Giants Sing Songs To Get Ready For Dallas

Let's talk reality. With five games left to be played, the Giants can no longer be seriously considered legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Sure, they could beat the Cowboys tomorrow - after all, it was only last Sunday that Tennessee proved that the old adage "on any given Sunday" remains as true today as ever. But a victory over Dallas tomorrow will not fix all that ails the Giants just like the win last week didn't suddenly turn Tennessee into a super power.

This is a team that, heading into the season, seemed to have all the pieces in place for a legitimate Super Bowl run. They had a good mix of veterans and young players and strength across the board - at least on paper. But they never did get their act together. Special teams have been anything but special the entire season. The defense, slow out of the gate yet again, finally got its act together and was the primary reason for the five game winning streak until injuries finally set them back. But it was the offense that was supposedly the strength of this team. And it was the offense that was unable to live up to expectations - an offense that, even when healthy, was never able to get it going on all cylinders - that was somehow unable to hit its stride. An offense that now, with the loss of Toomer and Petitgout, has been reduced to a one dimensional running attack (as an aside, that is the reason Tiki Barber may very well have seen his last 100 yard game).

The Giants are only one game away from first place in the East, so why all the pessimism? Surprisingly, it isn't the loss to the Titans. Nor is it the way they lost - the biggest fourth quarter collapse in Giants history and the fourth largest in NFL history. The Giants didn't play well - their 21-0 lead wasn't really the result of great defense and certainly not a powerful offense. That 21-0 score was more about the Titans than it was about the Giants. Eli Manning actually had a pretty good game from a mechanics standpoint, and that is, and should be, encouraging. And the game itself simply wasn't that important in the standings. After all, the Giants are in total control of their own destiny - if they win every game from this point forward, by definition they win the Super Bowl.

The problem is that this team has lost its identity, self confidence, and swagger (or at least any that it really ever had). Football is the epitome of a "team sport". Team sports are special. You can have a great team on paper but it is team chemistry - team psyche - that creates championships. Group dynamics are in play and group confidence - that swagger - is an incredibly critical component to success on the football field.

We all know about the Tiki Barber comments that caused Tom Coughlin to meet with him privately - again. And we all heard about the Strahan/Burress spat and how they kissed and made up. Although clearly distractions, that stuff didn't bother me too much. No, it was the holding of a players only meeting that told me the Giants heart had stopped beating. This team is about to play what should be the biggest game in almost 20 years against the hated Dallas Cowboys and they have to hold a players only meeting and sing songs about togetherness in order to get ready? Excuse me in advance ladies, but that stuff is for girls and for losers. This is the NFL where only warriors make it to the big dance. And true warriors are too focused on their enemy to waste time holding hands and singing songs like little girls.