Giants keep trying to re-write the script, but the ending keeps turning out the same way

There is little positive to highlight this week

This might as well be Tales from the Crypt; at least that show was mildly entertaining. The New York Giants appear helpless.

Not only is New York football lost, but former captains of the Giants are having career years:

I’m not insinuating that GM Joe Schoen made a mistake in not signing either player, but it’s evident that both players have been better away from the Giants. Neither Barkley nor McKinney would have saved the 2024 Giants, although they may have brought stability to the locker room, specifically the former.

Why can’t players reach their potential in blue? Since forcing Tom Coughlin into retirement, New York has desperately sought a head coach.

The conclusion of the Ben McAdoo fiasco provided the Giants an opportunity to start anew. Instead, they hired a familiar face to band-aid a problem that needed surgery. Dave Gettleman and the Giants struggled to turn the page.

Former general manager Jerry Reese left Gettleman with little talent and few hog-mollies. Gettleman tried to spackle the roster with free agents and trade acquisitions, but the losses kept mounting. Unfortunately, Gettleman’s tenure left Joe Schoen in a similar situation — little talent and few hog-mollies.

John Mara does not want to run an organization that cycles through head coaches and general managers, but stability has evaded the Giants, and it appears that the current Giants’ locker room is a powder keg set to explode.

Hiring Schoen and Brian Daboll ostensibly presented a new era of New York Giants football. They both helped steer the Buffalo Bills toward success. They were both highly esteemed from outside the organization, giving the Giants a fresh perspective.

Schoen was gifted two picks in the top seven and four in the top 81. Schoen sought to fix the cap mistakes of previous regimes and declined Daniel Jones’ fifth-year option. Many of us believed the loosening of the tenuous tourniquet would finally commence, and the Giants would finally bleed out the old and start afresh.

Unexpectedly, the Giants won a playoff game and redirected their future based on the 2022 season. Most decisions thereafter have failed. The Giants are 8-20 since 2022; they started each of the last two seasons 2-8. Enjoying November football is a luxury not provided by the New York Giants, and the ire of fans is palpable.

Mara reinforced Schoen and Daboll’s job security one month ago when the Giants were struggling. However, the foundation of that reinforcement has eroded over the past few weeks, especially for the head coach:

It’s never good when a player throws his coach under the bus. Still, Malik Nabers is frustrated by the persistent losing. I want players who want to win, players who hold others accountable for their shortcomings. Is there a more appropriate way to go about it — maybe — but who is to say those avenues weren’t already explored?

Nabers voicing his opinion is a symptom. It’s not the illness; losing is the illness. Winning is the cure. At the very least, placing your star players in a position to compete can numb the pain of losing.

Daboll has exhausted all scapegoats. There’s no one else to blame for an offense that averages 10 points in their winless six home games. Mike Kafka was removed as the play-caller in the off-season, and the offense looks completely inept. Daboll rolled the dice on his offensive abilities; he placed the burden on his shoulders, and now his reflection in the mirror is the only thing to point at.

Tales from the timeline

There’s not a lot of clips on the timeline. But, for what it’s worth, here are the ones that exist: