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After Sunday's 41-23 loss to the Denver Broncos, we gave you the reaction of New York Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin. We also brought the thoughts of many of the players in a somber post-game locker room. One player we didn't get to is safety Antrel Rolle. Here is what he said Sunday night about the Giants being 0-2.
"I can say what we are, but the record shows otherwise. The record shows 0-2, so at this point, we're an 0-2 team. It's up to us what we're going to do from this point on," Rolle said. "We can either get in the tank, which is something that we will never, ever do, or we can go out and fight like I hope that we will do and like I see us going out there and doing. We have to pick it up. We have to pick it up in all three phases on the game, offensively, defensively and special teams."
Now let's move on to some of the reaction from around the Internet.
The Giants, of course, won the Super Bowl after starting the 2007 season 0-2. A couple of columnists wrote that the Giants can't count on that happening again.
Here is Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger:
In so many ways, 0-2 is the best thing that ever happened to this franchise because, while no one dreamed it at the time, it was the perfect start to one of the most unlikely stories in Super Bowl history.
But 0-2 might be the worst thing that happened to the Giants, too, because now every time the team digs itself a hole or underachieves can point back and tell themselves, "We’ve done this before." Which is a dangerous habit, and one that will almost always end in disappointment.
Because Michael Strahan is not going to abandon Kelly Ripa and start sacking the quarterback again, and Brett Favre is not going to throw a killer interception on a cold night in Green Bay again, and nobody – least of all the long-retired David Tyree – is going to catch a prayer of a pass on his helmet.
So the record might be the same, and the two losses look just as bad, but let’s get this straight: This is not 2007. Nor should anyone, including the players in that locker room, expect it to end the same way.
Here is Dan Graziano of ESPN:
After a stinker of a 41-23 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night dropped the 2013 Giants to 0-2, you knew you were going to hear and read all about '07, because in the NFL it's always about one thing that's happened in the past that's a little bit like the thing that's happening now.
It's hogwash, though. Straight-up hooey. The Giants can't be trading on yesterday in an effort to fix today's problem. This right here is a whole new challenge for Tom Coughlin and the Giants' veterans, and one of the few positives for them right now is that at least they know that.
Ernie Palladino of WFAN watched the game, watched the screwy, bad things that happened to the Giants Sunday and wrote simply that "bad things happen to bad teams."
Punter Steve Weatherford had one of the worst games of his Giants' career Sunday night, hitting several poor punts. The night was capped off when Trindon Holliday returned a bouncing, badly punted ball 81 yards for a touchdown. Weatherford knew his effort wasn't up to par, tweeting that he "punted poorly today."
The defense was not the Giants' primary problem Sunday night, but defensive end Justin Tuck says the group needs to play better.