Hello darkness, my old friend …
The Giants have come to talk with you again.
They have hummed this tune for more than a decade, with very few respites, and it is back on the airwaves, once more, way too soon and far too early in another season in which “The Sound of Silence” could be the title of the documentary chronicling this team’s muted offensive drumbeat.
It is, as always, about scoring points and the Giants simply and ridiculously cannot do it. They have gone from bad to worse and that did not seem possible, given that they clunked along at 15.6 points a game in 2023 and are sputtering along at 15 points a game in this season’s 1-3 start. This losing begets the seemingly annual holiday benchmarks that regularly leave the Giants by the wayside. The season began after Labor Day and — here we go again — it is not yet the month where Halloween resides and the Giants are teetering on the precipice of irrelevance.
Daniel Jones (right), defensive tackle Elijah Chatman (center) and tight end Daniel Bellinger (left) walk off the field after the the Giants’ 20-15 Week 4 loss to the Cowboys. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Where does another non-contending season fit into the local landscape? The Jets are going to be a winning team as long as Aaron Rodgers is upright. The Major League Baseball playoffs are soon upon us; the Yankees are in and the Mets have a solid shot at admittance, too. Hockey training camps are underway, which means Jalen Brunson and the Knicks cannot be far behind. The Liberty can make a title run. If you cannot keep up you will be left behind and the Giants have been there, done that so often that they know what it feels like to be on the outskirts of all the fun as they force their supporters to cut bait and await the next NFL draft.
“Things can flip in a hurry,’’ third-year receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said on Friday. “We know … there’s a couple more plays out there to be made and the outcome of these games will be a little different.’’
The outcome of these games is rarely different.
There is a sense this team is better on offense because it has Malik Nabers and a credible offensive line and more capable of damage on defense because Brian Burns was added to a front group that includes Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux. The addiction to losing is hard to quit, though. This is an operation that cannot attempt a field goal and loses in Washington and two weeks later kicks too many field goals and loses to the clearly diminished Cowboys. Failure, by any means possible.
Any perceived improvement was lost on Lawrence, who angrily issued a reminder that nothing matters except the final result. “Whoever wins on the scoreboard, that’s the game,’’ the Giants’ best player said. “I don’t give a damn about a petty win.’’
If there is such a thing as losing fatigue, the Giants are suitably weary.
“It’s a long season,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “Each week is different. I think there’s a lot of improvements that are being made. It’s not showing in the results. There’s things that are getting worked on and showing up on tape. So, you’ve got to be mentally strong in this business and be able to push through the tough times, manage the good times when there’s good times and keep correcting the things and do better the next week.’’
Giants coach Brian Daboll looks on during the fourth quarter of the Giants’ 20-15 Week 4 loss to the Cowboys. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) throws a pass during the third quarter of the Giants’ Week 4 loss. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Figuring out how to manage the good times is far down on Daboll’s to-do list. His team is not clueless or terribly sloppy or mistake-prone. The Giants in Thursday night’s 20-15 loss were not embarrassed, not blown out, no lack of effort. Just another mundane four quarters.
This cannot even be pinned on the quarterback. The good news about Daniel Jones is after his horrid season opener he looks more like the steady guy who helped the Giants win nine games, plus one more in the playoffs, in 2022. He is not as effective as a runner, though, coming off ACL surgery. The bad news is — similar to 2022 — there is simply not enough playmaking from Jones to get his team in the end zone often enough.
The inability to hit the big play — underthrowing Darius Slayton deep on a free play — or not hitting a target in stride to allow a defender to close out for a tackle short of the first down is what separates Jones from quarterbacks in higher tiers. Too much has to go right on every possession. The Giants ran 13 more plays on offense than the Cowboys and owned a significant advantage in time of possession (35:37-24:23). But settling for five field goals, when one touchdown could have produced a victory, is blah football.
Once more, the deal with the Giants is that they have separated themselves from the winning pack so early that the intrigue is sucked out of a season. The vision that was planted in their brains still remains. Another early autumn with leaves still hanging up in the trees amid fallen aspirations.
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