Giants at make-or-break point
Giants at make-or-break point
The New York Giants have reached a crossroads in their season after losing five of their last six games.
Following a 26-6 loss at Denver on Thanksgiving night, the Giants are 6-5, with three NFC East opponents up next on the schedule, two at home, including the Eagles on Dec. 13.
"We have a five-game schedule," coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. "It's one game at a time with these divisional games coming up. We have got to see how we come back now and rally back from a loss which none of us is proud of. We'll use every aspect of motivation we can to get our guys back on track and get them to realize you are one game away from turning this thing back around."
"I have a good feeling that if we go out and play well and win these next three games, we're in a real good spot," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "Obviously, it's a stretch of games that can make or break you.
"We can play better, more physical, smarter and faster. A lot of things that can be better. This [Denver] is the type of game you can either go up or down. This can be the closing statement to our season or this can rejuvenate. It's just going to be up to us which is the case."
Noteworthy
* Peyton Manning returned to full practice yesterday from an injury to his backside and is probable for Indianapolis' game at Houston tomorrow. Manning had seen limited work Wednesday and Thursday before participating in the full workout.
In other Colts news, Chris Polian, the son of team president Bill Polian, has been promoted to vice president and general manager. The 38-year-old Polian will oversee day-to-day operations in all football-related areas of the franchise.
* Kurt Warner went through another full practice yesterday, but the Arizona quarterback was listed as questionable for the Cardinals' game at Tennessee. Warner practiced all week after sustaining a concussion in Sunday's 21-13 victory at St. Louis; he passed the required mental tests on Tuesday.
* New Cleveland Browns linebacker Matt Roth is happy to be out of Miami after what he termed a falling out with the Dolphins. Roth was claimed off waivers by the Browns this week after totaling 158 tackles and 12 1/2 sacks in five seasons in Miami. He started a career-high 14 games last season, 3 years after the Dolphins selected him in the second round of the draft. Roth said the Dolphins questioned whether he was really hurt after he missed all of training camp with a groin injury.
