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There is a dividing line that cannot be looked up in any reference book (ask your parents) or found by a Google search. We know it’s there by what we’ve seen and how that image gets printed on the lists we compile in our heads.
There are athletes who thrive in situations of pressure and others who do not. Some wilt when the heat rises at the end of games and at the end of seasons. Some wipe away sweat and stay cooler than others.
There is no Petri dish sample more revealing than the rigors of a postseason chase. Coaches say these are all big games, regardless of the standings and playoff odds, but we all recognize there’s big and there’s bigger, and what’s next for the Giants next. Thanksgiving is bigger than anything they’ve come across during the holiday season recently.
“For me it’s different to be here the last three years in the situations we’ve been in,” said tight end Evan Engram. “I know it’s different for a lot of the young players here who have just entered the league and have the opportunity to play meaningful football. ”
Meaningful football is here. For these giants, it is a journey into the unknown.
The past three years, the Giants after 10 games were 2-8, 3-7 and 2-8. Now tackle 3-7 this season. So there is symmetry in all of this failure. There are differences, however, with the society the giants keep. In 2017, the Eagles were 9-1 after 10 games. In 2018, the Cowboys led the division with 5-5. In 2019, the Cowboys are once again leading after 10 games, this time at 6-4.
The Giants were excluded in 2017 and 2019 and hardly any in 2018, meaning those who outlasted all turnover and stay on the roster know little, or nothing, other than being out of it. conflict over Thanksgiving. As Bob Dylan said, “You don’t need a meteorologist to know which way the wind is blowing.” For all the gossip about going week to week and building for the future, finishing 3-13 or 4-12 or 5-11 is a big deal for anyone on the inside and vital only for those who do NFL project accounting.
All four of the NFC East teams after 10 games have achieved three wins, which is pathetic and also quite equal. The only divider with this non-scary quartet is that the Eagles at 3-6-1 have a tie on their ledger, while the other three teams are 3-7. Someone’s gotta win the hell of a thing. The Giants have as good and as bad a chance as anyone in this Queasy quartet.
After the late Thanksgiving afternoon game, the Cowboys or Washington will have moved up to first place. On Sunday, the Giants will claim a share of the lead if they beat the Bengals in Cincinnati. Monday night, the Eagles could come back on top if they upset the Seahawks.
It could continue like this for the next six weeks. Can any of these teams pull off a mini winning streak? That’s all it will take to earn the ignominy of capturing a division title despite being several notches below 0.500.
“In terms of knowledge of football and football and knowing the season and how it plays out, people always say the most real football is played these months after Thanksgiving,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said.
Williams didn’t experience much real football during his six-year NFL career. He went 10-6 with the Jets as a rookie in 2015, but it wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs.
“Since then, I haven’t really come close to making the playoffs,” said Williams.
How is Williams going to react with this carrot placed in front of him? What about the engram? Daniel Jones after 10 games as a rookie was coming off a tough outing against the Jets and the only playoffs in his sphere of influence existed among anyone he knew involved in fantasy football. A year ago his draft classmate Darius Slayton was in the home stretch of a solid first season, knowing exactly when it would all be over and he could come home.
What awaits the Giants – games with implications – is so new to many of them.
“This is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Engram said. It’s even more unique to come out of a week off and have that motivation and have that sense of urgency and opportunity that awaits us is different. ”
Before long, we’ll find out whether the Giants’ different is bringing out the best or the worst.
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