Giants Lose At Home, Fall to 1-2

The Giants lost to the Tennessee Titans 29-10 last Sunday. Looking at the final score one would think the game was a complete blow out. But they would be wrong. The Giants completely contained the best running back in football until the game was already out of reach in the 4th quarter. And they outplayed Tennessee in every aspect of the game - except errors. The Giants were penalized eleven times, five of which were personal fouls and one in the end zone replacing a 40+ yard play with a safety and resulting TD after short field position for the Titans. Most critical of all the Giants turned the ball over three times, twice in the red zone. Throw in two missed field goals, one at a critical juncture, and you get a recipe for disaster.

That's the bad news. The good news is that the Giants demonstrated they were the more talented team and should have won the game. Thus last week's game went a long way towards answering the question which 12 months ago would have been unthinkable - is this an upper tier team in terms of talent?

One game - especially a loss - cannot, and will not, provide an answer. Only their play on the field as the season unfolds will provide the absolute answer. But, one clue can be found by scanning the remaining schedule:

4 Chicago
5 Houston
6 Detroit
7 Dallas
8 Bye
9 Seattle
10 Dallas
11 Philadelphia
12 Jacksonville
13 Washington
14 Minnesota
15 Philadelphia
16 Green Bay
17 Washington

None of the games can be considered "easy". Some jump out such as Detroit, Jacksonville and Washington. But Detroit has been playing some fierce football and Washington with McNabb seems a potential threat. The bottom line is that finding "easy" games on a schedule is really more a function of your strength rather than the weakness of the opponent. Thus, if this were 1986 or 2008 and we were viewing the remaining games on the Giants schedule, every game would look like a probable "win". The Giants were just that good. The fact this schedule seems difficult is a pretty good indicator of the relative strength of this team.

This team appears to have talent. They have a franchise QB, the best group of WR in team history, a offensive line that entering the 2009 season 12 months ago was widely accepted as one of the best in football, and a defensive line that has been stacked with big names and infused with high draft picks. But, until they actually start playing football as they did in the beginning of 2008, just how good this team really is will remain an open question. The one thing that remains clear to me is that this team is in a very fragile place. That happens when a team just doesn't seem capable of playing up to their talent level - which clearly this team has not done, dating all the way back to the last four games of 2008. If they lose tonight and then again next week, the wheels will come off this bus very quickly.

This team is at a cross roads. It is a team that either stands up and proves to itself just how good it really is and goes 10-6 or better this year. Or it is a team that totally collapses and goes 6-10 (or worse). I just don't see any middle ground. And tonight's game will go a long way towards providing an answer. While a win is important, the larger danger is that a loss puts them into a position of having to win in Houston because, if they lose four in a row, this team will collapse in onto itself and the season will be essentially over. They need a win tonight to keep themselves away from that precipice.