Regardless of what you think about how genuine the comments are, I have yet to hear anything from anyone to dispute it. Not once since Parcells left has anyone talked about being in a dogfight with us. They did when Coach Parcells was here, even the Giants would comment (Pierce had stated that several times). Now we have cake-eaters and players who think a bye equals a win (we all know where that comes from). We have developed a nauseating case of entitlement that I hope has gone away.
See, that's what I mean by mental "toughness". That means not allowing yourself to take your reputation or your press clippings into a game and instead play physical hard-nosed brand of football. We just don't play with the same sense of violence you see others play us and too often we wilt from a physical fight. It might seem like a lack of focus, but being intimidated can often show up that way. It is about the mental attitude. We can beat the false bravado types or those teams that lack a physical nature, but you can see the results for yourself late in every season. We don't want it badly enough and frankly appear to fold at the first sign of adversity and then have to rally, which isn't the same.
Thinking someone is just going to take one look at you and roll over isn't tough. It's soft and arrogant. That was how we approached last season. Then when we decided to man up, it was too late (Cardinals, Ravens) or we never did it at all (Eagles). The only game I saw what I considered both toughness and resiliency was against the Steelers, but we let that slip away also because Romo couldn't execute.
You don't think being able to put the final nail in the coffin is a sign of toughness?
I don't disagree per se with what you are saying and perhaps we simply have different definitions. To me, toughness is being physical and imposing your will, not reacting to what comes about. We are resilient, but to me that's not the same as being tough. If we were boxers, we'd be getting knocked down but keep getting up instead of being the ones who are throwing the knockout punches.
I have hope for Hodge though. But one guy does not a team attitude make. Especially a low draft pick.
