Giants Face a Must-Win Week 4

by The Cowl Editor on September 28, 2017

Professional Sports

Football players hiking the ball. — Photo Courtesy of bleacherreport.com

by Chris McCormack ’18

Sports Staff

Just three weeks into the NFL season, we have already seen some shocking storylines. Whether it be Ezekiel Elliott avoiding suspension, the New York Jets winning a game, or the increased number of national anthem protests, it has been an eventful few weeks.

That said, however, the most significant storyline comes from the other team from the Meadowlands, the New York Giants. Coming into the season, the Westgate Sportsbook posted a list of the teams with the most bets to win the Super Bowl. The Giants came in fourth behind the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, and their NFC East counterpart the Dallas Cowboys.

Many people liked the Giants’ chances coming into the season, but here we are coming up on week four and they are 0-3. The Giants had the second best defense in the NFL last year and the best in the NFC. With key off-season acquisitions including wide receiver Brandon Marshall, offensive lineman D.J. Fluker, and their first-round draft pick, tight end Evan Engram, many fans had high hopes going into the season.

Those expectations were quickly shot down within the first two weeks where they only scored one touchdown against the Cowboys and Lions combined. Week three came around, and brought the Giants a crucial matchup against their division rival, Philadelphia Eagles.

After an extremely slow start, not scoring a point until the fourth quarter, they were able to crawl back into it and tie the game up at 24. The tie game did not last long as the Eagles’ kicker Jake Elliot kicked a 61-yard field goal as time expired.

The Giants are now 0-3 in their division while the Eagles sit atop the NFC East with a 2-1 record and a 2-0 record in the division. With a 0-3 start for the Giants, the rest of the season does not look promising. According to oddshark.com, there have been 168 teams to start 0-3 since 1980. Of those teams, only five have gone on to make the playoffs.

If the Giants hope to reach the postseason they need to fix important parts of their team. The biggest blunder for this team has been the offensive line. Quarterback Eli Manning has been sacked eight times this season, which ranks 12th worst in the league.

The finger can also be pointed at Eli Manning for some of these issues. Manning has thrown four interceptions which is tied for second most among quarterbacks this season.

The last hiccup the Giants need to figure out is rushing the ball. The Giants rank 30th out of 32 teams in the league in rushing yards with 146 yards. Their best rusher is Orleans Darkwa who comes in with a mere 53 yards over the 3 games. There are many offensive issues that this team must figure out, which is the most surprising part of their season given the additions they made this offseason as well as Eli Manning’s veteran status.

If they are not able to turn this season around, expect the team to turn to the draft and look at many of the quarterback prospects in the 2018 draft class.