No team wants to treat any NFL game as meaningless: The gap between the worst teams (excluding the Lions, they're not an NFL team) and the best teams is smaller than in any other league (Lakers vs. Oklahoma City anyone?).
But that said, these players are only human, and today's 20-14 loss against an Eagles team fighting for their playoff lives was as close to meaningless as it gets for the boys in blue.
We noted earlier this week that it might behoove the Giants to lose a game, maybe two, before the playoffs began. It amounts to simply abiding by the law of averages; if you go into the playoffs having won 10, 11 games in a row, you're due for a loss. The last few years, none of the regular season champions have gone on to win the Super Bowl.
With that backdrop, along with all the assorted hubbub from Plaxico-Gate, the Giants first home defeat against division rival Philadelphia is one of the easy-to-swallow variety. The Eagles are positioning themselves for a tough playoff battle, led by an angry McNabb who was recently benched. Meanwhile, the Giants still clinched the division, despite the L, after Pittsburgh defeated the Cowboys.
As for the on-field action, it was a textbook victory for the green jerseys. The Eagles defense stymied Big Blue throughout the game (particularly in the second half), and Brian Westbrook dominated on the offensive side getting nearly 40 touches for almost as many yards as the whole Giant offense (203 to 211). Coach Coughlin could actually argue a moral victory out of keeping it so close despite being dominated in the trenches.
All told this was a game the Eagles needed to win, and they did. And a loss the Giants needed to keep the focus on football, and they got it. This sets up a big match-up in Dallas next week; if the Giants win, this game will have been a forgettable blip. If they lose they'll begin feeling real pressure from the other teams in the division.
