The 2010s were a decade of highs and lows for the New York Giants. Unfortunately there were much more lows than highs.
But we here at Giants Wire have compiled the top 10 memorable moments of the decade, some of them not in any particular order.
Victor Cruz’ 99-yard TD vs Jets
On Christmas Eve 2011, the Giants came into the game with a 7-7 record and needed a spark to help jettison them past Gang Green and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter and facing a third-and-10 from their own one-yard line, Eli Manning hit Cruz underneath. Cruz then broke several tackles and raced 99 yards for the go-ahead score.
That play spring-boarded the Giants to a 29-14 victory. They carried that momentum the rest of the way, defeating Dallas the next week for the NFC East title and then ran the table all the way through Super Bowl XLVI.
Jerry Reese fired, Dave Gettleman hired
In 2016, the Giants finished 11-5 and qualified for the NFC Playoffs only to get crushed by the Green Bay Packers. That broke a string of three consecutive losing seasons, but in 2017 the Giants were back to their losing ways.
Head coach Ben McAdoo had been heavily criticized for his style in handling discipline (see: boat trip) and his overall ability to sit in the big chair. The bungling of the Eli Manning benching was the final straw. He was canned in December along with general manager Jerry Reese, who should have been gone well before that after years of terrible drafts.
The team hired former Carolina Panthers GM Dave Gettleman to take over he immediately restored some semblance of order to the locker room.
Giants move into MetLife Stadium
Giants Stadium, once a state of the art venue when it opened back in 1976, was no longer the standard when it came to NFL stadiums. The Giants teamed with the Jets to finance a $1.6 billion behemoth of a building that somehow ended up being more utilitarian, bland and generic than the old stadium.
The building had some difficulty landing a naming rights deal and operated its first two seasons under the name New Meadowlands Stadium before MetLife agreed to put its name on the building in 2012.
To help defray the cost of the stadium, the Giants slapped season ticket holders by applying a personal seat license for each seat in the building. The Jets also put in PSLs with the exception for the seats in the upper bowl.
To date, the Jets have yet to play a postseason game in at MetLife and the Giants have played just one.
MetLife Meltdown
It’s just too painful to put in my own words, so I’ll defer to Art Stapleton set it up for you…
Tom Coughlin wanted punter Matt Dodge to kick the ball out of bounds, denying Desean Jackson a chance to return the ball in a tie game on the final play of regulation on Dec. 19, 2010.
Dodge could not execute the play call, and Jackson delivered a play that will live in NFL infamy. The Giants had led comfortably before the Eagles scored 28 points in the final 7:28, and when Dodge trotted out onto the field with 14 seconds left, Jackson flipped the script and made ’em pay. He bobbed and weaved through the Giants’ coverage unit, backing into the end zone in mocking fashion for good measure to punctuate a 65-yard punt return for the touchdown.
In the bat of an eye, the Giants went from NFC East champs to out of the playoffs. The worst part of it personally was the way the Philadelphia media (from the press box) cheered on Jackson as he scampered into the end zone untouched.
Eli Manning says goodbye
16 years is a long time for a player to be employed by an NFL team. Manning set a franchise record for seasons played by suiting up this season, breaking the previous mark of 15 held by Michael Strahan and Phil Simms.
He played the first two games of the season before management decided to insert first round pick Daniel Jones into the starting lineup. Manning sat on the sidelines until Week 14 when he stepped back into the starting role after Jones suffered a high ankle sprain.
Manning started two games, the second a victory at home against the Miami Dolphins, where the home fans were able to say a proper goodbye to the two-time Super Bowl MVP giving him a standing ovation.
JPP fireworks incident
Jason Pierre-Paul was poised for a monster 2015 season after finishing 2014 the season with 12.5 sacks, 77 total tackles, three forced fumbles and six passes defensed. The Giants could not get him under contract in time so they placed the franchise tag on him.
On July 4 while at his home in Florida, JPP suffered a serious injury to his left hand as the result of a fireworks mishap. He would end up losing his right index finger, a portion of two others and suffering nerve damage and did not begin his season until November.
JPP played the rest of the season with a club on his right hand and essentially was not the same player after that for good reason. He was traded in March of 2018 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tom Coughlin’s unceremonious “resignation”
In 2015, the Giants logged in their third consecutive losing season, finishing 6-10 for the second straight year. It was time for the team to think about changes at the top. They decided to retain general manager Jerry Reese but cut ties with Coughlin after 12 seasons.
The organization dressed it up as a resignation by Coughlin but it was clear during his exit presser that he wanted to stay on as coach and blew by CEO John Mara during a handshake opportunity.
Later on, Coughlin would reveal that the team forced him out, which wasn’t really news but was a telling sign of the dysfunction of the Giants, something they have not gotten over.
Giants draft Saquon Barkley
The Giants held the second overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, which had several so-called franchise quarterbacks to choose from. They had Eli Manning under contract for two more seasons and decided to pass on the quarterbacks, choosing the Penn State star instead.
The choice was an immediate success as Barkley electrified the Giant faithful, leading the league in total yards from scrimmage en route to being named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Giants would get their franchise quarterback the next year when they selected Daniel Jones sixth overall.
Blockbuster trade with Cleveland
Before the 2018 season, general manager Dave Gettleman signed star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a five-year, $95 million contract extension with $41 million fully guaranteed. After Beckham had a disappointing season cut short by injuries, the Giants made the decision to trade Beckham.
They found a suitor in the Cleveland Browns, who would send the Giants safety Jabrill Peppers, offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler and two draft picks –No. 17 overall (Dexter Lawrence) and No. 95 (Oshane Ximines) in exchange for Beckham and outside linebacker Olivier Vernon, who the Giants were planning to release.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s impossible catch versus Dallas
In Beckham’s second season, in game against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, the LSU star had his NFL star-defining moment when he made a one-handed acrobatic grab for a touchdown.
The catch turned Beckham into an overnight sensation and would further be known as “OBJ.”
To this day, there has never been a more impressive catch.
Giants win Super Bowl XLVI
The 2011 Giants, just like the 2007 bunch, were a team of destiny. After 14 games, the Giants were 7-7 and needed to win out to advance to the postseason. First, they knocked off the Jets (as illustrated above in the Victor Cruz play) and then vanquished the Cowboys to win the division.
They defeated Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco in the NFC Playoffs en route to a rematch with the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The game was as tight as the first match four years earlier and the result was the same, a Giant victory. This time the Giants won by four points instead of three.
The highlight of the game was the Eli Manning to Mario Manningham 39-yard completion in the fourth quarter that led to the Giants’ winning score.
