Why that Giants/Browns daterape of a performance means nothing.

But first a quick recap: everyone but Steve Smith and Brandon Jacobs sucked. And Corey Webster wasn't bad if only because Derek Anderson decided to take away Aaron Ross' pride for the evening. He didn't look Webster's way because if you're robbing Bill Gates, why bother stealing from Donald Trump when the Gates Estate more than meets your needs? But rest assured, everyone sucked, players and coaches alike, and there's no excuse for this game.

Now, the good news for the Giants is that this loss doesn't matter. Here's 5 reasons why:

1. It was the perfect storm.

The NFL, more than any other sport or league, is one where momentum (Joementum?) matters. Football, (cliche alert!) more than any other sport is a game of inches, where a little extra motivation can push a team over the edge. Let's remember that when examining the following factors:

• The first Monday Night game in Cleveland since the creation of the Baltimore Ravens. (Cleveland gets a MNF game and the SB Champ Giants don't? Odd.)
• A desperate team with moderate to high expectations on the verge of a lost season facing the Giants for the third week in a row finally played with the desperation they should have.
  
• The Giants had finally gone from underrated to overrated. And it only took the media a Super Bowl win and 4 straight convincing regular season wins to make it happen.
  
• Eli AND the defense both crapped the bed. If either Eli OR the defense played like they were capable, the final score would have been within 7 points one way or the other.
• A team finally learned how to beat the Giants defense. Took you bitches long enough.
  
• The Browns have talent. And for the first time in 5 games, they used it.
• The Browns came off a bye. For whatever reason, no one comes back average after a bye. Everyone is either really great or really bad. For further evidence see Week 6 Rams, Week 5 Giants, and Week 5 Seahawks.
  

2. The greatest teams of all time didn't go undefeated.

Remember the Montana/Young 49ers? They lost a few games every year. Remember the Aikman/Emmitt/Irvin/White House Cowboys? Yeah, they lost a few games too. The only team to go undefeated was led by the genes that helped create Brian Griese, so excuse me if I'm not ready to call them the greatest team of all time. Over the course of the season, every team has a game where they lose to an inferior team. In the NFL, the difference between the greatest and worst teams is like the difference between yours truly and Justin Timberlake-fairly miniscule in the big scheme of things. So if your team doesn't show up, and it's gonna happen 2-3 times for even the best teams, they're going to lose. And if it's going to happen, do it in week 6 so that you can get your act together without affecting your playoff hopes.

Hell, the Patriots had 18 games where it all went right, more or less. And then they had their everything-went-wrong game. And it cost them a Super Bowl.

3. After that game, who's better in the NFC?

Probably no one. Go ahead, find me a better team than the Giants. The Cowboys? Ha. The Redskins? Maybe, but technically we have a tiebreaker AND A DIVISION LEAD over them. And the Eagles? Give me a call when Westbrook gets healthy. And the NFC South? They're the Big Ten to the NFC East's SEC.

Is there even a better team in the AFC? The Pats would lose the QB comparison even if Eli got injured. The Colts have no O-Line and should be 1-4. The Titans have Kerry Collins, a God to my people, but is due for a game that makes Eli's Browns game look like Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI. The Steelers? Close, but there's no way that Roethlisberger stays healthy all season with that O-Line. And the San Diegans still have Norv Turner. Next!

4. If you're going to lose a game, try and make sure it's an AFC opponent.

You know what sucks? Losing to a division opponent. You know what sucks almost as much? Losing to an NFC opponent you're battling for a wild card. You know what doesn't suck? Losing to an AFC team. On the list of tiebreakers, losing to an AFC team is one or two slots above Head Coach's blood type.

5. Um, didn't we win the Super Bowl last year?

In years past, Giants fans would have expected this. But now that we have the new and unbeatable Giants, it's suddenly shocking that they'd mail in a game or two here and there? And let's not forget the Bill Simmons rules for winning a championship: When you win a championship, the team has earned a five year grace period in which you can't complain about your team. Now, this rule has been broken by Sox fans, Steeler fans, and will probably be broken by Giant fans alike, including myself. But here's a couple of questions to ponder: Shouldn't Giant fans wait until we become worse than 4-1 to start complaining? Shouldn't we at least wait until we're in a TIE for first or in second place before we start complaining? Look, when Eli threw the Pick Six, I was waving down my waitress for my bill like I was stranded on an island trying to track down a plane. That game was awful and that team owes me three hours of my life back. But I'm not going to talk shit about the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants until there's something to worry about. Giant fans need to sit down, shut up, and go watch your Super Bowl DVD until next week...when we can talk shit about the 4-2 New York Giants.