Everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong for the New York Giants this season.
The offensive line wasn’t upgraded in any meaningful way and seemed destined to fail. Odell Beckham Jr. was injured in the preseason but played four games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris suffered season-ending injuries in the same game.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins were both suspended for violations of team rules. Eli Apple was benched multiple times. Reports were the head coach had lost the locker room. Players then anonymously ripped the head coach after a crushing loss to a winless team.
The head coach (and general manager by extension) totally mishandle benching the franchise quarterback. After this embarrassment, they were both fired for how quickly the Giants crashed and burned this season.
The Giants are 2-10 and will miss the playoffs for the fifth time in the six years since winning Super Bowl XLVI. They are already looking for a new general manager, who in turn hire a head coach. Those individuals will have some crucial decisions to make and mandates to accomplish.
What is going to happen with Eli Manning? Manning will be 37 next month. He has a year remaining on his contract and a no-trade clause. The Giants will have a top-five pick in April’s NFL Draft. The team also has to upgrade the offensive line, which may not be easy. The free-agent crop isn’t particularly deep and their three best linemen need to be re-signed.
The Giants didn’t want to fire their head coach and general manager in the middle of the season. It’s not how they get down. The level of embarrassment associated with this team seem to increase throughout the year. Benching Manning was the final straw.
The fact that three of the Giants’ final four games are at home may have played a role as well. Manning’s benching was openly criticized by current and former players alike. There are reports that former Giants players would be on the sideline wearing Manning’s No. 10 during this Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Everything that could go wrong for the New York Giants has gone wrong this season. There’s no denying that. The Giants do have something now that they didn’t have just two days ago…hope. There’s now reason to be optimistic about what the future holds, even with games still remaining on the schedule. The freefall on the field may very well continue, but at least forward progress is being made courtesy of addition by subtraction.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.