EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When the Giants (4-13) played the Washington Football Team (7-10) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, both already having been eliminated from the N.F.L. playoffs, was it possible to find beauty and meaning — or, at least, warmth — in a game with so little at stake?
Pregame
Other Giant linemen, with similar thigh-size triceps and waist-size thighs, stretched nearby. Korey Cunningham did so on his back while listening to gospel music. Steam rose from his head.
Above the empty MetLife Stadium stands, the sky was sludge-gray. The occasional plane slid overhead. For a moment it seemed that blue sky might break through the gray, but it did not.