It is legit crazy to think we are 1 untimely Tyrod audible away from having the same record as the Bills. If you told me before the season that would be the case going into Week 13, I would have felt pretty damn good about the season lmao.

Differences are:

1. The coaching staff has not lost the locker room the way it did in 2017 and 2021. Dabes has had my head scratching many times this season to say the least, but there has been no sign of quit. The team is still going out there and competing for him and he has them ready to compete. He isnt out there calling QB sneaks within our own 10 to give our punter 2 extra yards of space. Even though there were times it looked like it could devolve into that, the last few weeks shows that the team still is going out there and competing for him.

2. The team actually has some major homegrown building blocks on both sides. Obviously the offense needs a lot more, but we have legit core pieces on both sides which we didnt in those other years. Our defense has been clicking lately and its largely on the backs of young guys who will be here for the near future (Dex, Kayvon, McFadden, Banks, Okereke, Flott, Pinnock). On offense we have pieces like JMS/Hyatt/Robinson who are showing signs, we know what AT is, we know Bellinger is a solid piece. What did we have in 2017 and 2021? Both of those teams were largely built through major FA spending to cover up porous drafts. What young building blocks did we have in 2017 besides Odell? Shep, Engram, Collins, maybe Dalvin Tomlinson? 2021 we basically just had Thomas, McKinney, and Azeez (Dex was a solid player but hadnt broken out into what he is, DJ/Saquon we basically had no choice but to run it back with them and they made the best of it). I like the young pieces going forward on this roster way better than the guys we had then. Our last 3 1st round picks leading into 2017 were Flowers, Apple, and Engram for God’s sake. Even if Neal doesnt get close to his draft potential, give me Kayvon and Banks over those 3 any day of the week lol.

3. Tying into the previous point, those teams were so fucked cap-wise based on the spending from the same regimes. 2016 the team went all out with flashy signings that lasted a season and then crashed in 2017. Then 2021, the team again made flashy signings between Leo, KG, Adoree, and restructuring Bradberry to move money down the road. We have been dealing with the mess ever since and Schoen has been patient waiting for the cap to clear before he makes any sort of splash move. Of course there is the DJ contract but even that has an out after next year. Other than that, the only real long-term signings he has made are Okereke (home run) and Glowinski (which has an out after this year).

I dont consider myself within either camp. Both sides have their arguments and I agree with both in some regard. But I dont think the complete pro-tank or anti-tank mentality are the way to go here. Once it was obvious our season was going nowhere, my mentality has been the same. Win or lose, there were just a few things I wanted to see and the team has done them.

Most importantly, I did not want to see the team quit on Dabes and these last few weeks have shown that they have not. That was the major downfall in 2017, and for a little it looked like this team might head down that road as well but Dabes has not lost control of the locker room, which is a really good sign going forward. We can get the #1 pick but if he comes into a mess of a locker room we’re starting from a very bad place. Our guys are still going out there and competing for Daboll and that means something.

I also wanted to see signs of growth and development from the young core pieces of our future on the roster (basically anyone who is going to be on the roster after this season). And again, we have seen that. Our defense has really clicked the last few weeks and its mostly on the backs of the young guys on our team who are going to be back next year. We already know what Dex can do. Kayvon has had his big coming out party this season. Okereke/McFadden are looking like one of the better ILB duos in the league (and Simmons is a FA but if we can bring him back at a modest price, that is a really good complementary trio at a position that was one of our top 2-3 biggest weaknesses last season). Banks has shown he has a lot of potential at CB, and even Flott has developed into a pretty good piece (gonna need to add some more to the secondary but it is not the glaring hole its been for years). Safety is a question mark with McKinney’s contract situation, but Pinnock has been good for us. We have young foundational pieces at all levels of our defense, we pretty much just need a consistent Edge2 (Azeez looks like he can be that guy when he plays but he cant stay on the field) and some more depth all around and we’re in really good shape imo. Offense is another story but even there we have seen guys step up. We know what AT is. Hyatt and Wandale are starting to hit their stride (gonna need to add to the WRs but at least those two look like they can be a solid 2/3). JMS is finally showing some signs. Obviously we need more on both sides, but at least we can say we have some pretty good young supporting pieces who we are getting a good evaluation of for our future plans.

The results were secondary to me. If we lose? I wont complain too much, season is lost and even though a higher pick is not the end-all-be-all, it definitely makes things a little easier. We Win? Cool, at least we know we have players part of our future who can contribute to winning at some level even when shit hits the fan. But as long as we maintain a competitive culture, continue developing our young guys, and are able to produce enough film to get a quality analysis on the guys on our team, I’m not losing sleep over a few draft spots, one way or another.

At this point I’m not focused on winning or losing. If we lose and get a top pick, so be it, I’m not gonna cry about it when the season is already lost. If we win and slide down a few spots, so be it. I’m not gonna cry too hard about it (though admittedly might cry a little). My focus right now is seeing development/signs of development from the guys who will be our future. So Kayvon, Hyatt, Wandale, JMS, Banks, Flott, McFadden, Okereke, Bellinger, etc. Win or lose, I really want this final stretch to be about getting the best evaluation of the guys we have on the roster coming back next year so that we have as few question marks going into the offseason as possible.

Somebody check up on Tom Grossi

Its crazy because you watch the trailer and paired with its outrageous title, it looks like such a typical senseless action movie with no real substance to it. But then you actually watch it and it is legit a cinematic masterpiece. So much depth and commentary to it that you would never expect just from watching the previews, not even getting to Waltz’s performance which just dominates every time he’s on screen.

I was your typical 13 year old kid who loved his action movies when the movie came out and was not familiar with Tarantino before. So based on the trailer I’m expecting 2.5 hours of nonstop action and was a little disappointed that I didnt get that (not that it had its shortage of violence but as we know its in the Tarantino style of 20-30 minutes of dialogue followed by random spurts of extreme violence). As I matured over the years, opened my mind when it came to cinema, became more familiar with Tarantino’s style (since become one of my favorite directors), and watched it again, I was legit blown away by how great of a movie it was.

Takbeer

Honestly blew my mind that no team was willing to give up even a 5th for him during the 2022 offseason when we were literally trying to get rid of him. I get he was coming off a down year in 2021 with the huge drops and all but the man literally put up back-to-back 700+ yard seasons to start off his career, with one of those being in a Jason Garrett offense that didnt push the ball downfield. You can have a fluke season, but doing it twice in a row doesnt happen by accident. The guy had talent, his flaws just stood out more because he was a WR2/3 forced into being a WR1 and the offense as a whole was just horrible. Even with his lowpoints, I thought it would have been a steal for another team with weapons ahead of him on the pecking order and a proven QB to be able to add a weapon of Slayton’s talent for a 5th, and considering he was going to be cut if he didnt agree to the paycut, its pretty easy to say that the asking price for the Giants could not have been very high.

Really hoped this would be the year we finally get to see Slayton in the role best suited for him, as a complimentary deep threat with the addition of Waller, Hyatt, and getting Wandale back but alas we couldnt. Still got nothing but respect for the man. He has been nothing but professional his whole time here and has given us amazing value for where he was selected. The man was a healthy Collin Johnson away from likely being cut to save cap, yet he takes a paycut and makes the most out of his one last shot to prove himself last year. As frustrating as the drops were with him, the man gave it his all out there and its gonna be sad seeing him play somewhere else. Once a Giant, always a Giant.