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Pressure is on Giants to beat Cowboys, make the playoffs
Jordan Raanan
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- The balloon that is the New York Giants' season is somewhat inflated. As the pressure builds in these final few weeks, they’re hoping it’s not going to pop.
It will be interesting to see how this team responds. Quarterback Eli Manning has been through this type of pressure before. Coach Ben McAdoo, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and a large majority of the roster have not.
Will the Giants handle it all in stride? Or will they tear at the seams?
If Sunday’s 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers is any indication, they’re not in great shape. Beckham successfully toed the line between passionate and out of control. After the game he expressed frustration with the officials, and even called for referee Terry McCauley’s crew never to officiate another Giants game.
On the other side of the formation, wide receiver Victor Cruz needs answers to his ever-dissolving role. Cruz didn’t catch a pass and wasn’t targeted at all as the Giants’ six-game winning streak came to an end.
Up next: The NFL’s best team, the Dallas Cowboys.
“Pretty sure it’s self-explanatory,” Beckham said of the importance of Sunday’s matchup with the Cowboys.
The Giants (8-4) are now fighting for their playoff lives. They need to reach 10 wins, and if they do all should be right in their world, even if none of it was pretty.
Fate remains in the Giants' hands. They're in the lead for the NFC's first wild-card spot. But after an 8-3 start, they need to make the playoffs. The season would be a colossal failure if they didn't. It would be an indictment on Manning and McAdoo and Beckham.
A win over the Cowboys would come in handy. If they lose, the Giants could combust. Their margin for error shrunk after Sunday's loss. It will become even smaller if they can't beat the Cowboys. They'll likely need to win two of their final three (vs. Detroit, at Philadelphia, at Washington) to make the postseason. That's not a gimme.
The division is all but out of reach with the Cowboys (11-1) rolling. The Giants insist they're not thinking of that anyway.
“We won’t worry about that,” veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. “You have to worry about the next game, it’s a divisional game, we are at home and we have to get back on the winning side.”
If they don’t, the pressure builds. On McAdoo. On Beckham. On Manning. On the rebuilt defense. On the entire organization, which is trying to end a four-year playoff drought.
It’s impossible to know how this team will react to such adversity. They haven’t been down this road before. Beckham has never been in a playoff race. Neither has McAdoo or this recently assembled defense.
Even so, it’s the Giants offense that needs to step up its game down the stretch. They can’t play the way they have for most of the first 12 weeks if they want to qualify for the postseason.
The Giants managed just 234 yards of offense against a pedestrian Steelers defense on Sunday. A good chunk of that came late in the fourth quarter when the game was all over. This effort came after totaling less than 300 yards against a bad Cleveland Browns defense the week before.
It might not be overly concerning if the Giants had experienced sustained success on offense this season. But they haven’t. They’ve failed to top 28 points in any of their 12 games.
“I think everything will get
Jordan Raanan
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- The balloon that is the New York Giants' season is somewhat inflated. As the pressure builds in these final few weeks, they’re hoping it’s not going to pop.
It will be interesting to see how this team responds. Quarterback Eli Manning has been through this type of pressure before. Coach Ben McAdoo, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and a large majority of the roster have not.
Will the Giants handle it all in stride? Or will they tear at the seams?
If Sunday’s 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers is any indication, they’re not in great shape. Beckham successfully toed the line between passionate and out of control. After the game he expressed frustration with the officials, and even called for referee Terry McCauley’s crew never to officiate another Giants game.
On the other side of the formation, wide receiver Victor Cruz needs answers to his ever-dissolving role. Cruz didn’t catch a pass and wasn’t targeted at all as the Giants’ six-game winning streak came to an end.
Up next: The NFL’s best team, the Dallas Cowboys.
“Pretty sure it’s self-explanatory,” Beckham said of the importance of Sunday’s matchup with the Cowboys.
The Giants (8-4) are now fighting for their playoff lives. They need to reach 10 wins, and if they do all should be right in their world, even if none of it was pretty.
Fate remains in the Giants' hands. They're in the lead for the NFC's first wild-card spot. But after an 8-3 start, they need to make the playoffs. The season would be a colossal failure if they didn't. It would be an indictment on Manning and McAdoo and Beckham.
A win over the Cowboys would come in handy. If they lose, the Giants could combust. Their margin for error shrunk after Sunday's loss. It will become even smaller if they can't beat the Cowboys. They'll likely need to win two of their final three (vs. Detroit, at Philadelphia, at Washington) to make the postseason. That's not a gimme.
The division is all but out of reach with the Cowboys (11-1) rolling. The Giants insist they're not thinking of that anyway.
“We won’t worry about that,” veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. “You have to worry about the next game, it’s a divisional game, we are at home and we have to get back on the winning side.”
If they don’t, the pressure builds. On McAdoo. On Beckham. On Manning. On the rebuilt defense. On the entire organization, which is trying to end a four-year playoff drought.
It’s impossible to know how this team will react to such adversity. They haven’t been down this road before. Beckham has never been in a playoff race. Neither has McAdoo or this recently assembled defense.
Even so, it’s the Giants offense that needs to step up its game down the stretch. They can’t play the way they have for most of the first 12 weeks if they want to qualify for the postseason.
The Giants managed just 234 yards of offense against a pedestrian Steelers defense on Sunday. A good chunk of that came late in the fourth quarter when the game was all over. This effort came after totaling less than 300 yards against a bad Cleveland Browns defense the week before.
It might not be overly concerning if the Giants had experienced sustained success on offense this season. But they haven’t. They’ve failed to top 28 points in any of their 12 games.
“I think everything will get
and it will all click at some point,” Beckham said, offering nothing aside from hope to support the statement. “It just needs to be soon, whether it is next week, tomorrow or the next day. It just needs to be very soon with the team we have coming in because they are red hot. We need to help our defense out.”
The problem, according to McAdoo, has been consistency. It hasn’t been there -- unless you’re looking at turnovers. The Giants have turned the ball over consistently this season. They remained at minus-5 in turnover margin after two more Manning interceptions against the Steelers.
McAdoo insists he’s not worried about running out of time.
“I’m not,” he said. “We’re working at it.”
All while the pressure keeps building. The offense showed its frustration in Pittsburgh. They showed signs of fracturing, or being totally broken. It leaves serious concern about the validity of this Giants team.
The Dallas game just became that much more important.
The problem, according to McAdoo, has been consistency. It hasn’t been there -- unless you’re looking at turnovers. The Giants have turned the ball over consistently this season. They remained at minus-5 in turnover margin after two more Manning interceptions against the Steelers.
McAdoo insists he’s not worried about running out of time.
“I’m not,” he said. “We’re working at it.”
All while the pressure keeps building. The offense showed its frustration in Pittsburgh. They showed signs of fracturing, or being totally broken. It leaves serious concern about the validity of this Giants team.
The Dallas game just became that much more important.