There are games that can change the fate of an entire season. This was one of them. This was one of the guttiest wins we have witnessed as Giants fans. This team came into Foxboro against a Hall of Fame QB + Hall of Fame Coach, without their starting Center, WR and RB. They played 60 tough minutes and won on a 2 minute drive that will define this team’s belief in themselves. This was a tremendous win for a team that put it all together. How about that kid Ballard?!!!!! How ’bout them Giants?!!!!! Fantastic win!!!!!
Good-
1) Eli was fantastic again. No sooner have we remarked that in 7 years he has not been able to carry his team, and then he loses his starting RB, WR and C, and proceeds to … CARRY THE TEAM! God Bless! Did he have a few blemishes with the backfoot throws, the delay of game in the red zone, and the killer INT in the endzone? Yes. And if we lose, those sins will haunt us. But he gutted it out and finished with a drive that would have made Joe Montana proud. More importantly, there are 52 other players in that lockerroom who can look to this guy and know that he is the deliverer. That is what days like yesterday are like, when you take your team down the field to win a lost game.
2) Ballard. The superlatives cannot go high enough for this player. Wonder talked him up during the week, saying he wanted to see and believed that Ballard could have a big game. But this was not big. It was GI-NORMOUS. Clutch and stellar do not do it justice. Fill in your adjectives here. Hope springs eternal, and this rookie 2nd year (TWICE waived) UFA bridges the gap to a successful season. There is simply no way the Giants can win today without his contributions. You need these types of new players to come on the scene and put you over the top in today’s NFL.
3) Fewell. Did you notice how the Giants would bring 7 men up to the line of scrimmage and then pull back 3 into coverage and leave a 4 man rush? Those kind of adjustments and schemes by Fewell were a HUGE difference in the defensive effort. They kept Brady off-balance with that. They were NOT predictable. They still used more zone than to my liking, but there was plenty of man, and plenty of press. Fewell delivered. And the Giants delivered. Did the last Patriots drive s*ck? Yep, but Gronkowski pushed off Boley too on 4th down, so how can we fault Fewell for that?! Fewell coached his best game as a Giant yesterday.
4) Cruz. This guy is the real deal. We were all excited about him vs the Jets last year in preseason, but he is growing before our very eyes. He gets separation vs EVERYBODY he plays against. He has darting moves, catches the ball when it comes to him, and protects it now when he is getting tackled. His future is very bright. VERY bright.
5) Boley. Do you think it was an accident that the Giants played terrific defense and their Linebacker was a playmaking machine out there? I don’t. Boley deflected the ball that Kiwi intercepted. He stripped Brady and caused a (second) Fumble/Turnover. Impact plays. Heck, on the play that the Pats take the lead 20-17, Gronkowski pushes off Boley for offensive pass interference (which they just aren’t going to call that late in that situation).
6) Weatherford. His punting has been critical in stabilizing the specials.
7) Postgame Lockerroom. How many of you saw the Giants players throwing the old man up in the air with a rousing postgame celebration? That told me volumes about Tom’s relationship with the players. Did you see who lifted up Coughlin? It was … Brandon Jacobs! You can’t make this stuff up. The players are rallying around Coughlin and they showed him a lotta love. Those intangibles are not necessary- they are CRITICAL for winning a title. You have to have players that are willing to walk through a wall for you, and to see 15+ players circliing around their head coach like that was a special sign.
Bad-
1) Yep, the 3rd down conversions were awful, the muffed punt, Eli throwing off his back foot, the delay of game in the red zone, yada yada yada. What needs to be appreciated here is that if the Giants had lost this game, which was certainly possible, we would have been EXTREMELY POSITIVE about the team and their effort, acknowledging how the Giants can build off a loss. So while we know that any of those things could have easily cost the team a win, it just means there is some low hanging fruit that can make the team even better.
Ugly
1) Manningham’s taunting personal foul. You give Brady 15 yards after a TD? F you. Eli’s throw was letter perfect into the end of the end zone for a stellar TD and you take the lead 17-13… only to give them a 15 yard gift while celebrating?!??? There is simply no room for that insanity. It is selfish and completely unnecessary.
Summary
Wake up and smell the Nicks-Bradshaw-Baas. The Giants went into NE and pulled out a win without their best WR! If Eli has Nicks, this game is a weenie roast. Jacobs and Ware filled in well for Bradshaw, with Jacobs getting better as the game progressed. Boothe’s snaps are erratic at best and Eli can do without that excitement.
The Gmen get a tremendous confidence boost from this win. Now they go into SF and they think know they can win. It is another test. But as long as the Gmen play 60 minutes and their coaches put them in a position to win, they’ll be competitive. Let’s see the Giants get these 3 players back so that they can compete at full strength. Wins like last night in NE don’t come often, but they are special because they bond the team together in ways that a box score or the standings cannot possibly describe.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
