Why Giants DB Julian Love is Confident Ahead of Playoffs

Julian Love’s been an integral part of the defense all year and is staying the course when it comes to the Wild Card matchup.

Julian Love is one of many New York Giants players that will experience his first taste of the NFL playoffs this Sunday when the Giants travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings in the Super Wild Card round.  

Not surprisingly, Love, a defensive co-captain, feels confident about his team's chances to be competitive in a tournament that not many critics predicted the Giants would be a part of at the start of the 2022 season. 

“I’m excited. First time in my career being in the playoffs. We’ve got a good opportunity in front of us and are ready to go get it,” Love said.

The Giants have been one of the biggest surprises of 2022. They started the season 6-1 before hitting a rough patch and falling to 7-5-1. In their last three games, they finished 2-2 but could have easily been 4-0 as in their two losses (to the Vikings in Week 16 and the Eagles in Week 18), they came within one score of besting their opponents. 

So when Love says he's confident in the Giants chances to make some noise in the postseason, he's not merely paying lip service to anyone.

 “I just believe in us. When you look at the season, it’s been – it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been a lot of fun because we’ve won a lot of close games, and we’ve done a lot of key things in critical situations," he said. 

"Right now, everyone is fired up. Once you’re in the playoffs, the attention to detail heightens, and when we’re on our details – this team – the sky is the limit.”

While Love is confident in the Giants' chances, many outside the building are not. Skeptics insist that the Giants have no chance of winning a playoff game and don't even belong in the tournament. 

The players know that such talk exists, but they've made a concerted effort to block it from permeating the team headquarters, let alone being in the playoffs. Players usually block out the outside noise, but Love says head coach Brian Daboll has a unique way of dealing with such commentary.

“That’s an outside-of-the-building type of phrase or topic. I feel like, early on, we had so much confidence in who we were. (Head Coach Brian Daboll) Dabs said it from day one – we’re going to be humble about it, and we’re going to go about our work while everybody sleeps on us. We take it one week at a time. We know it’s never going to be perfect. We’re going to continue to be who we are.”

“Now, in the playoffs, I feel like no one is under the radar. They know who we are, we’ve shown it for 17, 18 weeks, or whatever. Teams know who we are. Now we’ve just got to show it and let our game speak for itself. Offense, defense, special teams – we’ve got to bring it all together each game –starting with this one.”

Many around the NFL world are sleeping on the Giants. There’s one group that isn’t, and it’s Giants fans. Players and coaches have said that fan support has been amazing all season, most recently with Brian Daboll saying the fans are a part of the team. On Wednesday, the Giants released their ‘Our Way’ playoff campaign, urging fans to wear blue on Friday and continue to support the team in any way they can. Julian Love has one message for Giants fans before Sunday’s game.

“It’s exciting. I would say this week, rep your Giants gear Friday. Wear your stuff, wear your blue to work, school, or whatever you’ve got to do to support the team. This is an exciting time.”

It’s an exciting time indeed, especially because this is an opponent the Giants are familiar with. They played the Vikings not even a month ago and are not intimidated whatsoever by the Minnesota atmosphere. Julian Love knows what he needs to do once he arrives at the stadium.

“We got a taste of it. Minnesota was so hyped; the fans were very much into it. They’ll be even more so now. It’s an exciting atmosphere. They do a good job at home. Their fans are very committed to that atmosphere. We know what we’re going into, but we can expect something even more heightened than what we saw on Christmas Eve.”

“​​I’m a guy who likes to stick to his process and routine. To know what it is going into it, you’re not going to a new place like I was on Christmas Eve. It’s exciting. You know the field. You know the layout. Yeah, we can take advantage of our routine. But then, they know us, and we know them. It’s going to be a different game for sure.”

One of the players the Giants are hoping to have back for their rematch is cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson has been out multiple weeks now and is desperately needed for the secondary. Love acknowledges that Jackson is a leader in the defensive backs room and a key player they need going forward.

“Adoree’ – he’s that guy for us. He’s a leader for us. He’s an extremely talented player. We’re excited to just see him progress throughout the week. He is, as you saw earlier in the year, a key part of our defense.”

The Giants are about to embark on a journey that only a few amongst themselves have before. Luckily, there are many resources in the locker room to help players keep a level head. Love has never played this deep into a season before, so it’s uncharted territory for him and most of the roster.

“Everybody is excited. I’ve been at home at this point in the season, so it’s exciting to be here. A lot more of you guys, media, walked out to practice but other than that, it’s the same. We’re just practicing, our same routine, our schedule, and we’re going at it in the same way we’ve always done.”

Sunday evening’s matchup will be a fun one to watch. The duo Julian Love and Xavier McKinney on the backend will hopefully lead the Giants to a playoff victory.

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