Let's have a game that has no real purpose other than to damage the mental health of already damaged Giants fans.
What if safety Jason Pinnock had recovered a fumble by linebacker Micah McFadden on Sunday night?
The ball was right there, and Pinnock was the closest player to it. What if the Giants accented Pinnock's great defensive displays instead of his failures to secure the ball?
The Giants trailed the Bengals 10-7 with 1:58 remaining and could have taken over at their own 21-yard line. The Giants had one timeout left, and there was plenty of time to get into position to score the game-clinching field goal, or even better for the Giants, perhaps the game-clinching touchdown.
Is there any reason to believe that happened? Is there any reason to believe that Daniel Jones and the offense will suddenly string together a bunch of positive plays or one big play to get the job done and win the game when it's needed most? Is everything really that necessary?
Of course, many things can happen, but the answer is…no.
There's no reason to believe that Jones et al have actually figured out the secret formula for completing passes longer than 15 yards.
And when Pinnock couldn't get the ball, the Giants were doomed.
On the very next snap, Brown ran an untouched 30 yards for the game-clinching touchdown, forcing the Giants on the wrong end of losing 17-7, and no matter how well the defense played, they had enough points. Once again, it has become clear that this cannot be done.
“Again, I'm not happy with the result, I'm not happy with the points,” head coach Brian Daboll said Monday.
“Not being able to create explosive plays in this game, whether it's on the run or through the air, that's not where I want to be right now. So we're going to keep going. Keep calling.”
Daboll served as the play-caller and hit Jones with four deep shots.
There was a crossing route by Wan'Dale Robinson, two routes to Jalin Hyatt, and one route to Darius Slayton.
Jones went 0-for-4 on those pitches. His longest completion was a 15-yard pickup to Robinson, Slayton and rookie tight end Theo Johnson.
It's a pop gun attack. The Giants won't have rookie receiver Malik Nabors (concussion protocol) back immediately. Probably for this Sunday's game against the Eagles.
In the first four games, Daboll had Nabers set every rookie record, with the offense averaging 15 points. With Nabors and running back Devin Singletary off the field with injuries for the past two games, the Seahawks scored 29 points (23 from the offense) and the Bengals' defense, which allowed 29 points per game in the first game, was 7. It was a point. Five. Jones is coming off a solid (but not spectacular) four-game stretch, but it was as unsatisfying as soggy oatmeal. He threw 41 passes, but only 22 were completed. Additionally, there was a nostalgic interception late in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Giants, with new coordinator Shane Bowen on defense, have not allowed more than 21 points in any game. He was picked by the Vikings in the opening game. The fourth goal was especially painful for the defense, which held the Bengals' offense, which averages 28 points, to just 17 points.
Daboll has to be careful with his team now. Although there are no signs of collapse on the surface, the offensive line is playing losing football. The defense is playing winning football. It's one team with two different identities.
The Giants defense didn't say anything to indicate there was a problem, but that's human nature.
“They don't say much about it, but just internally we feel like we're letting them down,” Robinson said. “I think they played a hell of a game, but we just couldn't go out there and get enough points for them.
“There's no blame. It's football. There's one game where we're clicking and maybe we're not clicking the way they want us to. We're one big team and we're all playing football. We are responsible for each other. There is no blame for walking around.”
Kayvon Thibodeau missed the first game of the season, so his replacement, Azeez Ojulari, had two sacks, and Brian Barnes had one sack, eight tackles, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits, his best game yet with his new team. I showed you. He had destructive power.
“Like I said, it's frustrating and we have more to play and more we can do to change the game,” Burns said. “If we want to be an elite defense and live up to who we say we are, we have to make those plays.”
However, there are limits to what the defender can do.
“Shoot, we know what we have to do,” Robinson said. “We know we have to accumulate points to win, but seven points is not enough.”
