New York Giants Are ‘Better Than Finish,’ Players Insist

After failing to make the playoffs one year after winning the Super Bowl, Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants are insisting they’re better than their 9-7 record.

Defensive End Justin Tuck may have summed it up best after Sunday’s game:

“You know we have a high-quality football team that could make a lot of noise in the playoffs if that would’ve happened, but it didn’t.”

Tuck’s comment encapsulates the team over the last few years. The Giants missed the playoffs in 2010, won the Super Bowl in 2011, and then missed the playoffs again this year.

Now with this season ending in disappointment, the New York Times reports there will be a full evaluation of the coaching staff. Unlike Andy Reid in Philadelphia though, Tom Coughlin’s job is safe.

A lot of turnover is likely in store for the Giants entering this offseason with nearly two dozen restricted and unrestricted free agents. There’s not only room to grow; there’s room to replace and hopefully improve.

However, amid all the frustration, the team believes they are better than how they finished. Justin Tuck likes the team’s chances next season:

“This whole off-season, everybody’s going to try to knock you down and say you’re in the same boat as teams that won two games. We’re not, we’re not. We still have a very quality football team.”

Defensive back Antrelle Rolle thinks the fix could be easy by getting back to “Giants” football:

“When it was there, you could see it, nobody had to question it. There was also times when we weren’t playing Giants football. I think it was quite obvious at times.”

The good news is that, even though the Giants missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record this, they went to the Super Bowl with a 9-7 record in 2011. Here’s a video about how they did it:

What do you think: Are the Giant’s a playoff team again in 2013?