Honestly, if you look at the NY Giants schedule 2011 on paper, it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. People forget how close this team came to just... disappearing. They weren't some juggernaut. They were a 9-7 team with a negative point differential. Think about that. They gave up more points than they scored over sixteen games, yet they ended up holding the Lombardi Trophy.
The 2011 season wasn't a linear path to glory. It was a jagged, stress-inducing roller coaster that almost fell off the tracks in December.
The Brutal Start and the Victor Cruz Arrival
The year kicked off with a somber 10th anniversary of 9/11 in Washington. The Giants lost that opener 28-14 to the Redskins. It felt flat. But things changed quickly. By Week 3, we saw the birth of a legend. Victor Cruz, an undrafted kid from Paterson, NJ, went off against the Eagles.
He wasn't even supposed to be a primary target, but with Steve Smith gone and injuries piling up, Eli Manning started looking his way. That salsa dance became a staple of the NY Giants schedule 2011 pretty much overnight.
Early Season Results
- Week 1: @ Washington (L 14-28)
- Week 2: vs. St. Louis (W 28-16)
- Week 3: @ Philadelphia (W 29-16)
- Week 4: @ Arizona (W 31-27)
- Week 5: vs. Seattle (L 25-36)
- Week 6: vs. Buffalo (W 27-24)
By the time the bye week hit in Week 7, the Giants were 4-2. Not bad, right? But the Seattle loss at home was a warning sign. Eli threw three picks. The defense looked porous. It was a sign of the defensive struggles that would plague them until the very end.
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That Incredible Win in Foxboro
If you ask any Giants fan about the turning point of the NY Giants schedule 2011, they might point to Week 9. A trip to Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady and the Patriots were waiting. This was the first time they’d met in the regular season since the 2007 finale.
Eli Manning was clinical. He led a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the closing minutes, capped off by a touchdown pass to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left. Giants 24, Patriots 20. At that moment, the Giants were 6-2. They looked like the best team in the NFC.
Then, the floor fell out.
The December Collapse (That Wasn't)
What most people get wrong about this season is thinking the Giants cruised into the playoffs. They didn't. They hit a four-game losing streak that started in San Francisco and ended with a blowout in New Orleans and a heartbreaking loss to the then-undefeated Packers.
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- Week 10: @ San Francisco (L 20-27)
- Week 11: vs. Philadelphia (L 10-17)
- Week 12: @ New Orleans (L 24-49) — This was a massacre. Drew Brees destroyed them.
- Week 13: vs. Green Bay (L 35-38) — Eli played out of his mind, but Rodgers was just better that day.
Suddenly, the Giants were 6-6. The "Fire Tom Coughlin" chants were starting again. It felt like 2009 and 2010 all over again—December collapses that ruined promising starts.
The Christmas Eve Miracle and "The Game"
Week 16 was the real season. Giants vs. Jets. The "Battle of New York." Rex Ryan’s Jets were trash-talking. The Giants were 7-7 after a bad loss to Washington the week before. If they lost to the Jets, they were done.
Then came the 99-yard touchdown.
Victor Cruz caught a short pass from Eli in the shadow of his own goalposts, broke two tackles, and outran the entire Jets secondary. It changed the momentum of the entire franchise. The Giants won 29-14, setting up a winner-take-all Week 17 matchup against Dallas for the NFC East crown.
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They dismantled the Cowboys 31-14. The NY Giants schedule 2011 officially extended into January.
Why This Schedule Was Historically Weird
It’s actually wild when you look at the stats. The 2011 Giants were the first team ever to win a Super Bowl after:
- Having a negative point differential in the regular season ($394$ points for, $400$ points against).
- Ranking last (32nd) in the league in rushing yards.
- Ranking 25th in scoring defense.
Eli Manning basically dragged them to the finish line. He set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes that year. He was sacked 28 times and hit way more, especially in that brutal NFC Championship game against the Niners.
The Playoff Gauntlet
| Opponent | Round | Result | Key Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | Wild Card | W 24-2 | Defense allowed only 2 points |
| Green Bay Packers | Divisional | W 37-20 | Hakeem Nicks' Hail Mary |
| SF 49ers | NFC Champ | W 20-17 (OT) | Eli hit 20 times, still won |
| NE Patriots | Super Bowl XLVI | W 21-17 | The Manningham Catch |
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you're looking back at this season to understand how "clutch" works, the NY Giants schedule 2011 is the ultimate case study.
- Don't ignore the Week 15 loss. The loss to the Redskins in Week 15 is often forgotten, but it’s what put their backs against the wall. Without that failure, you don't get the "desperation mode" that fueled the Super Bowl run.
- Check the defensive shift. The return of Osi Umenyiora and the emergence of Jason Pierre-Paul ($16.5$ sacks) in the final month is why they stopped giving up 40 points and started winning.
- Study the "Run and Shoot" roots. Kevin Gilbride’s offense that year was almost entirely reliant on choice routes. If you watch the tape, Cruz and Nicks weren't just running patterns; they were reading the coverage and changing their routes mid-play.
The 2011 Giants proved that a regular-season schedule is just a qualifying round. You don't have to be the best team in September, October, or November. You just have to be the team that refuses to die in January.
To truly appreciate this run, watch the full highlights of the Week 16 Jets game followed by the NFC Championship. The contrast between the team that lost to the 5-11 Redskins and the team that stood up to Patrick Willis and Justin Smith is the most staggering transformation in modern NFL history.