The NFC Championship Game matchup is set, and New York Giants fans couldn't be more incensed.
This year's contest will feature a battle between NFC East Division rivals in the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles, two teams that have come to haunt New York in more ways than one.
Particularly, team co-owner John Mara will be having nightmares about decisions he could've made or influenced that might've changed the trajectory of events for his franchise.
For one, running back Saquon Barkley broke a 76-year-old team record for the Eagles by putting up 205 rushing yards in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
His two touchdowns were painful reminders of what New York could've had in its backfield if general manager Joe Schoen hadn't gambled on Barkley falling away from the team that drafted him.
Additionally, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels' sensational play helped Washington make a total reversal of its four-win meltdown in the 2023 season.
New York, who won three consecutive games late that same year with third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito, missed out on the opportunity to draft Daniels and replace the failed experiment under center that was Daniel Jones.
Most of the decisions made off the field would've been vastly different if there was a different leader in the front office. Washington's general manager Adam Peters was reportedly the runner-up to Joe Schoen when Mara was deciding who would run his team.
On top of that, another candidate who was passed over by Mara, Baltimore's Joe Hortiz, didn't get the nod because it was thought he would hire then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh to replace Joe Judge. Harbaugh led the Los Angeles Chargers to an 11-6 record and a playoff appearance in his first year on the job.
Mara will have to watch next weekend's game knowing he had his pick of several NFL success stories and just didn't make the right calls.
Such is the football life but Giants fans will still be miserable knowing they have at least another year of Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll trying to fix their disastrous mistakes.
-1736820570-q80.webp "Cowboys Get Blowback Over Statement on Mike McCarthy")
