The last time.
When was the last time the Giants won a football game? It was against the Cards way back on Nov. 11 by a score of 17-10.
Welcome Arizona Cardinals to Giants stadium! That's not to say that anything is a given here. Currently the Cardinals have the same 5-7 record as the Giants, and these division games tend to play out every which way. The only good news here is that the Giants have a great track record against the Cards. They are 76-39-2, for a .658 winning percentage, that is their best against any team the Giants have played more than 100 times.

Last place.
The best the Giants or the Cards can do this season is finish with a 9-7 record. They currently trail the first-place 8-4 Philadelphia Eagles by three games in the NFC East, and are two games behind the final wild card berth. If Dallas wins it's game against Seattle on Sunday, the loser of the Giants - Arizona contest will be tied with them for last place with a 5-8 record. The Giants play Seattle next week, so you can scout them on Sunday if you have that TV coverage.

The Giants last game.
Here's what the head coach had to say about the 20-13 loss to the Cowboys.
"We came out in the first half and we were accomplishing what we wanted. I wasn't pleased with our kickoff and special teams coverage units. Other than that, I felt we were doing things well. In the second half, we seemed not to do anything right. We put our defense in bad field position with sloppy play on our coverage units. Not that the defense played an outstanding game because we could play much better."

The last division game.
This game will the last one the Giants play against the Cardinals as a division opponent. The NFL owners approved a realignment of the expanded 32-team league into eight four-team divisions for the 2002 season. Houston joins the NFL as its 32nd team, and each team will face its division rivals twice a season. Other matchups will be determined on a rotating basis, with every team playing every other team at least once every four years.
The league says 12 teams will qualify for the playoffs - the eight division winners plus two wild-card teams from each conference. This new alignment replaces the six division format that was in place since 1970, when the league merged with the American Football League and three teams; the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers, became part of the newly formed AFC.
The Seattle Seahawks, the only team to switch conferences, will move to the NFC West from the AFC West, to join the Arizona Cardinals, relocating from the NFC East. The other two teams in the NFC West in 2002 are St. Louis and San Francisco.

The Cards were on a roll.
The Cardinals had a three-game winning streak going up until last week when they lost to Washington's 20-10 at Sun Devil Stadium last week.

Tiki Barber.
Tiki's stats are great. He has 113 carries for 597 yards, for an average of 5.3 yards, and 3 TDs, but Tiki can't do it alone. As one reporter pointed out, "Over the past four games, Tiki Barber has eclipsed the 100-yard mark three times. He has averaged 6.6 yards per carry, and has had a long gain of more than 20 yards in each game. Tiki has scored two touchdowns. The result? A 1-3 stretch that essentially knocked the Giants from the playoff picture."
Last time out Tiki ran for 118 yards against the Cardinals, but as you read above, that doesn't seem to guarantee anything.

Best Fassel quotes from last week.
"We can't score points. I don't know what we are doing wrong," Giants coach Jim Fassel said. "I'm going to stop focusing on what we need to do because, when I do, we don't do it. I can't tell you what's wrong."
Maybe the opposition is paying more notice to what coach Fassel is saying, and using it as their focus points against the Giants.

Notes:
Giants under Jim Fassel have never lost four games in a row.

Giants have won 15 of the last 17 meetings from the Cardinals at Giants Stadium.

Giants have won 19 of the last 25 games played against the Cardinals.

Giants head coach Jim Fassel was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 1996.

Giants head coach Jim Fassel is 7-2 against the Cardinals.

Giants at 5-7, are 3 games behind the first-place 8-4 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.

Next Game
Dec 23, Seattle at Giants 1:00 PM.

For those very organized fans.
If you use a Palm Pilot and want to keep the Giants schedule, and actually the whole NFL schedule on it, there is a free download available here at PFL.

Last Week's review, game 12 - Dallas 20 - Giants 13

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