Your Monday Night Giants Preview

Look at that scrappy little fella up there with The Cheesecake Factory menu of playcalls. Anyone remember Ben McAdoo? I really wanted to find pics of NY Giants coaches walking off the sidelines or sitting in front of reporters after their last game as a head coach in the NFL. Yeah, that’s what happens to a guy that coaches said club, be it Coughlin, Ben, Shurmur, Judge, Daboll or interim guys Kafka and Spags. What a curious coincidence, ain’t it? If you can’t make it on the outer skirts of New Jersey you’re not going to make it anywhere else.

And Now, The Harbaugh:

Raven fans are pissed that he wasn’t able to take them over the hump that is the AFC Champeenship Game but Giants fans are pleading for significantly less, a soupcon of respectability. And well, he’s got far more experience than all of those above coaches (less Coughlin) combined. The Narrative is that he’ll provide something akin to stability to a franchise that reeks of it internally (that’s bad, by the way) and has shown anything but out in the field. The media hasn’t made a big noise about it but stalwarts (read: deadwood) in the  front office have been forcibly retired, reassigned or disappeared-including a strength and conditioning coach that was with the team for 50(!) years. I’m sure that fella was on the cutting edge of training techniques though…

The Draft? You Mean The Smaft!:

I’ve seen this vignette too many times before. Potential! Shocking at Camp! Physique! All-World Ability Unleashed! I’ve also seen the likes of Evan Engram thriving once he’s left the fold. I’ve seen Daniel Jones play with a robot’s understanding of the QB position, and be greatly rewarded for it. I’ve seen DeAndre Baker desecrate the corner position in less than two months. I’ve seen Kadarius Toney quit practice because his cleats weren’t right. I’ve seen Kay Thibodeaux disappear and Deonte Banks near to tears on the sideline. First-rounders all, folks. No more benefit of the doubt.

The Young Ones:

They’re there to inspire us towards hope or to form an ensemble that makes some damn funny TV back in the day-let’s focus on the former. Dart, Skateboo and Nabers have all the talent/potential in the world and this jaded fella says that they’re too damned dumb, reckless and injury-prone to do it together as The Lovable Scamps Triumvirate. Two of them lead with their head at the fourth yard of a third and twelve, for puddin’s sake! Mark my words, they’ll not be on the field together for the equivalent of 34 games. (that’s two seasons worth)

The D:

One holy piece of scripture is that teams that prioritize running the ball tend to be good at stopping the run and that’s been a massive problem for the Giants the last two years especially. Maybe they can escape being ranked in the 30’s and aspire to 23rd?, 25? Baby steps. There is young talent everywhere but cohesion and a master plan has not been in evidence for quite some time.

Guesses:

For a few years any fair-to-middling Giants teams have been clubbed to death by a brutal schedule that didn’t give them any breathers. This year that sked is only ranked 17th. The three year old playbook is out the window so an ambush win could happen twice in the early going. What I’m saying is that 8-9 is not a completely unreasonable moon-ish like sphere to reach towards.

There’s nothing on tonight.