As crazy as it sounds, the New York Giants will be playing meaningful football after Thanksgiving this season. Following a 1-7 start, the Giants will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday and attempt to extend their winning streak to three.
Leonard Williams, who leads the team in sacks, has made a point that the Giants must play well down the stretch.
“In terms of football and football knowledge and awareness of the season and how it goes, people always say the realest football is played around these months after Thanksgiving. This is definitely the time where you have to play some of you best football,” Williams told reporters on Monday.
“We’re kind of past that halfway marker, so we just have to tighten things up a little bit tighter. Make adjustments and just keep moving forward. We just came off of a bye week, so people should be feeling fresh and ready to attack the rest of the season.”
Williams was, of course, acquired by the Giants last season from the crosstown rival New York Jets. The trade was met with skepticism given Williams’ expiring contract and the team being in the middle of a losing season. After receiving the franchise tag this offseason, Williams has silenced that skepticism with his strong 2020 campaign.
Williams has never played in a postseason game since being drafted in 2015. The way the Giants season was going early on it didn’t seem like that would change for the veteran.
“I haven’t been to the playoffs yet, I got close one year when I went 10-6 with the Jets my rookie year. Since then, I haven’t really been close to going to the playoffs,” Williams said. “[But] that’s kind of far down the line still. Like I said, we just finished close to midseason. It’s kind of hard for us to look that far ahead. If we do something like that, we might mess around and overlook a team.”
Yet here the Giants are, entering Week 12 with a legitimate chance at a division crown. There is however, still a lot of football left to be played as Williams alludes.
What could be a wild ride begins just a few short days after Thanksgiving, so Williams & Co. know now is the time to turn up the heat.
