Head coach Ben McAdoo says 0-4 Giants “can’t get numb”
One team was supposed to contend for a Super Bowl while the other would be lucky to get a win.
Before the season started, many thought the New York Giants would build on their 11-5 2016 and take the next step towards a fifth Lombardi Trophy. Their stadium mates, the New York Jets, were supposed to be looking forward to a high pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
After the first quarter of the regular season, it’s apparent the preseason prognosticators got this one wrong.
The Giants are 0-4 and in turmoil for not living up to their preseason potential. The Jets are 2-2, playing with a sense of urgency, and have the same record as their division rival: the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
The Giants are off to their worst start since going 0-6 in 2013. Their next game is against another winless team, the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have lost nine games in a row dating back to last season.
It’s ironic that the only team that made the playoffs after an 0-4 start is the 1992 Chargers.
The Giants’ season is not only on the line when they face the Chargers Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Their pride as professional football players is at stake as well. If they can’t beat a team that’s changed cities and haven’t won a game since Week 12 last season…well, this season can be crumpled up and thrown in the wastebasket.
“We’re the only ones who can do anything about it,” head coach Ben McAdoo said Monday. “We got to get back out there on the practice field and we got to work through the fundamentals. We can’t get numb. We can never get used to this feeling or accept it. We have to get back to work.”
The Giants have lost five games in a row, including last season’s Wild Card loss to the Green Bay Packers. The playoff loss is the one in which the Giants got thoroughly outplayed. Their four losses this season are games they could have possibly won, including Sunday’s 25-23 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a field goal to end the game.
They will face perhaps their most dangerous opponent thus far in the Chargers. The Chargers, like the Jets, weren’t expected to do much.
They have difficulty filling seats at the StubHub Center, their temporary home until their permanent home with the Rams is completed in 2020. They play in the same division with the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Oakland Raiders. And there’s the matter of a nine-game losing streak.
The Chargers could easily be 2-2 like the Jets were it not for some blown field goals in their first two games. Three of their losses were by three points or less. They’re just like the Giants, hungry for a win and chomping at the bit to end a losing streak.
“It’s fight or flight time,” McAdoo said. “We have talented men of integrity in the locker room. It’s not going to be easy. But we have to go out there and we have to fight. I expect us to fight. The biggest thing that I get concerned about is guys going numb. We can’t go numb. Can never accept this. You got to fight through it. You got to work for that first one. Work for that first win.”
The good news is that the Giants will play a team in seemingly worse shape than they are in. The bad news is that the Chargers are playing with house money. They have nothing to lose because nothing was expected of them anyway.
Playoff aspirations may be out of reach for the Giants at this point. What they have to do, what they need to do, is follow their head coach’s mantra and work for that first win.
AROUND COVER32
Why the Bears should keep OC Dowell Loggains, regardless of what happens this year
Packers RB Ty Montgomery has been under-appreciated
Recapping the Vikings’ loss to the Lions
Breaking down the hottest news around the NFL this week
