Giants net top seed and home field in playoffs
December 22
New York Daily News
"There was a time, just a few weeks ago, when the Giants were the best and hottest team in the NFC. They were rolling through their schedule, bullying their opponents, looking like a sure bet to reach Super Bowl XLIII.
That was before the hard-charging Carolina Panthers caught them from behind.
So now it all comes down to this: One game to decide who gets home-field advantage when the playoffs begin next month. One game between the struggling Giants (11-3) and the streaking Panthers (11-3) at Giants Stadium Sunday night in a winner-take-all-battle for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
"You put yourself in a position like this at the end of the year where you have two teams that are 11-3 and they are both playing for what is no doubt an advantage," Tom Coughlin said. "Both teams realize the importance of never having to leave home throughout the playoffs. I don't think anybody can miss the essence of this game."
The essence would be impossible to miss given all that's at stake for both of these teams, and considering how well they've both performed at home this season. The Panthers, who clinched a playoff spot with Dallas' 33-24 loss to Baltimore Saturday night, are 8-0 in Charlotte and the Giants are 6-1 at the Meadowlands. Those records mean the chances are high that the team that wins tonight's game will end up in the Super Bowl representing the NFC.
Since neither team has clinched a first-round bye yet, the loser may have to rebound with a win in Week 17 to lock that up. For the Giants, that would mean winning in Minnesota against a red-hot Vikings team that is hoping for that bye week, too.
It wasn't supposed to be that way for the Giants. When November ended, they had a two-game lead over the Panthers and a four-game lead over the Vikings, now 9-5. Of course, that was before their first two-game losing streak since September 2007, and before their juggernaut of an offense produced 13 points in two games.
As a result, the defending champs spent the week scratching their heads, trying to figure out what's gone wrong. Some of it was due to the absence of Brandon Jacobs, who missed last week's game but is expected to play tonight. Some of it was the loss of the suspended Plaxico Burress. And some of it was because of the complete collapse of the offensive line, which gave up eight sacks to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday night.
Whatever it was, the Giants knew they were out of time to fix it. They can't afford their first three-game losing streak in two years, not with the playoffs a few weeks away."
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