Two losses to start the NFL season. Two awful performances to start the year. That will get any fanbase cranky. That’s what the Jets fans, Bengals fans, Browns fans, 49ers fans, Colts fans, Chargers fans, Giants fans, Bears fans and Saints fans are going through right now.
It’s always fun to read Twitter and listen to that particular city’s sports radio when that NFL team goes 0-2 to start the year. The overreactions and piping hot takes can elicit a smile and a hearty laugh of a grown person.
Living in North Jersey, it’s been great hearing those smug Giants fans squirm about their team’s start. After hearing boasts about the Giants being a Super Bowl contender, it’s hilarious to hear Giants fans are giving up on their team for the season after TWO games. It shows they are frontrunners, and that they don’t understand the process of a long season.
Who knows how good the Giants are? They are not a Super Bowl contender, but they are not going to be a last place team as Giants fans are making them out to be. They will probably be mediocre at best this year. Think 7-9 or 8-8.
The Giants defense will be dominant this season. It could probably be in late October or November until they hit their stride, and that was the case last year. The Giants’ front four and their cornerbacks are too good to continue to be okay at best.
The Giants offense can’t be any worse, right? They still have playmakers that can be difference makers in Brandon Marshall, Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard and Rhett Ellison. We all know Odell Beckham Jr. will not be as bad as in his first game against the Lions, which he had four receptions for 36 yards in the Giants’ 24-10 loss to the Lions Monday night. They will get better.
Can’t say the same about the Giants offensive line, though. They are what they are. They are not good enough to block or manhandle defensive line. Ereck Flowers, John Jerry, Bobby Hart and Brett Jones are so awful that there is no upside. They are a lost cause. If Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas is available in a trade this year, maybe Giants general manager Jerry Reese won’t make the same mistake like last year when he had no interest in Thomas, who would have made the offensive line this much better.
But it does not mean the Giants offense will struggle all year despite an awful offensive line. Their offense did score points last year during their 11-win season. Teams such as the Seahawks, Lions and Texans have managed to win games despite offensive line deficiencies. It’s on the Giants to figure it out, and one has to think they will.
There is actually hope despite what the gloom and doom naysayers said about the Giants lately. The NFC East can still be winnable at 9-7. It’s not like the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins are any better. That’s why panicking after an 0-2 start is silly. The Giants can still beat their divisional rivals to get back in the NFC East race.
If the Giants beat the Eagles on Sunday, they are right in the middle of the race. That’s a big if since the Giants have struggled at Philadelphia for a long time, not to mention the Eagles will be playing in their home opener. Plus, Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will devise a great game plan to his defensive linemen destroy the struggling Giants offensive lineman.
But the Giants have been known to come up big when everyone counts them out, so we will see what happens on Sunday. Even if they lose this game, it’s not a lost cause, but it won’t be any easier with the Giants making cross-country trips to the West Coast this year.
The Giants are in a hole. It’s not a good place to be. But these guys are professionals, so they need to figure it out.
Make no mistake. If the Giants win on Sunday, the same Giants fans who said the season will be over will be saying this team is back as a Super Bowl contender. That’s how fans they are. They are fickle by reacting to the moment.
No one has to be happy to see the Giants at 0-2. Not when the team is playing awful on offense and decent on defense. But let’s have some perspective when saying season is over after two games.
Here’s hoping the Giants lose on Sunday because I have no interest in hearing from Giants fans about how their team is back when they have given up on them. Seeing them squirm has been a fun feeling.
Why ruin a good thing?
look great today.