Last Giants loss to Redskins spurred Super Bowl run

When teams look back on Super Bowl seasons, they often recount the wins. The nail-biters, the blowouts, the statements made. They usually don't point to a loss as the most important game of the season.

But for the Giants, that's exactly what last year's second regular-season game against the Redskins was on Dec. 18. They were blown out, 23-10, losing their hold of first place in the NFC East and pushed to the brink of missing the postseason for the third straight year. That loss made them a 7-7 team -- average by definition, less than average by eyeball -- but it also shaped them into something extraordinary.

"I think we needed that loss," Justin Tuck said this past week. "After the Redskins game, our positives and negatives were so glaring that it almost helped us. It made us very aware of what we needed to change and what we needed to improve on."

"I think that was definitely the rock bottom," Antrel Rolle said. "There was something about that game that I had an extremely nasty taste in my mouth. I wasn't satisfied with the team play, I wasn't satisfied with my play. I felt there were so many things we could do better as a whole. Something needed to be done, and I think that game is definitely what did it."

Tuck and Rolle were central players in how the Giants rebounded from that loss. At his locker after the game, Rolle called out all of his teammates for not giving their all in practices. He didn't name Tuck, and denied he was speaking about the defensive captain, but it was clear to anyone who heard or read Rolle's rant that he was talking about the veteran defensive end, who had been moping through a forgettable season.

Both would rebound to help forge a championship run that included six straight wins. Before that could happen, though, the Giants left MetLife Stadium after the game unsure of what lay before them.

"Very disappointed," Chris Snee said of his mood that night. "I remember not saying much the whole evening, just going home. Shocked. Disappointed. It was a very disappointing loss. To come home and play the way we did was inexcusable, especially with what was at stake. That's what made it so hard for guys on this team."

The next day, though, the Giants showed up for work like a completely new team. They were refreshed. Resolved. Re-energized.

"Coming in that next week and sitting down and just talking amongst ourselves, players and coaches, we knew that was a point we needed to get things turned around," linebacker Michael Boley said. "Whatever it was that we needed to do, we needed to do it then. There was nothing left to wait for. We needed to take that time and make sure we got the job done."

"It pinned us in a situation where if we lost a game, we were done," Snee said. "And we didn't want to be done. We wanted to be in the playoffs. When you're put in that situation where you have to win . . ."

Snee paused.

"The rest is history."

Like all history, though, it is open to interpretation. In this case, the question becomes a simple one: Could the Giants have won a Super Bowl without losing that game to the Redskins?

"I think it definitely helped," Rolle said. "I think it put guys' minds in the right places, exactly where they needed to be."

"At the time, I would have told you I could do without [that loss]," Snee said. "I don't know. It certainly worked out well for us having our backs against the wall; we do well in those situations. But I'd rather not be in that situation every year."

Tuck was the most certain that the Giants needed that loss to win a Super Bowl. And the most conflicted.

"I would like to say yes, [we could have won without it], but realistically, if I had to say a word, I would probably say no," he said. "It's my gut feeling to say no."

There have been some big losses that helped the Giants. Their eye-to-eye battles with the Patriots and Packers in 2007 and 2011, respectively, established that they could play with the top teams in the league. The heartbreaking loss to the Eagles doomed the 2010 season but laid the groundwork for the "Finish" mantra that reverberated throughout 2011.

But has there ever been a more significant Giants loss than the 23-10 humbling by the Redskins that nearly killed the team's playoff chances and nearly fractured its locker room -- but wound up making both stronger?

Said Tuck, "Not that I can remember."