There’s every reason for the New York Giants to panic. After all, they opened the season at home with a chance to make a statement to the Dallas Cowboys. Instead of making that statement, the Giants got smacked in the mouth hard and absorbed a 40-0 defeat to their long-time rivals.
How could it be any worse? The Giants had a full offseason and all of training camp to prepare for the game, and they fell flat on their faces before a national television audience. The only thing that can happen at this point is the Giants will continue to lose this year and that last year’s 9-7-1 season that saw them make the playoffs and win a Wild Card game was nothing but a fluke.
Don’t believe it for a second.
A 40-0 loss was painful as it happened and in the immediate aftermath, but it was just one game.
If Brian Daboll is any kind of head coach – and he proved that he was quite effective last year – he will be able to help his team put that loss in the rear-view mirror and prepare for the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3 and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4.
The Giants still have plenty of time to turn their season around, and an avalanche game like the loss to the Cowboys is not as painful as a last-second field goal or touchdown that turns victory into defeat.
There are significant reasons why the Giants have the wherewithal to turn things around.
Start with athletic quarterback Daniel Jones, who completed 317 of 472 passes last year for 3,205 yards with 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Jones was able to keep turnovers to a minimum last year, and he also ran for 708 yards, averaged 5.9 yards per carry and scored 7 rushing touchdowns.
Jones is not a finished product at this point, but he did enough last year to gain the confidence of the organization and a four-year, $160 million contract. One poor performance in the opener does not wipe out the belief in the quarterback.
Jones has perhaps the best running back in the NFL at his disposal. Saquon Barkley is an explosive runner who can outrun the defense and also overpower tacklers. In addition to his ability to make big plays running with the football, Barkley is an outstanding pass catcher out of the backfield.
Barkley ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging a robust 4.5 yards per carry. He also caught 57 passes for 338 yards, and he should have a chance to punish the Cardinals in Week 2.
In addition to Jones and Barkley, the Giants have a key receiver in Sterling Shepard who can help turn the situation around.
Shepard is attempting to come back from an ACL injury and was blanked against the Cowboys. He can help set the tone in the locker room going forward.
“One loss is not going to define the season for us,” said Shepard. “This is a fix-it quickly and we’ve got to get back to work as soon as possible.”
The Giants need to get back on track on both sides of the ball in Week 2 and beyond if they have any hope of winning the Super Bowl.
Defensive end Leonard Williams and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence need to regain the aggressiveness that helped the Giants make the playoffs a year ago.
those betting on the NFL need to understand It can start again in Week 2 and go from there. The Giants endured 5 straight losing seasons before last year’s turnaround. One winning season does not make for a trend. It will take at least two years of playoff performances for that to happen, and it needs to start as soon as possible or this team could fall back into losing ways.
Tom covers UFC, NFL and MLB for Vegas-odds.com. When he's not writing about sports, he's usually playing poker or betting on the spread. Contributor at GamblingIndustryNews.com and PokerIndustryNews.com
