FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In what feels like a lifetime ago, the Giants were winning legendary Super Bowls against the Patriots. This once proud franchise has since lost its way. It’s been left bruised and beaten, throwing head coaches and general managers overboard like a rudderless ship stuck in the abyss of an ocean.
The blueprint that the Giants hope to emulate one day was on display Monday night at Gillette Stadium. But there’s no telling when that day will come.
New England continued one of the fastest turnarounds in NFL history by whipping around New York, 33-15, for its league-leading 11th win after going 4-13 last season.
As for the 2-11 Giants? It’s crystal clear that ownership’s half measure from three weeks ago, when it fired the head coach but retained the general manager, simply will not suffice.
“We felt great coming into the week and had a great week of practice,” wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. “Just didn’t execute enough.”
Interim replacements at head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator have not stopped this broken record.
This is a shoddy roster, one which blew fourth-quarter leads against the Packers and Lions before the bottom fell out against the Patriots. It was the team’s seventh straight loss and franchise-record 13th straight road loss since last season.
Here’s a recap of what transpired in the first half alone, when the Giants allowed 30 points for the first time in 16 years:
Outside linebacker Abdul Carter, the No. 3 pick in this year’s NFL Draft, was benched for the first quarter after reportedly violating a team rule.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart, who just returned from a concussion after missing two games, ran down the sideline and failed to get out of bounds before absorbing a vicious tackle that knocked him sideways and onto his shoulder.
Kicker Younghoe Koo slipped on a field-goal attempt, resulting in a sack.
And just to name a few other debacles: The Giants’ special teams allowed a 94-yard kickoff return, cornerback Paulson Adebo blew the coverage on a 33-yard touchdown pass, and wide receiver Gunner Olszewski fumbled a kickoff.
It was a circus act that few teams are capable of performing like the Giants, who now have a pathetic 20-43-1 record in four seasons under GM Joe Schoen’s leadership.
It’s important to address Carter and Dart because these are concerning infractions for players who are considered franchise cornerstones.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka offered no explanation for what led to him benching Carter for the second time in three weeks other than “based on how he looked during the week.” He wouldn’t confirm reports that Carter missed a team event during the week, and he refused to even reprimand Carter for making a mistake.
“S—t happens,” Carter said, refusing to divulge specifics but also acknowledging that it was “sickening” and he “let the team down” because the Patriots scored 17 points with him off the field.
But this is a rookie who has struggled to live up to his draft billing with only 1.5 sacks in 13 games, so these disciplinary issues cast some doubt on his career.
As for Dart, he showed an alarming level of defiance when asked about his aggressive running style.
“I played like this my whole life,” he said. “Turn on my high school tape, turn on my college tape, it’s not a shocker to anybody. It’s how I’ve played. I felt like if you just watch the game, I did slide. I did avoid a lot of hits, so you’re going to get hit. It’s football.”
But these are NFL defenders, not high school defenders, and the big hit that he took on Monday while trying to scramble 13 yards for a first down came in the first quarter … just days after his interim offensive coordinator highlighted that “a yard with 12 minutes to go in the first quarter is a little bit different than a yard to go with 10 seconds to go in the game.”
Meanwhile, the Patriots rolled to their 10th straight win despite losing their starting left tackle and left guard to injuries last week. They had narrowly beaten nonplayoff teams like the Falcons and the Bengals in recent games and were dealing with red-zone struggles in particular.
The Giants were seemingly catching them at the perfect time. It was a prime opportunity to snap their losing streak with Dart back in the lineup, to remind the world in primetime that the NFL is all about parity.
But the Giants have been disappointing their fans for nearly all of the past decade, and Monday was no exception.
So it begs the question as the Giants enter their bye week: What leg does Schoen have to stand on?
The last chance at a signature win this season has vanished as the Giants will end their schedule with four mediocre-to-bad opponents.
Ownership operated with the premise that head coach Brian Daboll was to blame for wasting Schoen’s roster. John Mara deemed it to be “a good young nucleus of talent.” But it’s regressing — not getting better — with Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen no longer employed.
No matter what happens in the final month of the season, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch must undergo extensive soul-searching. They have no choice but to start over again with yet another regime and hope their franchise can finally emerge from the darkness.
Maybe then the Giants can resume their once epic rivalry with the Patriots.
Greg Johnson covers the New York Giants and NFL for MediaNews Group. Reach him at gjohnson@trentonian.com.
