Giants Walk It Off in Houston

After two subpar efforts against opponents that, if we're being honest, they should've beaten - and were lucky to gain a tie against one - the New York Giants went down to Houston to play a Texans team that had won its previous two games, and on paper at least was superior to them. In the end, they played one of their most complete games of the season, winning in overtime 27-21.

From the opening kickoff, Big Blue was the better team. Pick a category. First downs: 22-15; Total plays: 65-54; Total yards: 420-237; Yards per play: 6.5-4.4; Passing yards: 232-153; Rushing yards: 188-84; Total drives: 11-10; Time of possession: 35:50-26:45. You have to go all the way back to the Dallas game in week one to find a more dominant performance.

What makes this win so special is that it came on the road against an opponent that made the playoffs last season and was picked by yours truly to win the AFC South this season. J.J. McCarthy, following up on his historic fourth-quarter performance against the New Orleans Saints last week, went 20/28 for 252 yards and, more importantly, no turnovers. The decision to start him over Jameis Winston was the correct one. McCarthy was able to scramble just enough in the pocket to buy himself time to find his receivers. Though he was sacked three times for 20 yards, his dual-threat ability opened up the lanes for the running backs. Not surprisingly, the Giants had their best game on the ground since they played the Cowboys at MetLife.

Malik Nabers caught seven passes for 111 yards; the fourth game in a row in which he's had more than 100 yards receiving. His 605 yards are fifth most among wideouts in the NFL. Rookie Malachi Fields had four catches for 83 yards. Cam Skattebo, after being benched last week for his fumble against Washington, rushed for 124 yards on 17 carries. Micah McFadden, who took over for the injured Tremaine Edmunds at middle linebacker, led the defense with 10 tackles, two for losses.

The only blemish on the day was the kicking game. Dominic Zvada continued to struggle. He missed two makable field goals; one from 56 yards, the other from 44 yards. After going 9/9 in his first four games, Zvada has gone 4/9 over his last three. Other than that, it was about as flawless a game as you could expect.

With the win, the Giants improved their record to 4-2-1 going into the bye week. They are in first place in the NFC East, two games up on the Eagles and Cowboys, both of whom play each other tonight in Philly. And astonishingly they're doing all this without Jaxson Dart and Brian Burns, their best offensive and defensive players. The last time the Giants were this good this late in the season was 2022, when they were 6-1 under first-year head coach Brian Daboll.

The parallels don't end with the records. Like that team, this group believes in itself. There's a camaraderie and a tightness here that's seldom seen in sports. They genuinely believe they have a chance to beat any opponent they face. That confidence isn't mere bravado. It was instilled by their head coach on day one. John Harbaugh has brought a sense of accountability that's been sorely missing the last three years. One week after being banished to the sidelines, Skattebo responded with his best performance of the season. Devin Singletary, who had been a healthy scratch in games three, four and five, scored the game-winning touchdown in OT. 

Coincidence? I think not. This coach clearly knows what buttons to push to get this team going and, moreover, his players have completely bought in. There are no passengers on the S.S. Harbaugh. You either pull your weight or you get thrown overboard, as Najee Harris found out when he complained about his lack of carries. Don't like it here? No problem. There's the door; don't let it hit you on the way out.

Not since the days of Tom Coughlin and Bill Parcells have the Giants had this kind of no-nonsense, tough love coach. Harry Truman used to have a sign on the Resolute Desk that read "The buck stops here." I think Harbaugh must've stolen it from the presidential archives.

Giants Get Their Man

This time, the Giants didn't fumble the ball on the one-yard line. This time, they took it into the end zone. It's been a rough stretch for Big Blue. Since they fired Tom Coughlin after the 2015 season, the Jints have gone through no less than five head coaches: Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and Brian Daboll. Five coaches in ten years; all dismal failures. But this time, they didn't dick around. They set their sights on one man - the right man - and they landed him.

They sent Steve Tisch in his private jet to pick him up; they brought out the top guns - Eli, Coughlin, Jaxson Dart, the fucking ghost of Lombardi - to impress him; they wined and dined him; they did everything but kidnap him; and it worked.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

To be honest, I was starting to have my doubts. When I went to bed around midnight, all indications were that John Harbaugh was on his way back to Baltimore and was scheduled to meet with the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Flacons at his home over the weekend. Fuck, I thought. Another one bites the dust. 

Instead what happened was that both sides worked well into the evening on an agreement to bring the former Ravens head coach to MetLife. The exact terms have not yet been released, but the contract is believed to be for five years at just under $100 million, making Harbaugh one of the highest paid coaches in the NFL. It also gives him the power to hire his own assistants.

One of those assistants will undoubtedly be Todd Monken. The former offensive coordinator of the Ravens worked under Harbaugh the last three years. How good is Monken? In 2024, Baltimore became the first NFL team with 4,000 plus passing yards and 3,000 plus rushing yards in a single season, leading the league in total offense and yards per play.

So how did the Giants do it? How did they convince the most coveted coach since Andy Reid to sign with them on the first visit? As I wrote in an earlier piece, it came down to two things. The first was Dart. There is simply no substitute for having a franchise quarterback. Harbaugh was clearly impressed with the rookie and believes he can win with him. 

The second reason is more complicated. On paper, the Giants were a bad team, but on the field, between the Xs and Os, they were much better than their record indicated. Five times this season, they lost a game in which they held a double-digit lead; four of those losses came in the fourth quarter. Every one of those losses could just as easily have been a win. Harbaugh obviously felt the same way. 

Which brings us to the sixty-four thousand dollar question. How is Harbaugh going to improve a defense that folded like a cheap tent this season? By bringing in a competent defensive coordinator, that's how. One of the names being mentioned is Jim Schwartz. Over the last nine seasons, Schwartz has worked for the Bills, Eagles and Browns. Twice his defenses were top five in the NFL: 2017 with the Eagles and 2023 with the Browns. Assuming he doesn't take the Ravens job, he would be the best DC Big Blue has had since the days of Spags.

If he's not available, Antonio Pierce might be a good second choice. The former Giants linebacker and former Raiders interim head coach interviewed for the Giants head coaching vacancy last week. He was well respected by his players and went 5-4 during his brief stint in Vegas. Bringing him back would be more than a symbolic gesture to a suffering fanbase; it would signal to the league that the Giants are serious about assembling a coaching staff that can take this team to the next level. 

And what would the next level look like? Well, for starters, let's pump the brakes on making the playoffs. I expect the Giants will be considerably better under Harbaugh than Daboll, but making the playoffs in the NFC will be extremely tough, if not impossible. Excluding the four division winners, the Rams, 49ers and Packers will all be in the hunt in 2026, as will an improved Lions team. And don't forget about the Commanders. With a healthy Jayden Daniels, they should win 10 games easily. At best, I see this team winning 8 or 9 games.

