Game #5: Giants

Jimmy Patton (20), Alex Webster (29), and Ray Wietecha (55) leave the field at Yankee Stadium circa 1956. The Giants had played at the Polo Grounds from their inception in 1925 though the 1955 season. They would play in Yankee Stadium from 1956-1973 before moving out of the city. Two years at the old Yale Bowl followed by a year at Shea Stadium took place before the new Giants Stadium in New Jersey was ready. The Burgundy and Gold would find Yankee Stadium to be a house of horrors going 3-10-1 in games there.

For a season still quite young this one has had a “Close but no cigar” game, a real downer, followed by a major upset win, only to be followed by another real downer. That’s a lot of whiplash for only four games. Yet, a win today could put the WFT right into the mix of a Division race unlike what was envisioned. A loss probably cements things to the cellar for at least the next month. It’s that stark of a dichotomy.

NFC (L)east

Pre-season predictions are often comical if revisited during and after the season. For this year the Eagles were supposed to easily win their fourth Division Championship in six-years. They may still win it. But, the “easily” part is gone. Philly has lost their last two-games. Losing to the Rams is not a mark of shame. The Rams, despite some mis-firings of their own are still a solid Super Bowl contender. The Eagles do not appear to be at the moment. Trading away AJ Brown brought an epoch of futility to the Tennessee Titans. When Howie Roseman traded away Brown this spring did he wonder if it would do the same to his Eagles?

In 2024 the passing game of Philadelphia was moribund for most of the season. Saquon Barkley behind that impressive Offensive Line carried the freight. The passing game should not have been struggling with Brown on one side, DeVonte Smith on the other, and Dallas Goedert from the Tight End position. But, it did until late in the season when everything gelled. Timing matters. That team that went to the Super Bowl was in top form. This year’s version looks nothing like it.

Saquon was not getting the ball enough. Without Brown as a default outlet Jaylen Hurts looks lost. Now Barkley is hurt, Smith is hurt, and the once incredible Offensive Line is evaporating. Landon Dickerson, the stand-out Guard is on Injured Reserve. This week All-World Right Tackle Lane Johnson retired after four-weeks of season. The next day the team traded away Cam Jurgens. Cam was an outstanding Center. But, the team moved him to Guard. Baltimore needed a Center having lost Loudermilk in the off-season only to lose more bodies once the season started. The “New” Line may evolve into what the old one was. “May” is the operative word. In the meantime it’s a poor unit. And, the studs up front on Defense aren’t doing much either.

All in all, Philly is in a funk. Tissues are strictly optional.

Them Cowboys sure are something, eh? They got punked on Thursday by a previously winless team starting an undrafted Rookie Quarterback…at home. It wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Tampa seemingly scored a touchdown that would have put them up 3-TDs only for the Officials to rule the ball short of the End Zone. That adds to the pile of evidence for the conspiracy theorists. The Tampa Coach Todd Bowles, a favorite punching bag for the Bucs’ faithful, skipped the chip shot Field Goal. He got roasted for it. But, he came out with the win. It’s the Cowboys who got really roasted.

Dallas’ Offensive Line is not particularly good. Todd Bowles dials up blitzes on a steady basis. Dak had pressure all night. Cee Dee Lamb caught 17-balls against Houston a week ago. This week he caught all of 2. He’s injured. (Who isn’t?) The Run Game isn’t there. Dallas ran only 13-times for 50-yards, 1-TD. Tampa ran the ball 39-times for 241-yards and 2-TDs. Did we mention that Dallas’ supposedly improved Defense is not really improved at all? Yes, it’s bad. As Dallas is wont to do it made a splash trading for Joey Porter Jr from the Steelers. Joey will be an improvement to the Secondary. He wasn’t on Thursday as some form of stomach malady kept him out of the game. Last seen he was headed to his car before the game with an assistant holding a trash can at the ready. Some 3-hours later most of the Dallas faithful in attendance were looking for hurl cans of their own.

“If you live in hope, you’ll die in despair.”
Sam Huff

Both of those two teams could find their form. Certainly the local hope here is that this team can find its form. That’s three teams settling in on hope as a strategy. The late Sam Huff used to say, “If you live in hope, you’ll die in despair.”

