When you get right down to it, being a sports fan is a bad bet. With 30 or so teams competing with yours, even if yours is excellent your season is likely to end in disappointment. And with the past three Giants seasons ending in pretty agonizing fashion, I thought it would be interesting to rank the top 10 worst gut-punching ends to Giants seasons.
10) 1994
Regular season record: 9-7
Coach: Dan Reeves
The streakiest of Giants teams, they started 3-0, lost 7 in a row to fall to 3-7, including an awful 10-9 home loss to the 3-6 Arizona Cardinals, then reeled off 6 consecutive wins...but missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker to the Packers, Bears, and Lions, all 9-7 as well.
9) 1997
Regular season record: 10-5-1
Coach: Jim Fassel
The first Fassel season. In the wild card round, the Giants led Minnesota 16-0 in the 2nd quarter, and 19-3 at halftime. Randall Cunningham led the Vikings back, and the Giants lost 23-22.
8) 2005
Regular season record: 11-5
Coach: Tom Coughlin
A promising Giants team, shut out 23-0 at home by Carolina in the wild card round. Luckily, it would only be two more seasons until the greatest victory in the history of sports.
7) 2000
Regular season record: 12-4
Coach: Jim Fassel
Yes, it was a Super Bowl loss, but the Giants not being expected to beat the juggernaut Ravens keeps this season from being higher on list. Plus it's still overall a good memory, with Fassell's "raising the stakes" speech, and the 41-0 beating of the Vikings in the NFC Championship.
6) 2003
Regular season record: 4-12
Coach: Jim Fassel
Just ugly to watch. It became quite obvious that the team was not playing for Fassel anymore. After starting 4-4, they finished with 8 consecutive losses, outscored by 141 total points. However, this season came with a silver lining: they finished with a bad enough record to be able to trade up for Eli Manning in the 2004 draft.
5) 2009
Regular season record: 8-8
Coach: Tom Coughlin
After a disappointing end to 2008 (see below), the Giants appeared to put it all behind them and resume their winning ways, starting 5-0. But it was all downhill from there, as they went on to finish 8-8. The season finale was an embarrassing 44-7 home loss to Minnesota to close out the old Giants Stadium.
4) 2008
Regular season record: 12-4
Coach: Tom Coughlin
This team started 11-1, and looked downright unstoppable and on their way to repeating. Then Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg. After losing 3 of their final 4 games but still earning a 1st round bye, they suffered a 23-11 home loss to Philadelphia. In my opinion, the passing game still hasn't been quite the same without Burress.
3) 1989
Regular season record: 12-4
Coach: Bill Parcells
My first vague memory of watching the Giants was this game. An overtime loss to the 11-5 Rams, in which Jim Everett (bet I don't call him Chris) threw a 30 yard TD pass to Willie "Flipper" Anderson.
2) 2002
Regular season record: 10-6
Coach: Tom Coughlin
The disastrous 39-38 wild card loss to San Francisco. The Giants blew a 38-14 lead, and the game ended with an egregious no-call pass interference on a botched FG attempt.
1) 2010
Regular season record: 10-6
Coach: Tom Coughlin
Still so fresh in my mind, therefore resonating the most. In Week 15, they blew a 31-10 lead at home against the hated Eagles, losing 38-31 on a DeSean Jackson punt return TD with no time remaining. Having lost their hold on the NFC East but still controlling their playoff fate, they followed that up with a 45-17 loss in Green Bay, in which they let Aaron Rodgers do whatever he wanted.
The Giants are an interesting organization. They've won just enough championships to be rightly considered in the upper echelon of sports franchises...but as the marquee franchise in the marquee city, it seems they should win even more. I wouldn't expect Yankee-level dominance; but at least Steeler-level excellence. So, here's to hoping they live up to that pipe dream in the future...and that they provide no more seasons to land on a future list like this.
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