For the time being, Giants fans will have to be satisfied with a team that is well coached and closes out games. Considering that Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin went 3-12-1 and 6-10 respectively in their first seasons as head coach, and both went on to win two Super Bowls, that ain't bad.

Patience has become a four-letter word with this fanbase. This time around, it might actually pay off.

Five Losses That Defined the Giants Season

Before we get to the main topic, I wanted to say a few words about yesterday's win in Vegas. If nothing else, we now know for certain that the Giants are NOT the worst team in the NFL. Quite the contrary, the team I saw on that field executed on offense and made enough plays defensively to convince me that with the right coaching staff in place, they could have a winning record next season. 

Yes, I know it was only the Raiders, who, along with the Jets, are two of the worst teams in all of sports, but Big Blue has shown throughout this season that they can hang with the best in the league. Now that they no longer have the number one pick to worry about, we can put this whole Fernando Mendoza nonsense to bed. The Giants have their quarterback and he put on quite a show yesterday. Hopefully, Joe Schoen, or whoever the next GM winds up being, will realize that and use next year's draft to fortify the many needs this team has.

As for the fans who were hoping they would lose to secure that number one pick, I honestly don't know what to say. Imagine being so bitter that you root against your team. I've been a fan of the Giants since the days of Joe Pisarcik, which means I've endured a lot of losing seasons. Not once did I ever root for them to lose. Winning these last two games would mean the world for a roster that is still relatively young and has some pretty good talent on it. If you can't see that, I feel sorry for you.

Now onto the main course. I will list each loss in chronological order, but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know which one was the worst.

Week Two at Dallas: Coming off a lackluster performance in Washington, the Giants, with Russell Wilson under center, had their most impressive offensive performance in over a year. Wilson threw for 450 yards and three touchdowns; the last one a 48 yard strike to Malik Nabers to put the Jints up 37-34 with 25 seconds left in regulation. All New York had to do was stop the Cowboys from getting into field goal range.

But in what would become a pattern all season long, Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen elected to rush only three, and Dak Prescott navigated his team to the Giants 46 yard line, where Brandon Aubrey kicked a game-tying 64-yard field goal to send it into overtime. Dallas eventually would win on another Aubrey field goal.

Week Five at New Orleans: This was Jaxson Dart's second career start. The previous week he had beaten the Chargers at MetLife 21-18. Two touchdown passes from Dart to Theo Johnson put New York ahead 14-3 with 13 minutes left in the second quarter. Victory seemed inevitable.

That's when the wheels came off. Dart threw two picks. The Giants as a team turned the ball over five times; the last one resulting in an 86-yard fumble recovery that put the Saints up 26-14. It was a painful reminder that counting your chickens before they hatch is not a good strategy for winning. 

Week Seven at Denver: The pièce de résistance of the 2025 season. Fortunately, I was at a wedding when this travesty happened or I would've thrown something at my TV. Dart had arguably his best game as a pro, throwing for 283 yards and three touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the NFL. 

New York led 19-0 after the third quarter, and 26-8 with ten minutes to go in the fourth. The Broncos scored 22 unanswered points to take a 30-26 lead with 1:51 left in regulation. Dart then drove the Giants downfield and put them ahead 32-30 with 37 seconds remaining. 

Once again, Bowen elected not to pressure Bo Nix, who managed to get his team into Giants territory, where Will Lutz kicked a 39 yard field goal to win the game as time expired. That Bowen wasn't fired immediately after the game just underscores how incompetent this franchise is.

Week Ten at Chicago: The Giants had lost three games in a row going into the Windy City, but that didn't stop them form taking a 17-7 lead over the Bears two minutes into the third quarter. Once again, Dart was impressive, going 19-29 for 242 yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

However, with just over five minutes to go in the third and the Giants deep in Bears territory, Dart was hit and fumbled the ball at the Chicago 21 yard line. He suffered a concussion on the play and would not return. With Wilson at the helm, New York's offense stalled and the Bears rallied for a 24-20 win. This was Brian Daboll's last game as head coach.

Week Twelve at Detroit: The final nail in this hellscape of a season. With Dart still in concussion protocol and Mike Kafka replacing the fired Daboll, the G-Men jumped out to a 27-17 lead over the Lions early in the fourth quarter, thanks to Jameis Winston throwing for 366 yards and two touchdowns.

But, and stop me if this sounds familiar, the Giants defense couldn't hold the lead. Jahmyr Gibbs had the game of his life, rushing for 219 yards and two touchdowns; the latter coming in overtime. Not one Giant defender touched him as he raced 69 yards for the winning score.

There you have it: five losses that defined the Giants season. While it's unlikely that New York would've swept all five of those games, with a competent defensive coordinator, who knows, maybe they could've won four of them. They certainly played well enough to go 4-1. While 7-10 is nothing to brag about, it's a helluva lot better than 3-14. And honestly, it's where I thought they'd finish before the season started.

Enough Was Enough

Let's be honest: we all knew the season was over after the collapse in Denver three weeks ago. You didn't think the Giants were beating the Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers, did you? Neither did I. It wasn't a question of whether a change had to be made, but when.

Well the "when" came yesterday after the Giants blew a ten-point, fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Chicago Bears Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. That's four times this season New York has lost a game in which they held a double-digit lead; this latest one was the final straw, so the organization "relieved" head coach Brian Daboll of his duties.

I have no problem with the decision. Daboll was 20-40-1 as head coach, but only 11-33 since 2023. He had to go. My only question is why wasn't defensive coordinator Shane Bowen also shown the door? It was his play-calling that directly led to two of those four losses. Indeed, you could easily make the case that had this team defended better, they'd be 5-5, instead of 2-8. And with the worst of the schedule behind them, it's conceivable that the Giants could've been in the playoff hunt going into December. Instead, the only hunt they'll be in is for the number one pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. They currently have the third pick.

That might be the reason why Joe Schoen was retained. In the end, John Mara and Steve Tisch must've felt that, talent wise, the team was headed in the right direction. That isn't to say Schoen hasn't made some mistakes. The decision to give Daniel Jones such a large contract, in hindsight, turned out not to be such a good idea; the whole Saquon Barkley fiasco could've been handled better; and some his draft picks - Evan Neal, Jalin Hyatt and Deonte Banks - haven't exactly panned out.

That being said, the Giants have their franchise quarterback in place; they have an elite receiver and two outstanding running backs; their front seven - at least on paper - is certainly more capable than what they've shown. With some improvements to the secondary, a place-kicker who can stay healthy and the right coaching staff in place, this team should be vastly improved in the standings next season. 

