EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The instant the Dallas Cowboys' victory over the Washington Redskins was official Monday night, Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara exhaled in relief, an act likely mimicked by numerous teammates.
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"It was like, 'Whew, we're still in it,'" Amukamara said. "We still have a chance."
Indeed they do. The triumph by one of the Giants' NFC East rivals over another left them tied atop the division with Philadelphia and Washington with four games remaining. May the best team win the title.
The Giants believe it will be them, and they intend to seize the crown and the accompanying playoff berth, starting Monday night in Miami. They are 5-7 and have lost three in a row and four of their last five games, but not their confidence and faith in themselves. The Giants acknowledge this has turned into a down season for the NFC East, and they're thankful they're still in the race despite being two games under .500 with three-quarters of the season in the books.
"It's the craziness of the NFL," offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. "It really is an inch-by-inch league where you really can't take anything for granted, because one day you could be out of it. And just seeing the way the NFC East has been, every team at some point in the season, their whole fan base is giving up (and saying), 'Oh, this season is over.'"
Were it not for preferable results elsewhere, Giants fans would be in that group. Dallas and Philadelphia both lost on Thanksgiving Day. The Giants had a chance to seize control of the division three days later, but lost in Washington, 20-14. That put the Redskins in the driver's seat before they fell back to the pack by losing to the Cowboys.
But the Giants can't continue to rely on other teams to keep them in the race. They have to start winning, now.
"We just have to do our part," defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins said. "It seems like everything around us is working in our favor, but we're just not doing our part. We just have to stay focused on that and go into this week and know that we have to win. The first thing we have to do is just get a win."
"As long as you're in the race, that's the most important thing," quarterback Eli Manning said. "Usually it comes down to December. What happens in December, who's got the best record, who wins these matchups."
The Giants would have at least a semi-comfortable lead had they not lost five games in which they led in the fourth quarter, including a 23-20 overtime defeat to the Jets last Sunday. But in the NFL, you are what you are, and right now, the Giants are a sub-.500 team struggling to stay afloat.
"You've got to have that mentality where you can't dwell on the past," cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. "But it hurts knowing that there are a few games out there that we definitely should have closed, and you don't close on them. So you definitely always have that in mind. But you still have an opportunity, you still have a chance, so you just have to move forward."
"I'm not afraid to say it, we wasted an opportunity," Pugh said. "You have three games where you take a (late) lead and if we just win one of those three, we're sitting at first place in the division, and we control our own destiny. But now we've made it a little bit harder on ourselves, so we've got to go out there and fight through this adversity and get a win. This is a huge game for us. We're going to know exactly where we're at going into Monday night. We're going to know where all the other teams are and what we have to do. I think it's important for us to go out there and put a full game together."
Keep an eye on these five players as the Giants face Miami this Monday Night
WR RUEBEN RANDLE After falling just short of 1,000 yards last season, Randle's numbers have decreased through three quarters of the season as the fourth-year pro has just three catches since the bye week. But Randle did his best work a year ago down the stretch, racking up 329 yards in the final four weeks. Coach Tom Coughlin was asked about Randle's opportunities this season. "Well, I mean I would take full advantage of the ones that I do have before I would talk about opportunities," Coughlin said. "From day one, there's been opportunities here for everybody to fit in and be a part of—and we do need to have better balance, there's no doubt about that. Hopefully we can accomplish that going forward."
DE ROBERT AYERS JR. The Giants have six sacks in the last two games after having just nine in the previous nine outings. Ayers had the third multi-sack performance of his career with two against the Jets last week, and he'll look to add to that total against Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has been sacked 34 times this season. "We've got to make plays when we need to make plays," Ayers said. "We've got to do what we need to do. Execute the play that's called. And you know, we've just got to do that. We take one game at a time. All that stuff that happened in the past, that's irrelevant. What we do today is all we care about and that's all we're going to care about until we get the opportunity to prepare for the next team."
WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. The 2014 NFL Draft Class will be remembered for its wide receivers, and that continues to be the case for them as sophomores. Two of the most notable ones, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, are longtime friends and former teammates at LSU. Now their teams will go head-to-head as the two playmakers look to put on a show in primetime. "It's one of those games that I've had in my mind for a long time, playing against Jarvis and being able to do this," Beckham said. "So there's nothing extra that can really be added to it, we both understand the situation. We finally get to play against each other. I don't think it adds to any extra pressure, but being able to see that Monday Night commercial and a guy who, in my mind, is a very underrated receiver in this league."
RB ORLEANS DARKWA Coughlin said the only way to fix the ground game is to keep working and working. The offense hopes it clicks on Monday night against the Dolphins, who are 30th in the NFL in allowing 134.8 rushing yards per game. But the Giants can't take anything for granted. They rank 29th with 88.1 yards per game on the ground. "We have four talented guys," Orleans Darkwa said of the running back committee. "Everybody deserves the ball, everybody deserves to go out there and show what they can do, if we go series-by-series and try to get it working as much as possible. It's just that one guy that we've got to make miss. Sometimes, we haven't been able to do that as a unit and we're trying to get better at that. We see it on film, we know what's out there, so it's on us to get it done."
LS DANNY AIKEN The special teams units have come up big for the Giants this season, and that's not exclusive to return specialist Dwayne Harris. Before missing the 48-yarder wide left last week in overtime, Josh Brown set a franchise record with 29 consecutive field goals made, which was also the NFL's longest active streak. Meanwhile, Brad Wing is tied for third in the league with 26 punts inside the 20-yard line. But the operation was tweaked this week when long snapper and special teams captain Zak DeOssie, who has played 149 consecutive games since his arrival in 2007, was placed on injured reserve with a wrist injury. To fill his role, the Giants signed Danny Aiken, who played from 2011-2014 in New England. "It was great," Aiken said of his first week of practice. "Great teammates. It's great to be in here and working with such a great team and organization. I just come in each and every day and try and get better."
That's what Tom Coughlin has waited all season to see. He wants a rushing attack that is averaging just 88.1 yards a game to pick up steam as the weather gets cold (assuming, of course, that it actually gets cold in New Jersey). Coughlin expects a defense that has generated just 15 sacks, the league's second-lowest figure, to finally put consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Dolphins' Ryan Tannehill will be the first target Monday night. And at the top of Coughlin's holiday wish list is for the Giants to finish a game when they have a victory within their grasp.
The players were well-aware of their standing after the game last Monday. But Coughlin leaves nothing to chance, so he had a typically pointed message for his players when they reported for work this week.
"Four games to go, we are tied for the division lead, we will win as soon as we deserve to win," he said. "And the deserving to win part of it, obviously it comes from being able to finish on a stronger basis than we have. And as you look around, you can find a million reasons why one play has cost us games. And if that's the case, then each one of us - coaches, players - examine your own conscience, come up with those things that are necessary for us to make improvement, and let's get it done now."
Consider the message received. Now the players must perform up to the standards Coughlin demands.
"I think each game has been a playoff game, or has had a playoff mentality," Amukamara said. "Even though we've been losing, we're still fighting like it's a playoff mentality. And we know that we've run out of strikes and we can't lose anymore."
