Outside of the building in East Rutherford, New Jersey, expectations for the New York Giants are exceptionally low — and only getting lower — as they prepare to open training camp.
The narrative surrounding the team has been established and nothing is going to change it until the time comes to actually lace up their cleats. Until then, experts and pundits believe the Giants shouldn’t even bother to show up and embarrass themselves.
Count Nate Davis of USA TODAY among those experts, having recently predicted the Giants will finish with a record of 5-11 and be playing for mere pride come Week 12.
New York Giants (5-11): They face the cross-town Jets and Darnold, who could have been a Giant had they not passed in last year’s draft, in Week 10. Then comes the bye. Already worth wondering if that might be the point when Big Blue installs its chosen successor to Manning, first-rounder Daniel Jones, into the lineup given the likelihood this team may only be playing for pride by Week 12.
What more can be said about these projections at this point? The Giants have generated no faith outside of their very own fan base — and even that’s questionable. Rather, most seem to think the team is on a downward spiral despite ridding themselves of several cancers that yielded literally no success in recent years.
To general manager Dave Gettleman’s credit, the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. That’s how the Giants had operated for the last several years, but he tossed that playbook out the window and tried to force change.
Luckily for the Giants, predictions and projections don’t define a season. Their fate rests solely in their hands and they sound like a team ready to prove the football world wrong.
