Life goes on. The NFL playoffs don't stop now that the New York Giants are eliminated. There are still eight teams and three weekends of games remaining, with somebody eventually hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
It won't be the Giants. They will be home, watching this weekend after being eliminated by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. And they surely have regrets -- the dropped passes, poor special teams, Hail Mary, defensive collapse, missed offensive opportunities and hole in the wall, to name a few.
These are memories and moments the Giants likely want to forget, but they won't. They need them.
"We didn't reach our goal -- and we all know what the goal is -- and we need to keep working towards that goal and use this last game as motivation," coach Ben McAdoo said Monday.
That's the plan for at least several Giants. Star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and punter Brad Wing weren't happy with the end result or their individual performances. Beckham had one of the least-productive games of his career and Wing averaged just 39.0 yards on eight punts.
Beckham and Wing, friends since their days as teammates at LSU, commiserated on Sunday night and into Monday. They vowed to not forget what happened in Green Bay and to use it as a positive throughout this offseason.
"I think it will be good moving forward," Wing said. "Like I said to him [Sunday night], we have to remind each other every day of the offseason -- well, not every day -- but remind each other of this in the offseason when we work together.
"It's definitely motivating to get there. Now it's another motivating factor to not do what we did [Sunday] night."
Beckham and Wing have been in this spot before. They were on the 2011 LSU team that lost in the BCS National Championship Game. They were shut out by Alabama, 21-0. Beckham, a true freshman at the time, led the Tigers with five catches for 38 yards, and Wing averaged 45.7 yards per punt in that game.
The loss is a moment that still drives the duo and helped them get to where they are as established players in the NFL.
"It's something I bring up to this day and that we use as motivation," Wing said. "I saw how he responded after that. And so while it sucks now, and it's hard to see any silver lining now, I think it will be a very motivating factor in his development as a player and person."
Beckham blossomed into a first-round pick and perennial Pro Bowl receiver. But he had perhaps his worst game as a professional in his first NFL playoff game. He dropped two passes and failed to make several other catches that he has made before. He then is believed to have punched a hole in a Lambeau Field wall outside the grounds-crew locker room after the loss.
The second-team All-Pro receiver had four catches for 28 yards on 11 targets against the Packers. Several of those incompletions are going to linger.
"I'm sure it's going to be a long offseason," Beckham said after the loss. "At the end of the day, you just have to take it and you have to grow. You have to learn from it and find ways not to have this feeling again."
The plan is to use it as fuel for the fire. Beckham and Wing didn't get that second chance at the national title in college. They expect to have another crack at the NFL playoffs.
Beckham is 24 years old. Wing is 25.
"The future is very bright," Wing said. "I promise you that."