EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants have been going down the wrong path since the season began and with roughly two months and seven games to go, they are hopelessly lost.
The past two weeks have been the worst. The Giants (2-8) were outclassed by the struggling Raiders 30-6 in Las Vegas’ first game under interim coach Antonio Pierce.
That was bad. But it wasn’t as embarrassing as Sunday, when the Dallas Cowboys made Brian Daboll’s team look like it didn’t belong in NFL in a 49-17 blowout.
While they tried, the Giants were not competitive. Dallas was superior for the second time this year. The Cowboys won the season opener 40-0 and outscored New York 89-17 for the season.
Even more concerning for Daboll and the front office is the talking. Safety Xavier McKinney claimed after the Raiders game the coaches weren’t letting the leaders lead and weren’t listening to suggestions from players. Veteran receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton shared words on the sideline Sunday, as did Saquon Barkley and Daboll.
What they said wasn’t important. It was ugly, though — a symptom of frustration over a lost season. The sniping has to stop, or at least be less public.
Injuries to starting quarterback Daniel Jones (ACL), his backup Tyrod Taylor (ribs) and others have put the Giants in this situation. The team clearly isn’t as deep or talented as it appeared after a 9-7-1 season and its first playoff berth since 2016.
“Look, everybody’s human,” Daboll said Monday. “Everybody wants to win; everybody wants to do everything they can do to help achieve that goal. Extra meetings, stay here as late as you need to, good practice habits and I’d say we take pride in doing those things, but the results haven’t showed, so I understand that it’s a production business and we’re working extremely hard to get different results.”
The best thing the Giants can do is keep working and hope co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have the sense not to make Daboll the latest coach to spend two years or fewer in the job. That trend started in 2016 with Ben McAdoo. He was followed by Steve Spagnuolo on an interim basis in December 2017. Pat Shurmur got the 2018 and ’19 seasons and Joe Judge the 2020 and ’21 seasons. The success of 2022 was followed by the flop this year, which at least will earn New York a good draft pick.
WHAT’S WORKING
Jamie Gillan punted seven times for a 50-yard average with a 45.9 yard net against Dallas. His 44.0 yard net is in the top five in the league.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
The defense has not been the same since lineman Leonard Williams was traded to the Seahawks at the deadline. Las Vegas had its season-high point total and Dallas trampled the Giants Sunday, running 77 plays for an 8.3-yard average and passing for 472 yards. They held the ball for more than 37 minutes, had 32 first downs and converted 6 of 12 third-down opportunities.
STOCK UP
QB Tommy DeVito. The undrafted free agent who still lives at home with his family in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, survived his first start. He was 14 of 27 for 86 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He ran seven times for 41 yards. More important, he got the team in and out of the huddle in the very hostile AT&T Stadium.
STOCK DOWN
The entire organization. This year has been a disaster and things have the potential to get worse with a lot of players yapping. The Giants need to show they can just be competitive.
INJURIES
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux and WR Jalin Hyatt sustained concussions. Cornerbacks Deonte Banks (ankle) and Cor’Dale Flott (shoulder) were hurt in the first half and did not return. Flott had his first career interception, one of two by New York. Darnay Holmes had the other.
KEY NUMBER
640 — Total yards by the Cowboys on Sunday. It’s the second most allowed in a game by the Giants since they were founded in 1925. The Chicago Bears gained 682 yards in a 56-7 victory in 1943.
NEXT STEPS
The next few weeks might offer the Giants a glimmer of hope. One of their two wins was against Washington, and they face the Commanders (4-6) again, followed by the Patriots (2-8). Then they get their bye week.
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