What's next for NY Giants after embarrassing opener? A daunting 7-day, 2-game road trip

EAST RUTHERFORD - All summer long, to a man and no matter who asked, the Giants kept insisting, "This isn't last year," and now, after Sunday night's 40-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, we have reason to believe them.

So now what? This team has no choice to prove its own mettle, just as the 2022 Giants did before them in Brian Daboll's first season as head coach. The assertion that these Giants know who they are right now falls flat, and that goes from the coaches on down. This is a new year, remember, and it's understandable that there is a lot of uncertainty being bandied about in reference to the Giants outside the organization.

Truth is, it's healthy to question the moxie of this team, and how Daboll and his staff are going to lead the Giants out of the Week 1 darkness in which they all appeared a bit shell shocked by the events inside MetLife Stadium.

"It was just embarrassing," Giants cornerback and co-captain Adoree' Jackson said.

What Daboll will hammer home to his players this week is this: it's one game, and the Giants have 16 left to get things right and earn their way back to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Critical evaluation is needed, and that should help in refocusing on who the Giants believe they can be.

A daunting seven-day road trip begins Saturday as the Giants travel to Arizona and California for two games in five days, staying out there between those games, and the experience should reveal who they actually are.

"When you watch plays individually, it’s easy to look at this play and be like, ‘This guy didn’t do that, or this guy didn’t do this, or I didn’t do this or that,’" Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton said. "Kind of the overarching thing that you come to, it's that we all had one too many ‘my bads.’ Ultimately, when you’re trying to win a football game, you can’t have everybody having multiple ‘my bads’ or, ‘I would’ve done this different, I would’ve done that different,’ so, I’d probably say that was just the main thing. We had too much of that."

The Giants need to embrace how poorly things went against the Cowboys. They must have difficult conversations with players, as Daboll said Monday, because that's how you hold everyone - players and coaches alike - accountable.

"There were a few things you can build on, but when you get beat like the way we got beat, no excuses," Daboll said. "I’d say there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of corrections that need to be made."

'Skunked!': Takeaways from embarrassing NY Giants' 40-0 loss to the Cowboys

The offensive line performance left a lot to be desired Sunday night, no doubt. They were exploited by a dominant defensive front. There are concerns, obviously, but overreaction from Week 1 to Week 2 is what it is. No easy fixes. They have to find a way to play much better up front in Arizona against the Cardinals, who sacked Washington quarterback Sam Howell six times in their opening loss to the Commanders..

A decade of trying to build an O-line adds to the frustration of the organization and the fan base. But it hasn't been 10 years for the current front office and coaching staff. There's urgency to be much better than they were Sunday night. Have to be. But past failures don't fall on this group.

The Giants are not bailing on a soon to be 23-year-old right tackle in Evan Neal, who they took 7th overall last year. They're going to give him a chance to figure it out, as they should. Neal hasn't even played a full season of games in his career. You evaluate with a critical eye, monitor his development and be as patient as you can.

You draft players. You have to develop those players. Give them a little time. It's not easy to watch a unit get dominated the way they did vs. Cowboys. But if you want young offensive linemen to build around, you have to dig deep and find the patience to deal with their struggles.

Veteran right guard Mark Glowinski had a lot of difficulty in pass protection against the Cowboys, so the Giants could make a change by moving Ben Bredeson from the left to the right and inserting second-year pro Joshua Ezeudu at left guard.

"Certainly you understand that these guys are human and there is an element of emotion to it, and you know we didn’t perform well," Daboll said. "So, you own it, you, again, tell them the things that you need to fix. It starts with you and then you move on. So, you can’t let it linger too long, you go through [Monday], you go through the tape. It won’t be a fun tape to watch, it wasn’t with the coaches, it’s not with the players, but you know that’s what happened. So, you can’t run from it, you can’t hide from it, you own it, and then you move on."

When the Giants' charter flight leaves Newark Airport for Arizona on Saturday, the team will not be back in New Jersey until the early morning hours Friday following their prime time clash with the 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif.

"It’s a humbling league and one week doesn’t have much effect on the next week," Daboll said. "Your preparation, your performance ultimately on Sunday, or whenever that day is, does. That’s what we will focus on, a lot to learn. We’ll do our best to teach it, to learn from it, to go out there and have a good week of practice and to get ready for [the Cardinals]."

In other words, Daboll and the Giants are on to Arizona. We'll find out who they really are upon returning from San Francisco a little over a week from now.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants: Upcoming schedule after Cowboys loss will reveal identity