We’ve come to learn now, as this Giants season has unfolded into a series of disappointing results, that their 2022 success was a bit of a mirage — a ride powered by good coaching, good health and some good breaks.
The Giants — despite the 9-7-1 record, playoff berth and first postseason victory since the 2011 season — clearly were not as good as the results may have suggested. They were ahead of the schedule head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen had set when they were hired before the season to rebuild the team.
Sometimes, what goes around comes around.
And this season, which is on pause this week with the team’s bye, has been the polar opposite to 2023.
These Giants, 4-8 despite the two-game winning streak they took into the bye week, are not as bad as the results would indicate. You may not want to hear this, but it’s fact.
They are a couple of gaffes in two games away from being 6-6 right now, which would be a remarkable feat considering the injuries they’ve endured.
Had backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor not audibled from a pass play to a run play that failed from the Bills 1-yard line at the end of the first half in Buffalo with no timeouts, the Giants kick a field goal and go up 9-0 and probably upset the Bills. Instead, time ran out, they got no points and lost 14-9, sitting on the 1-yard line at the end of the game again without scoring.
Had kicker Graham Gano made a 35-yard field goal to give the Giants a six-point lead with 28 seconds remaining in the game and the Jets with no timeouts, the Giants likely don’t lose 13-10 in overtime.
If the Giants win those two games, they’d currently be in contention for a wild-card playoff berth while playing their third-string quarterback and having played nine different offensive line starting lineups and 21 different combinations in 12 games.
Given the rash of injuries that have sabotaged their quarterback situation and offensive line, they have had little chance to remain in contention and duplicate their 2023 success.
Starting QB Daniel Jones, after missing three games with a neck injury, was lost for the season with a torn ACL with eight games remaining in the season. Then Taylor, the veteran backup, suffered a rib cage injury in Week 8 against the Jets and has missed the past four games.
That has left undrafted rookie free agent Tommy DeVito playing the past four games, starting the past three and winning the past two.
With injuries to both starting tackles, Andrew Thomas on the left and Evan Neal on the right, the guard position uprooted with injuries and rookie center John Michael Schmitz out three games due to injury, the Giants have struggled mightily to find any continuity on the offensive line.
There have been some lopsided results, which have angered Giants fans, and understandably so. But when you take a deeper dive into the past two seasons and look at the Giants losses, you’ll find that, for the most part, they’ve struggled against good teams.
Of the 16 games they have lost under the watch of Daboll and Schoen, nine of them have come against the Eagles, Cowboys and Seahawks — all 2022 playoff teams.
Philadelphia, which has defeated the Giants three times, finished 14-3 last season and was the Super Bowl runner-up. The Eagles, whom the Giants still have to play twice in the final five games this season, have the league-best record (10-1) at the moment. Dallas finished 12-5 last season. Seattle was 9-8 in ’22 and went to the playoffs and is 6-5 this season.
The Giants this season have lost twice to the Cowboys, and once to the 49ers and Dolphins — all of whom are 8-3.
“We’ve had some injuries,’’ Schoen said. “We’ve just got to continue to build the depth and we’ve got to continue to build the team all around so when injuries do occur, we can overcome those and still be competitive when injuries happen. It just takes time. It takes a couple offseasons. It takes a few drafts to build it the right way.
“Trust me, it hurts when you lose and you’re 4-8 and it’s not fun, but you don’t want to lose sight of the big picture and the proper way to build the roster and that’s what we’ve got to stay focused on.’’
When things are going great (2022), it’s often never as great as it seems. And when things go badly (2023), it’s often not as bad as it seems. This is what the Giants will cling to as they embark on their final five games.
They’ll cling to reality.
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