An Open Letter to John Mara

Dear Mr. Mara,

How are those trash cans doing? I heard you threw a couple of them around your suite at Met Life Stadium after the game against the Falcons. Hopefully they didn't get too badly damaged. Good trash cans are so hard to come by these days.

Seriously, though, have you had enough? How long are you going to let this nightmare go on before you wake up and do what has to be done? This franchise is a fucking joke, and frankly it's been that way for a very long time.

Since your last Super Bowl win in 2011, the Giants have had exactly two winning seasons (2012 and 2016) and one lousy playoff appearance (2016). The overall record during that span is an abysmal 57-80, including three losses this season. During the reign of Dave Gettleman, the man you hired to replace Jerry Reese, the record is 15-36.

You fired Tom Coughlin because you felt the game had passed him by. OK, fine, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It's a business, I get it. But here's the thing: at least he had a resume. Ben McAdoo was an offensive coordinator under Coughlin and a quarterback coach at Green Bay, Pat Schurmer was a failed head coach at Cleveland and an offensive coordinator at Minnesota, and Joe Judge was a special team's assistant under Bill Belichick at New England. 

While you were drooling over landing Judge, several quality candidates slipped through your fingers. One of them, Matt Rhule, after going 5-11 with the Carolina Panthers last year is currently 3-0 and in first place in the same division as Tom Brady's Buccaneers, with a starting quarterback New York's other moribund football team discarded during the offseason. 

Transforming losing programs is Rhule's specialty. He successfully turned around both Baylor and Temple before jumping to the NFL. As of right now, he has the inside track to be coach of the year. Your guy? So far, he's no better than his last two predecessors. The Giants still commit way too many costly mistakes at critical moments and seem incapable of making key stops on defense when they need to. Last Sunday, Atlanta marched down the field and kicked a game winning field goal as time expired. The week before that, Washington did the same thing. Yes, Dexter Lawrence jumped offsides, but the bottom line is the defense still couldn't protect a lead.

The offensive line remains a problem; the receivers drop way too many balls; and the team hasn't had a legit edge rusher in over a decade. Gettleman has had four years to fix what's wrong and he's thoroughly failed. His decision to take Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick in 2019 instead of Josh Allen should've earned him a pink slip. Instead, you gave him two more years to inflict yet more damage. And true to form, he didn't disappoint. Last year, he took offensive tackle Andrew Thomas with the 4th overall pick, bypassing more skilled tackles like Tristian Wirfs and Jedrick Wills, Jr, the latter played at Alabama for Nick Saban, Judge's old boss. Thomas has been underwhelming, to say the least, while the other two have excelled.

It's time to wipe the slate clean. Gettleman's gotta go. I realize you may have to keep some of the coaching staff until the end of the season, but I've seen nothing from Judge that leads me to believe he is capable of turning this ship around. If anything, he's a slightly improved version of McAdoo, but without the play calling ability.

What this organization needs is a complete makeover. The game has changed considerably since the days of George Young. The best franchises today aren't run from the front office; they're run from the sidelines. You want to know who the best GM's are, Mr. Mara? Simple, take a look at who's wearing the headsets. Besides Belichick and Rhule, Pete Carrol, Sean Payton, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, John Harbaugh and Andy Reid all run the show from top to bottom. And with the exception of Rhule, all have been to the Super Bowl at least once.

You need to get one of these guys, and now. Someone who knows how to evaluate talent and can bring out the best in it. You have two first round draft picks next year. Maybe you could dangle both to pry Sean Payton away from New Orleans. He once worked for your father as an assistant under Jim Fassel, so it'll be a sort of homecoming for him. Payton checks all the boxes and has one of the best minds in the game. If anybody can figure out Daniel Jones, it's Payton. And he'll finally fix this offensive line so you don't have to worry about stupid-assed holding penalties in the red zone that kill scoring drives.

