EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Giants co-owner John Mara declined to comment when asked about the airplane that flew above MetLife Stadium before Sunday’s 14-11 loss to the Saints carrying a personalized message directed at him.
“Mr. Mara enough — plz fix this dumpster fire,” read the banner towed by a small jet that circled the stadium during warmups before Mara’s team lost its eighth straight game. The Giants are 2-11 overall and 0-7 at home.
Circling MetLife stadium:
“Mr. Mara enough – Plz fix this dumpster fire” pic.twitter.com/gmI4ajWK0C
— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) December 8, 2024
Mara’s response to his franchise reaching “dumpster fire” status — again — will come when this miserable season reaches its merciful conclusion in four weeks. But Mara will have to endure two more home games to get to that point, giving creative fans more opportunities to voice their displeasure.
“I’d say look, we’ve won two games, so I’m not happy either,” coach Brian Daboll said when asked about the pregame aerial display.
The product on the field has been bad enough to put Daboll’s job in jeopardy two years after he was named NFL Coach of the Year. But off-field embarrassments like the plane stunt could push Mara to make drastic changes.
Sunday’s pregame scene drew an obvious parallel to another low point in franchise history. Fans famously rented an airplane to fly over Giants Stadium during a 1978 game towing a banner that read: “15 years of lousy football — we’ve had enough,” as the Giants were in the midst of a 17-year playoff drought.
The Giants experienced a revolutionary change after the 1978 season, as John Mara’s father, Wellington, and his cousin, Tim, were engaged in a bitter conflict that caused a stalemate on a general manager hire. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was forced to intercede, presenting George Young as a compromise candidate for the feuding Maras.
Wellington Mara relinquished control of football operations when Young took over. What followed was a 20-year run that restored the franchise’s glory with two Super Bowl titles.
Things aren’t quite that bleak now. The Giants’ most recent Super Bowl was 13 years ago. But they’ve only made the playoffs twice since then, and they have the second worst record in the NFL since 2017.
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With each loss it’s becoming harder for Mara justify his desire to maintain continuity with Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. This could be one of the Giants’ worst teams ever, which must hit Mara especially hard since this season was supposed to be a celebration of the franchise’s 100-year anniversary.
The Giants are averaging 14.9 points, which is the worst in the league, and their fifth-lowest season average in the Super Bowl era. They’re averaging just 10.1 points per game at home.
There were fans in attendance Sunday wearing paper bags over their heads while tickets were available for $1 on the secondary market in the hours leading up to kickoff. The brave souls who attended could at least claim they got their money’s worth, since the game ended in dramatic fashion with Graham Gano’s tying 35-yard field goal blocked with eight seconds remaining.
Giants fans really have been going through it pic.twitter.com/QsslC7ZU7n
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024
Daboll repeatedly referred to the outcome as disappointing, but that sentiment wasn’t shared by the many fans who have fixed their attention on the draft order. The Giants moved up to the No. 2 spot after the Jaguars won on Sunday to improve to 3-10.
Here are three more takeaways from the latest loss:
The replacements
This was the Giants’ defensive personnel for a fourth-quarter play: DL Elijah Chatman, DL Elijah Garcia, DL Cory Durden, OLB Tomon Fox, OLB Patrick Johnson, ILB Micah McFadden, ILB Darius Muasau, CB Adoree’ Jackson, CB Greg Stroman, S Jason Pinnock and S Dane Belton.
Five of those players weren’t on the Week 1 roster. Three of them weren’t on the 53-man roster a week ago.
With that in mind, it was an impressive defensive performance. The Giants’ beleaguered run defense limited Saints star Alvin Kamara to 44 yards on 17 carries. The Giants allowed 2.8 yards per carry after entering the game with a league-worst 5.1 yards per carry average allowed. The Giants had 13 tackles for a loss, led by linebacker Micah McFadden’s five TFLs.
That dominant run defense was a surprise considering defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (elbow), defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck/shoulder), defensive tackle DJ Davidson (shoulder) and linebacker Bobby Okereke (back) missed the game with injuries.
The Giants even got an interception from cornerback Tre Hawkins, who was only playing because starters Deonte Banks (rib), Cor’Dale Flott (quad/knee) and Dru Phillips (shoulder) were sidelined by injuries. Hawkins’ pick of a third-quarter deep ball from Derek Carr was just the Giants’ second interception of the season and their first since Week 1. It ended an NFL record 11-game streak without an interception.
Tre Hawkins III with the INT!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/hbD3tmQWhX
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 8, 2024
The offensive line was equally beat up. All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas has been out for weeks due to a season-ending foot injury. The next two options up at left tackle, Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) and Chris Hubbard (knee), were also sidelined Sunday. Then left guard Jon Runyan (ankle) and center John Michael Schmitz (neck) left during the game with injuries.
