Fanhouse is today calling the 2010 New York Giants "the most screwed team in NFL history."
Only one team finished in top 10 in offense, rushing, passing, defense, run defense and pass defense: Big Blue, who missed playoffs despite a 10-6 mark. The Giants are also one of just five teams in NFL history to finish three games ahead of a rival that made the playoffs and not qualify for postseason themselves.
Those things are true. It is also true that the Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going home with 10-6 records, while the foolishness of the NFL playoff system has the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks hosting a playoff game. It is also true, as one of our members pointed out, that if this play were ruled a touchdown the Giants would be a playoff team today.
You know what is also true? Those things are all whining and excuse-making. The Giants are not in the playoffs because when the opportunity to close the deal came along they were not up to the challenge. Slice it any way you want, they just were not good enough. They should have been good enough, but they weren't.
Here is why the Giants are not in the playoffs.
- Seven minutes and 28 seconds of the most horrific football you will ever see in your life against the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Sixty minutes of pathetic football in a win and you are in game against the Green Bay Packers.
- 'Careless disregard for the football' that led to 42 turnovers.
- A 29-10 loss to Tennessee in which the Giants committed three turnovers and an unheard of five personal foul penalties.
- A horrible 33-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, who were in shambles at 1-7 at the time and had just fired coach Wade Phillips.
- A return game that was non-existent, second-to-last in the league returning kickoffs and dead last returning punts. Horrid punt coverage -- according to Football Outsiders only two teams in the league were worse than the Giants in this category.