It’s Time to Get Angry

It’s time to get angry, says Antrel Rolle.

We know why the players are angry.  They let the Eagles punch them in the mouth and did nothing in response.  But even if the Eagles had a love-in at Met Life and kissed the Giants butts en route to a 17-10 win, would that have made the loss any less humiliating?  Of course not.

What gets me angry is the constant pattern of the Giants playing up and down to the level of their opponent.  That is the mark of underachievement. 

Let’s look at the Giants when they were favorites:      

Washington – LOSS
Rams- Win, with plenty of help from the opposition (remember the red zone lateral?!)
Cards- Win, waking up at the end with 10 pts in last 5 minutes
Seahawks- LOSS 
Bills- Win, barely, with the help of a late INT in the red zone  
Dolphins- Win, taking the lead after trailing the first 55 minutes
Eagles- LOSS
  
Let’s look at the Giants when they were underdogs:

Eagles- WIN
Pats- WIN
Niners – LOSS (very competitive) 

This modus operandi goes back to Coughlin’s predecessor, Jim Fassel.  Fassel could not manage prosperity.  He’d blow big leads in games and he could not put two consecutive seasons together with winning records.  Similarly here for Coughlin, the Giants are not winning when they are supposed to win.  And when they do win, they are barely doing it.  That smells of complacency.  And complacency breeds underachievement.  Why is it so much to ask for 60 minutes of effort and intensity each game from your team?  If the Giants had that, they could be 9-1.  Instead, they are 6-4 with the toughest part of the schedule ahead of them.  The consecutive road underdog games vs SF and NE gave us a Giant team that played 60 minutes in each contest.  That was good football.  And even in the SF loss, we liked the fight and the effort.  But was it just because they were underdogs in both games?  That seems to be the story this season.  It is certainly a step in the right direction, considering the last two years, when the Giants could not be competitive vs good teams.  So let’s be happy about that.  But here it is, one game later, and the Giants beat themselves in a game they could have and HAD to win.  Exasperating.

Expect the Giants to stay true to form and play with effort this coming Monday… they’re underdogs.  The Giants have shown us that they can be competitive when they play 60 minutes.  It’s a waste to see them not give that kind of effort all 16 games.