Regarding the latter, who do the Giants hire? If I had my druthers, I'd go with someone along the lines of a Dan Campbell or Mike Vrabel; a no-nonsense coach who holds his players accountable and isn't risk averse. I'm not piling on here, but when Daboll elected to take the field goal rather than go for it on fourth and goal from the one-yard line, I knew the Giants were going to lose. The message that sends to your players is that you don't believe in them. And any coach who doesn't believe in his players has no business being their coach. I guarantee you that Campbell and Vrabel would never do that to their players.

If the Giants are looking for a name, Mike Tomlin makes perfect sense. He's well respected by his players and he has the distinction of being the only active head coach in the NFL to not have a losing season in his 18 years with the Steelers. But would Pittsburgh be willing to let him out of his contract which runs through 2027? Given that the Mara and Rooney families are practically joined at the hip, I'm sure a phone call from John to Art Jr. might get it done. 

If neither option is available, then I would go with someone who can run an offense, like Kliff Kingsbury, former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and now offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders. If he's not available, perhaps Joe Brady of the Bills might suffice. But would Mara and Schoen really want to hire another offensive coordinator with no head-coaching experience? I doubt it. 

One reason the Giants may have fired Daboll now instead of waiting until the end of the season is to give Mike Kafka a look see. The offensive coordinator has been instrumental in Jaxson Dart's development. If he does a good job as interim head coach over the next seven games, they may elect to give him the job permanently.

Whichever route they choose, the Giants will need a defensive coordinator who can actually coach a defense. Ironically, they had one in Wink Martindale, but when Daboll fired two of his assistants, he resigned in protest. That led to the hiring of Bowen, who was the polar opposite of Martindale. 

One man I hope they don't hire is Bill Belichick. There's no doubt about his Hall of Fame bonafides, but with everything that's unfolded at North Carolina, it's obvious that the former New England Patriots head coach is just cashing in on his name. Why on Earth would the Giants want to bring that circus to MetLife?

A lot of possibilities out there for Big Blue, to be sure. Mara and Schoen need to get this one right. The fanbase has suffered long enough.

Jaxson Dart Deserves Better Than This

Since blowing a 19-point lead to the Denver Broncos at Mile-High Stadium on October 19, the New York Giants have lost to the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. Neither game was competitive. For the third year in a row this franchise, which has made the playoffs only twice since its last Super Bowl win in 2011, is off to a 2-7 start. The previous two seasons it finished 6-11 and 3-14 respectively. Based on the level of play through nine games, there is little reason to expect that 2025 will be any different. 

New York has given up 249 points this season. Only the Tennessee Titans (257), Dallas Cowboys (277) and Cincinnati Bengals (300) have given up more. Yes, they have sustained injuries, especially to their beleaguered secondary, but there isn't a team in the league that hasn't had to contend with injuries. Indeed, the 49ers were missing several key players, including Brock Purdy and Nick Bosa, yet still had their way with the Giants. Quite frankly, it was embarrassing to watch.

The one, lone bright spot in this train wreck of a season has been Jaxson Dart. The rookie has thrown for 1175 yards in six starts with 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. His QBR of 61.2 is 14th among starting quarterbacks; five points higher than Drake Maye's was in his rookie season, and eight points higher than Eli Manning's was in 2007, the year he won his first Super Bowl. In fact, Dart's QBR is higher than Bo Nix, Michael Penix, Jr, Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams; the latter the number one pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Ever since the retirement of Eli, the Jints have been looking for someone to take over the reigns. Daniel Jones was supposed to be that guy; and for two seasons - his rookie and 2022 - it certainly looked that way. But, alas, it wasn't to be. Danny Dimes is now on the Indianapolis Colts where he is having his best year as a pro. Good for him.

As for Dart, it's obvious that the Giants have found their franchise quarterback. His resilience is matched only by his exuberance. If spunk was measured in dollars, Dart would be the richest rookie in the NFL. The kid is unflappable. But there's a limit to any man's resolve. John Mara is playing with fire if he thinks that this level of incompetence won't eventually get to the best quarterback this organization has drafted in its history. I'm not being facetious here. Phil Simms took five years to become a good quarterback; Eli didn't come into his own until his third full season; Dart is already there, and with inarguably the worst receiving corps in the league. 

But past performance is no guarantee of future success. Sam Darnold and Justin Fields were highly touted prospects out of college who were both badly screwed up by their respective teams. Darnold eventually resurrected his career in Minnesota and now Seattle, but Fields appears to be a lost cause. Ironically he's with the Jets, the team that drafted Darnold. You can't make this shit up.

Mara has an obligation to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. Even he decides to retain Joe Schoen as his GM, the entire coaching staff must go, starting with Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen. His play calling is directly responsible for two losses this season. And Brian Daboll's reluctance - i.e, refusal - to criticize his assistant, is an indictment of him as a head coach. After the Denver loss, you could tell he lost the locker room. At this point, most of the players are just going through the motions. The lone exceptions are Dart and Brian Burns, who is having a career year. He currently leads the NFL with 11 sacks. 

The argument for keeping Daboll is based on the premise that with a young quarterback, continuity is essential. After all, Daniel Jones had four different offensive coordinators in his tenure as a Giant. No doubt that stunted his development. It's perfectly reasonable not to want to do that to Dart.

But the counter argument is that it's far worse for a young quarterback to be saddled in a system that, no matter what you do, keeps spinning its wheels. Even the most incurable optimist would have a hard time winning under those conditions.

If you want proof, look no further than Drake Maye. In his rookie season with the New England Patriots, his head coach was Jerod Mayo and his offensive coordinator was Alex Van Pelt. The Pats went 4-13 and Robert Kraft cleaned house. He hired Mike Vrabel as his head coach and Vrabel hired Josh McDaniels as his OC. The result is that Maye is fifth in the NFL with a QBR of 74, and New England is in first place in the AFC East with a record of 7-2.

Daboll's claim to fame, and the thing that made him attractive to Schoen, was that he helped Josh Allen become the player he is, but that doesn't mean he's a quarterback whisperer, or for that matter even a good head coach. The fact is that after a surprising 9-7-1 maiden season under Daboll, the Giants have been one of the worst run teams in the NFL since. I find it hard to believe they couldn't find someone considerably better to manage the sidelines, while also developing Dart.

Walking and chewing gum at the same time is something millions of people do every day. It's about time the Giants learned how to do it.

Jaxson Dart deserves no less.

Mile Low City

Some losses are inevitable, others are preventable, and still others are reprehensible. Guess which one this was?

