What Could Have Been

This past weekend was championship weekend in the NFL.  A great day of football where you usually get the four best teams from the NFC and AFC.  Unfortunately, the best team in the NFC did not make it this year.  A lot of injuries on defense finally caught up to the Detroit Lions and they couldn’t get past the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round.  Nobody expected Washington to be where they are this year with a rookie quarterback (thanks to Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana the Giants were not able to get this QB) Jayden Daniels.  On the other hand, you have the Philadelphia Eagles who were boosted even more this year with the acquisition of Saquon Barkley (thanks a lot Joe Schoen) who ran for over 2,000 yards and has helped the Eagles get all the way to the championship game.

The Eagles were one of the best teams in the NFL this season and it surprises nobody they were able to get this far. They have one of, if not the best defense in football along with one of the best offenses, thanks to Saquon.  The Commanders getting as far as they have is a great story but nobody really believes they would be able to defeat the Eagles at home.

Of course, it started with the Commanders kicking a field goal and then Saquon running for a 60+ yard run for the first score.  It did not end there.  Saquon went on to run for a couple more touchdowns as well as a nasty block on a Jalen Hurts touchdown run.  Daniels did not have his best game of the season but the future is very bright for him.

Ya see, as all of us Giants fans and all NFL fans know very well, the Giants had the opportunity to keep Saquon around but decided he was not worth the extra one to two million it would have cost to keep him.  On top of that, in the aforementioned comment where the Giants could have had Jayden Daniels if they did not win multiple games at the end of the 2023 season.  What was the point of those wins?  What did it do?

The point of those wins was that they meant absolutely nothing and what it did was set the Giants back for years to come.  Look at the Giants this year if they had Jayden Daniels and Saquon in the backfield.  Would they have won more games this year?  Most likely, yes.  Sure, it would not have been a ton more but just having the foundation for the future to then build out would have been huge.

Now, the Giants will have to face Saquon on the Eagles and Daniels on the Commanders for god knows how many years to come.  To add insult to injury, the Giants could have had the first pick in the upcoming draft but won one more game this year and lost that first pick and ended with the third pick.

This year the quarterback class is nowhere near where it was in 2024 so where do the Giants go from here?  Well, they decided to bring back the same general manager and coach who thought they did not need to resign a franchise running back and thought it would be smart to win extra games and lose out on a franchise quarterback.  As mentioned, these guys have set this franchise back for years and we can only wait and see where things will go from this point on as we watch Saquon go to the Super Bowl (I just threw up in my mouth a little) and Jayden Daniels continue to rise after one of the greatest rookie seasons for a quarterback of all time.

Oh, and one las thought. These guys are in the Giants division, so how do you see this turning out over the next 5-7 years or longer while the Giants see them twice a year. I do not see this fairing very well for Big Blue.