The First Must-Win

“Must-Win” did not enter the Giants lexicon until late last year when the losses and injuries piled up while the prospect of making the playoffs became real. Now a week into the season and it’s hard to imagine a more important and winnable game than the one taking place in Glendale on Sunday. In other words, if the Giants lose to the Cardinals and start 0-2, the season is pretty much screwed. This is a genuine possibility when taking into account last Sunday’s performance where, Arizona, coached by the saddest gunslinger, played competent football, and the New York Giants . . . did not.

Lose this game and the Giants are rewarded with a Thursday tilt against the 49ers whose defense is as good if not better than Dallas. That’s followed by a coin flip match-up against the Seahawks and then the Dolphins and the Bills. Not many things have to go wrong for the Giants to be entering in the Caleb Williams sweepstakes and for Brian Daboll to start resembling the bad man.

The one thing to hold onto is unlike his predecessors, Daboll has managed to get his team to beat up on lesser squads, (understandably) it’s the more talented teams that give him fits. Last year, Big Blue dispatched the Colts, Texans, and Panthers well enough and come Sunday, they should do the same.