I am too young for the debacle of the 70s but these are clearly the two worst eras in Giant football of my lifetime.
91-99 had bad offenses, bad coaching and after 93 no QB. The great teams of the 80s were aging out. Our legendary coach was replaced by that guy. Misfortune let BB get away. The defenses were generally ok if I remember, but it was brutal to watch the Kent Graham, Dave Brown, and Danny Kannell era. On the positive, we drafted Strahan during this time and were building toward 2000 when we got a QB who could carry the offense in Collins to mesh with a decent defense. We also made the playoffs twice in 93 and 97 (great defensive team--terrible on offense).
vs.
This era. Bad on both sides of the ball. Didn't score 30 points for that whole streak until last year. Two terrible coaches in McAdoo and Shurmur. Ruining Eli's last good years. Only made the playoffs once and besides 2012 and 2016 we really never competed for the playoffs?
If I had to go with one over the other I think I say this era has been more painful. Both were hard to watch though.
Easier as an adult because you have more reasonable expectations. I know these current teams suck, I expect failure and they deliver. As a kid I really didn’t have reasonable expectations, every season started as a potential Super Bowl year.
Right now, they are utterly hopeless.
COME ON MAN!
This is true and a good point, but a lot of those teams came on at the end if I remember correctly. Without looking it up, I think in 94 we were like 3-0 and then went to 3-6 or 3-7 and then closed strong. I do think we theoretically had a chance to make the playoffs on the final day of 94 IIRC, when we beat a Dallas team that sat Emmitt Smith and Aikiman.
Giants are 49-71 (2012-2019); 70-73-1 (1191-1999).
The current team is just digging a deeper and wider shit-hole that got underway a few years ago.
Both eras featured a combination of bad defense and offense, but I think we'll remember the 90's as the "Dave Brown years" and this past decade as the Eli Wilderness Years (plus a bad defense).
For me personally, I'll choose 91-99 as being more painful. That spans 5th grade thru Senior year of high school for me, which is a lifetime of having your football team stink while being surrounded by front-running 49ers and Cowboys fans.
When I think of that decade, I think of:
- Handley completely losing the team in 92
- Losing to Dallas in OT for division title final week of 93
- Winning a playoff game and then getting absolutely destroyed by the 49ers in Simms and LT's last game
- In 94 starting 3-0, then losing 7 straight, then winning our final 6 to somehow finish 9-7.
- 35-0 on Monday night in 95
- At least 5 losses by 1 possession in 96
- A very opportunistic defense and weak division leading to a division title in 97
- Followed by a horrible playoff loss
- Underachieving team in 98 that beat the 14-0 Broncos
- Kerry Collins taking over in 99 and giving the passing game some hope/life for the first time in 10 years.
Not a ton of highlights for 9 years worth of football.
Danny, agreed. I've completely beat down as a fan. And the scary thing is that I have no confidence in this ownership at all.
97 draft brought us some good players to build around ( Hilliard, Barber) and we had Toomer from 95 draft. Strahan was there and we still had Armstead and then we got Sehorn, Randolph, Garnes, Elsworth.. Don't forget we also got Charles Way, a throw back and easy to root for guy.
We had big misses in the draft- Wheatley, Jones, Thomas Lewis (OMG....) during that time though.
The lack of a QB was also quite evident.
This stretch hurts far more as we really screwed up previous TC years by totally imploding 2008 (our best team and most dominant team), horrible 2010 ending and even falling off the radar late in 2012.
Right now we are a joke. Manning was kept far too long and we tried retooling in key areas and we drafted with homerun swings instead of getting sure fire solid plays when we needed a full roster. For every JPP homerun you can find 100's of guys with attributes off the chart and production less than a street FA. Reese went after the JPP's and ignored the solid roster depth guys.
Now Gettleman, has tried too hard to "retool" and win at the same time. Case in point, once you trade OBJ you should be in full rebuild mode and Manning gone, the roster stripped and built around your QB draft pick. he tried to do both and keeping Tanney around only supports that theory even more. Why are we carrying 3 QB's when on QB has not missed a start due to injury in his career??? Makes zero sense.
2016 was an abberation, much like 97 was. We got lucky as our defensive FA's gelled quickly and the offense had enough juice to keep us in games but without the defense it was not going to win. The boat trip may have been overblown but when you add in how shitty the bulk of the players who were on that trip played in the playoff game, it became a focal point for failure. The defense, made up of free agents the year before fell apart in 2017 as the offense, which wasn't great in 2016, regressed even further. The malcontents took over and before you knew it the HC was gone, players were suspended and then some players (Flowers, Hart) were dealt with very openly for all to see. The stench of 2017 carries over still. We are a team of not great players, some very average players and some pretty poor players.
