Giants throw in the towels

The Giants have a new motto — “All in!” — and they’re hoping to wipe up the Cowboys with it. All fans who attend Sunday night will receive a white rally towel with those words printed on them. The term “All in!” springs from the Giants’ newfound attitude of practicing and playing every snap, as extolled by Antrel Rolle after the Redskins loss.

Will the rally towels work? They did the last time the Giants handed them out, when they played the Panthers in 2008 in a late battle for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Tuck, Ware have a good laugh

Justin Tuck shared a chuckle with DeMarcus Ware in the teams’ first meeting after Ware had said earlier in the week that Tuck is jealous of Dallas and really wants to play there.

“We laughed about it, actually,” Tuck said. “ . . . He told me hyped it up so much that it ended up being what it was, and it really wasn’t what it was. He didn’t have to tell me that. I know. Me and that guy go back a long way. We both know where we stand.”

Who’s next?

If the Giants win, they’ll be the No. 4 seed and host the No. 5 seed next weekend. That will be either the Lions or the Falcons. The only way the Falcons can get the No. 5 seed is if they beat the Bucs and the Lions lose to the Packers. That would make both wild cards 10-6, with Atlanta holding a tiebreaker after beating the Lions Oct. 23.