Loading ...Victor Cruz and Jason- Pierre Paul were on top of the world. After a 99-yard touchdown that broke open a close game against the New York Jets, Cruz emerged as the New York Giants' all time leader for receiving yards in a single season.
Meanwhile, new fan favorite Jason Pierre- Paul, finished up the final 4 games of the season with 36 tackles and 6 sacks, including a safety and a forced fumble.
Veteran leaders like Osi Umenyiora and Hakeem Nicks had taken a back seat to the new- found stars. Both missed games with injury and their stat lines didn't really jump off the page the way that Victor Cruz's or "JPP's" did.
Now, these two cornerstones have emerged as the epitome of the the team effort that has led the Giants to the conference championship game and neither was phased by their lack of attention over the course of the last month or so.
Enter the mentality that Tom Coughlin has instilled in this Giants team.
Umenyiora has 12 sacks in his last 11 games, while Hakeem Nicks joined Larry Fitzgerald and Jerry Rice as the only receivers since 1966 to post 150 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns in back to back playoff games.
On a week to week basis for the last month or so, players have picked each other up and fought for one another. Nicks and Umenyiora were happy to take a back seat to other guys and wait for their opportunity.
The feeling and the relationship between these Giants players is a reflection of Tom Coughlin. Look no further than the comments of a once disgruntled Umenyiora to understand that.
“It feels good, man,” he said. “I love these guys, man. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m just so happy to be playing with a team like this. These D-linemen, it’s just fun. I’ve never had this much fun before.”
The layers of passion and the team oriented approach goes deeper than just enjoying the moment for a guy like Osi.
Other veteran leaders are fighting for their team, such as Deon Grant. Grant was quick to back up teammate Chris Canty after Canty was accused of faking an injurt by Green bay Packers tight end Jermicheal Finley.
“I have to go on air and apologize to (Finley),” he said. “He was mad, thinking (Canty) was faking and I got at him like, ‘You don’t say nothing unless you know for a fact the guy is faking.’
Canty and fellow defensive tackles represent another group whose unselfish nature has propelled the team.
“It’s not the sexy part of the defense, but it’s very much appreciated inside this locker room,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said.
Canty had a big game sealing safety against the Jets while he and Joseph were key parts of a defense that stopped the Atlanta Falcons on two 4th down attempts last week.
The play of the whole defensive line has even allowed a player like Micheal Boley to take advantage of matchups in the offenses blocking scheme on his way to a two sack performance yesterday.
Over the last two seasons, Rex Ryan has been more than happy to take the spotlight and declare his team the best team in New York.
With the Giants out of the post season both years, most bought into that fact.
Even if that were true, the man who took the most unfair amount of heat was the business- like Tom Coughlin.
When it mattered most, Coughlin got players like Antrel Rolle to buy in. He reached out to Justin Tuck before the Jets game and woke him up when it needed to happen. The Giants were absolutely a down and out team after losing to the Washington Redskins.
Antrel Rolle called out team mates for not practicing hard and there seemed to be nothing the team did well.
That's when Coughlin got to work. And he's still working.
Also…
- Be sure to "like" Giants 101 on Facebook and to follow Giants 101 on Twitter
- Meet Victor Cruz at the Poughkeepsie Galleria on January 17th
- Get your tickets to meet Brandon Jacobs at "The Man Show" January 29th
- Text "oneteam" to 20222 to donate $10 to the One Team for the Lights charity initiative.
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Let’s not villanize Cofield and Boss. We offered the former a MUCH larger contract than I thought we would, and he got a bigger contract elsewhere. He left with class and hasn’t bashed the Giants. Same with Boss, who expressed his support yesterday for the Giants, and in particular our TE groups–Beckum, Ballard and Pascoe.
Steve Smith is a dooshbag extreme.
Nobody is villanizing either of them. I just wondered out loud how they feel about their decisions now.. Is the money worth playing for bad teams? Neither team has won a playoff game since you were in middle school..
Is the money worth playing for bad teams?
Yes. Especially in this sport.
Maybe if you already have 20 mill in the bank and you’ve never won. But these guys have short shelf lives. And they already have rings. Had to take the money.
One last thing before I check out.
The reason I was so upset with our coaches, particularly last year, was because I believed the 2010 Giants had a run like this in them.
Also, I realize how good our (waiting for my boyfriend Drew Brees to leave the room, so I don’t upset him.) QB is. And to continually miss the playoffs with this roster, particularly our QB, wasn’t acceptable.
Anyway this run is just what the doctor ordered. And I give credit to our coaches when it’s deserved. They deserve all the credit in the world for these past 4 weeks, and an extension.
Also, is there anything better than playoff football? Especially when you get this deep into January? Nothing beats it!
I almost had a stroke when Nicks caught that hail mary.
Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo
Asked NFL for thoughts on the Jennings’ (non)-fumble. Only cited the rule + didn’t give their interpretation on accuracy of the call. #nyg
Why am I not surprised. This whole thing has become a total farce.
UUT
Well, I might as well state a few things that could come back to bite me.
First, the New York Giants are the best team in the NFL now and, regardless of whether they win the Lombardi or not, should be the favorite to do so in 2012 provided they get Goff and Thomas back in good shape and can figure out how to hold on to Manningham and Umeniyora.
Reese should figure out how to hold on to Manningham and Umeniyora because both are unique talents who have multiplier effects on the rest of the team.
The NFL will have to go toward full-time officials within a few years because the quality of officiating has become so reproachful that fans will start to question the authenticity of results, the one thing that could bring the league’s seemingly inevitable march toward even greater revenues and profitability to a screeching halt.
Tom Coughlin is far from ready to retire and has proved himself worthy of another five years of employment, but may well have to bring in a new coordinator in 2012 on one or both sides of the ball, not because he fires them, but because they are hired away to be head coaches elsewhere.
Dependent upon continuing health, Eli Manning will be elected to the Hall of Fame. He will be joined, again based upon health, by Hakeem Nicks, Jason Pierre-Paul, and perhaps one or two others on this team (from among Kenny Phillips if his knee holds up and he gets to play in a more aggressive system, Victor Cruz if he gets a bit more consistent, Jacquain Williams if he continues on this developmental arc, and Prince Amukamara if he is what I think he will be by midway through next season).
If the weather is decent on Sunday the Giants will win easily because they are a far better team that only needs to stop Gore and Davis to take away the main offensive weapons of the Niners, and can certainly do that.
Whatever the reason, the Giants have gone from a pathetic bunch of turkeys on special teams to a very solid unit that only requires a bit better blocking and a more dynamic punt returner to become a very fine unit. That’s not controversial, but this is: I don’t think that Tom Izzo could make THAT much difference so have to admit that I think our assessment of Quinn was wrong. He didn’t have the horses. It wasn’t that he couldn’t coach.
Kevin Gilbride has improved, A LOT, in his play calls this season, and has built a dynamic offense that is only a very few pieces (an offensive lineman, a fine tight end, an all-around running back) and elements (a better short passing game and fewer 2nd-and-long draws from the shotgun formation) from being unstoppable.
When all is said and done, I truly believe that the Giants’ season was turned around by the fact that Tom Coughlin knew that John Mara so hated the Jets (from Woody Johnson on down), and was so offended by the mouthing off about New York being the Jets’ town, that the team and their coaches had to treat that game as the one that would determine their fate. They had started to play good ball when the Packers rolled into The Met. They started to play hard, physical, ball when they played the Jets while simplifying their defense. And that made all the difference in the world. The combination of that and players getting healthy at the right time gave them the confidence that has led them down this road.