It is not about any one thing.
It is more about one collective feeling.
“It’s the energy,’’ running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. said.
It is intangible felt by those walking off the field and especially when they gather in the locker room.
Those precious few minutes, together, as a team, after winning a game.
“Just the camaraderie and the appreciation you have for everybody,” linebacker Bobby Okereke told The Post. “You’re dapping up the assistant wide receivers coach, you’re dapping up the O-line coach, guys you might not work super close with throughout the week, but you understand it’s all hands on deck and it takes everybody to get a win. Everybody takes part in each other’s success and celebration, and it’s just a very euphoric feeling.”
Tyrone Tracy Jr. reacts after scoring a touchdown during the Giants’ loss to the Commanders on Dec. 14. AP
That feeling — that energy — has not been a part of the Giants’ existence for 73 days.
The last time they won a game was Oct. 9 — eight games ago.
Thus, they carry a long losing streak into Sunday’s meeting with the Vikings at MetLife Stadium.
It has been 2 months and 12 days since the Giants put in the gameday work and experienced anything other than failure.
They have lost in a variety of ways — close, blowing the lead, never gaining the lead, screwing up at the end and not getting started at the beginning.
Any team sporting a record of 2-12 can consider itself a Losing Specialist.
Winning is hard, of course, but it is not supposed to be darn-near impossible.
J.J. McCarthy scrambles during the Vikings’ Dec. 14 game. AP
It has been impossible for so long now that it is difficult to remember what the Giants look and sound like after they win a game.
“It’s amazing to come off the field after a win,” Tracy told The Post. “You get to celebrate, you know all the work you did to get to that point of walking off the field victorious. That’s the goal throughout the whole week, from Monday to Sunday at whatever time you play. So when you walk off the field and you’ve won you feel you accomplished something, you did something. That’s why it feels so good.”
The Giants have all sorts of issues.
They are on their second head coach (Mike Kafka in, Brian Daboll out), their second defensive coordinator (Charlie Bullen for Shane Bowen), their fourth kicker (take our word for it) and their second consecutive season in contention for “are they the worst team in the league?” status.
They have started three different quarterbacks, and rookie Jaxson Dart after winning two of his first three games has lost six straight — mostly because the Giants’ defense too often cannot stop anyone from much of anything.
“We’re all eager, we just want that feeling again,” Dart said.
Dart is going through this for the first time.
For most of his teammates, this is the continuation of a losing cycle that makes winning seem like a distant memory.
“You definitely miss winning, you’re trying to do anything possible to get a win,” running back Devin Singletary told The Post. “You’re going to keep fighting until you get that one and then you try to keep stacking them. But you got to get that one first. As of right now we’re trying to get that one again.
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“You never lay down. That’s how I was brought up, that’s how I was taught. No matter what it’s looking like, I’m never throwing in the towel, never waving that white flag. Fight to the end. We only get three weeks, make the most of it. Go out there and fight like hell and try to come out on top.”
If only to feel that feeling again.
“That’s why I say it’s the energy,” Tracy said. “Energy is everything. It’s the laughs, it’s the hugs, it’s the high-fives, it’s the daps that you get from everybody. It’s literally just the eye contact you get from your coach and the relief you get when you walk in. It’s everything.”