Ownership and the GM have to take some blame here. You cannot half ass anything. The Eli love is fine until it holds you back. There was ZERO reason for him to still be the starter or even on the team once OBJ was moved as 2019 was going to be a rebuilding year. BUT, we aren't truly rebuilding and it shows. We need a full cleansing and it starts with Shurmur and possibly Gettleman and includes Eli.. The days of the past are just that, the past. We have sucked for 6 years and that is being generous about the 2012 season.
Me too and I about the same age. To go from the Super Bowl to the toilet bowl that fast and for this long is so frustrating.
97-99 wasn't bad. We made the playoffs in 97, 98 was good in the 2nd half of the season. 99 was brutal and 95-96 were probably worse than any of the years in 2012-2019. We had worse records in the 12-19 range, but there was something to enjoy. 95 and 96 were completely joyless and went into every game without hope.
They made the playoffs at least 3 times between 91-99. 2012-2019 basically has 1 good/playoff team and a couple years of Odell Beckham dominance. That's it.
The next season had high hopes with Dave Brown.
So, they floundered for a few years, but you've got a Superbowl win in 1990, a playoff run in 93', playoffs again 4 years later in 97', another SuperBowl in 2000.
That's actually not a bad decades work.
I'd point to the 1960's and 70's to make us feel better about our current state of affairs.
1964:2-10-2
1965: 7-7
1966 1-12-1
1967: 7-7
1968: 7-7
1969: 6-8
1970: 9-5
1971: 4-10
1972: 8-6
1973: 2-11
1974: 2-12
1975: 5-9
1976: 3-11
1977: 5-9
1978: 6-10
1979: 6-10 [Simms Drafted, George Young, Ray Perkins hired]
1980: 4-12
1981 - New Beginning.
In 79', I was at a game many remember well, a plane pulling a banner like they have at the beach reading "15 YEARS OF LOUSY FOOTBALL, WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
A chant of "WE'VE HAD ENOUGH" rose from the crowd, similar to the scene in Network "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
We had found the bottom of the barrel. The fumble, Ticket burnings, the works.
It's bad right now.
It's been worse and smart money says it will get worse. In 1980, the Giants had a good defense, a serviceable offensive line, a great punter and a good rookie QB prospect.
Right now, the Giants don't really do ANYTHING well. What do you build off of? They probably need 8 starters upgraded NOW to realistically compete.
Maybe this is the turning point. It sure doesn't feel like it though.
And the teams in the 90s were nowhere near as putrid as the teams over most of the last decade have been.
The key point is that this whole mess was easily preventable. The handwriting was on the wall by 2012. But John Mara refused to pull the trigger on firing Reese and his little dog Ross until they had driven the team so far into the ground that who ever took it over was essentially starting from scratch, not unlike an expansion team. Then he compounded the problem by hiring two bad head coaches in a row.
Eric nailed it with his "year three of a twenty year rebuild" comment.
Say what you want about George Young, but he also accumulated solid offensive talent in the 90s as well. Toomer, Barber, and Hilliard were some great skill pieces that were critical for the 2000 and 2002 playoff teams. Obviously, Barber and Toomer continued to produce into the Coughlin era as well.
The main issue with those 90s teams were - of course - the quarterbacks. If you swapped out Brown or Kanell for someone even average - a Brad Johnson or Rich Gannon type - I bet you that 97' team pushes the Packers for a Superbowl birth, and the 94' and 98' teams would've made the playoffs as well. We saw how well that collective group of talent did once Collins was a full-time starter in 2000.
The Giant brand was a joke, a laughing stock. In 1979, half the stadium didn't remember YA Tittle.
Most of us still remember 2011.
It's bad, but we ain't at 1979 misery, not yet.
The 1995 team had a fun secondary. Phillippi Sparks that season was better than anyone on this current Giants D. Vencie Glen was a ball hawk, and Tito Wooten was a fun wildcard player.
At one point that season, the Giants traveled to play the defending champion Niners. Although the Niners won the game 20-6, the Giants secondary really punished the their receiving core, delivering the type of hits that would be illegal today. I believe that afterward, Jerry Rice said it was the most physical game he had every played in.
Then the 1996 team was an offensive tire fire, but you could really the defensive unit with Strahan, Armstead, Sparks, Sehorn, and Hammer shine, culminating with an upset victory of the Cowboys at the Meadowlands toward the end of the season.