Through three quarters at Mile High Stadium, the New York Giants played the prefect road game. They led the Denver Broncos 19-0. Their defense had limited the Broncos to just 111 total yards of offense. While on the other side of the ball, Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes; the first one to a wide open Daniel Bellinger. It was the first touchdown Denver had allowed in the first quarter this season. All Big Blue had to do to secure a win was to continue to play aggressive on defense and move the ball on offense.

When Theo Johnson caught a deflected pass by Dart for a touchdown with 10:14 left in the fourth quarter to put New York up 26-8, it certainly looked to all the world that they were going to do just that. I mean, who blows an 18 point lead with 10 minutes to go, right? Even Broncos fans knew it was over; many of them started leaving the stadium at that point. They missed one helluva comeback.

Denver would score touchdowns on their next three possessions, one aided by a Dart interception, to take a four-point lead with 1:51 remaining in the game. To his credit, Dart led his team down the field and, thanks to a pass interference penalty on the Broncos near the gaol line, took it into the end zone to regain the lead for his team.

With 33 seconds left and New York ahead 32-30, the Broncos, with no timeouts left, took the ball all the way down to Giants 21 yard line, where Wil Lutz kicked a game-wining 39 yard field goal. The reason it was a game-winning and not a game-tying field goal is because Jude McAtamney missed the extra point on the Giants last touchdown drive that would've put them up by three. Then again, if McAtamney hadn't missed an earlier extra point, the Broncos would've needed a touchdown to win the game. In all, Denver scored 33 points in the fourth quarter, the most ever by a team that had been held scoreless through three. 

You can always tell when a team is in trouble: they start watching the clock instead of managing the game. The Giants, not wanting to lose, went into a shell; the Broncos, with nothing to lose, pulled out all the stops. I've watched Sean Payton teams over the years. Regardless of what the score is, there's a tenacity to them. They can be ahead by ten, they can be trailing by twenty, you'd never know it by the level of play on the field. He may have only one Super Bowl win to his credit, but he is a Hall of Fame coach, and his players all know what's expected of them.

Brian Daboll is no Sean Payton, that should be obvious. But as bad as Daboll has been over the last three seasons, his defensive coordinator Shane Bowen deserves the lions share of the blame for this latest abomination. His decision to rush only three on the Broncos last scoring drive was inexcusable. This is the second time this season that the Giants have lost a game in which they led with less than 40 seconds remaining in regulation. The first was against the Cowboys in Dallas in week two. New York lost that game in OT, 40-37.

As painful as that loss was, though, it pales in comparison to this one. According to Adam Schefter, since the 1970 merger between the NFL and AFL, only two teams have overcome a fourth-quarter deficit of 19 points or more to win a regular-season game: the Indianapolis Colts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003 (21 points) and the Broncos against the Giants yesterday.

I can't imagine what the players must be going through. For three quarters they played their hearts out. They were minutes away from what would've been back-to-back wins against playoff teams. Jaxson Dart went 15/33 for 283 yards, with three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Brian Burns had another dominating performance on defense, recording two sacks and two quarterback hits. He was visibly upset after the game, and deservedly so.

Yes, I know the old cliche that good teams find a way to win and bad teams find a way to lose, but it's not that simple with this team. The Giants are not the Jets, or the Miami Dolphins, or the Tennessee Titans. There is talent on this roster, more talent than their record would indicate. They should be 4-3 and in the thick of the playoff race; instead they're 2-5, and facing the very real prospect of going 2-6 after they lose to the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.

This was no self-inflicted wound, like we saw in New Orleans against the Saints; this shot came from the sidelines. Even if Daboll fires Bowen tomorrow, the damage has already been done. How do you recover from a loss like this?

The season is all but done, and once more, Giants fans will have to wait until next year to raise a banner of hope.

Self Inflicted

It all looked so promising for the Giants yesterday. Jaxson Dart drove them down the field on their first two possessions, throwing two touchdown passes to his favorite target, Theo Johnson, to put New York up 14-3 two minutes into the second quarter.

They were sailing; they were taking care of business against an 0-4 team; the New Orleans Saints literally had no answers for them. This was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

But instead of fish in a barrel, the Jints wound up shooting themselves in the foot; five times, in fact. Up 14-13 late in the first half, and in field goal range, Darius Slayton fumbled the ball at the Saints 32 yard line. Jonas Sanker picked it up and ran it back to the Giants 42 yard line. Eight plays later, New Orleans took the lead with a 29 yard field goal. 

Sadly, Big Blue wasn't remotely done. On their opening possession of the second half, Dart, with no one around him, fumbled the ball at midfield. The Saints would kick another filed goal. Trailing 19-14 late in the third quarter, Dart, once again, navigated his team down the field all the way to the Saints 15 yard line. A go-ahead touchdown seemed like an inevitability. 

And then on the first play of the fourth quarter, Dart handed the ball off to fellow rookie Cam Skattebo. Skattebo then had it stripped from him and Jordan Howden ran it all the way back to put the Saints up 26-14. And that, as they say, was the ballgame. Dart would throw two interceptions in the fourth to cement the loss. Five turnovers in all; a pathetic performance against a team that managed only 88 yards of total offense in the second half. In all, the Giants offense gifted the Saints with 13 points on the day, while costing itself at least six.

If this team had any sense of shame at all, they'd climb under a rock and stay there until the end of the season. How bad were the Giants? They were the first NFL team in nine years to turn the ball over five consecutive times. The last team to do that was the other New York area franchise: the Jets. Fittingly, both team are a collective 1-9 this season. Talk about embarrassing. 

But as inept as the Giants offense was on Sunday, their defense wasn't much better. The front seven was virtually a non-factor in this game. As a unit, they managed just three pressures, one hit and zero sacks against Spencer Rattler, after getting twenty pressures, twelve hits and two sacks against Justin Herbert the previous week. 

There is simply no excuse for this loss; none. This was not the Cowboys in Dallas, where the Giants held their own against a potent offense and only lost because Dallas has a kicker capable of making a field goal from Mars. This was a team that, let's be honest, when the schedule came out, you had a W next to their name. Don't lie, I read your tweets. 

And don't give me any "That's why they play the game" bullshit. I know what an upset looks like. This wasn't an upset; this was a Giants team that counted its chickens before they were hatched and wound up getting botulism. 

So instead of being 2-3, and having a modicum of hope, the Giants are now 1-4 with the Philadelphia Eagles coming to town Thursday night. The Eagles blew a 14-point lead against the Denver Broncos and lost 21-17. How much you wanna bet they will be in a foul mood when they take the field at MetLife.

To channel my inner Mr. Rogers, "Can you say 1-5? I knew you could."

At the risk of repeating myself, Bill Parcels was right: "You are what your record says you are."