So the Giants had a line of LT Josh Ezeudu, LG Aaron Stinnie, C Greg Van Roten, RG Jake Kubas and RT Evan Neal to finish the game. Van Roten was the only Week 1 starter among that group, but Sunday was his first action of the season at center.
The downside of playing so many inexperienced players was felt on Sunday. Stroman, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, was flagged for a holding penalty that negated a 56-yard punt return touchdown by Ihmir Smith-Marsette in the second quarter. The Giants didn’t score on the possession.
Kubas was called for a personal foul after body-slamming Saints defensive end Payton Turner to erase a 48-yard field goal in the third quarter. Again, the Giants didn’t score after the points were wiped off the board.
Kubas went low on the game-tying field goal attempt, allowing Bryan Bresee to leap into the backfield to block Gano’s chip shot.
Hard to explain
Two weeks ago, Daboll announced the unconventional decision to leapfrog No. 2 quarterback Drew Lock for third-stringer Tommy DeVito after benching starter Daniel Jones. Daboll based the decision on extensive evaluation during the bye week.
DeVito had one uninspiring start in a 30-7 loss to the Buccaneers, then was sidelined by a forearm injury that opened the door for Lock to start in last week’s 27-20 loss to the Cowboys. With DeVito healthy this week, Daboll pivoted to Lock because he “did some good stuff in Dallas.” Daboll said he wanted to give Lock a full week of preparation for a start after the veteran was pressed into duty in a short week against Dallas.
It’s the latest example of this regime flying by the seat of its pants with decisions. The conviction about DeVito disappeared after one start. And if Lock is suddenly viewed as the better option, then it’s hard to explain why the staff jumped him in the order after watching him and DeVito every day in practice all season.
The awkwardness of the dynamic was illustrated in the third quarter when DeVito came in for one play. The crowd cheered as the hometown hero ran onto the field to hand off to running back Tyrone Tracy for a 1-yard gain. It was DeVito’s only snap on the game, as Lock returned on the next play to boos from the crowd.
Daboll said there were “a few plays” for DeVito in the game plan, but that was the only one they “got to.” It was bizarre to use DeVito for a standard zone-read play, especially because Lock is a more athletic runner.
Scrambling is the best part of Lock’s game. That makes sense because he plays on the verge of chaos, so he’s at his best when plays break down. Lock had 59 yards on five carries Sunday after gaining 57 yards on four carries in Dallas.
Lock could have had more yardage on the ground if he hadn’t made an inexplicable decision to cut toward defenders on a third-and-6 scramble in the third quarter. It appeared Lock could have had the first down if he simply kept running straight. The Giants then punted on fourth-and-4 from the Saints’ 45-yard line.
Lock failed to connect on his first eight attempts, with instant pressure on almost every dropback contributing to his inaccuracy. Continued drops from receivers also didn’t help.
Lock completed 21-of-49 passes for 227 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He made some plays late, particularly with rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers finally coming to life. Nabers had five catches for 79 yards, which was his highest yardage output since Week 4.
It will be interesting to see if Daboll sticks with Lock or changes course again. The offense only managed 11 points, and there are wild inconsistencies in Lock’s game.
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No offense
The obvious personnel limitations have been documented, but it’s hard to put a finger on what advantage Daboll is giving his team. He has been billed as an offensive guru, but the Giants can’t score.
The Giants started two drives at their 49-yard line and two drives at the Saints’ 48-yard line in the first half. They totaled three points on those drives.
Daboll’s fourth-down decisions were typically hard to decipher. He went for it on fourth-and-8 from New Orleans’ 36-yard line on the Giants’ opening possession. That ended in disaster as Lock committed intentional grounding to give the Saints the ball at New York’s 49-yard line after the turnover on downs.
That seemed to make Daboll gun shy. In subsequent first half possessions, the Giants punted on fourth-and-2 from the Saints’ 49-yard line, on fourth-and-4 from the Saints’ 42-yard line, on fourth-and-5 from the Saints’ 45-yard line and on fourth-and-5 from the Saints’ 44-yard line
The Giants committed 12 penalties for 112 yards a week after getting flagged 13 times for 98 yards in Dallas.
Daboll’s career record is now 17-29-1. He’s 10-27-1 since a 7-2 start to his first season. He was squaring off with interim coach Darren Rizzi because the Saints fired Dennis Allen in Week 10. Like Daboll, Allen was hired in 2022. He had an 18-25 record when he was fired.
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(Photo of Cory Durden: Elsa / Getty Images)
