The Little Giants Who Could
by Tuesday Morning Tailback
This week we have a single article which doubles as both the Tuesday Morning Tailback article and the New York Giants blog.
Kudos to J.D. Cook, who predicted a 10 game win streak to end the season for the New York Giants after falling to 0-6 following the heartbreaking loss in Chicago. The Giants bounced back with a 23-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings last night. One down, nine to go. Likely? No. Impossible? Absolutely not! Remember, this is the team which went on two of the most improbable (nearly impossible) runs to win it all in the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
But this uphill climb is far steeper than either of those. To put this in perspective, not only has no 0-6 team every made the postseason, neither has an 0-5 team and only one 0-4 and five 0-3 teams have accomplished this feat. So this would be the most incredible comeback in NFL history by far. So why even entertain the possibility?
Well, the team has shown signs of wanting to salvage the season, especially in their frantic attempts at finding a running back. Ahmad Bradshaw, star during both those Super Bowl seasons left the team in the offseason to become an Indianapolis Colt. Andre Brown and David Wilson were to compete for the top spot, but Brown fractured his leg in the preseason, clearing the way for Wilson to be the starter in the season opener. However, after two crucial fumbles, Wilson was soon on the bench and Da’Rael Scott ended up being the top rusher in a week one loss to Dallas. But Scott had his own fumbling problems and was cut from the team, who went and signed former Giant hero Brandon Jacobs. A hamstring injury sidelined Jacobs this past week and The Giants signed Peyton Hillis, who had a solid game in his debut last night.
Hillis has had a few brilliant seasons with the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns and even rose to become the cover boy for Madden NFL 2012. However, that curse hit him hard and he quickly found his way into obscurity during the past few seasons with short and forgettable stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hillis may be the spark needed for the offense, as well as give some needed relief to the battered Eli Manning who is getting virtually no help from his offensive line or dropsy receivers this season.
With just the slightest bit of heart and a weak NFC East, the “little giants who could” may at least make things interesting for a while. They go to Philadelphia to face the division rival Eagles in another “must win” this Sunday. If they can’t find victory in that game, this crazy comeback talk will cease once and for all.
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Tuesday Morning Tailback is a weekly article during football season which take a critical look at the NFL. We do this from the base belief that NFL football is the greatest game in the history of mankind, but some recent policies and the overall direction of the league has chipped away at this greatness. Our primary goal is to spark debate on these subjects, so please leave your own opinion on this article in the comment box below.
The Giants Blog is published every Monday during the NFL season while the New York Giants remain viable contenders (which in 2011 was right to the end and their Super Bowl championship). On the weeks when the Giants have a Monday night game, the blog will be published on Wednesday. The blogs are thoughtful (albeit heavily biased) analysis of the Giants’ performance from our editor-in-chief and Giant fanatic J.D. Cook.