Giants’ Emotions After 31-16 Loss to Dolphins
After a 31-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the New York Giants were feeling a mix of emotions. Disappointment was evident in the results, and there was a sense of frustration about how they’d arrived at this point. Frustration because they’ve repeatedly witnessed shortcomings on the field – a struggling offensive line, hello? – and it has left a once-proud franchise pondering how it has come to this: an inactive, penalty-ridden defense that still manages to give up big plays at critical moments, and a team that finds itself among the worst in the NFL standings, with the calendar only just turning to October.
And now, as they enter Quarterback Daniel Jones’ uncertain waters after he was benched in the fourth quarter of the latest loss, benched after being pulled 13 times in the past eight games, the Giants are left to ponder another bitter defeat after falling to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.
Giants’ Jabrill Peppers Deems Team’s Performance
“Unacceptable,” Giants hard-nosed safety Jabrill Peppers said about the team’s abhorrent efforts. “To have 24 points in nine halves of football, that’s not acceptable. I don’t think there’s a word for it, what it is. It’s not okay. It’s not a point where somebody’s at fault. We have to continue to strive to be better. The season isn’t over. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. We’re a long way from that. We’ve got to do some things differently.”
Giants: Finding Resilience Amidst Disappointments
The Giants don’t seem dissatisfied, at least not with themselves. What happened might just be a way of coping. The way the Giants coach Brian Daboll has explained things, it’s about owning it, accepting failures, and moving forward to what could be against the Buffalo Bills next Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.
Giants Focus on Self-Reflection and Progress
It’s not about pointing fingers, though. It’s about looking in the mirror, the promise Daboll made after a disheartening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs the night after it was supposed to open on Monday Night Football, and moving forward despite Sunday’s shortcomings.
“This is a team that is still searching,” Daboll said, worse off than it was already positioned. Whatever they are doing, it’s not working well enough.
Daniel Jones’ Uncertain Future as Giants Quarterback
Jones’s status beyond the quarterbacking carousel, in which he has essentially been the fourth to take a crack since Shurmur’s final six games in 2019, is scary. The future? Well, once Giants ownership and general manager Joe Schoen take a step back after what is now a two-season-long mess, it could happen at any time. The notion that Jones and this Giants’ head-coaching position are a marriage in dire need of a divorce in Year 2 is disheartening. The last three coaches were fired either after their second season (Pat Shurmur) or following their first full season (Ben McAdoo and Joe Judge).
Searching for Change
Not that Daboll and the Giants are going in that direction, but it’s the same story and the same miserable result every week. Something has to change, and fast. It might not be until the return of Andrew Thomas and Saquon Barkley, following a bye this week, that a spark is provided, though there’s no certainty that will be the case this week.
Commitment to Excellence
“People care. Obviously, you can’t play the game and not care,” said Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux outside the locker room. “Guys like Darnay [Holmes], guys like Daniel, guys like Tyrod [Taylor] come in and he’s walking up and down when Daniel goes down, those are the kind of guys that want to be better and want to be great. We all want to win a Super Bowl and I think we just have to keep pressing and keep answering those questions.”
Giants’ Struggles Continue Amid Uncertainty
That’s just it: The Giants keep failing their tests because they haven’t come up with the answers.”I feel fine,” Jones said. “I definitely feel something physically. It’s a physical game, so meet with doctors and trainers and go from there.”Asked what he felt at the time of his exit, Jones responded: “Just my neck. I’ve got a sore neck.”
The Giants, meanwhile, are feeling sore in more ways than one as a team that was supposed to be better. The past five games, for the most part, have been ugly. The fear around Jones’ status moving forward is real. The future? Well, it’s up in the air. Whether things are better with Thomas and Barkley returning remains to be seen, and there’s no guarantee that will be the case. Because, as Waller insisted, it’s unacceptable. And it doesn’t need to be said how bad it can be if the Giants don’t figure out a way to fix it.
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