With a 2-3 record, three straight losses and a two-game deficit to the Cowboys in the NFC East standings, the Giants are ostensibly facing a must-win game in hosting the 3-2 Ravens.
But it’s only a must-win game if the Giants are going to get it together and turn themselves into a playoff team that can play well into January. If they’re going to just piddle along and be a .500 team, then a loss here would keep the team on target. Next week they face the Rams and Jeff “Mr. 7-9” Fisher, so a loss to the Ravens and a win against Los Angeles would have the Giants sitting at 3-4 entering the bye week.
Hurray.
Woot, woot.
I’m done selling this team as Super Bowl aspirants. Teammates spent the week not throwing Eli Manning under the bus, which tells you a lot about the Giants –- a team whose quarterback has a rich pedigree and who will be given the benefit of the doubt if his career slides into mediocrity.
Manning is a future Hall of Famer and a two-time Super Bowl MVP. When he’s not winning title games against New England, he’s the steward of a mediocre franchise. The Giants have missed the playoffs the last four seasons.
Not an organization that typically makes a splash in free agency – akin to the Steelers and Packers in their commitment to developing home-grown talent – the Giants went out this past winter and dropped the gross domestic product of Iceland to acquire free agents Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins and Snacks Harrison.
Have they been disappointments? No. They’ve all played extremely well. Vernon grades out as one of the top edge defenders in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Jenkins had two interceptions of Aaron Rodgers last week, which Manning and the Giants’ offense turned into squat.
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The Giants aren’t bad. They’re just unexceptional. A bad team gets blown out on the road against Green Bay. The Giants only lost by seven (and covered the spread, so thanks for that). The offense, which was explosive last year, is just dull and inefficient. Slants underneath to Beckham. No running game. Missed passes to wide open tight ends down the seam. A fumble by Eli. We’ve all seen this team. It’s the same Giants team that occasionally beats a great team, but more often than not plays down to the level of its competition.
A Giants team that has Super Bowl aspirations would steamroll a mediocre team like Baltimore at home. A Giants team that will probably hover around .500 all season – leaving people to wonder if Eli is washed up – will play a close game against the Ravens.
It’s time to figure out what kind of team we have with the 2016 Giants.
