Week 10: This is How it Went Down in the NFC East
From a Giants Fan’s perspective, Week 10 went very well for a Giants fan with the exception of the Giants beating the Cowboys. I’ll take you through it all right now. But, remember when we said if we go 5-3 or 6-2 in the second half of the season then we should be in good shape to make the Playoffs. The downside of it all is that we couldn’t beat an opponent that I thought we could beat twice this season.
Let’s go through the games that affected the Giants run to the playoffs. FOX aired the Vikings vs. Packers game yesterday in the New York Metro area. I have no idea why…it was a blowout, so FOX changed the game in the 3rd Quarter to the Eagles (3-5) vs. Redskins (5-3) game which is the one I wanted to watch. Once FOX put the NFC East game on, it was like both teams were battling to lose rather than win. All of a sudden, Philly forced a couple fumbles and won the game 33-25. From a Giants fan perspective, we needed the Eagles to win that game in case the Giants lost, and we know the Giants lost. So props to the Eagles for beating the Redskins. The reason that we needed help from Philly is because the worst team in the NFC East beat the third place team in the NFC East. The Eagles improved to a 4-5 record and remain in 4th place while the Redskins dropped to a 5-4 record and remain in 3rd place. The second NFC East matchup of the day was between the Cowboys (7-1) and the Giants (6-2). This game was great in the first half with a 17-17 tie going into half time. Big Blue committed costly penalties, and less than stellar offensive performance to hand this game to the Cowboys. The final score was 31-20. The Cowboys improved to an 8-1 record and remain in first place, and the Giants dropped to a 6-3 record and remain in 2nd place.
Outside of the NFC East, the Packers shut out the Vikings 34-0. The Vikings improved to 8-1 and remain in first place in the NFC North, while the Vikings dropped to a 3-6 record and fell into last place in the NFC North. The other game that affected the Giants chances of making the Playoffs was the game between the Lions (6-2) and the Cardinals (3-5). The Cardinals pulled off the upset out in the desert by a score of 31-21. The Cardinals improved to a 4-5 record and sit in second place in the NFC West. The Lions fell to a 6-3 record and remain in 2nd place in the NFC North. The Packers extended their lead in their division while the Lions dropped a game. It was the same scenario in the NFC East with the Cowboys and the Giants. So now the Lions and the Giants are 6-3 and will face each other head-to-head on Sunday. The Giants must win this game to have the tiebreaker edge over the Lions in case it is close at the end of the year.
Since the Giants lost, more teams are closer to chasing them down. Here’s a look at the teams with a 5-4 record in the NFC: Washington Redskins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next Sunday, the Redskins face the Cowboys in Dallas. A Dallas win will gift wrap the Cowboys the division crown, while a loss will make things complicated for the Giants if the Giants don’t win. The Giants need to rebound from the loss and win at least 5 games out of 7. I would prefer it if they win 6 straight and lose to the Pats. But 5 out of 7 should put us in good shape to make the Playoffs.
