By Eddie Castro
The New York Giants were expected to show some improvement this past season from their disappointing 3-14 campaign last year. Team owner John Mara has taken accountability and emphasized that the team needs to improve in all aspects, and changes to the roster are needed to improve their recent results.
Unfortunately, those results were not achieved at any point during this season, as New York finished last in the NFC East division with a record of 4-13. Although the record books will indicate the team won one more game this year than last year, this Giants team statistically was worse this year.
A lot of it could be viewed as self-inflicted; a lot of it was simply Giants fans looking away after another failed third-down conversion. Here’s exactly what went wrong this year for Big Blue.
For starters, a wave of injuries impacted the team, and those injuries really impacted how the roster was constructed moving forward. Two key injuries in particular were their top receiver, Mailk Nabers, who tore his ACL, and Cam Skattebo suffered a serious ankle injury.
Quarterback Russell Wilson’s Giants Career lasted only three games this year due to inefficient play. Coaching also paid dividends for New York in the long season, as the play-calling was simply abysmal all year long.
The team fired then Head Coach Brian Daboll in November following a late-game collapse in Chicago. The one highlight this year was the offensive line, which was ranked 4th in pass blocking, a significant jump from their 30th ranking last year.
The line allowed 15 sacks this year, which was half of what they gave up last year; however, whether it was Wilson, Jameis Winston, or Jaxson Dart, the Giants’ quarterbacks simply could not move the ball down the field. The defense was just as bad for New York this year.
They were ranked 16th in the league in pass defense allowing 214 yards a game, 21st in points allowed (27.3) per game, their run defense was amongst the worse in the league giving up 5.3 YPC (yards per carry) 21 rushing touch downs giving up, which ranks dead last (31st) and ranked 28th in total yards allowed (359.5). The defense was a major weakness for the team ranking in the bottom of the league in most defensive metrics.
This will be one of the most active off-seasons for the New York Giants in sometime. The team currently holds the No.5 pick in the NFL. The Head-Coaching search will definitely be crucial as the team continues the rebuilding process. With many coaches available like former Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, the clear cut answer for the team to hire is John Harbaugh.
Harbaugh was recently fired by the Baltimore Ravens after 18 seasons with the team that included a resume of 180 regular season wins, (193 if you include the playoffs) which is the third most wins in the NFL during that span.
His resume also includes six AFC North Division Championships, 13 playoff wins and a Super Bowl title win in 2012. With Harbaugh as a possibility hire, the Giants will address one huge need. The others which include drafting a potential top college prospect and maybe a big free agent signing or trade is still up in the air. We shall see how this Giants franchise the steps back to their once championship-caliber glory days.
Sports Notes: (Basketball) The Knicks play their final game of their four-game West-Coast trip. The team will play Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors tonight. The Brooklyn Nets will return home tomorrow night to battle the Chicago Bulls.