After all the loss you and your New York football giants have endured since the infamous boat ride that preceded the Green Bay playoff disaster in January 2017, the Eli Manning benching, the Ben McAdoo fire, the Jerry Reese fire, the Pat Shurmur fire, Manning’s retirement, a record of 12-36 in the past three seasons, admitted the cruel football gods and gave you a totally unexpected gift at the start of a new year:
A chance.
A chance to save the Cowboys from their misery at the MetLife Stadium at least on Sunday at 1 p.m.
An opportunity for you to hunt for the Eagles hours later on Sunday night to defeat Washington so your Giants earn the right to host a playoff game for the first time since January 8, 2012 – when they faced the Falcons on their way to the Super Bowl XLVI.
So make the cynics laugh at your team, mock your 5-10 Joe Judge-Daniel Jones Giants for being blessed with a Blue-or-die Sunday against the Cowboys at StillLife Stadium simply because they toil in the NFC Least.
Let the sarcastic grin call your Joe Judge-Daniel Jones Giants the worst playoff team in history when you come in 6-10.
The playoff rules have not changed: 6-10 becomes 0-0 when the tournament starts.
And in a season where COVID-19 betrayal on game day lurks ominously in every corner of the NFL universe – see Giant’s offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo – “any January Sunday” could never become more relevant.
Pete Carroll was in his first season with the Seahawks when they defeated the Rams in the 2010 regular season finale, with backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst finishing Matt Hasselbeck’s (hip) raid to finish 7-9 and a wildcard berth.
“We didn’t come here the way we all dreamed to come here, but we came here,” Carroll said afterwards. “When it came down to it, the boys played a great football game tonight.”
Guess what? The Seahawks shocked defending Super Bowl champion Saints, 41-36, at home in a wild card game.
“I know it sounds crazy,” said Carroll after Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes and Marshawn Lynch broke nine tackles on a 67-meter TD run, “but we expected to win, so we’ll take this in our stride. and get moving. to the next. “
Next up was Bears 35, Seahawks 24 at Soldier Field, but hey …
The Panthers of 2014, you wonder? They hit their ticket for the dance with a 34-3 outburst from the Falcons on the way to finish 7-8-1 and on a winning streak of four games.
“The great thing: record doesn’t matter,” said Panthers coach Ron Rivera. “That’s the best part.”
Then the Panthers defeated the Ryan Lindley Cardinals 27-16 at home in the wildcard game.
“We know who we are – threatening, suffocating and we’re going after you,” Josh Norman said afterwards. “We know when there is blood in the water, and if it does, our sharks are going to eat.”
The sharks were eaten in a 31-17 road loss to the Seahawks in the division round, but hey …
The difference is that the Giants are not in control of fate. A win over the Cowboys would still require Washington and Rivera, in his first season as coach to Daniel Snyder, losing to the Eagles at Linc.
The Giants could win the division and drop from a top-10 draft pick to 19th – if they’re one-and-done in the playoffs.
There wouldn’t be any Giants fans in the MetLife stands for any wildcard game, of course, but this is no reason for them to root for the higher draft pick.
Ereck Flowers was a ninth choice. Eli Apple was a 10th pick.
Come on now.
There’s no Trevor Lawrence waiting for you at the end of the rainbow anyway.
Playoff moorings do not grow on trees. Ask Jets fans. Remind yourself too.
And by the way… do you really want to lose to the Jerry Jones Cowboys for the eighth time in a row?
Jerry Jones has been eating a chunk of modest pie since his Super Bowl XXX Championship, but who can forget the late, great Wellington Mara’s words late in the 1996 season after a 20-6 win over the Cowboys at Giants Stadium?
“It’s always nice to see arrogance humiliated,” Mara said.
Plus, do you really want your Giants to lose to the Cowboys on Eli Manning’s 40th birthday? Giants Fans: Together, Blue-or-die.