To be fair, the Denver Broncos boast a very good defensive unit that should be able to carry the offense to a solid handful of wins throughout the 2021 season. But posting seven points through 59 minutes and 59 seconds of playing time — that went up to 13 points after a meaningless touchdown as time expired — isn't all that encouraging an effort, no matter who the defense is.
But that was the case for the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon, who couldn't generate much scoring and had trouble getting anything going on the ground. Their defense wasn't anything to write home about, either, letting Teddy Bridgewater, Melvin Gordon and company go off for 420 yards of total offense and 27 points.
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For former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, it signified the start of yet another season in which the Giants will come up short in a number of ways, and he didn't hold back when ripping several parts of the franchise on his "GM Shuffle" podcast, available on Audacy and embedded above.
"They can't evaluate their own players. They over-judge their own players. They're not good," Lombardi said. "They're not even good on D. Everybody thinks, 'well, we're good on defense,' — they gave up 420 yards! And that's with K.J. Hamler dropping a touchdown pass."
Lombardi went on to discuss how Jabrill Peppers was another weak spot of the defense, and Pro Football Focus backs up that claim. Peppers was given a 52.5 coverage grade by PFF this week, which ranked at No. 171 out of 232 eligible defenders (prior to Monday night).
Before too long, however, Lombardi's focus shifted over to the dismal offensive effort, taking Jason Garrett's system to task.
"There's no imagination. And Barkley's not ready to play yet," Lombardi said. "He had 10 carries for 26 yards, he has no juice in his lower body. Did anybody watch him practice?
"...Barkley and Booker had 14 carries for 33 yards. I mean, there's no design in the running game. The Clapper refuses to design a run game, this is just not a misdemeanor. But look, the Giants have been bad for five years. They're 28th in win percentage over the last five years, they're 26th over the last 10 years. This isn't just a one-time thing.
"John Mara is one of the nicest human beings on planet earth. Unfortunately, John Mara can't have an honest conversation about his organization or evaluate himself. That's just a problem. It's just a hard thing. He's loyal to people, he likes people. They're stuck in time. They can't get out of it. They won't change, and they think Garrett's a good coach! They think, because he went to Princeton, he's a great offensive mind — no he's not!
"It's one of the worst offenses to watch, and you're not helping the quarterback."
The Giants will look to turn it around in Week 2, but it's not going to be easy. With a short week of rest and another fearsome defensive unit on the horizon, Thursday night's matchup against the Washington Football Team could be another tough one to watch.
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