Keidel: Jets Need To Beat Giants Not Only For Playoff Hopes, But For Reputation
By Jason Keidel
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When Eli Manning was on with WFAN host Mike Francesa on Monday, brooding over the egg they laid against Washington, they took a quick detour down memory lane.
Francesa asked Manning about the infamous "Victor Cruz" game.
There have been two, actually. One came during that summer day in 2010 when Cruz stamped his visage in our living rooms by torching the Jets in a preseason game. Rex Ryan famously barked at his assistants to do something about No. 3, and then fawned over Cruz during the postgame handshake with Tom Coughlin.
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But the one that Eli and Mike mused over was the game in December of 2011, when the Giants -- forever on the playoff bubble -- turned a screen pass to Cruz into a 99-yard dart, cut and gallop to the goal line. Cruz left a phalanx of fallen Jets behind as he turned the game around, the season around and the Super Bowl into a local affair.
The Giants can reminisce. While the Jets pout over their dubious history -- with no Super Bowl wins (or appearances) since the days of Joe Namath, Woodstock and the Miracle Mets -- the Giants have made five trips to the big game, bagging four Lombardi Trophies since 1986.
In the age of free agency, that's about as good as it gets. Unless you're Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who have their mail forwarded to the AFC title game, you nibble around the championship edges every five or 10 years and hope you cash in when you actually make the Super Bowl. Or, in the Jets' case, every 45 years.
As if playing in Giants Stadium before moving to MetLife wasn't insulting enough, the Jets have to stand in stark, morbid relief against the G-Men every year. While the Jets plant a turnstile at GM, HC and QB, the Giants are the emblem of stability. Maybe the Giants (5-6) aren't the Giants anymore, but as long as Coughlin is calling the shots and Eli is executing them, the fans feel some solace in the 12-year tandem.
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The Jets have also lost their last five games to the Giants, are 4-8 overall and haven't beaten their bunkmates since 1993.
The Jets (6-5) have the dual incentives of improving their playoff hopes and throwing a little shade on the Big Brother narrative that has eclipsed the Jets in the five boroughs and beyond.
This is the best chance for the Jets to change the Big Blue hue of the Meadowlands to a shade of Gang Green. In case you didn't read Monday's column, teams that improve from 5-5 to 6-5 reach the playoffs 45 percent of the time. Teams that lose that 11th game play in January just 13 percent of the time.
So the Jets can deliver the death blow to the Giants' season. Even if they still have a playoff heartbeat at 5-7, the Giants have to play the 11-0 Panthers and a road game against the 8-3 Vikings. They will be looking at 7-9 and another solemn winter.
With the mottled playoff picture in the AFC, the Jets have to win this game to have a serious say in the wild-card hunt. They have more talent than the Giants, two healthy receivers, a bull of a running back, a better defensive line and Darrelle Revis (if he plays). If DeSean Jackson can vaporize the Giants, then Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker should be drooling at the prospect of moonwalking through that secondary. It's hard to think of a better time or an easier team for the Jets to face than the one they will see on December 6.
The Giants can lose this game and still be the Giants. They can still lean on their epic history, stack of Super Bowl trophies and franchise quarterback. The Jets need this game for the playoffs, but also their poise. And their posture as the kid brothers of North Jersey.
Follow Jason on Twitter @JasonKeidel.
