The air of dejection that consumed the Giants locker room after a debilitating 21-20 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday was justifiable. The 5-4 Giants look nothing like the Super Bowl champion of two seasons ago or the championship contender they were last season; or for the first five games of this campaign.
“It’s not the end of the world. We’re not going panic,” said Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. “It’s not over, {but} this one hurts, there’s no denying that.”With each mounting loss, which stands at four in a row, the Giants move further away from securing a playoff berth, a result that was nearly unimaginable given their unblemished start to the season. Or was it?The signs of susceptibility were present but cloaked by a favorable schedule. Supremely self-assured at 5-0, they went into New Orleans to contest the now 8-0 Saints and were unmasked in a 48-27 blowout.The Giants were subsequently revealed to be an injury riddled team lacking a steady pass rush, hampered by linebackers who struggle in coverage, and possessing an offense that at times was spectacular but inconsistent and unable to unleash their trademark power running game.Approaching the Chargers game as if their playoff future hinged on the outcome, the Giants’ coaching staff operated from a position of weakness instead of one of strength. Employing a mentality of playing not to lose, they allowed the Chargers to seize the opportunity to score a game winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining.”I think the way we go about it here, everything is on a one game schedule,” said Giants rookie linebacker Clint Sintim. “It’s frustrating but we still have seven games to turn our season around.”Yet, it was a costly loss as the Giants sunk to third place in the NFC East behind the 6-2 Dallas Cowboys and 5-3 Philadelphia Eagles. As they began a much needed 13 day break on Monday heading into their bye-week, the Giants have a lot of soul searching to do before returning to the field on November 22 to face the Atlanta Falcons at the Meadowlands.