Let's face it: the Giants are a bad football team.

A New Hope

Week one of the Jaxson Dart era is now officially in the books and the reviews couldn't be better. In his first start in the NFL, Dart showed poise, ability and good judgment, as the New York Giants beat the Los Angeles Chargers 21-18 at MetLife Stadium for their first win of the season. But more than that, Dart gave his head coach, his GM, the franchise and its fanbase something they haven't had in a long time: hope.

After last week's abysmal "effort" by Russell Wilson against the Kansas City Chiefs, the natives weren't just growing restless; they were getting downright ornery. Another phone-in performance like that and the fans would've started wearing bags over their heads. I've seen it; it ain't pretty.

Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka drew up a game plan for Dart that was deliberately simple, but still gave the rookie enough latitude to show off the skillset that made Joe Schoen trade back into the first round to pluck him in the Draft. In his first possession, Dart took his team 89 yards on 9 plays, helped by a 14-yard pass interference penalty, and capped off by a 15-yard quarterback draw to put the Giants up 7-0. It was the first time the Chargers had allowed a first quarter touchdown this season.

Dart was very effective going through his progressions, particularly on third down, where the Giants as a team were 7/15. Overall, he was 13/20 for 111 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 96.0. He also rushed for 54 yards on 10 carries. By comparison, Eli Manning's slash line in his first start was 17/37, 162, 1-2, 45.1.

Cam Skattebo, another impressive rookie drafted by Schoen in the fourth round, also had a solid game, rushing for 79 yards on 25 carries. In all, the Giants ran the ball 42 times for 161 yards. With Tyrone Tracy out with a dislocated shoulder the next couple of weeks, Skattebo will have to carry most of the load in the backfield.

But as good as Dart and Skattebo were, it was the defense that stole the show, especially the front seven. Led by Brian Burns, Abdul Carter (the third pick in the '25 Draft), Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, they had 20 pressures, 12 hits and two sacks against Justin Herbert. They also forced two interceptions, which led to 11 points for the Jints. It was the first time this season that the Giants held an opponent to under 20 points, and the first time since week 16 last season against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife that they led in all four quarters of a game. In case you're wondering, the Giants don't have many of these games.

But the news was not all good for Big Blue. Malik Nabers, whose 1204 yards was good enough to finish fifth in the voting for rookie of the year last season, suffered a torn ACL in his right leg in the second quarter and is out for the rest of the season. The star wideout had 18 receptions for 271 yards when he went down. Against the Cowboys two weeks ago, he led all New York receivers with 167 yards on 9 receptions and two touchdowns. His presence will be sorely missed.

All things considered, though, the Giants did what they had to do Sunday: win the game. They are now 1-3. If they beat the Saints in New Orleans next week - which they should - they will be 2-3. Before the start of the season, I said the Giants had a chance of going 3-6 in their first nine games. With the Philadelphia Eagles (twice), the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers all upcoming, they could still do it.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The headline here is that the Giants have found their quarterback. 

And his name is Jaxson Dart.

It's Dart's Time

 

A week ago, the Giants offense looked like Air Coryell; last Sunday, it looked more like the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey. And Russell Wilson, who last week had regained his Super Bowl form against the Dallas Cowboys, reverted back to the player Sean Payton couldn't wait to ship out of Denver against the Kansas City Chiefs.

So much for making progress. I thought this team was moving in the right direction. Clearly I was wrong. 

You can make all the excuses you want: Steve Spagnuolo double-teamed Malik Nabers; the Chiefs needed the win more; Patrick Mahomes is a magician who alluded the Giants pass rush all night; Graham Gano got injured during warmups, rendering New York's kicking game practically useless. 

It's time to face facts. Despite all the offseason maneuvers, this is still a bad team. Bill Parcells was right: You are what your record says you are; and right now, the Giants are 0-3. From what we've seen, so far, and based on the strength of schedule, if this team goes more than 2-7 in its first nine games, I would be very surprised.

Contrary to what I wrote before the season, waiting until week ten to make a change at quarterback is too late. Apparently, Brian Daboll agrees. The head coach announced this afternoon that Jaxson Dart will start this Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. 

It was the right decision, and for the following reasons.

Going into the 2025 season, the assumption was that Wilson would be competent enough to give Daboll the time he needed to bring Dart along, so that when he finally took over the reigns, he would be able to handle the pressure.

But in two of his three starts, Wilson has been underwhelming to say the least. Against Kansas City, he looked completely lost; indeed, he looked more like a rookie than the guy who was being groomed to take his job. His two interceptions on Sunday were forced passes that never should've been thrown. 

Look, we all gave Wilson kudos for throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys in week two. But when Caleb Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns against them the following week, it was fairly obvious that Wilson's performance was an anomaly. Hell, the way that secondary is playing, Peyton Manning could come out of retirement and throw for 200 yards and a touchdown against it.

But here's the biggest reason for making the switch. This team is 0-3. After this Sunday, they will likely be 0-4. Justin Herbert, the player Dave Gettleman really wanted, might be the best quarterback in the NFL. If the Giants can't move the football and put up some points, this game will be over at halftime. Dart at least has an element of speed to his game that Wilson lacks. When he came in last Sunday, you could feel the electricity resonate within the stadium. If he was good enough to be the backup, he's obviously ready to be the starter.

There's losing and then there's losing without a fight. Right now, the Giants are losing without much of a fight. Daboll had no choice but to pull the plug on Wilson. Even if it turns out that Dart isn't the second coming of Eli Manning, he will at least breathe some life into a locker room that desperately needs something to believe in.

The fans are disgusted. The players frustrated. The season is hanging in the balance.

It's Dart's time, ready or not. 

2025 Giants and NFL Preview

Since the New York Giants won Super Bowl 46, they have had exactly three winning seasons (2012, 2016 and 2022). They've made the playoffs twice ('16 and '22), and won once ('22 against the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round). Over the last fourteen years, this fanbase has gone from hope to despair, to hope, and finally back to despair. If there was such a thing as PTSD for football fans, Giants fans would be first in line at the clinic.

Face it: it's been a vicious cycle for the Big Blue faithful. You get your hopes up, only to have them dashed. Then when you finally write them off, they surprise you by having a good season. You think we'd learn our lesson, but, alas, it's like that scene in The Godfather Three when Michael says, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." We couldn't quit this team even if we wanted to.

Looking back at my past predictions, it seems I have not been immune to this trap. After a successful 2016 season, I thought the Giants would be Super Bowl contenders in '17. They ended up being one of the worst teams in the league that year. After a surprising 2022 season, I again thought they'd be contenders the following year. Once more, I was wrong. Indeed, the only times I've been pleasantly surprised was when I managed my expectations for them.

