MUNICH — Traveling more than 4,000 miles won't protect the Giants from their own mistakes.
Their environment was much different than any other Friday, as they stood behind the podium in the press conference room at Bayern Munich's practice facility instead of in their lockers at the practice facility in East Rutherford.
Questions primarily came from a number of international media outlets with accents such as German, Spanish, English and Welsh, rather than the local reporters the players were accustomed to interacting with.
They practiced later in the day than usual because they needed time to rest and recover from a long flight.
However, no matter how far away they go or how different the environment, the Giants cannot escape the dark reality.
It may have been worded a little differently than usual, but many of the same old questions about the Giants' flagrant struggles quickly surfaced.
Word of their incompetent attack apparently reached overseas.
It took only a few minutes for head coach Brian Daboll to start talking about the topic.
“In fact, the Giants rank last in red zone touchdown conversions. What do you think accounts for that team's performance?”
Daniel Jones was barely in the room before the international media swarmed him.
“How do you keep yourself and your team motivated during such a difficult season?”
Next, I have a few questions.
“What do you think we're missing to make our offense more effective? We rank last in points per game. What could we change to make it better?”
In fact, the Giants are averaging 15.4 points per game, which ranks them last in the NFL. They scored touchdowns on just 40% of their red-zone trips, which also came at the end.
Faced with a common question, the Giants offered a common answer.
“We need to do a good job there.” [in the red zone]” Daboll said. “We haven't been as successful as we would have liked. I would say that's something we're working on every day. We've got to get a head start at the beginning of the week and execute well from there.”
Could foreign air provide some spark to this anemic unit?
They will never have a better chance.
The Panthers happen to have the worst defense in the NFL, allowing 32.6 points per game to their opponents.
“I think we just need to execute more consistently,” Jones said. “If we can score with a touchdown instead of a field goal, we end up in the red zone. Consistent execution throughout the game. Third downs are all the key situations that make our offense good. We have to stay focused on that. We are confident that we can do it.”
