Loading ...New York Giants rookie running back David Wilson set some pretty lofty goals for himself in his first NFL season. In addition to rushing for over 100 yards in at least six games, the 2012 first-round pick was determined to have at least one play go for more than 20 yards in each game this year, and more importantly, to not lose a single fumble all season.
It took only eight minutes and two carries for Wilson's personal list of goals to crumble down around him.
After taking a toss from Eli Manning late in the first quarter, Wilson turned up field and got only two yards before being leveled by Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee. In the blink of an eye, his worst nightmare became a reality as the ball popped loose and was subsequently recovered by Cowboys safety Barry Church.
As Wilson headed to the bench, he was visibly emotional – television cameras picking up what some speculate were tears under his eyes. He was later seen being consoled by teammates Osi Umenyiora and Hakeem Nicks. The rookie would not return to the game offensively, and finished the day with only four yards on two carries.
“It’s hard to put it behind you if that’s the last play you can remember,” said Wilson after the game. “But I understand the coaches. I know I don’t have much room for error being a rookie and then to have a critical error like that, like a turnover. You live and you learn and move forward.”
Wilson would remain in the game returning kicks, but failing to secure another carry led to him having to scratch two potential goals off of his to-do list: at least one offensive play of 20+ yards per game and not losing a fumble all season.
“He’s a rookie. Everybody makes mistakes. We all make mistakes,” Umenyiora said of his teammate. “He just made one and he’s a helluva football player, a very talented back. He’s going to respond. I just needed to let him know that no one was disappointed in him. We’ve all made those mistakes before and he’s going to step up and help this team win.”
Whether or not Wilson shed a tear remains up for debate, but those that are being overly critical of it need to look at it from another perspective. Suppose he fumbled the ball and then was seen on the bench laughing and joking around. That would be a legitimate cause for concern. Caring about the game and your team is not a negative in the NFL. Being emotional and craving success is not a bad thing. In fact, more athletes need to have the same passion Wilson has.
Wilson vowed to go out and practice hard this week, and hopefully he'll have the opportunity to redeem himself next Sunday when Big Blue takes on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Photo Credit: Mike Gannon
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That tub Francesa brought up a good point: we don’t know what’s been happening in practice that caused that punishment. Not that I agree, but it’s certainly possible he’s been putting it on the ground and was told he’d on a short leash.
And I LOVE the emotion.
very true. However, I woulda went right back to him on the very next running play. Show the kid the team believes in him.
Dan, that’s a really good piece.
I thought it was great to see the emotion. And I am dead certain this kid is going to be special.
I agree 110%. And I’m a little annoyed with fans who are being critical over his emotional display. That’s what you WANT to see. That’s a man who’s gonna give his all every week.
test:
You pass?
shocked i can blog at work: see below. LOL
Just speculating … but maybe “ball security” has been the #1 thing they’ve been stressing with him all summer … and on carry-1 he coughs it up.
Off hand I’d expect Tom to bench him. And that’s exactly what happened.
Any back in the league was coughing it up on that hit.
+1
I had an excellent view of it and that was a vicious hit by a linebacker who “appeared” from behind a scrum at the last moment and made a textbook play on a back who didn’t see him coming. I give Lee a lot of credit for a great play.
Total bullsh1t. Check the video further down. The hit was nothing special. You two are smoking crack.
Did some research to back up my “big picture” issue with the Giants struggling at home.
New England Pats Home Record
2006 5-3
2007 8-0
2008 5-3 (missed playoffs)
2009 8-0
2010 8-0
2011 7-1 (loss to NYG)
————
41-7 (85% winning %)
Pittsburgh Steelers Home Record
2006 5-3
2007 7-1
2008 6-2 (one loss to NYG)
2009 6-2
2010 5-3
2011 7-1
————
36-12 (75%)
New York Giants Home record
2006 3-5
2007 3-5 (Super Bowl Year but lose last 4 home games)
2008 7-1 (Plax shoots himself/ Top Seeded/Home Field)
2009 4-4
2010 5-3
2011 4-4
—————
26-22 (54%)
I know its a simplistic to think that if you win more home games your record is better and you make the play-offs more easily but if you are an elite team thats what you do…especially inside your own building. This is the core issue with TC coaching over the years and why we struggle every year to make the show. For whatever reason the magic and historic success he brings to “road games” is lost in home games. Within this poor record at home you have numerous big important home games within the division or with big playoff implications and the team comes out flat and lifeless. I’m not sure why, but the list is extensive including my personal favorite nightmare when we were totally blown out and embarrassed by Carolina in what I believe was the last game in the old stadium with the play-offs on the line.
