0-4, obviously they have looked awful, I thought they played hard yesterday and the loss can be placed on ST's, but the offense is still putrid.
Reasons for hope-
1. The division is historically bad.
2. The 2009 Giants were 5-0 and then finished the year 3-8 (point is, things can change fast).
3. The 2011 Super Bowl Champion Giants lost 4 games in a row including getting smoked on MNF in New Orleans with Ron Jaworski laughing at the prospect of them making the playoffs.
4. Teams regularly go through bad slumps in today's NFL, see the Ravens last year.
Most importantly though, the division is THAT bad. What if the Giants play well next week and win, and Denver takes care of Dallas? Are we supposed to ignore the fact that this team would only be one game out in the loss column for the division lead?
Does anyone else think the Giants play better and can at lease 'be in the conversation' of a very poor division? Somebody has to win it.
I don't think the Giants are a total reclamation project by any stretch of the Imagination. They have a freaking franchise QB. The OL is the biggest problem but it can be dramatically improved this offseason with the cap room the Giants will have and the draft. Let's be realistic. Management knew this team had holes and little cap room to address all of the issues. They also knew that opportunity awaits next offseason.
The Giants needed all the breaks this year, primarily health. Hat is a healthy Snee, Baas, JPP, and no critical injuries (Brown and Brown). Well, that didn't happen and their wiggle room evaporated.
With that being said, the Spurs and Colts hit the jackpot by sucking. I'm ok with one disastrous record. Six or seven wins just doesn't do it for me.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Bring the BBQ sauce. We're gonna go smoke someone this weekend.
In a nutshell, my feelings are this:
1. We've gotten snack-bitten by bad breaks/luck and poor execution in some critical areas over past 4 games.
2. The offense may have looked horrible in the last 2 games, but I believe people are seriously underestimating the defenses we faced. Carolina and KC are both top-tier defenses in this league and I believe at the end of this year they will also be near top of the league in D. If our offense was clicking on all levels could we of made a few more plays and stayed competitive/won these games? Of course, but with line turnover it hasn't happened and our offense has struggled.
3. So it was sort of a perfect storm to the start of the season - a) Dallas where we shoot ourselves in the foot, b) Denver which we hung with through 3 quarters and c) 2 great defenses when our o is struggling. That all equals 0-4.
4. I'm not going to kid myself and say defense is going to carry this team; it's just not going to happen. The team/roster is designed for the offense to carry it which it isn't doing right now. But this offense still has the weapons. And I've been moderately happy with the play of the defense this year.
5. These next 4 games, imho, are very winnable. It's Eagles, Bears, Vikings, Eagles. None of those defenses really scare me and this offense should get on track. We've dug ourselves a whole, for sure. But given that schedule do I think it's out of the question that the Giants could go 4-0 in those games and enter the bye at 4-4. Not at all.
We now have very little margin for error, but it's possible. Even taking 3 of the next 4 and entering the buy week at 3-5, followed by Raiders the next week should get us to 4-5 entering the back stretch. And that puts us in fighting position with how the NFC East has been.
Now, if we lose this weekend, I'll probably have a much different perspective. But at this point in time, I don't feel as if the season is already in the books.
I don't plan on giving "I told you so's". It's not about that. I don't want this team to be bad. But a lot of good can come out of this.
Let it begin with a win next week.
However, I don't see it happening unless we make some changes on offense. What changes? I don't know, I'm hoping Reese and Coughlin can figure that one out, but our offense has been putrid up to this point.
TheGM : 8:52 pm : link
he wants us to tank the season to get a better pick in the draft
If so, please start playing better.
shabu : 9:09 pm : link
Just wait till the injuries start... what a fun year we shall have !
The offense really does look putrid though (and FWIW, I can't believe the defense appears to be the strength of this team). 7 points in 120 minutes, coming on one big play as opposed to a sustained drive... is disgusting.
The offense appears to have either given up or been drastically overrated by everyone. Now, after a 4th loss, I could definitely see the defense, who gave a very good effort, "pack it in," so to speak.
The math hasn't changed much since last week, but I'm far less confident than I was before.
Can the season still be salvaged? Sure. If there's any team in the NFL capable of "flipping the switch," it has been and always will be Tom Coughlin's Giants.