The fourth team of the Division has transcended all of that. Giants’ fans are researching Super Bowl packages. Quick to despondency and even quicker to cocky jubilance the Giants’ faithful are nothing if not consistently mercurial.

Big Blue

New York media has already submitted John Harbaugh as a candidate for canonization. Four weeks may seem premature to some. But, not for that crew. The Giants have been a hot mess for a while. The Owner has a favorite surrogate son in General Manager Joe Schoen. The team had gone 24-45-1 in his tenure before this year. Nine of those wins came in the first season when he had a Running Back named Saquon Barkley. Shoen let him leave the building when he could have hung a Franchise Tag on him. General Managers don’t survive that type of fatal error. Except Joe Schoen did. Shoen hired Head Coaches that were case studies for the Peter Principle. Repeat: GM’s don’t survive that sort of thing. Joe Schoen did.

So, when the Ravens fired John Harbaugh the Giants were eager to land him. The rub was power distribution. In Baltimore the Front Office held sway over personnel. Harbaugh wanted the keys to the personnel decisions. John joins a long list of Coaches that think they should have that power. It works…sometimes. Most times it doesn’t. The span of control is too large for all but the rarest of people. Think Andy Reid. For others things go south. Think Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, and Ron Rivera. The Giants gave John what he wanted. But, they kept Joe Schoen.

John Harbaugh is an excellent Head Coach. Just having him in that role alone was going to be an upgrade from Brian Daboll and the other unfortunates that have held that title lately. Just getting that team on a professional footing was going to be an upgrade. Nothing so far has been a surprise. They may well go on to win the Division. But, this is not a team to be confused with any of the three top dog squads in the NFC West.

The Starting QB is out for the year. That would not have been a surprise given his reckless play style. But, he was hurt while in the pocket. Backup Jameis Winston has won his starts. He can be brilliant and inept in the same Quarter. He’s rarely mediocre. He’ll light it up and then snuff it out in one series. He’s known as a goof. Teammates say that’s not the case when it comes to football. He’s as nose-to-the-grindstone as any of them.

Offensively they are mid to late-mid pack. It’s the Defense that is the worry this week. Even though Brian Burns is lost to injury the team is stacked at Linebacker. So, Brian Burns is out. He was drafted #16 overall. Look at who is left: Abdul Carter drafted 3rd overall; Arvell Reese was drafted #5 overall; and Kayvon Thibodeaux was drafted 5th overall. That is some Linebacker Room! Thibodeaux has been a particular thorn in the WFT’s side. For some reason he seems to have big games against the local side. This past winter he was supposedly on the trading block. Wiser heads apparently prevailed.

This game comes down to Pass Protection for Washington. With Stefon Diggs out the coverage is going to slide to Terry McLaurin. He missed last week’s game. And, he was on the injury report this week along with about one-half of the team. Terry’s status is “Questionable.” If he doesn’t go then the Giants’ can play 2-deep Safety and blitz their brains out. Until and unless the Tight End Room awakens there’s little there to discourage it.

Nervous?

No, not about the game. Are you nervous for Jayden Daniels? It wasn’t totally joyous news that he will be playing this week. Some trepidation comes with it. IF that elbow pops out again he’s lost to surgery for the rest of the season. The downward spiral only picks up speed after that. It’s hard to overstate how much howling and insult hurling will be coming if that happens. Those who insist on oil-changing the Afterguard every 3-years at most (The New York J E T S, Jets, Jets, Jets’ operating model) will quite possibly get their wish. It’s a very dark vector on the algorithm.

Or, JD5 could come out on fire and be just ducky the rest of the way. We’ll have to watch and see.

Impacts

This isn’t a must-win. It’s almost bigger than that. Giving the Giants a two-game lead in the Division would be hard to overcome for the rest of the Division. Especially since Washington would be a full 3-games back. Dallas has already lost this week. Philly plays a silly London game at 9:30 a.m. EDT. (If that same crew is announcing the Mute buttons are going to get a workout.) So, by kickoff time at 1:00 p.m. EDT the story will be known. Will the Giants go to 4-1? Or will they only be one-game clear of the pack of three teams sitting at 2-3?

If you’re looking for a positive sign the weather is supposed to resemble what was on display during the Seattle game. Take it and run with it. This team is so horribly beat up that a win would really be something.