The New York Giants head into Sunday night’s showdown against the Washington Commanders having won just once over their last six games.
Washington, on the other hand, has lost just once over their last eight outings and have pulled even with the Giants in the NFC playoff standings with a 7-5-1 record.
The Giants’ swoon has been due to a complete collapse of quality in all three phases of the game. Their offense is struggling, the special teams have suffered because of the lack of depth on the roster and the defense has been ravaged by injuries.
But it’s the defense that the Giants need to step back up over the next few weeks if they are to make a run here. Former Giants great Lawrence Taylor has some words of wisdom for these Giants as they head into Washington this week.
“Show me some nuts!” Taylor told Steve Serby of the New York Post.
“It’s a prime-time game, the playoffs are on the line. You just said everything you need to know about that game. Everything else is just preparation. Let’s do this, OK? Let’s do this. You already know what’s at stake, all right? If you can’t play when everything you ever dreamed of and everything that you want is put into one game, if you can’t rise to that challenge, then what’s left?
“These games define who you are.”
Taylor knows a thing or two about going down to the Nation’s Capital and winning key football games. He did it repeatedly during the Giants’ heyday of the 1980s.
“In the course of the game there’s only seven-10 plays that make a difference,” Taylor said. “And you sit there and say, ‘Somebody gotta do something, they’re kicking our (expletive) and (expletive) like that. You know what? The person that stands up and says, ‘Hey, OK, I’ll volunteer. I’ll do it,’ those are the guys to make it happen. Those are the guys that’s going to have notoriety in the league and stuff because when there’s a play to be made, they don’t designate it to somebody else. They do it themselves.
“I wanted to be that person to make the play, so that’s what I’m gonna do. And if I made the play, all the spoils come to me. Seize the opportunity to show what you are all about. Do or die, who’s gonna stand up and make the play?”
The Giants will need to step up and win a signature game of their own here if they are serious about playing deep into January. It starts with the defense.
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