Which leads me to 2025. After an abysmal 2024, in which they went 3-14, the Giants had their best offseason in years. They improved their secondary by signing Paulson Adebo; they totally revamped their quarterback position by signing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston; they selected what many thought was the best player in the NFL Draft in Abdul Carter; they then traded back into the first round and got the quarterback of their future in Jaxson Dart; and in that same draft they added depth at running back, tight end and the offensive line. By any objective metric, this is a better and deeper roster than last year's.

So what does that mean for the Giants? Well, for starters, it means they won't suck this year. And, trust me, after enduring the last two hellish seasons, that's no small feat. But while not sucking is nice, it might not make much difference in the standings. That's because, as I wrote in an earlier piece, New York's schedule is brutal. Giants opponents had a .574 winning percentage in 2024; by comparison, the Super Bowl champ Philadelphia Eagles opponents had a .561 winning percentage last season. As Mike Francesa said on his podcast, "The Giants could play 40 percent better this year in every aspect and win five games."

While I'm not as pessimistic as Mike, I'm also not going to make the same mistake I made the last two years by overestimating their chances. The Giants had an outstanding preseason going 3-0, but the real season starts September 7. Any honest evaluation of this team's prospects must be realistic.

Ironically, last year I predicted the Jints would go 7-10; this year, I'm predicting the same record for them. That's because I believe this is the best front seven the Giants have had since their Super Bowl days; Wilson is considerably better than Daniel Jones; and they have speed at the wide receiver position with Malik Nabers on the verge of stardom. And if that isn't enough, Brian Daboll is coaching for his job. Another 3 or 4 win season, and he's gone. You can bet the ranch John Mara made that clear to him seconds after the conclusion of last year's train wreck.

As to where they finish in the NFC East, thanks to Jerry Jones giving away Micah Parsons to Green Bay, third place is not out of the question. But if I were a betting man, I'd say fourth, just to play it safe.

Below are my predictions for the 2025 NFL standings and postseason.

NFC East:

Eagles

Commanders

Cowboys

Giants

NFC North:

Packers *

Lions

Vikings

Bears

NFC South:

Falcons

Buccaneers

Saints

Panthers 

NFC West:

49ers

Rams

Seahawks

Cardinals

AFC East:

Bills

Dolphins

Patriots

Jets

AFC North:

Ravens

Steelers

Bengals

Browns

AFC South:

Texans

Titans

Jaguars

Colts

AFC West:

Chiefs *

Chargers

Broncos

Raiders

* Number one seed

NFC Wild Cards:

Commanders

Rams

Lions

AFC Wild Cards:

Dolphins

Chargers

Broncos

NFC Championship game: 

Packers over the Eagles

AFC Championship game: 

Bills over the Chiefs

Super Bowl:

Packers over the Bills

Jaxson Dart is Making a Compelling Case to Be the Giants Starting QB

In 2004, everyone on Planet Earth knew that Eli Manning was the New York Giants quarterback of the future. Then GM Ernie Accorsi traded an '04 third round pick and a first and fifth rounder in '05, along with Philip Rivers, to the San Diego Chargers to get Peyton's younger brother. 

The plan was to let Eli sit and learn behind former Super Bowl winner Kurt Warner. And based on what we saw in the preseason, that plan certainly looked feasible. Eli put up respectable numbers - 24/49, 327, 0 over four games - but was hardly a show stopper. Indeed, head coach Tom Coughlin waited until week 10 before finally turning the reigns over to him.

Fast forward 21 years to the 2025 NFL Draft. Present GM Joe Schoen traded three picks to move back into the first round to select Jaxson Dart at number 25. The Giants believe strongly that Dart is their quarterback of the future. Like in '04, the plan is to let Dart sit and learn behind another former Super Bowl winner, Russell Wilson. 

Warner to Eli, Part Deux, right? There's just one not-so-small problem. Dart has thrown a monkey wrench into those plans. Through two preseason games, Dart is a combined 26/35 for 291 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. His 117.7 passer rating is the best on the team, a full 45 points better than Wilson.

Dart has become THE football story of the preseason. Initially he was viewed as a mid second rounder that needed a lot of work to smooth out the rough edges. NFL.com gave him a 6.17 grade in their eval, listing him as a "good backup with the potential to develop into a starter."

That was no backup we saw Saturday night. Seven quarterbacks took the field at MetLife Stadium; four for the Giants and three for the Jets. Dart was better than all of them, and it wasn't even close. Head coach Brian Daboll has a real dilemma on his hands. On the one hand, it makes perfect sense to start the season with Wilson at the helm. Clearly someone at NFL headquarters has a sick sense of humor, because the Giants, coming off a 3-14 campaign in 2024, wound up with the toughest schedule of any team in the league this season. Throwing a promising young talent like Dart into that gauntlet could have disastrous consequences for the Giants. And if there's one thing this franchise can ill afford to do is fuck up another young quarterback. John Mara will skin both Daboll and Schoen alive if that happens.

On the other hand, while Wilson has been good, he's been on a downward trajectory since the 2020 season. At this point in his career, he is nothing more than a bridge to a successor. At least when the Giants signed Warner in '04, he was three years removed from his second Super Bowl appearance and led the league in passing yards with 4830 that season. Daboll, after two very disappointing years in which the fanbase was calling for his head, could hardly be blamed for wanting to roll the dice with the player he moved heaven and earth to land.

What to do? That is the question. If I were a betting man - and I'm not - I'd put my money on Wilson being the stater week one, with Dart as the backup. That means that Jameis Winston, whom Schoen signed to a two-year, $8 million guaranteed contract during the offseason, will likely be traded for a draft pick. No sense having an $8m asset on your books when you already have a bonafide starter waiting in the wings. And besides, the way Tommy DeVito has played this preseason, if he gets cut, he'll be picked up by another team quicker than you can say, "you want mashed potatoes with those cutlets?"

As for when Daboll makes the switch to Dart, I'm thinking week 10. That's because the first nine weeks of the schedule will be particularly daunting. Just take a gander at who the Giants play:

@ the Washington Commanders

@ the Dallas Cowboys

vs the Kansas City Chiefs

vs the L.A. Chargers

@ the New Orleans Saints

vs the Philadelphia Eagles

@ the Denver Broncos

@ the Philadelphia Eagles

vs the San Francisco 49ers

If they go 3-6 during that stretch, they'll be lucky. I've been a fan of the Giants since the dark days of Joe Pisarcik and John McVay. I've seen the football gods smile and frown on them. Trust me, they took a dump on the 50 yard line with this schedule. As much as I want to see Dart be the starting quarterback, I'd rather he not do it from inside a rubber room.

