To Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist
New York talk shows are crackling with energy, microphones and phone lines come to life, finally freed from chats dominated by doom and gloom.
Over the past week, the Big Apple has been able to bask in its newfound, perhaps fleeting, NFL glory. A collective Big Blue smile emerges from the Meadowlands and spreads across much of the city.
Imagine — but whisper softly — what if the Giants could actually win another game?
What it needed was a winning peg, facilitated by an enlightened “go for the win” call of surprising impudence, lit by glorious sideline pep talk.
And everything feels different.
Desperate sullenness was replaced by genuine excitement. Giants fans remember that being a Giants fan isn’t so bad after all, and they don’t need encouragement to hop on the blue train.
Suddenly, head coach Brian Dabor seems like a fearless leader overcoming years of grueling perseverance. Daniel Jones, the type of character who responds to urgent voice challenges. Ball carrier superstar Saquon Barkley.
If all the hype feels a little excessive, so be it. Given that there has been little to uplift in recent years, New Yorkers must be forgiven for being overly excited.
The last postseason game at MetLife Stadium was in early 2014. That’s when the Super Bowl was held in New York. The Giants have played only one home playoff game since the venue was rebuilt (2011 season). The Jets have nothing in that span.
The Giants’ current 1-0 status boasts a winning record for the first time since 2016. This weekend’s Carolina Panthers (Sunday at 1pm ET on FOX) also doesn’t happen very often.
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It all seemed to lead to a bullish, buoyant, and inexcusable fresh energy that started with the coaching staff. 4 Yelling at Jones during the quarter, furious that the quarterback had thrown away a scoring chance.
Jones came back strong and engineered a crucial downfield drive before Davor’s bold choice of two allowed Barkley to score the winning score.
“We’re going to be aggressive,” Dabor told reporters. “That’s what we want to do. That’s the mindset we want our players to have.”
After years of mumbling excuses and empty promises, the message grew prouder, and certainly louder, with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale encouraging those in attendance to hoarse on Sunday.
“I know New Yorkers are picky,” said Martindale. “We need to shout out in that stadium. If you want to be part of changing the culture here with the Giants, shout out. Rock that place.” [opposing teams] Please don’t come to our stadium. “
Perhaps that’s exactly what you’d want to hear if you’re a member of the fanbase who’s consistently high on lists of the NFL’s most distressed supporters.
Saquon Barkley, Giants host, Baker Mayfield & Panthers
Carolina finds herself just 1.5 points underdog to New York. Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe predict the outcome.
Yes, the Giants are the only team other than the New England Patriots to win multiple Super Bowls in the last 15 years. But they were really bad at every step in between, taking it away whenever hope seemed to blossom.
No excuses to get excited, no reason to believe, no early season surge to lift your spirits. Every year you just lose it.
Hopefully, New York can turn its attention to Heartbeat. Jets fans briefly fell in love with her unheard-of QB Mike White last season, but the romance quickly faltered amid many interceptions and depth his swift return to chart status. did.
Giants fans are going full steam now. The Panthers and Baker’s Mayfield unfortunately lost their first game against the Cleveland Browns. But no one thinks about it. Not when the Juggernaut somehow felt incredibly real after a one-point win.
In fact, all the Giants have is a platform and a flimsy platform, and the momentum to build on it, but only if things remain true over the next few weeks.
But this is New York. This is a group of fans who have forgotten what good news looks like…a taste of hope is always good. Even if you know you can drink from the poisoned chalice, it always does.
That’s enough for giants for now.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter. @MLogersFOX When Subscribe to our daily newsletter.
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