Giants 2006 Season Recap Part 1: The Story

Like the last game, the Giants 2006 season was a roller-coaster from start to finish. Going all the way back to draft day, myself and countless other Jints fans were dumbfounded by Ernie Acorsi's 1st round pick, only to find out during the season how valuable that pick really was. From visiting Giants training camp, to cursing the team with a string of obscenities I wouldn't use on my worst enemy. There was the Manning Bowl, which was decided on a phantom offensive pass interference call against Tim Carter. There was the Philly comeback, the high point of the season. Then came the Seattle debacle - yet that wasn't even the low point. After the bye, the Jints won 5 straight games, and (despite losing Arrington and Toomer for the season) were sitting atop the division at 6-2. They even had a 10-3 lead on the Bears... And that's when it all fell apart. Luke Petitgout went down. Will Demps forgot how to tackle. The whole team had a collective brain fart as Devin Hester ran back a missed FG for a TD. The Giants lost that game and lost another 3 straight. The backbreaker being Tennessee's 21 point comeback. The Giants limped into the playoffs on the legs of Tiki Barber, who had another tremendous season. Unfortunately, it would be his last. He's carried the team for the last 3 years, but it wasn't enough Sunday, as Eli Manning's inconsistency reared it's ugly head, and prevented the Jints from opening up the game after numerous chances.

On the bright side, Tiki went out at the top of his game. He finished in the top 5 in rushing for the 3rd straight year, and has accounted for over 40% of the entire Giants offense the last 3 years. He also eliminated his fumble problems, coughing up the ball just 9 times in 1170 touches over the last 3 years. He is probably the greatest Giants running back of all time (ranking 17th in NFL history in rushing), and his gutsy and versatile play will be missed, as well as his infectious personality.