As long as you limit the conversation to 2007 and 2011, when they won the Super Bowl, then sure, the Giants are great closers.
Otherwise, their second-half slumps are real, and in their heads.
Under coach Tom Coughlin, the Giants are 53-19 in the first halves of seasons, just 27-38 in the second halves.
“I’m trying not to (talk about it) but you can’t hide it. It’s been there,” Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said, via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “I wish I could sit here and say this team is going to be different from that, but I can’t tell the future. All I can tell is we’re aware of it and we’re trying our darnedest to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Tuck admitted that last week’s loss to the Steelers made him think about it, and makes them wonder about the stability of a 6-2 start, when the second half started with a loss that dropped them to 6-3 and brought back those ghosts. After playing the 3-5 Bengals and taking their bye week, the Giants finish with a tougher slate, including games against the Packers, Falcons and Ravens. The good news is, they’re 2 1/2 games up on the division, establishing a path to the postseason.
But as history shows, it might not be easy.
“We understand what our history has been in November and it’s not a good one (13-20) and we definitely do not want to repeat it,” Tuck said. “But the simple fact is we’ve got to play better. We’ve got some great football teams coming up. They’re going to present huge challenges to us and we’ve got to be up for that and hopefully we can turn this thing around.”
The Giants are like a golfer who’s great playing out of trouble — primarily because they have so much practice getting themselves into it to begin with.