For the fleeting highs and many lows of this NFL season, the Giants had a tattered, dogeared ace up their sleeve.
Big Blue was at least better than Gang Green.
But we were fooled. Duped. Hoodwinked. Bamboozled.
In the one chance the Giants had the chance to be the team of record, and the team with the better record, they lost to the laughably bad Jets, 34-27. It was quite entertaining for the Jets, and quite sobering for the Giants. Jets QB Sam Darnold, who had tossed nine picks in five games this autumn, threw none against the Giants sagging secondary.
And while you expect Daniel Jones to lead the G-Men in passing, he also led the team in rushing, with 20 yards on the ground. Saquon Barkley had one yard on 13 carries, looking more hobbled by the week. The all-world halfback averaged 0.1 yards per rush. In fact, Darnold ran for more yards (25) than the Giants totaled as a team (23).
And this eyesore of a score comes on the heels of Pat Shurmur's fire and brimstone sermon to the team, during which he gave his troops the dire warning to step up or they would not play here. The Mara family is not prone to impatience, or to spastic fits of firing coaches, but Shurmur's seat has to at least be warm, especially after a loss to their MetLife bunkmates. Shurmur is now 17-42 as an NFL head coach, and 7-19 with Big Blue.
So, the Giants respond to Shurmur's call to arms by allowing the Jets to score 34 points, by far the most they've scored all season. Entering the game, the Jets averaged the fewest points per game, were 31st in rushing offense, and were 32nd (out of 32 NFL teams) in passing offense.
Sure, Daniel Jones played up to his Danny Dimes sobriquet, tossing four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Jones also leads the planet in fumbles, and allowed Jamal Adams to stroll up, rip the ball from his bosom, and dash 25 yards into the end zone.
Darius Slayton, who snagged two TD passes, is looking more like a top-flight wideout. And Golden Tate is playing like the young Detroit Lion fresh out of Notre Dame. But the running game must be the foundation of this team, and Barkley has regressed with troubling regularity. Whether it's the lingering pain of his high ankle sprain or another aching limb, he clearly doesn't have a fraction of last year's traction.
The Jets can't beat the Dolphins, but they look like the 1984 49ers against the Giants, darting out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. It's a familiar hole for the Giants, who also spotted two TDs to the Cardinals and Lions before making a reasonable run and ending with a respectable (but losing) score. And like the other games, the Giants made a cosmetic comeback before the mighty Jets pulled away, posting the game's final ten points in the fourth quarter.
On some level, you understand the spin and desperately sunny outlook for their rookie QB. Jones has been a diamond in this dumpster of a football team. And a young team can take some shelter under the umbrella of rebuilding. But no matter how we massage the message, the Giants are 2-8, losers of six straight, and battling the hapless Redskins for last place in the NFC East, flatlining and free-falling toward another top-five draft pick.
At least the Giants can still say they're not the Jets. They're worse.
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