But I no longer believe it's going to happen.
granted our offensive line needs better performance overall.. and we need our defensive line to start to dominate consistently.. not just once in awhile..
it seems when one thing is clicking for us.. something else isn't.. go back 2 weeks ago.. Wilson's 21 yard TD run taken back by a holding call.. last week.. Josh Brown missing an opportunity to tie the game heading into halftime..
Dallas week 1 we still could have won despite all the turnover.. so.. we're just not clicking together at the same time.. I'm holding out hope that it's bound to happen.. and we see a Giant team that plays real good football..
now when (and IF) we get there.. will playing real good football be enough.. we'll see..
we do have an unusual advantage of only being 2 games out of 1st place in the NFC East.. I could see a team winning the division at 8-8 or 7-9 at this rate.. kinda like Seattle did a few years ago.. and then won their first playoff game..
who knows for sure.. but I do know if the Cowboy's were 6-4 and we were 4-6.. I think we'd have confidence we could still make a run.. and we'd have only 6 games left..
right now we have 12 games left.. so I think it can be salvaged to the extent that Wilson establishes himself.. Nicks, Cruz, and Randle all progress and get on the same page with Eli.. and our defense plays adequate to win games..
now.. just seeing that right now might be enough for me for 2013.. but then the hope is.. that playing like that we look at the standings in 4 weeks from now.. and things look a lot better.. time will tell..
So take this for what it's worth...
I've never seen blocking from the tight ends as bad as I saw on Sunday. Whether missed assignments, outright whiffs or simply being overpowered, I've never seen a game like that where the tight ends had such a big affect by sucking so hard.
I've seen shitty blocking before. We all have, but Jesus at least get a chip! Something that could at least give Eli the opportunity to make something out of nothing... but Sunday (and the previous Sunday) Eli had less than nothing to work with.
I don't know much about Myers minus his stat line last week, but I was sure we'd get more out of Pascoe from a blocking standpoint. I've seen him succeed to some degree as a blocker. This leads me to believe there is a huge schematic issue... or... something that can be corrected.
It's one of the few reasons I have some semblance of hope... that and our craptastic division.
But the OL is gonna kill us unless there's rather big surprises coming out of Brewer AND Mosley during THIS season.
i know they obviously havent looked like a team that is capable of that over the course of a game yet, but we all know that none of these games have been as bad as the final scores indicate. and if we can get some cohesion upfront on offense, get aaron freaking ross off the field on defense, and get weatherford to stop out-punting his coverage, these games will look dramatically less lopsided.
... but the die-hard fan in me keeps thinking about this:
Get a win over Philly Sunday, see Denver put Dallas back at 2-3 and we're not finished just yet. In a crapfest of a division, could it happen? Not likely, but certainly possible, in a world of "I can't believe that happened" sports stuff.
If the Giants go to 0-5, that would be that.
At this point they need a win...and then need to string a few together. But they have got to beat Philly this weekend and make up some ground in the division.
If they lose to a bad Philly team at home....any hope for the playoffs is over.
I don't see it happening, but it could. Beat Philly and youre right in the mix. Two games behind Dallas at worst, 1 game if lucky. The season can be salvaged. I just don't think it will.
I'm always watching for growth from individual players and from the collective units as a whole, that's a constant variable for me. Given the coach has been here ten years, the league has evolved and changed, the expectation now is will the coaches/schemes evolve too. Will they get the OL coached up to give the team a fighting chance each week, etc.
Um, no. I do not expect a turnaround because I see too many holes on offense, and don't envision the utter dominance we would need from defense to offset that.
No blocking from the TE, Hynoski gone, not a single above-average offensive lineman, all suggest that the offense is going to underwhelm most of the season--if not all. I just hope Eli doesn't get hurt running the team behind Swiss cheese.
On defense, we aren't getting enough out of the DE's, although that could get better if JPP can actually get healthy and Moore can step in. The back 4 is too thin, and even with somewhat better play from Herzlich and Paysinger last week, the LB corps is thin. So, this can become an adequate defense, but domination is unlikely.
That said, we are also snakebit on special teams. The two kickers may get better.
I don't have a huge problem with this being a transition year, and that doesn't make me a bad fan. Same for some others who aren't looking for a turnaround in the middle of this season. It is also important to remember that the downturn started last year in the second half. If this team can draft early, and repair some key spots, while adding a few FA's, perhaps many of the holes can be repaired n a single season, THAT is what I am rooting for.