ESPN offered the Giants playing Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccanneers on Monday night in Week 8, and the network will offer the Jets playing the New England Patriots on Monday night to finish up Week 9.
Yes, Brady and the Patriots serve as the main attractions for the national viewers, but they also have to see two inept NFL teams that play in our town.
The Giants are 1-7 after a 25-23 loss to the Buccaneers, and the Jets continue their drive to a winless season by going 0-8 after a 35-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. At least, the nation can get some yucks for these Mondays.
The Giants put forward a competitive effort against the Bucs. In fact, they outplayed their counterpart in the first half. Brady struggled to connect to his receivers, and the Giants linebackers sacked him good. It sure seemed like old times when the Giants would own Brady.
But then Brady got into a groove by getting first downs and targeting Tyler Johnson and Rob Gronkowski, and before you know it, the Bucs took a 15-14 lead over the Giants in the third quarter. Then, everything fell apart for the Giants.
Daniel Jones could not generate anything on offense, and the defense looked tired from being on the field for so long after Jones went through so many quick three and outs. Jones’ interception set up a Buccaneers’ six-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that Brady completed with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, giving the Buccaneers a 22-17 lead in the fourth quarter.
Once again, the opportunity presented itself for Jones to be a hero and have a signature moment the Giants and their fans yearn for with the help of Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians going for the field goal rather than go for it at first down to kill the clock. He struggled in the first few drives, but then he got into a rhythm where he got a couple of first downs. Those two first downs set the Giants quarterback to throw a touchdown to Golden Tate, making this a 25-23 game.
But in a typical Jones fashion, he fails to convert a two-point conversion after tantalizing what he could do when he is in a groove. In the end, Jones takes another loss.
The Giants boasted about Jones being a star. From watching him, he showed none of that so far. He plays like an inconsistent quarterback who has no clue how to play football. He constantly fumbles and throws interceptions. He knows how to lose more than how to win.
Here are the ugly numbers for Jones and the Giants: The Giants quarterback is 4-16, and the Giants are 13-44 since they last made the playoffs as a wild-card entrant against the Packers in 2016.
Looking at the schedule, the Giants could win at least one more game, and that’s this Sunday against the Washington football team. They look like a great candidate to get the No. 2 pick, which could be Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who would be an upgrade over Jones since he at least has an arm to throw.
It’s another year the Giants will miss the playoffs, and they likely will be hiring a new general manager after three disastrous years of Dave Gettleman building awful Giants teams.
Judge failed to inspire anyone as a coach with a 1-7 record. His teams lose, and they are often undisciplined by taking stupid penalties almost every game and making mistakes such as fumbling the ball.
This once-proud franchise has become a disgrace these last few years with an owner who is out-of-touch about today’s game and a general manager who is arrogant with no results to back it up.
Then, there’s the Jets. There’s nothing great about this team. They will be the favorites to go 0-16 since they have no talent on offense and defense. They traded Steve McClendon and Avery Williamson, and they released Le’Veon Bell. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold plays like a bust each passing week, and he knows his days could be over with the Jets since the team could draft Trevor Lawrence. Jets head coach Adam Gase knows he is going to be fired after this forgettable season ends. They can’t score based on them not throwing for a touchdown for the second straight week.
Shame on the NFL for featuring the Giants and Jets on primetime. Those two teams stunk these last few years, so they are not worthy of being on national television whatsoever. Of course, the league couldn’t foresee Jones and Darnold being this bad, too, but still, the records over the years spoke for itself.
The Jets and Giants have the first two picks in the NFL Draft, so that’s the only appeal they have nationally. The Jets should be a lock to get the No. 1 pick, and the Giants may have a great chance to get the No. 2 pick.
It’s the only thing we got going here.
A sad commentary in these times.
