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.