Subconsciously, the Giants expect to lose. psycho-analysis is pure conjecture. Yet when a team experiences futility with the regularity the Giants have over the past three seasons, it is a logical conclusion. Their 31-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday left them with a record of 2-10, the second worst mark in the NFL behind the 1-11 Cincinnati Bengals.
Heading into this Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, the Giants are a combined 10-34 in their last 44 games. Since general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur assumed their current roles with the franchise in December 2017 and January 2018 respectively, under their leadership, the Giants are 7-21.
In a season when the NFC East division is decisively the weakest in the league, with the 6-6 Dallas Cowboys possessing the least amount of wins of all division leaders, it is telling that the Giants have been essentially dismissed from the playoff hunt since late October. Their last win came way back on Sept. 29 versus Washington and since then they have lost eight in a row.
Inevitably, the status of both Gettleman and Shurmur with the franchise will become increasingly questionable. While it’s only been a little under two years both have held their positions, the team has shown no progress measured by win and losses.
“I’m always concerned when we don’t win. This is another feeling question. I’ll feel better when we win games,” responded Shurmur to a reporter on Sunday when asked about his level of uneasiness resulting from the Giants’ constant losing. “If you’re wondering how I feel, I’ll feel a lot better when we win games.
“I do see, you get an opportunity to watch us probably 20 minutes a day and you report on it. This is a historically young team that’s going out there and competing against some really good football teams. We’ve got to do what we have to do to win games and I understand that. They also are developing. At some point, we’ll be good enough to win.”
Shurmur’s reasoning—some may infer it is an excuse—for the Giants’ incessantly poor play won’t appease or influence a disgruntled fan. More importantly, it may not be a compelling enough argument for co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch to refrain from strongly considering moving on from Shurmur and most if not all of the coaching staff.
Despite his qualitative take on the state of his team, Shurmur acknowledged he knows he will be judged primarily on the team’s record. “I’m well aware of it, I’m well aware of it,” he repeated for emphasis. “People will change what they think of us and me when we win games. I’m a realist when it comes to that and I get it. And you know what, when you don’t win, I expect what is written and said and what people think. I expect fans to be upset because we are, too. But we go about trying to fix it.”
With only four more games remaining, how much time Shurmur is given to rebuild will be a perpetual topic surrounding the Giants for the remainder of this season.