The 2010 Giants season has turned into a football version of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
Every week it seems like the team is whitewashing a lingering 2009 pain from recesses of their mind and replacing it with a happier moment. There was the way they avoided a meltdown when the walls were crashing in around them after the loss to the Titans in Week Three and there's the ongoing way they refuse to let injuries serve as an excuse for a drop in their productivity. And Sunday's victory over Donovan McNabb, a man who has caused them twice as much pain as Kate Winslet ever caused Jim Carrey, was one of the biggest rewrites of history that you could ever imagine.
The change in fortunes doesn't just exist on the macro level. Brandon Jacobs looks like a running back again instead of a player under the impression that his job is to run three feet, fall down and then throw a temper tantrum that would embarrass an overtired three-year-old. Osi Umenyiora, another guy who made it hard to view him as an adult last season, has put the danger back into his game on defense and remained blessedly silent off the field.
But, like the movie, all of the erasing hasn't done quite enough to make all the connections disappear. The losses to the Cowboys and Eagles made you feel like the second half was going to be full of pain and suffering once again while the inability to eliminate mindless turnovers makes you wonder just when they are going to cause the roof to cave in.
That means the Giants will have to just keep going after those bad vibes, starting with Sunday's trip to Minnesota. They've ended the last two regular seasons with losses at the home of the Vikings, with last year's 44-7 drubbing representing the nadir of their prideless, gutless end to their gut-wrenching freefall. Again, it isn't all about team-wide pain. Eli Manning has thrown nine interceptions in his last four games against the Vikings which means he'll have extra reason to avoid the killer turnovers that have marred his entire year.
Knock off the Vikings and then there's just the Eagles left as a reminder of darker times. Get through that gauntlet and the slate will truly be clean.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
