With only one more week left in the NFL season, there are big decisions to be made. Particularly for those teams that have clinched a playoff spot already. Do you rest your players and have fresh legs for the playoffs, or do you play your starters in hopes of some added momentum? The New York Giants are one such team that has this decision to make.
Back in 2007, the Giants had an eerily similar situation to this year. In the last game of the season, they decided to play their starters in a game that meant absolutely nothing. This game, however, did succeed in building confidence and momentum as they came closer than anyone to beating the Patriots that year in the regular season. The result as you know was good as they stormed through the playoffs and eventually beat those same Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Four years later in 2011, the Giants again found their way into the playoffs. And while they had to win their last game just to make the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers had clinched a few weeks prior. The Packers had decided to rest their players the last two weeks of the season and got an extra third week of rest thanks to their first-round bye. That year when they played the Giants on three weeks’ rest, they looked like a team that was completely out of sync. The usually accurate Aaron Rodgers was overthrowing his receiver’s, and when he did make a good throw the balls were dropped a few times. Three weeks with no games will do that to you.
So what do the Giants do this week? There really isn’t anything to gain this week and the risk of injury to a star player is always scary. Just look at the Oakland Raiders. They just lost their star quarterback and with it, they may be headed for a quick exit in the playoffs. In my opinion, I think the Giants need to play most of their starters. The only players I would rest would be the defensive lineman, their cornerbacks, and possibly Odell Beckham. It can be a huge boost in the playoffs if their defensive lineman have some rested legs to run on, and the cornerbacks need to sit out just to avoid injury. They are the main strength of this team and can’t afford to be lost. The only reason I say rest Odell is because he has a nagging thumb injury on one of his hands, which in effect is leading to some dropped passes.
The rest of the team needs to play, the offense especially. They need to try and find some kind of consistency because their defense can’t win them every game. They need to find some plays that work for them, and for the love of God they need that offensive line to stay intact for a little longer so Eli can throw the ball down field. If anything, they should just stop using a tight end and put a sixth offensive lineman out there. It couldn’t hurt and they barely use their tight ends anyway.
