It's Good to be Back(To Football)

The running back takes the handoff, plowing into gap on first down.  There's just one problem: the gap isn't there, the offensive line having failed to get any push against their defensive counterpart.  Second down, Eli Manning looks down the field for his receivers.  Doesn't see anything.  Neither do we at home.  Incomplete.  Last chance.  Manning dumps a short screen the running back; he gains some yards but no first down.  Time to punt.  I turn and say, "Well we've picked up right where we left off haven't we?"

                In my recent life as a born-again sports fan, I've been blessed to root for some pretty solid teams.  It's one of the perks of living in New York.  I've seen some failures (the Jets' recent spirals) and some prolonged failure (the Mets) but these always felt peripheral.  I shuddered at the thought of the fans rooting for shitty teams around the country.  While I probably can't say I identify with the Cleveland Browns fan base (this would be akin to being under house arrest and comparing it to the plight of the Palestinian people) but I've gotten a taste of that terror for about a year courtesy of my own New York Giants.  The same Giants whose recent Super Bowl victories kindled my resurgent sports fandom.  The same New York Giants who these days barely look capable of winning a professional football game. 

                Still, watching them play the Hall of Fame preseason game against the Buffalo Bills made me realize that I kind of enjoy watching the team struggle.  Well, maybe "enjoy" is the wrong word.  But there was a certain comfort to the continuity from last year.  There are no new problems, merely the same old problems which plagued the team's offense last year.  An offensive line that does more harm than good.  A revolving door at running back.  Some of Eli Manning's more questionable throws.  The realization that while Victor Cruz makes for a great number two receiver, he is ill suited to being the offense's first option. 

                Thinking back on last year, I wonder how we were able to score at all, let alone win seven games.  In points per game, our offense was the fifth worst in the league, scoring less than half of what brother Peyton's Denver unit scored in the same year.  The Giants lost their first six games of the year, but rallied to win seven out of their last nine.  They did this with grit, determination, and lots and lots of field goals.  Some were close games, some were not so close games, all were ugly games. 

                The scarce scoring that did go on doesn't really stick out in my memory.  I imagine they must have snuck these drives in the middle of the game when I was in the bathroom or distracted or walking out in frustration.  The openings in particular were brutal: This probably isn't true but it feels like every game opened with a three-and-out.  I can say with certainty that this preseason game started as such. 

                Late in the first quarter, the first team offense got going, running the ball well and eventually scoring.  Then the commentators jumped in and reminded us that the Bills had already taken their first team defense off the field.  That took the buzz off the touchdown just a bit, making it feel like the kind of cheap trick that seemed to fuel their second half winning run from last year.

                And at the end, without ever looking sharp or good, they won.  The second half didn't feature much scoring (the final score was 17-13) and was generally overshadowed by interviews with the latest class of Hall of Fame inductees.  Even they were overshadowed by an emotional video on Bills legend Jim Kelly and his fight against cancer.  I couldn't help but wondering whether or not Kelly, 20 years retired and cancer-stricken to the degree where his short term survival is in question, would've outperformed the dynamic duo of backup quarterbacks Ryan Nassib and Jeff Tuel.  Nassib(Giants) and Tuel(Bills) spent most of the second and third quarters trading mind-boggling throws, each seemingly trying to one-up the other in poor decision making. 

                We shouldn't read too much into this game.  It's the preseason, and this game in particular was a week before the preseason proper.  There was a lot of rust to shake off.  Still, I can't quite shake the feeling that our next preseason tilt will open with yet another three-and-out.  And I'm weirdly OK with that.