Win and in. It’s that simple for the Giants, but to a man, none of them who have spoken to the media have said this week is being prepared for any differently than any other.
“I think everybody's aware of our situation and kind of what the reality is for a lot of teams around the NFL this time of year,” Darius Slayton said Tuesday. “At the end of the day, you can only focus on the week you have, and the opponent you have ahead of you, and the rest of that will take care of itself.”
That is actually just as easily done as said for the Giants, as 12 of their 15 games have been decided by eight points or less, and that wealth of one possession games has kept them on their toes for 60 minutes almost every week, and that can only help going forward.
“I think once you get to the playoffs, the difficulty level of winning each of those games throughout the round just increases. And the odds of you blowing somebody out goes down more and more week after week,” Slayton said. “So, the reality is you're going to have to win close games in order to have success throughout the playoffs. So, I definitely think playing more of those throughout the season helps.”
Of course, regardless of what happens over the next two weeks, this is uncharted territory for Slayton, whose first three seasons in the league were all but over at this point (save the chaos that was the 2020 NFC East).
“I'm mostly just excited to be playing competitive, meaningful football. I think that's something that since I've been in the league, I haven't really had a chance to do very much,” he said. “I'm just grateful for all these games that are going to be highly contested. And obviously, we're going to go out there and do our best to get the win in all of them.”
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It’s even more fruitful for the Giants to be doing this in Brian Daboll’s first year at the helm, which wasn’t expected to be this successful. But, Big Blue has been labeled the underdog all year, so it’s nothing new to the team, even as they are favored Sunday to win and make the playoffs.
“Being the favorite or being the dog ultimately doesn't determine whether or not you win or lose the game. It's the NFL. They've got good players. So, you got to go out there and play and execute, take care of the football, and do the things you got to do to win the game,” he said. “So, this week, it’s no different than it would’ve been last week playing the Vikings. All of these games are games you got to win in theory if you think about it. Even if we were 12 and whatever, we would probably be trying to get the one seed like the Eagles are doing. So, every game is important. No game is just, 'Oh, we can just go out here and slack off and let this one go.'”
But, through all the injuries, a new system, and what many pundits will say is a dearth of actual NFL talent on the roster, the Giants have persevered and always believed, and now, they’re just one step away from the playoffs.
“Everything I've ever done in my life, I always expect to win. I don't ever go into a season or into a game thinking my team is going to lose. So, coming into the season I knew we had the talent,” Slayton said. “That's kind of where it starts, and then we have a close-knit locker room: a lot of good players, a lot of good guys that believe in each other. After that, it's about going out there and executing. That's always kind of the great unknown for every team in the NFL. You don't know how people are going to gel together and play together. But I always had belief, way back in (training) camp when we were going into the season Week 1, that we could be whatever we needed to be.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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