This team cant even beat bad teams, never mind beat a better one
A lot of our current staff might be on their last NFL job, period. Lol.
That is an interesting thought, but consider 3 things. The talent in 1979 was better on defense. Especially the LBs. And if nothing else, the offensive talent was at least healthier. But most important, what are the chances of drafting another LT at any position in 2020 or 2021.
This is far worse than the 90s. The 90s teams were up and down, but mostly just mediocre. Mediocre would be a huge improvement for this team and this era.
I was too young for the first SB team, but I do remember the '90 team and by the early/mid 90's, I was watching every single snap of every NYG game and reading about them daily in the sports section before school.
That era didn't feel 'painful' to me, because I was really just learning the game and the idiosyncrasies early on - and while I watched, rooted for the Giants, and remember beating Buffalo in XXV - it's not like I had a long history of glory days to look back on.
I just viewed the team with an entirely different lens as a younger kid. I was always just eager for the next game, the next bit of info I could digest.. something about watching without knowing every little detail of what goes on behind the scenes, or in players lives, or what have you... I don't know, there was just more of a mystery aspect back then that allowed me to have more hope and excitement (misguided or not)
It's different now. I'm 35 years old and I understand the magnitude of the Giants' dysfunction and the mess we're in and I already know it's not going to just turn itself around magically - and I know there's no longer any hope for this season and that the Giants are turning into a Groundhog Day football team that sees seasons just evaporate before Halloween year in and year out.
I'm sure the guys who endured the 70's would tell me this is nothing and to sack up. But, the more you learn and understand - the more depressing these rough patches become. This is way harder for me than the 90's were. I just don't get excited about the Giants these days. Outside of the first couple of weeks, I quickly become apathetic and really just demoralized. It fucking sucks. I still watch every game, I'm obviously still here discussing the team on a daily basis. But, this is brutal. This is definitely more frustrating for me, personally.
If Bill stayed, they'd have been in competition in 91 and 92 as well, I believe.
This is far worse than the 90s. The 90s teams were up and down, but mostly just mediocre. Mediocre would be a huge improvement for this team and this era.
I'm too young to remember the '70s and back. But with family and all I have read, that was the Dark Ages. And most tell me this latest period isn't quite there yet.
The 90s were torture but, as mentioned, those teams were still pretty rugged defensively. Young lost his fastball in the draft and was a disaster adjusting to the cap era. The absolute worst as trying to manage the nuances. And he just couldn't solve the QB riddle or get enough of the right pieces on offense to even sniff competency on that side of the ball...
It never seemed like NYG were flat out incompetent in most of the other years. They were just sort of mediocre. They almost always played decent/good defense.
The types of historically bad defenses we've seen in this current era seem far, far worse than anything I can recall from the 90's.
It never seemed like NYG were flat out incompetent in most of the other years. They were just sort of mediocre. They almost always played decent/good defense.
The types of historically bad defenses we've seen in this current era seem far, far worse than anything I can recall from the 90's.
Agree. They may have been irrelevant in the 90s but not the laughingstock they are now. People I meet who find out I'm a Giants fan just apologize for asking. I never thought I'd see 3 seasons in a row of this kind of losing football. It's scary to think how far away from even average they are.
The last few years I'd put at #2, worse than the 1990's
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Those late-80's teams were dominant, and I think they left some SB wins on the table. The 2007 and 2011 teams were so much fun, but much more flawed, especially the '11 team. The worst-ranked rushing attack in the league and a D near the bottom of the pack (27th IIRC?). It was a great run, but not a very good team (thank you Eli!).
87 was stolen by strike, 88 was fucked up (10-6 miss playoffs) - 89 was the worst - Parcells said THAT was the team he believed would take home a Lombardi.
If Bill stayed, they'd have been in competition in 91 and 92 as well, I believe.
Agreed, ‘87 was a throw away. And that ‘89 team was primed for a run but just couldn’t solve the Rams. Remember, we got smoked by them earlier in the year in LA. So they were very confident for the rematch.
One of the worst losses ever...and the next day that piss ant Russo opened his show with the Disney “Flipper” song...
Yup. A pig-ugly reality people on BBI outside of the South Jersey/Philly region will never understand.
But the ineptitude of the Giants makes it very frustrating. 64-81, 91-99 and now...they were all bad but now and 64-81 seem to be the worst. There just doesn't seem to be any hope. There's been only one constant...the Mara family. Somehow, we have to get these people out of the building...hire a President of the team and eliminate the nepotism that permeates the Giants.
just a debacle.
