As the Giants prepare to take on Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons on Sunday afternoon, Big Blue’s long-term future could be on the line.
Atlanta serves as arguably the softest opponent left on the schedule, with Big Blue currently tied for the worst record in the league and sitting with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Given how tight the race is in the bottom 10 of the league, a win for New York could send them all the way back to eighth in the draft order.
For Evan Roberts, that means that likely “99 percent” of the fanbase will be rooting for a Giants loss.
“You are actively, passionately rooting against your team,” Evan said. “I believe it’s true.”
Tiki Barber, admittedly speaking as a former player, has the opposite mindset, even if he knows it means he’s in the minority.
“I think there’s a lot of Giants fans - maybe not the majority - that just want to see a victory,” Tiki said. “There aren’t a lot of games left...you have to realize that those guys want to win badly. For me, maybe because I’m a former player, I still see it from their mentality.
“What if you miss? What if you take Cam Ward and he’s terrible in the NFL?”
Ward and Shedeur Sanders are seen as the likely top two quarterbacks in the draft, and Tiki said it’s a bad philosophy to put so much stock in two unproven names that you are actively hoping to lose to make it happen.
“Any of those guys you draft - I don’t care what position they’re playing - left tackle, which we’ve tried multiple times, quarterback, which we tried seven years ago,” Tiki said. “You just don’t know.
“I just can’t believe that. I don’t believe that that’s how you create a winner, by throwing everything else out - culture, success - to get one of those two guys. That is not how success happens. Win, win, win, no matter what!”