KANSAS CITY, Mo. ā Of course they can. Of course the Giants can. Of couršse they caān beat the Chiefs.
It is more than the reality that in the NšÆFL, āany š„given Sundayā can give us any given upset.
It is the clenched-fist desperation and determination the 0-3 Giants bring with them into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, severely wounded in body and soul, bloodied and beaten up in the aftermath of a day thaź¦t will live in infamy, nevertheless true believers that a championās heart still beats inside them, that those with championship fiber did not have it ripped out of them oncāe and for all by Panthers.
Eli Manning doesnāt have David Tyree with him Sunday, and he doesnāt hź§ave Chris Snee or David Baas trying to keep him in one piece against a sack-happy defense.
But he does have Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, and he does have a pair of Super Bowl rings and MVP trophies, and he is the better quarterback, anź§d he does know how to be a road warrior.
And there is only one head coach with two Super rings on the sidelines, and it is his head coacš»h.
Thatās as good a place to start believing as any.
After a week of looking themselves in the mirror, a week when so many of them should have ā±been given back their paychecks, can the real Giants please stand up?
Of course they can.
āI think theyāre gonna see a team playing with a lot of energy, a team playing with a lot more passion than theyāve seen in the past and aį¦ team thatās not ready to just lay down and call the season quits just after three games,ā Cruz said. āI think theyāre gonna see a completely different Giants club.ā
The real Giants will stand up this Sunday?
āAbsolutely,ā Cruz said.
It is time for any Giants to stop resting on their Super Bowl XLII and XLVI laurels and stoź¦«p making a mockery of their mission to be the first host team of a Super Bowl, the first New Yorš k-New Jersey Super Bowl, at that stadium they can see when they drive their SUVs to work.
āIt just feels like Giants teams have never been this way,ā Cruz said. āTheyāve always been responding to challenāØges, responding to what teams have throwš§n at us, and that wasnāt the case this past Sunday, so we gotta change that.ā
The 3-0 Chiefs are good. They are not the Len Dawson Chiefs. And the 0-3 Giants ā one game out of first place in a wretched division, by the way ā are not the Ray Handlšey Giants.
Take the points and bet on Giants Pride.
āThatās something thatās imbedded in this team and this culture around this facility, is Giants Pride,ā rookie right tackle Justin Pugh said. āI think ąµ©after last week, weāre gonna see a completely new team this Sunday.ā
Pugh mentioned the Giants Pride sign that hangs on the wall by the door ofą¦ the locker room on game dš„ay.
āEveryone hits that before they leaveš ° the locker ź¦°room,ā Pugh said. āItās at MetLife, then we bring it on the road with us too.ā
They will hit it harder this week. It would help if someone, anyone, would make a spark play. A sack or two by Jason Pą²ierre-Paul now that he says he has knocked the ź¦ærust off his back. An Elite And Erect Eli Manning, so Nicks doesnāt have to throw the ball to himself. An offensive line that isnāt a turnstile for Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. An explosive David Wilson. A defense that seals the edge from Jamaal Charles. A coaching staff that makes the right in-game adjustments. A team, filled with players who rally around each other.
āBeing energetic on the siādeline, excited about every play, offense up cheering the defense on, defense up cheering the offense on, things like that,ā Cruz said.
No medals for trying.
āWe expect whoeverās out there, whoeverās playing, whatever the circumstances, for us to go out therš°e and succeed,ā Manning said.
On Frą¶£iday, Coughlin showed his Giants a quote texted to him by their inspirational forever captain, Col. Greg Gadson, who lost 70 pinš„ts of blood and both his legs above the knee because of a roadside bomb in Baghdad. It went something like this:
āIf youāre down and youāre hurt, š»you sit for a while, you may bleed a little š¦©bit, but then you get up and you fight again.ā
The Giants fight again.