The way the negatives are piling up for the Giants right now, it is starting to feel like making the playoffs would be a bigger upset than beating the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
Tom Coughlin revealed Wednesday that Hakeem Nicks has a broken toe that will likely keep him from playing in Sunday's game against the Redskins. That will put him right next to Steve Smith on the Giants sideline and will leave Eli Manning to cut down on his season-killing interceptions without either of the team's best wide receivers.
Quite a blow to throw on top of the heap of troubles created over the last 68 minutes of football, but the hits just keep on coming. Shaun O'Hara's Pro Bowl berth is looking like an even bigger mockery in light of the news that he'll likely miss Sunday's game as well. That will make 10 missed games out of 16 for a guy who wasn't particularly good when he was in the lineup and makes us hope that Pro Bowl voters aren't eligible to vote in the United States.
Ahmad Bradshaw and Antrel Rolle hurt their ankles on Sunday. Justin Tuck suffered a chest injury and Corey Webster's ribs emerged from the loss worse for the wear. We'd suggest the entire team head to the hospital for a check-up, but they'd probably get in an accident on their way there before getting blood transfusions with tainted blood from doctors working without board approval.
It's just been that kind of 10 days for the Giants. Their two losses were both totally brutal and the pain was made all the greater by the fact that the Eagles pulled a Giants, for lack of a better phrase, against the Saints on Tuesday night. As discussed yesterday, that makes life much more difficult because the Bears now have very little to play for unless the Panthers beat the Falcons early on Sunday. We'd say that Giants fans should root for the Panthers, but they've suffered enough recently.
All of this sets up a tall order for the Giants on Sunday, but there's a (semi-) bright side. If they are able to fight through all of the problems and injuries to come up with a strong effort on Sunday against the Redskins, it would say a lot about both Coughlin and his players. Effort and passion have been huge problems for this team and this feels very similar to Week 17 of last season when the team failed to even show up for their game with the Vikings. If that happens again, there's no way to avoid wholesale changes because it's clear something's rotten in the state of Giants.
If things turn out better, however, then the Giants can vote for stability, the path that seems like the one they'd prefer, without slapping their fans in the face. It might not get them in the playoffs, but at least they can leave the scene without causing anyone else to vomit in disgust.
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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.
