The moment you saw that a December Jets/Giants game was on the schedule you knew it was going to be the biggest one of the season at MetLife Stadium.
It will be when they go head-to-head again Sunday when the playoff future for both teams is on the line.
Once more it’s become the biggest game of 2015 for the staggering G-Men, who have dropped three of their last four to lose their hold alone atop the NFC East race. The Jets can’t win the AFC East, but could slip in as a wild card.
The miserable NFC East will send only one team to the playoffs, possibly with a losing record.
Amazingly it’s the same scenario they both were in back in 2011, the last time the Giants made the playoffs – and last time they faced off.
Big Blue fans will never forget that Week 16 meeting when the Giants had lost five of their previous six and were barely alive.
They trailed early 10-3, but it all changed when Eli Manning threw a pass from his end zone that Victor Cruz took 99 yards for the longest TD pass play in Giants history, leading to an eventual 29-14 win.
They made the playoffs and would win their finale over Dallas, and four straight in the playoffs to take their second Super Bowl in four seasons with another shocking upset of New England.
So will another win over the Jets get Tom Coughlin’s club in the playoffs for the first time since 2011?
“We can be there (playoffs), but it’s up to us. We have to get back to winning,” said Coughlin.
“In football all you can do is get ready for the next game,” said Manning. “You know this one will be….and it’s against the Jets. We still have a lot of football left to get where we want to go.”
His counterpart – Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick – agrees that with both fighting for the playoffs a Jets-Giants game doesn’t get any bigger.
“We know we’re still in it, but there is not any room for error,” said Fitzpatrick. “Each of these games, as we continue to win puts us in better position.”
“We are a playoff team, but it takes a lot of chemistry. We know we can get the job done. The mission now is to continue what we have started, keep the chemistry going and play our best,” said the Jets Brandon Marshall.
“We just have to dig a little deeper over our next five games,” said Giants tight end Wil Tye. “Every game is crucial for us, and this next one will be the biggest.”
