The Giants won the SB and it's very difficult to repeat especially the first time you win one(I know they won in '86 & '90 I'm talking about the first time for this core). usually the scrutiny is intense and the media feeds off teams challenging the defending Champs but the Giants got lucky thanks to all our offseason moves culminating w/ the acquisition of Brett Favre. That took the spotlight off them and moved it onto us. It made life alot easier for the Giants to just prepare each week for a game and not get caught up in all the hype. Now the tables have turned a bit. The intense media spotlight is on the Giants w/ the Plaxico mess and it allowed the Jets a mulligan for their awful play last week. If the Burress story didn't just break this team would have been chewed up and spit out in the press but it's largely been ignored. This could help us, sometimes that negativity creeps in and it's hard to regain that momentum but now the Jets can just go about their business looking forward while the spotlight is on the Giants. I think that will help us at least in the short term and that's some help we can use bouncing back from that awful performance last week.
If a team can't handle the media spotlight without cracking on the field, they really have no business trying to play any serious football in January. There's no way a team can be successful while hoping to avoid media attention the entire way.
I thought the same thing, we got a break in the media. But I don't think we are a weak team in that way. They have been pretty resiliant this year.
if you believe that the media affects the way a team plays, I suppose yo uhave a point. I dont think it does.
I'd have to go with that to a large extent. I think this team knows they stunk up the field and played flat all day long. I don't think the Jets' players would have been swayed one way or the other by what the media said about their performance, they know how critical that game was. We went from having a comfortable edge and a clear path to home field advantage to being among the rest of the herd again.
To win a SB you have to be able to handle intense scrutiny and lift your game. Mulligans from the media are not going to help this team. They need to look in the mirror and play better every week in all facets of the game. They stunk on a lot of levels last week and if they want to get to the next level they better not take a Mulligan. Mulligans are nice in a friendly game of golf they don't happen during the Masters.
I agree to a point but I really think having the new facility in Florham Park is a big help because they are kind of bunkered away from the city if they want to be. I know Hofstra wasn't right in the city either, but I think this new place allows them to exist in their own little world to a degree. Plus it's a fresh start, probably doesn't feel like the same old Jets to a lot of the veterans.
When you win a SB the target is on your back, all the attention is on you. The Giants have flown under the radar as a SB Champ and that's thanks to the Jets. Remember they were a Cinderella story a year ago so they never dealt w/ the insane expectations. It certainly helps a team to have that focus shifted away from them, it doesn't allow distractions and for teams to get full of themselves. Obviously to win you need to embrace the spotlight but it's much different as an underdog than as the favorite and all of a sudden we were becoming a favorite and we didn't handle it well last week.
I think the new facility helps but from a different standpoint, not in regards to the media but staying mentally fresh w/o the travel back and forth to the meadowlands from Hofstra. Mileage wise it's not far but we know what traffic is like.
The Jets didn't get real national buzz until we beat NE in week 11. The Giants were already 8 & 1 at that point. After the scrutiny of the Buress incident the Giants went to Washington and kicked the crap out of them. It's not the scrutiny, it's the entire teams make up, either you have it or you don't.
Yeah, I agree that's the biggest difference. I would think for the players, game day is a totally improved situation. They can sleep at home, report to their own familiar facility and be at the game easily. Except for the Raiders for a while when they moved, no team had to travel and stay overnight for their home games. I think getting back after games also sets them up for Monday and the week a lot better. The move was long overdue, I think.
The Giants flew under the radar because people thought their victory was a fluke, Strahan retiring would and Osi getting hurt would destory the pass-rush, and Dallas (with all its pro-bowlers and acquisitions) was the favorite to win the division. You can't hide from the media in NYC. A team always has media focus, it's just a matter of how intense that focus is. And I still firmly believe; if you can't win with the media spotlight on you then you have some problems.
Truth is the Giants weren't that good of a team until the end of the year last year, that's why they were on the road throughout the whole playoffs. They were completely under the radar and got hot at the right time. Had they not come from behind at Buffalo in the snow they might have missed the playoffs. Now that they have the confidence of having won they are a completely better team for it. I understand junc's point about them having the bullseye, but it's also made them believe in their coaching staff and approach every game with a confidence that they never had before.
I only partially agree with you. The Giants actually would have made the playoffs regardless of the outcome of the Buffalo game based on other wins and loses for that week. The bigger game was the week 17 matchup against the Patriots. They played with nothing to gain, yet left the game with a new-found confidence and a belief in their own ability they didn't have before. And I still don't think media attention is a reason for a team to choke, not a well-coached and well-lead team at least.
I agree with you there, it certainly comes from the coaching staff. Coughlin is also from the Parcells camp of no nonsense, ignore the media buzz, etc. You must be right about the Buffalo game and how it played out, I just remember them sweating it out at the moment the game was going on. I think that was the game Bradshaw broke the long run to win it?
You're correct about the Bradshaw run. And yeah, heading in to this game a playoff spot was no certainty, but with the way things turned out the Giants had a playoff spot regardless of that game's outcome.
It was all Favre all the time when we got him. The Burress incident happened Friday Night, they played a medicore Washington team on Sunday. The incident didn't provide much of a distraction yet- THIS week it is and now that Pierce is also invovled let's see how it affects them. I apologize, I forgot how big of a Giant fan you are and I wasn't insulting your team. Partially it was from doubts about last year's fluke BUT they were still defending Champs and were getting no exposure after we got Favre. They were flying under the radar which is rare for a SB Champ. I admire what the Giants have been able to do this year BUT I also think if not for the Jets wild offseason culmintaing w/ Favre it would have been alot harder for them to have the record they have now.
The Jets helped the Giants a lot more last year by rolling over like dogs for them. Where is Andre Dyson washing cars these days anyway?
