Giants Rain on NFC Pretenders' Parade

Sunday's NFC playoff chase took an anti-climatic turn with the New York Giants all but sewing up a wild-card berth with a 34-28 win over the Washington Redskins Saturday night. The soon-to-be-retired Tiki Barber, playing in what apparently was his last regular-season game, put together a classic performance, rushing for 234 yards, with touchdowns of 15, 55, and 50 yards. The 50-yarder came with just over six minutes on the clock and put the Giants up by 13 points at a critical juncture in the game.

Barring some near-miraculous circumstances, the Giants will be the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs, which makes that Bears-Packers game the NFL moved to prime time on New Years Eve pretty much meaningless. Again, great move NFL!

Now that the Giants are penciled in, you have to think about the near-miraculous set of events that would have to unfold for this team to advance to the Super Bowl. Sure, the NFC is a big steaming pile of dog doo doo, and the team that peaks at the right time is going to advance the furthest.

Makes sense, right?

But this team just doesn't have the look of a champion if you ask me. There's just too many egos and not enough leadership. And when you look for leadership on your football team, you generally look in the area of your quarterback. Not going to happen for the Giants this year.

Is it just me, or does Eli Manning look like the 13-year-old kid who delivers my newspaper every day? And I'm not just talking about his baby face. His body language and the way he carries himself suggests a level of leadership ability akin to that of a Chihuahua in a pen full of Doberman Pinschers. Can you imagine this guy grabbing one of his 300 pound, foaming-at-the-mouth, behemoth offensive lineman by the facemask during the heat of battle and screaming at him to get his ass into the game?

I can't. In fact, I picture something more along the lines of, "Uh, gee, uh... Mr. Whitfield? If you get the chance next time, it would be kind of neat if you could actually make contact with the defensive end before he uses my chest as a trampoline again. And, gee whiz, when the game is over, can the Beaver come out and play?"

Does anyone (besides Archie and Mama Manning) believe this kid has what it takes to lead this Giants team to the Super Bowl this year?

Lack of leadership is a big problem on this team. As great as Tiki Barber is as a ball carrier, he's not really much better as a leader than Manning. And while we're passing out blame, how about Tom Coughlin's disciplined style, which was supposed to do great things for a franchise that was perceived to have a country club atmosphere before he arrived. It's kind of tough for a team to stay disciplined when their head coach loses control on the sideline several times throughout the course of just about every game.

It appears, based on Saturday night's victory, a well-deserved congratulations is in order for the Giants and their fans. Enjoy this feeling while you can. Something tells me the euphoria will be short-lived.