The New York Giants fell to 0-2 on the season with another lackluster showing on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The loss makes them 8-26 since the beginning of the 2017 season. The losing just won’t stop and there’s no end in sight.
Fans are becoming discouraged in general manager Dave Gettleman’s rebuilding project. The offense is vanilla and the defense, well, is a mess at the moment.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s game.
Janoris Jenkins may have just punched his ticket out of town
Jenkins, one of the only defensive players earning their paycheck these days, was so frustrated after the game he took a swipe at the front seven and possibly the coaching staff.
By declaring that he “can’t cover nobody for 10 seconds” he basically outed the pass rush and defensive coordinator James Bettcher for their lack of results in putting pressure on quarterbacks.
Jenkins was almost traded at the deadline last year and just nominated himself again by opening his mouth, a surefire way to get Gettleman’s attention and get yourself traded.
In my eyes, Jackrabbit is as good as gone. The 30-year-old vet is accounts for the second-highest cap hit on the Giants’ payroll ($14.75 per year) and has another year on his contract. If the Giants don’t turn things around, there’s no sense keeping him on.
Eli Manning looked like the Bad Eli again
When the Giants curl up into their fetal position offense like they did yesterday, Manning turns into that player that the national media loves to beat up. He missed on his first four passing attempts and finished 26 of 45 passes for 250 yards, with one touchdown and his first two interceptions of the season for a passer rating of 62.3.
He didn’t have his top two receivers in Sterling Shepard (concussion) and Golden Tate (suspension) and Buffalo did a decent job of bottling up Evan Engram and Saquon Barkley in the passing game. There’s no way Eli can lift this team up anymore when his vices are taken away.
But there’s this…according to the Giants, Manning is the first to throw for more than 210 yards against Buffalo’s top-ranked (in 2018) pass defense since New England threw for 324 yards last Oct. 29.
The Bills jammed the box and kept Manning from getting comfortable. They even batted and deflected a few passes at the line, but to the offensive line’s credit, Eli was sacked just once.
With every loss, we’re inching closer to the Giants’ caving to their curiosity and starting rookie Daniel Jones.
These Giants aren’t following the championship formula
The Giants have won four Super Bowls with a very simple formula. Those teams all had smothering pass rushes and played attack defense. On offense, they ran the ball at will and took their shots down the field when needed.
This team is just the opposite and it’s showing in the results. A short passing game that good defenses can easily adjust to and defense that can’t get to the quarterback.
That’s a deadly combination. Gettleman has picked some talented players in his two drafts so far, but he’s not following the Giant path to success. Last year, in a quarterback-rich draft, he took a running back. This year, in a draft loaded with defensive studs, he took a quarterback.
Next year there will be another bumper crop of QBs coming out and one can only guess what he’ll do. The Giants aren’t really building anything here folks. Looks like a lot of wheel-spinning to me.
