Will GM take fall for Giants’ woes?
1-6 start following offseason mistakes brings criticism.
EASTRUTHERFORD,N.J.— Figuring out what went wrong this season isn’t the New York Giants’ biggest problem heading into the bye week.
With a 1-6 record, the Giants probably are going to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, and co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have to consider some housecleaning.
General manager Jerry Reese is on the hot seat. The goodwill the 54-yearold Reese established in winning the Super Bowl in two of his first five seasons has been exhausted. This year’s performance is particularly frustrating because the Giants were coming off an 11-5 record in coach Ben McAdoo’s first season. Much was expected, even a run to a fifth Lombardi Trophy.
McAdoo hasn’t distinguished himself, either. The offense has struggled for the second straight year with him calling the plays, and the defense has failed to close out games.
It is unlikely that ownership will give up on the 40-year-old McAdoo this early in his career. The last Giants coach fired after two seasons was Ray Handley in 1992. He was canned after his team was in open rebellion in a 6-10 second season.
Reese barely survived the shake-up after 2015 that claimed longtime coach Tom Coughlin, the driving force behind the Super Bowl wins. Mara and Tisch actually put Reese on notice and he responded by spending nearly $200 million to sign defensive end Olivier Vernon, defensive tackle Damon Harrison and cornerback Janoris Jenkins as free agents.
It was a bold move that turned one of the NFL’s worst defenses into a unit that led the Giants back to the postseason.
But Reese sat on his hands this past offseason. He had two major jobs. He needed to re-sign defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and he had to fix the offensive line.
The deal with JPP was done without a hitch.
The line was left to fend for itself, and it has been another major problem. The running game is again nonexistent and the passing offense has suffered with injuries to three-time Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard. Beckham and Marshall are out for the season.
Reese said he looked at the free agent market for offensive linemen and decided there was nothing he liked, saying he did not want to add old players to a young group.
Signing the 33-year-old wide receiver Marshall in an attempt to give Eli Manning an option other than Beckham also turned out badly. He was hurt in training camp, didn’t produce once the season started, then had a season-ending ankle injury in the same game as Beckham was injured.
Reese also re-signed starting guard John Jerry, 31. He has disappointed. Free agent guard D.J. Fluker signed but has struggled in pass protection.
Speaking at his annual bye week news conference, Reese accepted the blame for the 1-6 record, saying he put the roster together and this was his team. He also dumped a little of the blame on McAdoo, noting the team got caught up in preseason hype and didn’t have the same hunger as last season.