No, the sensible thing to do is let Wilson take his lumps as the starter in the first half. Then after week nine, thank him for his service, send him to the nearest triage unit, and have Dart close out the season.

If the Giants don't screw this up, they'll be in good shape for 2026 and beyond.

Of course when it comes to the Giants, "if" is a four-letter word. 

Giants Take Care of Business

Let's face it: it hasn't been easy being a New York Giants fan the last few years. In fact, since 2011 - the year they won Super Bowl 46 - the Jints have made the postseason twice and have one playoff victory to show for it. You can certainly appreciate the fact that going into the 2025 NFL Draft, the expectations among the fanbase were somewhere between guarded and skeptical.

So let me just say, as someone who's seen his fair share of drafts over the years, I think this might be the most surgically precise one the Giants have had since 2005; the year they took Corey Webster (43), Justin Tuck (74) and Brandon Jacobs (110). Any time you can walk away with what many considered the most physically dominant edge rusher in a decade, a future starting quarterback, a damn good defensive tackle, a power running back, an offensive tackle that can play guard and a tight end you had yourself one helluva weekend. 

Talk about checking all the boxes. 

Abdul Carter was the player Joe Schoen was hoping would be there at three and, sure enough, he was. The guy is a freight train whose specialty is making quarterbacks wish they'd chosen a different profession. Imagine what that this Giants defensive line is going to look like with him on one end, Kayvon Thibodeaux on the other and Dexter Lawrence in the middle. 

Jaxson Dart was the player Brain Daboll wanted from day one. And now the guy that coached Josh Allen in Buffalo finally gets his quarterback. Daboll has gotten a lot of heat the last two years - and deservedly so - but if he can turn Daniel Jones into a respectable signal caller, he should have no problem with a player who was considerably better at Ole Miss than Danny Dimes was at Duke. And the best part was that Schoen didn't have to reach to get him like Dave Gettleman did with Jones in 2019. Nicely played.

If the Giants elect to go with a 4-3 defense, Darius Alexander will play alongside Dexter Lawrence; if they elect to go with a 3-4, Alexander and Lawrence will platoon at nose guard. Either way, with Brian Burns, Micah McFadden and Bobby Okereke at linebacker, this front seven is going to be well stacked and very difficult to contend with.

The mystery of the 2025 NFL Draft is how Cam Skattebo managed to slip all the way to the fourth round. Nevertheless, Schoen and company were delighted he was there at 105. The Giants now have Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary in their backfield. The last time they had this many quality running backs was 2008, the year immediately after Super Bowl 42.

Marcus Mbow (pronounced Bow) will likely take over for Evan Neal at right tackle, but he can also play guard; Thomas Fidone II gives the Giants another option at tight end; and Korie Black will provide depth in the secondary.

Like I said, surgical. 

Look, I realize it's still April, and April is the month where everything looks promising. But I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that with the free agent signings Schoen has made this offseason, along with his picks in this draft, 2025 might not be such a bad year for Big Blue; in fact, it could be fairly decent. 

Think about it: last season, the Giants lost eight games by a single score. If they had won four of those games, they would've finished 7-10 instead of 3-14. With an improved roster, 7-10 is certainly doable. Who knows, with a little luck, they might go 8-9 or even 9-8. 

All I'm saying is that maybe, just maybe, that light at the end of the tunnel isn't a freight train after all. 

John Mara Stays the Course

Doug Pederson's record over the last three seasons:

2022: 9-8
2023: 9-8
2024: 4-13
Total: 22-29

Brian Daboll's record over the last three seasons:

2022: 9-7-1
2023: 6-11
2024: 3-14
Total: 18-32-1

Guess which coach got fired Monday?

The below attachment will answer that question.

As a rule, I don't subscribe to the theory that the first arrow out of ownership's quiver should be firing the coach or manager. The fact that it has become the default option for so many underperforming teams over the last couple of decades explains in large part why some franchises succeed while others continue to spin their wheels. 

But for the life of me, I cannot comprehend the reasoning behind this decision by Mara. It makes absolutely no sense. Anyone who was paying attention knew full well that Daboll had lost the locker room. For all intents and purposes his players quit on him weeks ago. Think about it: Had the Indianapolis Colts not been so inept last Sunday, the Giants would've lost their last 12 games of the season. You don't keep coaches who preside over that kind of collapse. You thank them for their service and show them the door as quickly as possible.

To be fair, Daboll is not solely to blame for this disaster. He had some help. The guy who hired him, Joe Schoen, took a team that was already bereft of talent and somehow managed to make things worse. It pains me to admit it, but the 2022 team that beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card game consisted primarily of players drafted or signed by Schoen's predecessor, Dave Gettleman. If it's ok to criticize Gettleman for taking Daniel Jones with the 6th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, it's equally ok to ask why Schoen elected not to take a quarterback in a draft that was loaded with QBs.

Whoever said you can't draft a quarterback if you already have one obviously never bothered to check in with the Atlanta Falcons. They took Micheal Penix Jr with the 8th pick in last year's draft after they had already signed Kirk Cousins to a lucrative free agent contract. Well, after Cousins struggled over the first 14 games of the season, Penix took over. The rookie competed 58 percent of his pass attempts for over 700 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 3 picks. And if his coach was a halfway decent clock manager, his team would've been mathematically alive for a playoff spot going into week 18. 

Bo Nix was taken by the Denver Broncos with the 12th pick in that draft. He threw for 3775 yards with 29 TDs and 12 INTs. In his rookie year he managed to get the Broncos into the playoffs for the first time in nine years. As good as Malik Nabers was this season, who would you rather have, him or Nix? The point is Schoen blew it by not taking a QB last year. The fact is neither Shedeur Sanders nor Cam Ward are as talented as Nix. And Schoen would have to trade up from the 3rd pick in order to get a shot at either one of them. 

This is the group Mara wants to keep intact? These two guys? I'm all for keeping the faith and showing patience, but this is ridiculous. Rewarding Schoen and Daboll with another year at the helm is an insult to the fans who have had to endure more than a decade of humiliation. Since the Giants last Super Bowl title in the 2011 season, they have had three winning seasons and two trips to the playoffs. For a franchise that has been in existence for 100 years that is simply unacceptable.

And keep in mind, I'm not even blaming Schoen for his decision to re-sign Jones over Saquon Barkley. We've been over this, but the fact is there was no way to franchise tag Jones and still keep Barkley. There just wasn't enough cap space. But even allowing for that, as a talent evaluator, Schoen leaves much to be desired.

