If anyone was under the illusion that the 4-11 Giants’ seemingly perpetual rebuilding process will be a simple or quick fix, their offense’s horrendous performance in last Sunday’s 34-10 loss to the 8-7 Philadelphia Eagles on the road was a stark reality check. It wouldn’t have mattered where the game was played, the Giants do not have a preference for poor showings home at MetLife Stadium or away.
They generated just 192 total yards. The combination of quarterbacks Jake Fromm—who started the game—and Mike Glennon, occupying the position in place of Daniel Jones, who is out for the rest of the season with a neck injury, passed for just 108 yards. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively today,” said Giants head coach Joe Judge, stating the obvious, after the defeat.
“We obviously have to have some kind of production in that phase to complement the defense and the special teams when they’re making plays for us. Ultimately it wasn’t good enough. We have to go back to work this week and there are a lot of things that we have to improve on. I’m looking to see these guys finish strong and go out competing. We had a good week of work with the guys and I count on seeing the same thing this week going into Chicago.” The Giants will take on the 5-10 Bears this Sunday.
The loss to the Eagles was a microcosm of the unit’s season-long struggles and a flashing sign that fixing their myriad issues is high on the priority list of the franchise’s primary decision makers. If reports by multiple media sources are accurate that team owners John Mara and Steve Tisch plan to bring back Judge and Jones—who is in his third season in the NFL after being drafted by the Giants with the No. 6 pick in the first round in 2019—for another season, then who they name as the new GM will be critical.
It is not making a bold prediction to assert that Dave Gettleman is in his final days as the team’s general manager after being hired in December 2017 to replace the terminated Jerry Reese. He has fallen short of being the man largely charged with lifting a franchise that has not made the playoffs since their January 2017 wildcard game loss to the Green By Packers, their only postseason appearance after their Super Bowl XLVI (46) victory in 2012.
While Jones remains a question mark as a QB possessing the qualities to ably guide a Super Bowl quality offense, the men whose responsibility is to protect him are the Giants’ most problematic concern. The consistently inadequate play of the offensive line and Jones’ inability to mitigate their deficiencies is the main reason why Gettleman’s tenure has been unsuccessful. With a competent development plan, the Giants have a potential Pro Bowl player in 22-year-old left tackle Andrew
Thomas, who Gettleman took No. 4 overall in the 2020 draft. The rest of the line has been either suspect or terrible.
The fix will begin immediately for the next GM up.