It's time the New York Giants entered the 21st century. This is one of the premiere franchises in the NFL. As principle owner, you have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure it doesn't become a laughingstock. To allow the stars quo to continue is a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of fans who each Sunday shell out their hard-earned money to watch this team in person, and the millions more who watch it alone at home. 

It's all on you, Mr. Mara. What are you waiting for?

Same Shit, Different Year!

First, the good news. Daniel Jones had his best start as a Giant. The beleaguered quarterback threw for 249 yards and a touchdown; he also ran for 95 yards and a touchdown. And he would've had another running TD had C.J. Board not been called for holding. 

More good news: the offensive line also had its best day in years. Going up against arguably the best defensive front seven in the NFL, Jones had plenty of time in the pocket to hit his receivers. Frankly, I was stunned at how little pressure Jones got during most of the game. I haven't seen a Giants offensive line protect this well in a decade.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news.

The defense, which was supposed to be the strength of this team, was about as tough as a Mister Softie ice cream cone. Between the lack of a genuine pass rush and a porous secondary that played way too far back, Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who a year ago was in the XFL, looked more like Tom Brady than a backup. Receiver Terry McLaurin ate cornerback James Bradberry alive for 11 catches and 107 yards. The lone exception was when Bradberry jumped a poorly run route by McLaurin and intercepted a pass deep in Washington territory to set up what should've been the winning field goal. 

But that was not where this game was lost. As is typical in most Giants games, mistakes proved to be the difference. I'll do my best to catalogue them.

There was the above-mentioned holding penalty against Board that nullified a 58-yard touchdown run by Jones. Instead of being up 14-7, the Giants had to settle for a field goal that put them ahead 10-7.

But before that, there was the costly false start and the sack on the second possession that took the Giants out of field goal range. If your counting, that's seven points so far.

And then there was play that could've iced the game. With the Giants up 23-20, Darius Slayton was all alone in the Washington secondary sprinting towards the end zone. Jones threw a perfect pass to him. All he had to do was catch it and his team would've been up by ten with just over 6 minutes left. Instead, the ball bounced off his fingers and landed in the end zone. The Giants settled for another field goal, making the score 26-20. That's eleven points that got away.

Even with all that, the Giants still could've won this game. That's because kicker Dustin Hopkins, with five seconds left and his team trailing by two, did his best impersonation of Scott Norwood and kicked what should've been a game-winning 48-yard field goal wide right. Game over. Giants win, right?

Wrong!

Dexter Lawrence, who was lined up over the center, jumped offsides, thus giving Hopkins a shot at redemption. And unlike the Giants, when presented with a second chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Hopkins didn't blow it. He nailed it as time expired, and for the fifth year in a row, the Giants start the season 0-2.

It's getting a little tiresome to keep saying this. But sine its last Super Bowl win in 2011, this franchise, save for the 2016 season, has been one of the worst in the NFL. It constantly finds new ways to lose. Last night was particularly tragic because for much of the game, the Giants were clearly the better team on the field. Jones looked great, the offensive line did its job, Saquon Barkley had a nice run for 41 yards, and kicker Graham Gano nailed five field goals. This team deserved a better fate than the one the football gods ordained for it.

Since his arrival in New York, Joe Judge has promised Giants fans that this team would be a blue-collar team that will "punch you in the nose for 60 minutes." Well, last week they laid an egg and last night they shot themselves in the foot. The simple truth is there are still way too many careless mistakes that are being made at critical junctures. The irony of last night's mistake was that it occurred on special teams, Judge's last coaching job with the Patriots.

Is the season over? A lot depends on what happens next Sunday against the Falcons at MetLife. Atlanta is one of the worst teams in the league, so the Giants should be 1-2 after three weeks. Unfortunately, they go on the road to New Orleans to play the Saints in week four. So, 1-3. The frustrating thing is that Denver and Washington were winnable games that got away. In a 17 game schedule, games like that don't grow on trees.

