Big Blue is Worse Than Winless

Yeah, it’s possible. I mean, have you seen this team?

The New York Giants are off to an 0-4 start for the first time since 1987, and to be honest, we, as fans, really shouldn’t play the “it’ll turn around; we’ll be OK” game in 2013.

I won’t get into the weeds on this post and bog it down with data and statistics, but let’s take a look at why the Giants are so bad right now, and why we have no hope of it getting better.

It’s Bad:

- A quarter of the season is gone and the team is averaging 15.2 points a game. This is an offense with Eli Manning (two-time Super Bowl MVP), Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz. Yuck. No excuse to barely muster two touchdowns per contest.

- Two of the teams the Giants have lost to are a combined 3-4. In those games, the Giants gave up a total of 74 points.

- On the season, Big Blue has surrendered 146 points, or 36.5 per game. THAT’S INSANE.

- There is no running game to speak of. None. Sophomore running back David Wilson showed us some wonderful speed and overall talent late last season, but it’s hard to run with the ball WHEN YOU’RE LEAVING IT ON THE GROUND. Brandon Jacobs isn’t much of an asset, which I expected. I mean, he wasn’t good anymore when we let him go, and he did nothing during his stint in San Francisco. I was quite confused by the Blue faithful who got excited about his return. Sure, if you love seeing slow backs plunge for a yard on Third-and-goal from the 3, then he’s your guy. Not so much for me.

- Speaking of no running game, have you seen an offensive line this bad anywhere recently? They look like a chewed up speed bump. Eli’s been sacked like a ripe field of potatoes and while the running backs are battered and not so great, they can’t take all the blame.

It’s Not That Bad:

- Two of the teams that have beaten the Giants are undefeated – the Chiefs and Broncos. Side note: the Broncos are on a different level right now and there should be no shame in losing to them. To say the Giants only lost to them by 19 is a bit of a moral victory, no?

- The schedule still has games against hapless teams like the Redskins (twice) and Raiders, with two more games against the defenseless Eagles. So there’s room for wins. We hope.

- Eli keeps throwing the ball. And I like that. Let him throw 100 interceptions this year. He doesn’t care about it, so why should we? As long as the touchdowns passes are worth more than the interceptions, you can throw the ball all day long, Eli.

- We haven’t won yet, so when we do, it’ll be like a fun little party despite giving away a quarter of the season (at least).

- The line backing corps, a clear weakness at the start of the season and throughout the first three games, showed a little bit of an uptick against Kansas City. Of course, they let melted down into nothing in the second half, but they started off pretty strong. Which is better than any of the previous games.

Tom Coughlin looks lost and flustered, the defense tends to only be good on every other play. I addressed the major concerns with the offense above, but it goes much deeper than this.

The pros and cons of the team right now could go on forever, and I could write about them for just as long. But for now, I wanted to get some thoughts on paper (web paper?) and see what my fellow Big Blue brethren thought about the team.

There’s the comments section (just below). Fire away!