In a season that has been a complete disaster, the New York Giants suffered arguably their most embarrassing loss of the season as they were outclassed by the Las Vegas Raiders 30-6 on Sunday.
The Raiders were coming off a short week, had an interim head coach making his NFL debut, and they started a rookie quarterback who was making his second NFL start.
At 2-7, the Giants season is unofficially over. They could likely be underdogs in their remaining eight games, and it’s hard to see a scenario where they can pull off a string of victories to regain the credibility they lost in the first half of the season, especially if Daniel Jones is lost for the season.
In what is shaping up to be one of the worst seasons in the franchise’s history, here are four takeaways from Sunday.
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The team once again started the game sluggish and ill-prepared
As has been the case for most of the season, the Giants came out flat and were not ready to play. After the offense went three and out to start the game, it only took Las Vegas six plays to travel 67 yards which culminated in a Jakobi Meyers 17-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0.
New York would turn the ball over on downs on their next possession on a failed “push tush” attempt, and then they would lose Jones for the game on the next possession.
Although Jones was lost for the game on the first play of the second quarter, he was clearly rusty completing four out of nine passes for 25 yards and twice missed an open Jalin Hyatt for touchdowns.
When backup Tommy DeVito entered the game, he once again looked ill-prepared to run an NFL offense. He was unsteady and would sometimes prematurely leave the pocket. He finished the game completing 15 out of 20 passes for 175 yards. two interceptions and a nine-yard touchdown to Wan’Dale Robinson in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
With the fear that Jones could be lost for the season and Tyrod Taylor on IR with a rib injury, it would behoove the Giants to acquire a quarterback with experience this week, because DeVito is not the answer.
Las Vegas pass rush overwhelmed New York Giants offensive line
Despite the return of tackles Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal, the offensive line was overwhelmed as the Raiders sacked Giants quarterbacks eight times and harassed them all game. Defensive end Maxx Crosby was a nuisance all game as he had three sacks and three quarterback hits. It was his pressure on Jones that led to Jones buckling his knee on the last play of the first quarter.
Offensive line coach Bobby Johnson will come under even more scrutiny for how his unit is still unable to protect the quarterback, even with their best player Thomas back in the lineup.
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The New York Giants defense couldn’t stop the run
When New York traded Leonard Williams to the Seahawks this past week, the fear was the defense would suffer particularly against the run. Those fears came to fruition on Sunday.
The Raiders’ running game had struggled all season and were dead last in rushing averaging just 70 yards a game. Josh Jacobs came into the game averaging a career-low 3.1 yards per carry and his season high in rushing yards was 77. But on Sunday, Jacobs gained 98 yards on 26 carries and scored twice. As a team, Las Vegas gained 125 yards on the ground on 34 carries.
If the run defense is this bad next Sunday against the Cowboys, New York will get run out of AT&T Stadium.
Major changes are coming for New York Giants
A case could be made right now that New York is the worst team in the NFL. They’ve only scored 101 points through nine games, and five of their seven losses have been by 15 points or more.
You can’t keep getting embarrassed week in and week out before the ownership wants to make some sort of change. Unless the bottom falls out and the team finishes with two or three wins, Brian Daboll job is probably safe. However, he might be forced to make a change within his staff.
These are the consequences that come with losing and although nobody likes to go through it, you can’t get on putting out the same product and continue to get disastrous results.