FanPost

In an Era of Records, these Giants have Staying Power

The New York Giants began the 2010 NFL season one of 32 teams in the playoff chase. As Autumn's colors give way to November's chill, lesser teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention; as we roll into week 10, others are on the postseason knife edge.

Not lost on fans and sports media is the records being set, or extended (see Brett Favre), at just little past the season's halfway mark. This is particularly true with New York's Giants. Coaches past and present say that winning in the NFL is hard enough, but winning on the road takes a different type of gusto entirely. And so far, it seems these Giants are content to hack away at long-standing, painful records.

It all began in week 1. The Giants defeated the Panthers in their new stadium's opening game, the first time New York won it's inaugural home game since 1956. 3 weeks later, on the night New York unveiled their first Ring of Honor in the team's 85 year history, the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears. This was the Giants' first victory over the Bears in New York since the Nixon Administration. Then it was on to Houston, when Eli Manning and Co bullied the Texans and won in that city for the first time since 1994.

Week 6 saw the Detroit Lions travel to the Meadowlands where they had beaten the Giants 3 straight times over 16 years. But on that day defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck made certain there would be no Lions victory this time. It was New York's first victory over the Lions at home since their Super Bowl XXV season. Finally, the Giants' hallmark victory at the halfway point was to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle for their first win in the Pacific Northwest since 1981. Giants fans are good to remember that Seattle was one of only two blemishes on the Giants 1986 Super Bowl march.

Records, as we know, are factoids thrown around at will to prove a point, or predict a future outcome. They can be misleading. Tom Coughlin's Giants can't be blamed for their inability to win in Houston during the Reeves Era, for example. But the streaks that the Giants have ended so far this season are worth noting, particularly since the records are all at least 16 years old. In some cases, as registered above, the 2010 Giants have done things their organization hasn't achieved in nearly half a century. But if the pitiful victory droughts at Houston and Seattle , as do the droughts at home over the Bears and Lions demonstrate, is that they were streaks that had staying power. Fortunately, now Coughlin's Giants have proven they have staying power. With an ode to the past, and look to the future, by season's end the New York Giants just might be the only team that remains in the championship hunt.

Nyg-legacy-club-graphic_medium



FanPosts are written by community members. This is simply a way for community members to express opinions too long to be contained in a comment.