What a difference a decade makes.
The last time the New York Giants faced the Minnesota Vikings at the start of a decade, the G-Men dismantled the artists formerly known as the Purple People Eaters, 41-0, in the 2000 NFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl XXXV.
However, the Vikings turned the tables on the Giants earlier today when they kicked off this decade by routing the 2007 Super Bowl Champions, 44-7, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
After an absolutely miserable 41-9 loss to the Carolina Panthers in their Giants Stadium finale last Sunday night, New York was only able to muster 181 yards of total offense while the defense allowed the Minnesota offense to amass 487 total yards, with 358 of those yards coming through an extremely potent aerial attack as quarterback Brett Favre threw for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Interestingly enough, Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins led the Giants to victory over the Vikings in the aforementioned NFC Championship Game by throwing for 381 yards and 5 touchdowns. In addition, the Giants defense held the Vikings to a paltry 114 yards of total offense.
Could today’s game be the sign of a reversal of fortune for football in the Big Apple and the Twin Cities?
The last decade, which included their memorable victory over Minnesota where they scored the most points in an NFC Championship Game (41) and tied for the largest margin victory (41), saw the Giants go to the playoffs 6 times, win the NFC East 3 times, win the Super Bowl in 2007, and amass a regular season record of 80-64.
The same 10 years saw the Vikings go to the playoffs half as many times as the Giants (3), with no Super Bowl appearances, while going 72-72 during the regular season in that time span.
One thing’s for sure though, the Giants’ horrendous play the last couple of weeks can’t be blamed on quarterback Eli Manning or wide receiver Steve Smith.
Manning became only the 3rd quarterback in team history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season. Phil Simms and Kerry Collins accomplished the feat in 1984 and 2002 respectively. Manning concluded this campaign by throwing for 4,021 yards with 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Meanwhile, Smith, who caught 10 passes in today’s game, became the first Giants wide receiver to have 100 receptions in a season, easily breaking the team record set by Amani Toomer in 2002. So Smith finishes the season with 107 receptions for 1,220 yards and 7 touchdowns.
New York’s quiet receiving star fell just 123 yards short of Toomer’s team record for receiving yards in a season (1,343) but, nevertheless, he was another bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season for Big Blue.
That being said, can someone please explain how Smith did NOT make the Pro Bowl squad after finishing with these impressive numbers after entering this week’s action 1st in the NFC in receptions and 3rd in the conference in receiving yards?
Unbelievable.
This is the exact word that accurately describes the performance of the Giants in their last 2 games and their 3-8 finish after starting the season 5-0.
Click here to read New York Sports Examiner Ronald Monestime's take on why the Giants didn't make the playoffs this season.
Click here to read New York Sports Examiner Ronald Monestime's take on why the Giants were the second best New York sports team from 2000-2009.
Comments
Whew. These last two games have given me a major league headache. Big Blue are the Little Boy Blues. Who are those guys on defense wearing Giants' jerseys? This season has been a disaster.
Hey, D-Man. Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and thanks for writing. I couldn't agree more. It has been a rough season for the G-Men; especially on the defensive side of the ball. Their performance cries for changes in the off-season. We'll see where they go from here.
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