Comeback victories get the headlines. Losses when trailing from start to finish get the punch lines. This is no joking matter for the Giants.
In the four-game losing streak that leaves them at 2-6 at mid-season, the Giants did not hold a lead in any of the losses. Not for a second, not for a minute, not in the first quarter or the fourth quarter. Not even by a single point.
This is not good. Once the Giants get behind, they stay behind. The defense looks especially vulnerable early in games, taking too long to adjust to what is transpiring on the field and only after putting the Giants behind on the scoreboard. Not having Saquon Barkley in the first two losses in this slide cost the offense the large bulk of its rushing attack and a one-dimensional approach is not conducive to success with a rookie quarterback.
The Giants made some history when they trailed 14-0 after one quarter in a 31-26 loss to the Lions in Detroit. It was the same deficit they faced a week earlier after the first quarter against the Cardinals. This was the first time in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Giants ever trailed by at least 14 points after one quarter in back-to-back games. That is startling — it does not seem to be such a rarity, does it? — and an indictment of how poorly have started the past two games.
The losing streak started against the Vikings; the Giants trailed 10-0 five seconds into the second quarter. Next up, the Giants were down 14-0 in New England midway through the second quarter. Then came consecutive 14-0 holes after one quarter.
“It’s been three weeks of the same thing,” safety Jabrill Peppers said, leaving off one of the weeks of slow starts. “Not coming out as hot as we can and try to claw and fight our way back in it. Not making enough plays, not executing enough. And then when we find ourselves in crunch time, where now we got to claw and fight back instead of putting the pressure on the other team, that changes the whole dynamic of the game.’’
Yes, it changes everything. Teams fighting to get even have a desperate quality to their play. Teams operating with a lead can take less risk on offense and on defense can feast on the desperation of the opposing offense.
Asked to verbalize who the Giants are right now, tight end Evan Engram said, “We are a team that has to look in the mirror and get back to work. We are going to keep fighting, I have no doubt, no second-guessing anybody in this locker room. That’s our identity. We are going to keep competing until the final whistle blows.”
That’s fine. However, the Giants need to compete far better once the first whistle blows.
Coach Pat Shurmur continues to preach his team is practicing hard and well. Something is not translating on game days. It is vogue to say Shurmur does not have his team “ready to play” at kickoff. That is not a good look for a coach and his staff. The only way to disprove this opinion is to actually take a lead and hold a lead one of these weeks.
More rumblings out of loss No. 6 for the Giants:
— A few things about players-only meetings: Calling for them is fine but announcing them before they take place is a bit off. The instigators of Monday’s meeting were players on defense, with Peppers the most vocal advocate of talking things over. Also, keeping the coaches out of the room is not an indictment of the coaching staff. It is not as if the Giants are saying here “We can figure this out without the coaches.” More so, it is a sign the players care enough to get it right and realize it is on them, and not their coaches, to get it done. No doubt, Shurmur is pleased about this accountability in his players.
— When right tackle Mike Remmers was knocked around and had to come out for one snap, he was replaced by backup Nick Gates. It was the first time all season the offensive line did not have all five starters on the field. Continuity on the line is always essential and too many moving parts along the line is always detrimental. The remarkable durability of Remmers, Kevin Zeitler, Jon Halapio, Will Hernandez and Nate Solder is commendable. Now the unit has to perform better as it stays on the field together.
—The Giants committed only one turnover against the Lions – Daniel Jones’ ugly backwards pass – and now have 19 turnovers in eight games. They had 19 turnovers the entire 2018 season when the finished 5-11. Giving the ball away was one of the few areas that was not a problem last season.
— Jones is the third rookie quarterback in franchise history to fire four touchdown passes in a game, the first one in 53 years. Charlie Conerly did it in 1958 vs. the Chicago Cardinals and Tom Kennedy did it in 1966 vs. the Steelers. Conerly and Kennedy lost their games, and so did Jones, proving that tossing scoring passes is not always the answer.
— The Daniel Jones to Darius Slayton connection is real and it is impressive. These two rookies got in sync in the summer and carried it into the real season. Once he got healthy, Slayton soared up the depth chart and is now firmly entrenched as the No. 3 receiver, right behind starters Sterling Shepard (he should be cleared this week from the concussion protocol) and Golden Tate. Slayton was on the field for 62 of the 74 offensive snaps in Detroit and both of his touchdown grabs were a combination of grace and skill. Even when Slayton was on the shelf with a strained hamstring in training camp he made a positive statement about himself with the way he expressed himself, a blend of humility and confidence. It shows in everything he has done to this point. Hauling in two scoring passes was a significant contribution, but they were the only two catches Slayton had in the game and he did drop what should have been an easy catch near the left sideline. Slayton seemed to be thinking more about that than his exploits afterward.
“I mean, I am just out there trying to help my team win,” Slayton said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make enough to win today, but I guess, just did a solid job.”
— Another week, another loss and more grumpiness from Shurmur. Nobody is expecting all smiles and sunshine as he gets grilled after his team is defeated, but there is a give-and-take that an experienced coach such as Shurmur must expect, tolerate and deal with.
It goes like this: He gets asked about specific developments and plays in the game and he is required to respond to the best of his ability. After losses, many of the inquiries are about plays gone wrong. The flea-flicker throwback pass executed perfectly by the Lions resulted in a 41-yard touchdown hookup from Matt Stafford to Kenny Golladay. Shurmur does not have to call out the guilty parties on defense but he needs to be able to muster up more than this: “What about it? It was a throw-back, right? It was a throw-back and [Antoine] Bethea was in coverage. He was just behind. That’s what happened.”
— Linebacker Deone Bucannon made his Giants debut, getting 11 snaps when the defense was in the nickel package. During his time in Arizona, Bucannon was solid in coverage but in his first game with his new team he was subbed off the field on third-and-long, obviously passing situations. Moving forward, expect him to be on the field in those spots.