The New York Giants are playing against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football in Week 7 and at 0-6 the team is still winless and any chance they have about putting together a solid season must start with a win at home in the nationally televised game and that means the team needs Eli Manning back to his Super Bowl form.
The Giants are sinking fast and going nowhere and the while the beginning of this terrible start can be dated back to last year when the Giants defense couldn't stop anyone, the 0-6 start to 2013 can be tied to one terrible decision that Tom Coughlin made by playing Andre Brown in the fourth preseason game of the season.
Back in the preseason, the Giants weren't being looked at as a Super Bowl favorite, but many saw them as a possible playoff team and one of their strengths was supposed to be an improved rushing attack with David Wilson and Andre Brown, with the veteran likely starting. Like the old saying goes, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Well, god had the last laugh on this one.
Brown had an up and down preseason after coming back from a broken leg suffered in 2012 and when he had a fumble issue in the third preseason game, Coughlin decided that he would play his possible starter in 2013 in the final preseason game of the season. Coughlin obviously didn't know that Brown would break his leg, or that his team would be 0-6 this season, but that one move may have drastically changed the destiny of the 2013 Giants.
While no one can actually know if Brown would have gotten hurt early in the season anyway, one thing everyone DOES know is that he would not have been hurt if he did not play in that fourth preseason game on the schedule. If he was not on the field for that game, maybe he starts Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys and maybe David Wilson doesn't fumble his life, the Giants season and his possible career away in that game. Maybe that doesn't balloon into six turnovers and a loss to the Cowboys. Maybe Brown is healthy and the Giants pull out that game and then somehow beat the Broncos in Week 2.
No one knows if that is how things would have turned out, but one thing everyone knows is that Brown would not have been hurt if he was not on the field for the fourth preseason game. The Giants currently rank 30th in the league in rushing yards per game and just recently got their first 100 yard game of the season and now they are so banged up with Brown, Wilson and now Brandon Jacobs out, they were forced to take a free agent off the pile in Peyton Hillis.
Now maybe having Brown on the field wouldn't have made the Giants 6-0 right now, but I think everyone can pretty confident that the team would not be 0-6.
The New York Giants are 0-6 on the season and while the playoffs are likely very far out of reach, a decent season could still be had for the G-Men, but that all must start with a win on Monday night football against the Minnesota Vikings.
The two teams are combined for just one win this season and that makes Monday night's game essential for either team to have a decent year in the league. The Giants have been terrible, but this game is being set up for them to win, as they are coming off of a long week since they played on Thursday night, the Vikings have one win, the game is at home, the Vikes have a new quarterback in Josh Freeman and that team is coming off of a bad loss last week as well.
Under those circumstances, the Giants must find a way to win the game and it is being handed to them, but it remains to be seen if they can stop anyone, including someone like Adrian Peterson. The defense is ranked in the bottom half of the league in passing and rushing yards allowed per game and the only positive thing is the top 10 passing attack, but Eli Manning has 15 picks, so there really isn't much to cheer about.
Both teams have the chance to turn things around, but will they be able to do it? The New York Giants are winless this season and on Monday Night Football in Week 7 they will be hosting the Minnesota Vikings and head coach Tom Coughlin came out to say that he will not be making a quarterback change despite the struggles of Eli Manning.
According to Pro Football Talk, Coughlin said to the New York Daily News that he has not thought about benching Manning, who is going through a pretty bad slump. The Super Bowl winning quarterback has 15 interceptions this season through just six games and he has been awful when the team needs him the most. Manning needs to rebound against the Vikings and luckily Coughlin is not relenting to any pressure.
Giants fans have been wishing they didn't have to watch some of these games, including the 38-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers. The team has two games before its bye week and a win against the Vikings and then the Eagles is essential for any hope at a decent season.
