Last year, the Giants were 6-10, and perhaps the toughest of their 10 losses came on a Monday night in November; coming off a 10-day “mini-bye” following a one-point loss to Philly – you may know it as the “Evan Engram Game,” or the one where Daniel Jones got tackled by the turf monster – they hung tough and nearly upset the eventual Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers in MetLife Stadium.
Flash forward a year and a few weeks, and the Giants, coming off a full bye, head to Tampa Monday night for a rematch with the Bucs, who are coming off a disappointing loss to the Washington Football Team last Sunday following their bye.
The Giants held Tom Brady in check for a good part of last year’s matchup, leading 14-6 at the half and 17-15 after three, but there’s one thing they know even without re-watching the tape: Tom Brady is going to find a way to get it done more often than not.
“Tom's going to figure it out, man,” Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said Thursday. “You look back at the tape to try to have a reference point because most of their offense is the same offense. They're the only team in the league to come back with all 22 starters. There are some different pieces, so you look back to have a reference point there, but each game is so different and Tom and them are all treating it as it's a different game.”
The Giants will use some of what they saw from last year’s game film, Graham admitted, but it can’t be the full blueprint – especially because it wasn’t a victory.
“Tom made enough adjustments to win the game. We played a good game last year, but we didn't win the game. All he cares about are wins and losses, that's all I care about. We've got to find a way to win the game in the end,” said cornerback Logan Ryan, a former Brady teammate. “It'll be a good challenge, a chess match. It's really just a go out there and do the best I can do, do my job, lead the guys and hopefully get the game close in the fourth quarter and then finish the game.”
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That especially may be doubled, too, because the Bucs lost before their bye, too, meaning that a Giants win on Sunday would mark just the second time ever a Brady-led team has lost three straight.
“I was around him for seven years, every week is different for him. I don't know anybody that's more competitive, more serious about the game – whether they lost or won by 20 touchdowns or if they lost, it doesn't matter,” Graham said. “If he's playing the New York Giants on Monday night, that's where his focus is, and it's laser focus. It just makes you have to raise your level as a coach because he'll take advantage.”
And even if a few of his bigger weapons, namely Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown, are missing, that doesn’t make things any easier on the defense or their coordinator.
“Elite players at their position, you’ve got to mix it up on those guys…but Tom's been around for so long he's seen everything, every changeup, whatever you're doing,” Graham said. “With more experience, you're at a higher level in terms of deciphering and being able to figure out what teams do and adjusting. He makes it hard because he's pretty much seen everything.”
“Just don't let him look me in the eyes. He can look you in the eyes and don't look in his eyes. I mean, what is he seeing? He studies everybody really well, he knows players' tendencies, he has tips and tells out there that are just minute details,” Ryan added. “All the little things matter. I talk about disguise every week, but it's important this week we know how to disguise, because every little nuance is something that he can pick up on. You can't chase ghosts. Anything motivates this guy. He prepares really hard, so you have to do the homework and really be willing to accept the test and the challenge.”
To that point, Graham, who was a Pats assistant from 2009-15, noted that Brady could “go 27-for-28 in practice with the one incompletion a drop, and he’ll let you know about it.” It takes that kind of competitive spirit to be a seven-time Super Bowl Champion, but the Giants have that kind of competitive spirit right now, too, as they look to win two in a row.
“When we play well, we can compete with anybody,” Ryan said. “We're playing against the greatest of all time, in my opinion. He has weapons that he has to distribute the ball to and facilitate, and those are the matchups that we have to challenge and contend with. Everything about him – his resume is impressive, so it's going to be a tough challenge. I think it's the greatest challenge in football playing him and it's a lot of fun. I love to play the chess match against him and that's why I'm here, to help us have a good chess game.”
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