As a die hard fan along with you other guys on this blog I pose this question: Are you more confident going into a road game anywhere in the league, be at Dallas, Lambeau, Candlestick, Heinx Field etc or a home game versus the Eagles??? For me its no question I would rather see this team in their white tops.
Nice research. It would be interesting to be able to track the median income of the fans at home games, and the median number of seats sold to fans of the visiting team in our stadium to see if an increase in either/both correlate with the diminution of home field advantage as compared to the same measurements in other stadiums. I certainly have my suspicions, but no proof.
I remember the Parcell years when I attended games in which the stadium would actually shake under your feet after an LT sack, thats not a figurative reference but a literal one…it was an insane enviroment for opposing teams with that defense. As a long time ticket holder has that changed in a meaningful way? It would seem like that on TV but I have heard from people going to recent games that the place is very loud.
Why do I still laugh at the absurdity of reading “Plax shoots himself”?
Let me add i chose the Pats n Steelers because they like us have been the dominate teams in terms of Super Bowl appearences. Yes, I know that the AFC east n the NFC East have been two different animals but the Pats get the job done regardless in dominating fashion…end result…well if you throw out his rookie season and his knee injury year, Mr. brady makes the big game 50% of the time and the playoffs 9 out of 10 career years. Since 2006 the Pats are in the show 5 out of six years, only out the year Brady got hurt. The Steelers play in a division that is far more similiar to ours than the AFC East. The Ravens have been very good to great during the last few years so its a good comparison and the end result is that Pitt has 10 more wins at home than NYG during those years …10!! They made the playoffs in 4 out of 6 years. Add 10 more wins for us and we would have seen a lot more play-off years and a lot more buy weeks.
watched the Ogletree TD again (2nd one where the doubel moved faked Cweb out of his shoes).
Man, Cweb shoulda taken a penalty there. You can almost see him contemplating just grabbing Ogletree. Easily 10 yd penalty instead of a TD.
There won’t even a penalty with these refs ;)
Yeah, speaking of penalties, they really ought to look at the rules and think about this: Boley scores on that interception if not for the face mask. Why WOULDN’T a defender do that down past the 5-yard line when the only consequence is halfway to the goal line? I’m not excusing our failure to get a touchdown. That has nothing to do with this. But I don’t think the penalty in that situation fits the crime.
If I had the power to wave my wand and make a change I’d change the penalty for personal fouls committed in those situations anyplace inside the 10-yard line to half the distance PLUS an additional down. That would do a lot more to prevent players from figuring “Hey, the guy’s going to score so I’ll just grab the mask or horse-collar him because we’re no worse off if they then score from closer in and maybe we’ll stop ‘em”.
That is a fantastic point. I guess the rulebook assumes there is honor among the men playing. Does not apply to dallas cowboys.
You bring up an excellent point here. I was actually discussing this last night with my friends after that occurred. That should have been a TD. Then three plays later, Cruz was held and got a no call. Settled for a FG.
What should happen in that situation should almost be like what the NBA did when they changed the “clear path” rule. If there’s no defenders in from of that player, and he gets dragged down from behind VIA Facemask or Horsecollar, the penalized player should be ejected from the game. I’d like to wish that even if the team that has position scores, they should retain position.
This obviously should be enforced only if a horsecollar or facemask (from behind) comes inside the 5 yd line and the player has a clear path.
Or… The penalized player should be ejected, and the team gets an FG try then position from the spot of the foul.