The bottom line is this: until Judge gets this team to play a full 60 minutes of mistake-free football, any chance of winning a division title will continue to remain elusive. It's on him to right this ship and to hold his players accountable. As I wrote in my last piece, the jury is still out on whether he is the best coach to lead this franchise.

Will the Giants Benefit From Playing in the NFC East?

Last year, the Giants finished an abysmal 6-10, yet were still mathematically alive for a playoff spot pending the result of the Philadelphia / Washington game. And had former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson not decided to bench quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second half, the Jints might've snuck in. Unfortunately, he benched Hurts and the Washington Football Team wound up winning the game and, with it, the division with an underwhelming 7-9 record.

Welcome to the NFC Least, where mediocrity is the norm and excellence is a word best left to other teams. Indeed, it remains to be seen if the team that wins the division will even have a winning record. Thursday night's game between the Cowboys and Buccaneers notwithstanding, I haven't seen any evidence that indicates the road to Super Bowl 56 will go through any of this division's cities.

So, when all is said and done, will the Giants be the ones left standing after week 18? Remember starting this season each team has to play 17 games. The defense won't be the problem. In fact, this team should have one of the better defenses in the league. So where are the concerns? It comes down to several:

The Offensive Line. While it began to jell in the second half of last season, it reverted back to form during this preseason. Basically, it's still a work in progress, and if last year's number one pick Andrew Thomas doesn't pan out, this will be another in a long series of lost years.

Daniel Jones. The guy Dave Gettlemam took sixth overall in 2019 is entering his third season and, suffice to say, there's a lot riding on his shoulders. The issue is not his arm; it's his judgement. In a nutshell, he continues to make rookie mistakes. His decision in the Patriots game to force a throw into the end zone that got picked off is typical of so many errant passes he has thrown throughout his brief career. And while he's only thrown 22 INTs over two years, it's the timing of those pics that's problematic. When you combine that with his lack of pocket presence and the fact that the Giants have two first-round picks in next year's draft, this is Jones's make or break season.

Joe Judge. Judge's system of discipline has given this franchise something it hasn't had since Tom Coughlin was shown the door: accountability. But while Judge may have learned at the feet of legends like Nick Saban and Bill Belichick, it remains to be seen if his tough, take no prisoners approach is well suited to today's NFL. If the team gets off to another slow start, will he be able to hold the locker room? Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is on the hot seat. Jones has not progressed the way the organization had hoped he would, and the play calling has been predictable. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham seems on solid ground, but overall, the jury is still out on the rest of this group.

Saquon Barkley. The most talented offensive player on the team has had season-ending injuries the last two years. It is critical for the Giants that Barkley return to form, or at least as close to it as possible. Garrett will have to proceed with caution with the star running back over the first few games. That won't be easy given Barkley's nature and that fact that game two is next Thursday night. If Barkley does manage to stay healthy and Garrett can successfully thread the needle, the Giants might just have the multi-dimensional offense they've been dreaming about since they drafted the Penn State stud in 2018.

Washington and Dallas. The Washington Football Team has the best front seven in the league and Dallas's offense will rank in the top five or six. But both have their own issues to contend with. The Cowboys defense was horrific last season and even with the addition of Micah Parsons, it won't be that much better this season. Washington will go with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB and hope they squeeze one more year out of that 38 year old arm. If you could somehow combine Dallas's offense with Washington's defense, you'd have a Super Bowl contender. Unfortunately, you can't. And therein lies the problem for both teams.

One final thought: In 2016, the Giants made it to the postseason as a wild card on the strength of an outstanding secondary and a below average offense. One can only wonder what a healthy Barkley would've meant to this team in 2020. Remember, they only missed the playoffs by a single game last year.

That being said, here are my final predictions for the NFC East:

Washington: 9-8

Dallas: 8-9

Giants: 8-9

Eagles: 5-12

As with all my predictions, you can take them with a grain of salt. And if you're dumb enough to wager any money on them and you lose, my evil twin Ivan is the one responsible.