Giants Not Overreacting to Loss to Cowboys

The New York Giants got skunked. Embarrassed. Annihilated. Pick whatever adjective you want about the Giants' loss to the Dallas Cowboys--they're all the same and accurate.

But with that game in the books, the next step for head coach Brian Daboll's Giants will be even bigger than the one they faced against the Cowboys.

The challenge? How they respond to the adversity created by their lackluster, error-filled, underwhelming performance in front of a national television audience.

"This league is humbling," said Daboll. "I've said this many a time: it's the same thing as if you have a big win, not getting too high. This is an emotional game--guys put everything they have into it. They prepared well, we practiced well, and we didn't put it together in every area."

So, where do they go from here? They go back to the drawing board and figure out how to plug the numerous leaks in the dam.

"It’s all about how you respond," said tight end Darren Waller. "I tell the guys I’ve been on the losing end of games like this before, and it’s (about) how you come in, is your head is high, and are you picking guys up? Are you making sure you’re not pointing the finger at other people, (but) knowing your part and taking personal accountability? That’s how you move forward."

That could be easier said than done unless the players plan on terminating all forms of contact with the outside world, which has been abuzz with how ill-prepared and outmatched the Giants were.

"The danger is we can come in and listen to the media and listen everyone and let those ‘poor me’s’ creep in, and they can trickle down and have an effect on our season," said running back Saquon Barkley.

"That’s the reality of it, but at the end of the day, it’s on the coaches, it’s on us—the leaders, it’s on the players to come in next week, come in tomorrow, watch film, learn from it, put it in the past and move on. It sucks, but sometimes you need an opener like this."

For their part, the Giants insisted they were never worried about whether they closed any talent gaps between themselves and the Cowbys and Eagles, the top two teams in the NFC East. That concern continues to remain the furthest thing from their minds.

"I’m not worried about that gap," Barkley said. "They got us, they came in, they played better than us, made more plays, and we didn’t. Now we get ready for Arizona."

"I'm focused on trying to improve, and there's a lot to improve on," Daboll said. "So, you know, it's one game. It wasn't a good game, don't sugarcoat it. It was a bad game, and that's on me, and we'll work to get the things we need to get fixed, which is certainly plenty of things."

Might that mean taking a good, hard look at how they're doing things?

"Well, you do that every week," Daboll said. "That's what you do as a head coach; you evaluate processes every week, whether you have five wins in a row, get blown out 40 to nothing, have an offseason. Every day after every game, you evaluate processes; that's what you do as a coaching staff. It's been like that ever since I've been in coaching."

What the Giants do over the upcoming week and season will tell us much about what kind of mettle they're made of.

"You’ve got to hold each other a little more accountable, and that starts with meetings on Monday and then come to practice, raise your level, and push each other," Barkley said of what's next.

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