The sad truth is there isn't one position on this roster that doesn't need serious attention. Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was supposed to be the next Carl Banks, took a major step backwards this season after an impressive 2023 campaign in which he recorded 11.5 sacks. While Brian Burns was a nice addition, the defense as a whole was terrible. They had only 5 interceptions on the season. Only the Cleveland Browns (4) had fewer. Offensively, the 273 points the Giants scored was the second worst in the NFL. Again, only the Browns (258) scored fewer. They had only three first quarter touchdowns the entire year. Shameful doesn't begin to describe this season. If this is the process Mara was referring to in his statement, I can only imagine what he was smoking when he wrote it.

I'm old enough to remember the Andy Robustelli Giants of the 1970s. They never finished higher than 4th in the NFC East. Wellington Mara was the owner back then, and he was as tone deaf as his son when it came to the boo birds. It wasn't until "The Fumble" in '78 that Wellington and his nephew Tim were finally shamed into making a change. Pete Roselle convinced them to hire George Young as GM, and it was Young who assembled the roster that eventually went on to win two Super Bowls. 

By the way, Young's first pick in the 1979 Draft was a little known quarterback out of Morehead State by the name of Phil Simms.

It's Not Daniel Jones' Fault

The Daniel Jones era is finally coming to an end. The announcement by Brian Daboll that Tommy DeVito will start this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium is, for all intents and purposes, an acknowledgment by the head coach that Jones's career as a quarterback for the New York Giants is over.

Let's be clear: by no means is DeVito a better QB than Jones; for that matter neither is Drew Lock. This move is being made for one reason and one reason alone: the Giants intend to cut Jones after the season and they don't want to risk him getting injured. I'll explain.

Under the current CBO, the Giants could cut Jones after the season and only have to carry $22.2 million in dead cap space next season. However, if Jones were to get injured before the end of this season, the Giants would be prohibited from cutting him and be on the hook for $41.6 million in 2025. $41.6m minus $22.2m comes out to $19.4m. Think what GM Joe Schoen could do with that much extra money in the kitty.

But while Giants fans are celebrating the news on social media, it's important for them to remember one thing. This is not Daniel Jones' fault. Seriously, it's not. It wasn't Jones' fault that:

1. Dave Gettleman took him with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft when every GM and most scouts had him rated no better than a mid-second rounder. 

2. He had no offensive line to block for him or decent wide receivers to throw the ball to throughout his tenure with the team.

3. He had three different head coaches and as many offensive coordinators in six seasons. 

4. His current GM saw fit to sign him to a four-year, $160 million contract that he could never live up to.

Imagine being a slightly above average quarterback, drafted that high and then thrown into a scenario like the above in the world's largest sports market. John Mara was right about one thing: the Giants really did do everything possible to screw this kid up.

But all that is water over the dam now. The fact is over his career, Jones has had two moderately successful seasons: his rookie year and 2022, the latter had literally everything going right for him. That's it. To continue throwing good money after bad makes absolutely no sense. The best thing the organization can do is to extricate itself from this nightmare. The NFL is one of the few leagues where teams can ostensibly cut a player under contract and suffer minimal consequences.

The Giants wouldn't be the first team to have to admit they blew it. It was just over 16 months ago that Steve Cohen had to eat $55 million to get rid of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Look at how that turned out. The Mets were two wins away from their first World Series appearance since 2015 this season.

And while no sane person would believe the Giants are that close to a Super Bowl appearance, one thing is abundantly clear: Daniel Jones is not the short-term or long-term solution under center. That the braintrust at 1 MetLife Stadium Drive has grudgingly come to that conclusion is a good sign. It means that this franchise will finally be able to begin its long journey from mediocrity to relevance.

2024 Giants and NFL Preview

It was only a year ago that the New York Giants, fresh off an improbable 9-7-1 2022 season, were thought of as genuine playoff contenders. Like so many of the Big-Blue faithful, I not only drank the Kool-Aid, I was dispensing it to as many people as possible. A record of 10-7 was more than reasonable given their schedule, I wrote.

Boy, how wrong was I? A humiliating opening night loss to the Dallas Cowboys set the tone for what became a train wreck of a season. Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones both went down with injuries; the offensive line, which had shown much improvement the previous year, reverted to its Swiss cheese form; Brian Daboll quarreled with his coaching staff and at times looked more like John McVay than the offensive guru who turned Josh Allen into a star. There was some discussion that John Mara was so displeased by what he saw that he considered firing Daboll after the season. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

Who could've figured that a season in which every conceivable break went their way was not a very good barometer for predicting future success. Turns out, 2022 was just a mirage; nothing more, nothing less. The painful fact is that this team is far closer to the bottom of the standings than the top.

Ok, lesson learned. Now what?

Well, for starters, I don't expect Big Blue to be any worse this season than last. In fact, if Jones can stay healthy - a big if - they might surprise a few people, especially if first round pick Malik Nabers turns out to be the stud everyone thinks he is. But can Jones get him the ball? That's the question. The bigger question, however, is will this team struggle to score points without Barkley in the backfield?

The offseason addition of OLB Brian Burns should solidify a front seven that, on paper at least, is actually pretty good. The secondary, however, remains a huge question mark, as does the offensive line. With respect to the latter, it seems we've been saying that a lot since 2017.

Then there's the schedule. The Giants host the Minnesota Vikings week one, then travel to Washington to play the Commanders. Both games are winnable. After that, however, the schedule gets considerably tougher for the G-Men. The Browns in Cleveland, the Cowboys at home, the Seahawks in Seattle, then the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife, before going to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. A record of 3-5 would be quite an accomplishment for this group. Thankfully, in the second half, they play the Carolina Panthers on the road, and the Commanders and Indianapolis Colts at home. They should go 3-0.

Last year, the incurable optimist in me got the better of my judgment. This time around, I'm going into the season with both eyes wide open and understandably skeptical. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy.

Prediction: 7-10 (Third in the NFC East). Not great, but hardly decrepit. In fact, all things considered, very realistic.

Below are my predictions for the 2024 NFL standings and postseason.

NFC East:

Eagles

Cowboys

Giants

Commanders

NFC North:

Packers *

Lions

Bears

Vikings

NFC South:

Falcons

Buccaneers

Saints

Panthers 

NFC West:

49ers

Rams

Seahawks

Cardinals

AFC East:

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Patriots

AFC North:

Bengals

Ravens

Browns

Steelers

AFC South:

Texans

Jaguars

Titans

Colts

AFC West:

Chiefs *

Chargers

Broncos

Raiders

* Number one seed

NFC Wild Cards:

Cowboys

Rams

Lions

AFC Wild Cards:

Dolphins

Ravens

Chargers

Conference championships:

NFC: Packers over the 49ers

AFC: Chiefs over the Texans

Super Bowl:

Chiefs over the Packers