The Most Surprising Thing About Giants' 1-2 Start

The New York Giants 2023 season has been something of a headscratcher so far.

It's a rare weekend off for the New York Giants, who, following their grueling three games in 12 days start to the season, have had the weekend off to recharge their batteries before returning to work on Monday.

Certainly, there's a lot to think about for this version of the Brian Daboll-Joe Schoen era. That the Giants are 1-2 to start the season isn't so much of a surprise, given that many expected that might be the case.

What is a surprise, however, is how they got to 1-2. The Giants opened the season with six scoreless quarters of football. On the other hand, their defense looks like, at times, it's just going through the motions and seems to lack that "dog" mentality that makes the good defenses great.

There have even been issues with the coaching to pop up, such as not ensuring the correct number of men are on the field for a given play and some of the play calling on offense, which has raised speculation as to whether Daboll has gotten a bit more involved than he had been in the past.

Daboll has said that he sees the effort in his players. However, that effort he's seeing just isn't translating to results. Now, some might argue that the type of training camp that Daboll ran this summer, in which he held his starters and key reserves out of most of the preseason action to keep them healthy and get a look at the rest of the roster, is to blame.

There might be something to that, especially given some of the cohesive issues on the offensive line and the defense. And if Daboll had hoped to keep his starters healthy by limiting their exposure to live reps, well, so much for that, given that left tackle Andrew Thomas, outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, and running back Saquon Barkley are all dealing with injuries that have cost them game time.

What's done is done--the Giants can't erase their 1-2 start or the ugliness behind it. But during this next week, there needs to be more of a dog mentality and a greater sense of urgency than what this team has shown thus far because if it falters against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football--and given their history on primetime games, that's a very real possibility--any hope of a repeat visit to the playoffs are likely over by that point.

No Medals for Trying

Those who like to find the silver lining among the storm clouds will argue that they achieved some sort of moral victory because the Giants managed to keep it a close game with the 49ers through three quarters (20-12).

To that, I refer you to your local library, where you might find a copy of a book by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells titled "No Medals for Trying."

This was a playoff team last year, regardless of how they got there or how "easy" their schedule was. And while progress comes in stages, I'm not sure how keeping it close for three quarters against a team that went to the conference championship last year warrants a medal.

I say this because the missed tackles, the blown opportunities, and the defense's inability to get off the field were happening all game long, with the bottom finally dropping out at the end.

So no, I'm not looking at the fact that the Giants kept it close for three quarters against a better team as a medal for trying--if that's your thought process, then I sure would like to know what you think of the fact that they were blown out for a half by a rebuilding Arizona Cardinals team.

Building a Better Offensive Line

The Giants will have an interesting decision to make once Andrew Thomas is healthy enough to return to action.

Second-year man Joshua Ezeudu has filled in for Thomas and has more than held his own at left tackle, so much so that against the 49ers pass defense, it was right tackle Evan Neal who got the help blocking (granted, because he saw Nick Bosa across from him the majority of the time) than Ezeudu.

Ezeudu has done nothing, at least to our thinking, to warrant being buried on the bench once Thomas returns. And if that's the case, then the question is where to plug him in on that offensive line.

Here's a crazy idea. Why not try Ezeudu at right tackle and move Evan Neal inside to right guard? Neal is a hard worker who has tried to resolve the deficiencies in his game, but sometimes, there are things that one just cannot overcome, like heavy feet, a lack of balance, and clumsiness.

Ezeudu, in his short stint at left tackle so far, has shown better feet and balance to where once he eliminated the inconsistency in his game, the Giants just might have something there.

Trying Neal at guard could potentially minimize some of the flaws in his game, and if it results in the Giants having a long-term answer for the right side of their offensive line, then who's to complain?

As for Marcus McKethan, who has been manning right guard since Mark Glowinski's horrible showing against the Cowboys in Week 1, why not move him over to left guard where, maybe in the beginning, he alternates with Ben Bredeson (once healthy)?

Granted, now is not the time to be constantly shuffling a unit that depends on stability, but considering the coaches tried all these different combinations in training camp, it might not take as long as some think to get a revamped unit that could be the future of this team up to speed for real-time. 

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