Moreover, the 90s were defined by quarterback problems. Simms was at the end of his career, and the team failed to find a replacement. That's frustrating, but not as frustrating as having a franchise quarterback in place and then pissing away half a decade of his career.
It boggles my mind that the Giants went from having two 1,000-yard rushers in 2008 to showcasing a historically bad offensive line from 2013 through 2019.
My family has season tickets and I’ve never felt less inclined to use them for so many reasons. I can barely get through a game on TV which is astounding.
I wonder if with the age of internet (making the season ticket a moot point) and the threat of the possible end of football someday, if this kind of shitty play might actually erode a fan base (unlike it did in the 70s). I always watch games, never miss them, but I have found myself wondering why I even watched. It feels like the Knicks which is scary.
QBs are hard to find, we did not have one for most of the 90,s
No linebackers or OL for a decade. It is crazy. FIX IT.
Didn't realize Perkins got 2 seasons then the axe and BP came in.
Back then, even when bad I always thought that there was a least a chance they would win.
Now, its turn it on and wait for crap to happen. They just arent fun to watch at all!!
How many times can you watch the most talented RB in the league receive a handoff with no momentum and run it straight into the line. Or watch 3rd and 15's get picked up all game long after playing well on 1st and 2nd down.
I
But the ineptitude of the Giants makes it very frustrating. 64-81, 91-99 and now...they were all bad but now and 64-81 seem to be the worst. There just doesn't seem to be any hope. There's been only one constant...the Mara family. Somehow, we have to get these people out of the building...hire a President of the team and eliminate the nepotism that permeates the Giants.
Please some perspective...They are 5-0 in championship games 4-1 in the super bowl. Would you really trade that with the Eagles?
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NFC East team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Sadly, I've been around and am still around for all these eras. It has been tough to remain a Giants' fan but, fortunately, I am built that way. All the teams I cheer for have been the same teams since I was 7.
But the ineptitude of the Giants makes it very frustrating. 64-81, 91-99 and now...they were all bad but now and 64-81 seem to be the worst. There just doesn't seem to be any hope. There's been only one constant...the Mara family. Somehow, we have to get these people out of the building...hire a President of the team and eliminate the nepotism that permeates the Giants.
Please some perspective...They are 5-0 in championship games 4-1 in the super bowl. Would you really trade that with the Eagles?
Plus the Cardinals were in the NFC East for quite awhile during that stretch as well.
The other two eras mentioned have had more stability in those categories.
This is sort of my own dilemma as well. I can't tell if the Giants are making me lose interest in the NFL, or if the NFL is making me lose interest in the Giants.
I tend to think it's more a function of the Giants being bad than a deterioration of play issue; though the latter is certainly a contributing factor. The landscape of the league probably has never been worse since I've been watching. Every rule change makes the league shittier than before, and I don't think it's going to take long before the product on the field looks nothing like what most of us grew up watching.
For as long as the Giants and the NFL exist, I know I'll keep watching and keep rooting for them. But, years like we've had lately are exhausting.
The luster of the new season has worn off within a month and we've quickly realized that we're left with a crappy football team that isn't going anywhere anytime soon - for what feels like the 5th or 6th time in about as many years.
I feel identically. I'm 41.
This is a pathetic excuse for an organization right now.
As it happens, on BBI we get reminded about the 70s, so yes we know because you tell us about those years, every, single, day.
Again. Eagles WINNING SUPER BOWL. Painful. Fuck off with the Dallas hater shit. SB 52 was the one thing that shouldve never happened and it did. Nauseating seeing that scumbag fanbase get their way.
But the ineptitude of the Giants makes it very frustrating. 64-81, 91-99 and now...they were all bad but now and 64-81 seem to be the worst. There just doesn't seem to be any hope. There's been only one constant...the Mara family. Somehow, we have to get these people out of the building...hire a President of the team and eliminate the nepotism that permeates the Giants.
GTFO with that. The Giants have won 4 Super Bowls. The Skins have 3, the Eagles 1. The whole point of this exercise is to win it all. To say the Giants are 'worst team since the merger' is ridiculous. Also, the Cards were in our division until 01 or 02.
1978 was the year of “The Fumble”. Gibson was fired. Tickets were burned, The “We’ve Had Enough” banner flew. McVay was fired. That was the Nadir.
1979 brought George Young, Ray Perkins, Phil Simms. Still a losing team, but one with new promise. It was a not a year fans were disgusted with.
But the ridiculousness in drafting since the last SuperBowl win and the awful mismanagement and poor decision making regarding Eli is simply egregious.