The feeling of relief inside the Giants' locker room was palpable.
Fresh off a 12-9 overtime win over the Chiefs at MetLife Stadium, where fans actually had something to cheer for in a season filled mostly with anguish, the smiles came easily and the praise for embattled coach Ben McAdoo was heartfelt. Winning cures just about everything in sports, and the upset addressed many of the long-simmering problems that doomed the Giants' season less than halfway through.
"We were doubted the moment we stepped through the (locker room) door," safety Landon Collins said after the team's best defensive performance of the season. "When (the Chiefs) were put on our schedule, we were doubted. From that point on, it was big for us to do what we did."
It was especially big for McAdoo, who was told Monday by co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch that he no longer had to concern himself with his job security until the season ends. Not that it mattered to McAdoo _ at least outwardly _ but knowing he had the rest of the year to prove his case to remain had to be reassuring at some level.
But now that the afterglow of victory has come and gone, the cold, hard reality of McAdoo's situation hasn't changed. Unless this team keeps playing as it did Sunday, then the McAdoo Watch remains very much on and his job situation very much in question.
Don't forget, the last time the Giants (2-8) gave this kind of effort came after an 0-5 start and a series of injuries that decimated the wide receivers. The Giants beat another AFC West opponent in a Sunday night matchup, dominating the Broncos, 23-10. But then came three straight losses, one more demoralizing than the other, until they stopped the bleeding again Sunday.
Yet both wins require some context, lest any mistaken conclusions be drawn. Beating the Broncos may not have been as impressive as it first appeared. Denver (3-7) has become a team in disarray, and losing to the Giants started a six-game slide. On Monday, the team fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
The Giants also caught the Chiefs at the right time. When Kansas City was 5-0, it was arguably the league's best offensive team. But the Chiefs have struggled in recent weeks, and the loss to the Giants was their fourth in five games. Kansas City's only win during that stretch was against the reeling Broncos. Offensively, the Chiefs have come to a standstill, with only 26 points in the last two games.
So let's keep things in perspective. While McAdoo is to be commended for finding a way to get his team to play up to its potential, it came after a series of woeful efforts that put his future in peril.
"Overall, the vibe, everybody is pretty positive," said Orleans Darkwa, who has emerged as the team's No. 1 running back after McAdoo finally decided to give him the lion's share of the carries. "At the end of the day, it's just one win. We want to make sure we can stack these wins together and make the best situation possible for this team."
And therein lies the challenge for McAdoo and those who will decide his fate. If the Giants can follow up Sunday's promising result with more wins _ starting Thanksgiving night against the Redskins _ then McAdoo will have gone a long way toward making a case that he be given at least another year to see if he can turn the program around.
But if his team reverts to the poor discipline and lackluster efforts that defined most of the season, then McAdoo will have made the decision easy: The Giants will have to look in another direction.
Mara and Tisch are known for their patience, and there is a lot to be said for that approach, because coaching turnover can be a drag on a franchise. Look at the best teams: the Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Packers and even the Giants over the years. Yes, they have had the luxury of franchise quarterbacks, something that can't be underestimated. But they also benefit from coaching stability _ as long as those coaches are the right ones.
The Giants still don't know about McAdoo, and while he took a step in the right direction Sunday, this is a journey that will require many more before the answer will reveal itself.
