The New York Giants were an absolute train wreck last season even with a loaded roster of Odell Beckham, Brandon Marshall and a defense that was expected to be one of the best in the NFL. Instead, they started 0-6 and lost Odell for the year with a broken ankle. Let’s also remember that then-head coach Ben McAdoo decided to bench Eli Manning for Geno Smith. The day after, he along with Jerry Reese were both fired. This year, they hire Pat Shurmur, draft the best player in the draft in Saquon Barkley and in August, they signed Odell and made him the richest wide receiver in NFL history. The Giants struggles from last season have continued into this season and they are in last place in the NFC East with a record of 1-5. So once again, what’s the issue?
When I look at the Giants offense, there’s only been one guy that’s been consistent for them and that’s been the rookie, Saquon Barkley. Each week, he seems to be the only one that’s been showing up and giving some effort, I can’t say that about everyone else. So many seem to point the finger at Eli Manning and I get it because it truly starts and ends with the quarterback but to be perfectly honest, he’s not fully to blame for all of these struggles because he can’t protect himself on the offensive line and we’ve seen Eli take a lot of unnecessary hits, he can’t make every catch and he can’t make stops on defense. He’s put the Giants in some good positions where they’ve advanced into the red zone and even scored, then the defense says hold my drink and gives up the score to squander the lead and the perfect example I think of is their game against the Carolina Panthers a few weeks ago. It was a back and forth affair between the two teams and Eli got them down the field and the Giants offense even scored 31 points, their most in quite some time. They still lost in heartbreaking fashion and they were also embarrassed by the Eagles.
Another issue I have with the Giants is the actions of Odell Beckham Jr. You’re basically the face of the franchise now and you continue to act like a two-year-old when you don’t get your way. He’s known to let people get under his skin at times and he can throw tantrums on the sidelines but what really disappointed and angered me was how he left for the locker room before it was halftime. He’s a superstar and a good portion of his following are young children so when they see someone who they admire conducting himself in this manner, they will think it’s okay for them to do. You truly have to lead by example and he’s yet to do that. Then, there was the interview he conducted on Sunday NFL Countdown where he basically threw the team under the bus and I’ve always said no matter what’s going on with the team whether it’s good or bad, you NEVER allow the media in on your team business and if he had a problem, he should’ve addressed the team as a man. To say it’s a mess in East Rutherford is almost an understatement at this point.
