By Tomas McDermott
If the Jets seem like underachievers, you haven’t watched the Giants. They started off the season on SNF against the Cowboys, who have won 11 of their past 12 games.
Week 1: Cowboys at Giants
The Giants started off well, driving down the field. It seemed like they hadn’t skipped a beat from last year. A false start put them back 10 yards in the red zone. They had to go for a field goal, which was blocked for a Cowboys touchdown. After getting the ball, the Giants were looking at a deep third-and-19. Danny Dimes threw a check-down to Saquon, and he bobbled it. Daron Bland intercepted it and took it to the house. From there it got worse. The Giants somehow mustered up a drive into field goal range. It did not matter, as Graham “Ga-No Good” missed it. There was nothing good about this 40-0 pummeling. The offense was pitiful, the defense was a joke, and the special teams were abysmal.
Week 2: Giants at Cardinals
In the first half, the Giants played atrociously against the lowly Cardinals. The offense was pitiful, and the defense was not any better. After two quarters of misery, the Giants were down 20-0. They were outscored 60-0 in the first six quarters of the season. They looked like amateurs in their six quarters of hell. Somehow, they figured out how to score points. After the break, they opened up with a 58-yard bomb to rookie Jalin Hyatt. They scored two plays later and were on the board. The Cardinals went back to the end zone and got the 2-point conversion to go up 28-7. The Giants worked their way up the field for a 1-yard touchdown for Saquon. The Giants were back in it. The defense stepped up for the first time this season, forcing a punt. Jones orchestrated an 80-yard drive, capping it with a 9-yard pass to Saquon to keep it manageable. The defense forced a 3 and out, giving Jones the chance to tie the game. The G-Men were driving, and Hyatt had another big catch for 31 yards. The Giants then tied it with an Isaiah Hodgins touchdown. The defense came up big, forcing another three and out. With 2:31 left, they drove to the Cards 20 when tragedy occurred. While chewing clock, Saquon sprained his right ankle. It didn’t affect this game, but this was a HUGE loss long term. The Giants bled the clock, and Gano iced the game. With no time, the Cardinals attempted Hail Marys. Their prayers were not fulfilled, and the Giants held on. The Giants had a tall task coming up, facing the 49ers.
Week 3: Giants at 49ers
This game was over before it started. The Giants were outplayed in every facet of the game. Their offense was dormant, and their defense was close to useless. Their o-line wasn’t doing Daniel Jones any favors. He was running for his life and had no throwing options. Without Saquon, the run game was a joke. Matt Breida couldn’t do diddly-squat with the woeful o-line. Brock Purdy could just sit back and watch the Giants self-combust. Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey had a field day, with the Giants missing 16 tackles. Luckily, they had an easier matchup next week against the Seahawks.
Week 4: Seahawks vs Giants
It feels like these Giants games are copied and pasted. Horrible offense and defense, and no o-line. The only difference is the team they face, and touchdowns they scored. Zero. There was no point trotting out an o-line; the result would have been the same. Jones got sacked 11 times. 11 TIMES. He was getting mauled. He also threw two picks, one to Devon Witherspoon for a 94 yard pick-six. Last year must have been a dream because this team is definitely not the same playoff team from a year ago. It doesn’t get any better. They are facing the #1 Offense Dolphins next.
Week 5: Giants at Dolphins
The Giants defense got pummeled. DeVon Achane and Raheem Mostert combined for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Against the pass, they fared slightly better. Jason Pinnock got a 102-yard pick six, which kept the game close. That was the first Giants touchdown in the first half. They still haven’t scored an offensive touchdown. When they weren’t getting picks, they were being torched by Tyreek Hill, giving up 181 receiving yards and a touchdown. The loss might have been bad, but that wasn’t the worst part of the game. Jones suffered a neck injury and was out for their next game against the Bills.
Week 6: Giants at Bills
With Jones out, career backup Tyrod Taylor was starting. This was a reunion for the team. Taylor was a Bill for three years. Brian Daboll was the offensive coordinator for four years. Joe Schoen (Giants GM) was the assistant GM as well. The game’s point spread was 15 points, which was a league-high this season. Everyone was expecting the Giants to get shelled even worse than the Cowboys game. In the first quarter, the Giants had the lead! After six games, the Giants finally were on offense with a lead. After one half, the Giants were up 6-0 and forced two turnovers. They could have scored more, with first and goal at the Bills 1-yard line with 14 seconds left. Daboll called a run-pass option, but Taylor chose the run. Saquon got stuffed, and there wasn’t time to spike the ball and get a field goal. This was a moronic decision because if the Giants had passed the ball, they would have been able to stop the clock with an incompletion and kick an easy field goal. This decision would haunt them later in the game.
In the second half, the Bills scored two back-to-back touchdowns and the Giants scored a field goal to make it 14-9 Bills with 3:48 left. The Bills had the ball in Giants territory. They couldn’t move the ball either, so they attempted a long field goal. It went wide right, and the Giants had life again. They were swiftly going down the field and faced a fourth-and-five at the Bills 27. They needed a miracle. Taylor got Hyatt for 12 yards, and there was still hope. Taylor spiked it, and there were nine seconds left. After a six-yard scramble, there were two seconds left. From the Bills nine, Tyrod passed to Darren Waller in the end zone and... it was incomplete. It couldn’t be that simple. There was a flag. PI, and an untimed down. This was it. At the one again, they knew running the ball was a bad idea. They threw another fade to Waller…and it was broken up. It looked like another PI, but the refs swallowed their whistle because they didn’t want to call PI on two consecutive plays. The Giants came extremely close to beating the Bills. This was a moral victory. Competing for 60 minutes with a Super Bowl contender is something I would never expect after the way the season started.
The Giants have a plethora of problems. This is why they are 1-5. The QB play has been subpar, the defense has been mediocre, but the biggest issue is the o-line. Jones isn’t a particularly good passer to begin with, but giving him no time makes him a worse passer. The best o-linemen this year for them is Justin Pugh, a player they signed a week ago. The Giants have eight winnable games left on their schedule. It still is possible, but it would be difficult to achieve. At least they aren’t the Broncos.