Thursday, November 15, 2012

SuperFan: Giants vs. Bengals (11/15/12)


Let’s All Take A Minute And Cool Off, Shall We?
By Superfan

            I needed some time to calm down before writing this.  Now that it’s been several days since that abysmal loss in Cincinnati, I feel comfortable talking about it.  For all the times in our season to have such a bad stretch of games, the last two were the perfect choices.  Two non-divisional, non-conference opponents.  Still maintain a comfortable lead in the division.  Looked as tired as we could possibly look, and now we finally get a bye week to rest up and WAKE UP.  The fact remains that, after ten games, we’re 6-4 and the only team in our division above .500.  Things could be A LOT worse.
           
Am I saying it’s okay to settle for not-as-bad-as-it-could-be?  Of course not.  I’m just trying to put everything in perspective (for my own sanity as much as anyone else’s).  And despite the lack of faith shown lately from a certain, special, high profile former Giants’ QB, let’s not abandon all hope in our two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback.  Has he had the best season?  No.  But to be fair, if his receivers caught a few more passes here and there and his o-line didn’t decide to stop blocking for him (and anyone in our backfield) after the San Francisco game, that TD-to-interception ratio would most likely be very different.  Anyhow, since it is a game that counted (as miserable as it may have been), let’s review it, shall we?

The View From Home
            All seemed normal once again at the McClellan Drive duplex.  Granted JJ showed up a little late, but at least he came with his bagel and lox.  It was JJ, Joe, Vandy and myself as always.  And it was miserable.  I went through two shirt changes (under the jersey), two hat changes, and a change from sweatpants to jeans.  None of it helped. 
I can’t share any of the texts between my dad and I from the game.  Too graphic.  Nothing pleasant about them. 
The original plan was to see Skyfall after the game.  But as Friday came around, I grew too impatient and had to see it the night it opened.  We swapped the post-game Skyfall viewing with Lincoln.  But by the time the game got swapped out for a more competitive one on Fox, I was too depressed to see anything.  I just stewed and posted angry Facebook updates instead.

Cincy Slumber
            There was very little about this game to like.  In fact, I may just skip this section altogether.  We’ll call this a “flush” game, and start from scratch in week 12.  I’m sure the players and coaches couldn’t wait to forget about this one.

Non-Gmen Thoughts of the Week
  • ·      I’m so bad this year in fantasy it’s absurd.  And of course this week my picks were bad, too.  I thought I was so ahead of the curve after last Thursday, since I picked up Indy’s defense last-minute.  And my team was looking great after the Jacksonville-Indy game.  Then Sunday happened, and everything fell apart.
  • ·      Like I mentioned, I saw Skyfall - SO AWESOME!! Can’t say much without spoiling anything, so I’ll just stick with it being awesome.  Go see it.  For Queen and Country!  (Will hopefully see Lincoln during Thanksgiving week.) 
  • ·      Can’t believe Notre Dame might finish this season undefeated and still might NOT play in the BCS Championship.  Might be in the minority here, but what has Kansas State done so much better than Notre Dame to warrant being ranked two spots above them?  Sure Michigan State has fallen off, but they were ranked when the Irish played them.  You can only plays the teams in the order they fall on your schedule.  This playoff can’t get here soon enough.
  • ·      New Girl has really brought the funny this season.  Might even make a run at Modern Family, Community, and Parks and Rec for my new favorite comedy.


Looking Ahead…
            Again, there is no reason to panic.  I agree that last season was similar, but at least we played really well until the losing streak began.  The same can’t be said this year (nothing pretty about our wins over Washington or Dallas).  But to that I reply - who cares?  We had a very late bye week, and let’s be honest - having to deal with picking up after a major natural disaster on top of trying to turn things around on the football field while trying desperately to make it to the coveted bye week - no simple task.  We now have time to rest, heal, regroup, and refocus before getting our final stretch started against Green Bay on Thanksgiving weekend.  Also, and this might really be stretching for a silver lining, we’ve (recently) done much better in the postseason the years we barely made it in then the years we’ve coasted through (see 2007 and 2011 versus 2008).  There’s a lot of football left to play, and finally it looks like the mainstream media wants nothing to do with our bandwagon.  Let the doubting and speculation continue!  Just the way we like it!  I’m going to take next week off since it’s the bye week and the holidays, but will pick back up after week 11.  To talk all things Giants in the meantime, you can send an e-mail to gmensuperfan@gmail.com, find me on Facebook under the user name “Gmen Superfan,” or follow me on Twitter under the handle “@gmensuperfan1.”  Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving and GO GMEN!!    

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