Should really hit the other team hard for clear path fouls like they do in the NBA.
That exposed a major issue in the rulebook. We were discussing that when it happened yesterday. Something the NFL has to address.
It wasn’t just a facemask–it was a horse-collar tackle, which the NFL decided (after the Cowboys made it blatant, of course) are the most dangerous tackles in the game. So, Tyron Smith dragged him down in the most dangerous way he could, and then smirked about it in the post-game show. If Gooddell can fine players for uniform violations, he should sure as hell be able to fine someone for such flagrant safety violations.
Tyron Smith actually admitted that it was a deliberate penalty in order to prevent him from crossing the goal-line.
Filthy team, them cowboys…..
O.K. well it’s clear that we will need Wilson to be a contributor this season.
There is also an argument to be made whether or not benching him was the right thing last night.
However there is no argument about the fumble. That was plain old bad ball security. I’m watching the replay right now. The backer stuck his arm in there and poked the ball out. That ish is unacceptable. That was not some all world play by the defender. If 22 is holding the ball correctly it doesn’t fly out.
Sean Lee made a nice play, but that ball shouldn’t have come loose.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000058692/Cowboys-force-fumble
+1
Basic tackle
As i mentioned last night when it happened is he is a marked man going forward. That was not a helmet, or strip, or a head shot fumble, that was just an arm poke..not good.
I’m catching up on some of the posts here. As the day progresses the emotion is subsiding and I’m able to look a bit more objectively at the game.
As to Wilson’s emotion, that shouldn’t be an issue at all. This is the kids life. He’s looked forward to playing in the NFL and had high expectations for his debut. I would much rather have a guy that cares about his performance and his team that the ****-hum, self-centered theatrics of clowns like Albert Haynesworth.
That being said, I’m fully supportive of Coughlin’s decision. This is game that you play to win not the “make a kid feel good society.” Saying that other back would have fumbled to is nonsensical speculation. Even if it is true, if the experience makes Wilson more sure handed for the rest of his career the dividend will be enjoyed many times over. Fumbling is a curable disease and the much-maligned Tiki Barber is living proof. The guy nearly fumbled himself out of the league. We can speculate all day as to whether this fumble was preventable, but at the end of the day you don’t win games putting the ball on the carpet. Wilson will never forget that. If he makes the Hall of Fame he will probably mention Coughlin in his acceptance speech for making him a better player.
Wow. I think I just put a rookie in Canton.
As for the comparison to the Pats, and Steelers, I did a version of that a few months ago including Baltimore, and Mannings Colts, and Bree’s Saints.
Look, these are the TC Giants. They are not a consistently dominant regular season team. The Pats win 12-13 games a year. We win 9-10, and yes our home field advantage is basically non existent.
What we are, is a inconsitant regular season team. A team that loses 2-3 games a year to inferior teams, but a team that is also scary good in the playoffs, and a team that handles adversity about as good as any in the league.
But consistently dominant. No, not in the regular season.
But my question is why?? It has been happening to long to ignore and considering our ability on the road makes no sense. Its also an outlier record to other good teams. I have seen several long term standing NFL records that both TC n Eli now hold for road success in the play-offs, how is that not possible in our own building? The frustrating thing is we have proven ourselves road warriors in the “show” which means we can win from any seeded position in any year…we just have to get in the door. Home wins seems to me to be the easiest route.
No idea. All I know is the beat down we put on ATL last season gives me hope for the future. That was the game I’d been waiting to see from us. An inferior team coming into our building and we physically beat them down. Hopefully we do that next week against TB.
This game last night I’ll just chalk up to rust, and Dallas really wanting/needing it.
But yes it is a strange trend. It’s the reason I wanted TC out and Jon Fox in after 2010. But we won another SB last year, so I really have nothing to complain about.
Regular season dominance and a #1 or 2 seed would be nice, but we’re almost better off getting in as a 3-6 seed. Go figure.
Theres just something about the under dog mentality, the “nobody believes in us” mind set, that gets this team to play its best. That, and TC being on the hot seat. Works like a charm.