For the third time in four games, the New York Giants were lambasted by a superior opponent on national television.
Monday night's 24-3 shellacking at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium was a cacophony of Big Blue sadness. The offense gave up 11 sacks, and Daniel Jones turned it over thrice. The defense whiffed on crucial tackles. The special teams earned a laughable six penalties.
In four games, the Giants have played two solid quarters. The other 14 have been abysmal. New York has been outscored 77-9 in first halves this season with zero touchdowns. In two home games -- both in primetime -- Giants fans have watched their club get outscored 64-3.
"I'd be upset too if I was a fan," head coach Brian Daboll said after the game, via the official transcript. "There's a lot of things we've got to do better, and that's what we'll try to do."
Oh, they're upset, Brian.
It's not just that the losses mount. It's the unhinged, deplorable nature of said defeats that have Giants fans waking up in a brew of rage, sadness and bewilderment.
The Giants paid Jones $40 million annually and have seen a negative return thus far. It's fair to point out that the blocking has been atrocious and that few could navigate having to make plays with .025 seconds to think. Yet, even when Jones did have time on Monday, he rarely hit his target, fled from some clean pockets out of fear anticipation, and his three turnovers were of the ghastly variety.
"I mean obviously I didn't play well enough," Jones said. "It was unacceptable and I let the team down, so I've got to fix it. I've got to work hard to get it right and I'm going to do that."
$40 million quarterbacks are supposed to raise the boats around them, not sink alongside the dead weight. Through four weeks, out of 34 qualified QBs in the NFL, Jones ranks 26th in pass yards per game (191.3), 33rd in passer rating (69.7), 33rd in times sacked (22), and 34th in TD-INT ratio (2-6).
Monday night's early fumble harkened back to Jones' early-career fumbling issues, and his pick-six, which killed any thought of a comeback, was a piss-poor decision and throw.
"My play wasn't good enough. I know that, and that's what I'm focused on," Jones reiterated.
Tight end Darren Waller would agree that the entire offense was lost in the woods.
"The offense is just not good enough in all facets," he said. "I don't even have anything to really say. It's just not good enough."
The Giants became the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to have three or fewer total pts in their first two home games of a season, joining the 1980 Washington, 1977 Tampa Bay, and 1975 San Diego teams (all missed playoffs).
"Yeah, it could definitely go sideways," Giants safety Xavier McKinney said after the game. "I've been a part of a team where it has gone sideways. I do understand this league, it's tough and you've got to be able to respond quickly or it could go south, but like I've said from the beginning, I believe in the guys that we've got in this locker room, I believe in the coaches that we have and at the end of the day, we've just got to play better, we've got to play more complementary football and that's what it is."
Things get no easier for Big Blue, with games against the Miami Dolphins (3-1) and Buffalo Bills (3-1) in another prime-time tilt on tap.
After a surprising playoff appearance in Year 1 of the Daboll/Joe Schoen rebuild, the Giants must improve their play in a hurry, or they'll be out of the race before Halloween.
