A year ago, the Giants headed into the final game of the regular season brimming with confidence, filled with expectation and thirsting for more, more, more. One victory would give them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, a prize they captured with a rousing triumph over the Jaguars.
Many of those same incentives and emotions will be on display today at Giants Stadium, but not on the sideline of the home team. For the Giants, this season-ender is mere formality, the completing of an obligation to play the entire 16-game schedule. On the other side, the visiting Packers view this game as a launching pad into what they hope will be a lengthy and successful playoff run.
The Giants close up shop after this game; the Packers move on.
“Like anything else, we’ve got to be tougher than the situation,” Jim Fassel said.
This is the first time in Fassel’s five years the Giants enter their final game with not even a remote chance to barge into the playoffs. This is quite a comedown for the Giants, who capped a steadily-improving 12-4 season a year ago by outlasting Jacksonville 28-25 on the last day of the season. The Giants recall how the Jaguars, out of the playoff hunt, played a prideful and intense game. “You look at last year when Jacksonville came in,” Jessie Armstead said. “They weren’t going to the playoffs but they gave us our money’s worth. That was a rough game and we had all the respect for Jacksonville.”
Grudgingly, the Giants realize they are in the same situation. It is their duty to play it straight against the Packers, who have serious postseason business to settle. At 11-4, the Packers can win the NFC Central, gain the No. 2 seed in the NFC and gain a first-round bye if they beat the Giants and the Bears lose to the Jaguars in Chicago. At the very least, the Packers need to win today to ensure themselves a home wild-card game at Lambeau Field, where they are 12-0 all-time in playoff games.
“We have been in that situation the last two years,” said Packers quarterback Brett Favre, speaking of the plight of the Giants. “It boils down to the type of character and pride they have. I expect they will play as hard as they’ve played all year.”
Fassel and several players spoke of how much better an 8-8 record looks than a losing 7-9 mark, but there wasn’t much fight in their words after a draining 24-21 loss in Philadelphia that officially eliminated the Giants from playoff contention. The Giants led 21-14 with less than three minutes remaining and in a flash allowed 10 points, unable to even force overtime.
“Sure it’s tough to know you were a game away from playing for a spot in the playoffs,” defensive tackle Keith Hamilton said at mid-week. “I’m a little mentally drained from the game, I’m still feeling the effects of that loss. It’s a good thing we don’t play until Sunday. I’ve carried this one with me a little bit longer than most of ’em.”
That loss wounded the Giants badly. It remains to be seen how much competitive fire remains, especially if they fall behind early, which certainly could happen, given that Favre is having an MVP-type season. All eyes will be on Michael Strahan, waiting to see if he can get the one sack he needs to give him 221/2, which would vault him past Mark Gastineau’s NFL single-season record of 22 sacks, set in 1984. If Strahan gets it, there may be little else to interest the Giants, who will likely play in front of several thousand empty seats.
“You always want to try to win your last game, you need to do that, you need to feel good about yourself going into the offseason,” left tackle Lomas Brown said. “That’s why this Green Bay game is going to be important for us, plus, we can play spoiler. There’s nothing wrong about playing spoilers.”
