Let us play a game that serves no real purpose, other than to compromise the already-frayed mental health of Giants fans:
What if safety Jason Pinnock on Sunday night had recovered the fumble that was forced by linebacker Micah McFadden?
The ball was sitting right there, and Pinnock was the closest player in the vicinity. What if the Giants put an accent on their fine defensive showing with Pinnock securing the ball, rather than failing to do so?
The Giants could have taken over on their own 21-yard line, with 1:58 remaining, trailing 10-7 to the Bengals. The Giants had one of their timeouts remaining and certainly had plenty of time to get in position for a game-tying field goal or, better yet for them, perhaps a game-winning touchdown.
Is there any reason to believe that would have happened? Is there any reason to believe that all of a sudden, when they needed it most, Daniel Jones and the offense were going to string together a bunch of positive plays, or maybe one big play, to get the job done and win a game they all needed so badly?
Stuff happens, of course, but the answer is … no.
There is no reason to believe Jones and Co. would have unlocked some secret formula to actually complete a pass of more than 15 yards.
And so, when Pinnock did not get the ball, the Giants were doomed.
On the very next snap, Brown raced untouched 30 yards for the game-sealing touchdown, the Giants were on the wrong end of a 17-7 loss that once again showcased their ongoing inability to score enough, no matter how well their defense plays.
“Well, again, you’re not happy with the result, and you’re not happy with the points,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said Monday.
“Our inability, I would say, this game, to generate explosive plays, whether that’s through the run or through the air is not where I want it to be right now. So, we’ll keep doing it. Keep calling them.’’
Daboll as the play-caller sent in four deep shots for Jones.
There was a crossing route by Wan’Dale Robinson, two go-routes to Jalin Hyatt and another to Darius Slayton.
Jones was 0-for-4 on those throws. His longest completions were 15-yard pickups to Robinson, Slayton and rookie tight end Theo Johnson.
That is a popgun attack. The Giants cannot get back rookie receiver Malik Nabers (concussion protocol) soon enough. Perhaps for this Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
In the first four games, Daboll had Nabers setting all sorts of rookie records, and the offense averaged 15 points. Take Nabers and starting running back Devin Singletary off the field with injuries the past two games, and it has been 29 points (23 from the offense) on the Seahawks and the seven points on a Bengals defense that allowed 29 points a game in its first five. Jones, after four straight solid — but hardly spectacular — outings, was as unsatisfying as soggy oatmeal. He threw 41 passes and completed only 22. Plus, there was a bad-old-days reminder interception late in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Giants on defense for new coordinator Shane Bowen have not allowed more than 21 points in any game — there was a pick-six by the Vikings in the opener. Loss No. 4 was especially galling for a defense that held a Bengals attack averaging 28 points to only 17.
Daboll has to be careful with his team right now. Even though there are no outward signs of fracturing, the offense is playing losing football. The defense is playing winning football. It is one team with two different identities.
Members of the Giants defense did not say anything to indicate there is a problem brewing, but human nature is what it is.
“They don’t really say too much about it or anything, but just internally, we feel like we let those guys down,’’ Robinson said. “I feel like they played a helluva game, and we just didn’t go out there and put up enough points for those guys.
“There’s no blame or anything like that. It’s football. There could be one game when we’re clicking and they might not be clicking the way that they want. We’re one big team, and everybody holds each other accountable. There’s no blame to go around.’’
With Kayvon Thibodeaux missing his first game of the season, replacement Azeez Ojulari had two sacks and Brian Burns played his best game thus far for his new team, with one sack, eight tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. He was a disruptive force.
“Like I said, it’s frustrating and there are more plays to be made and more things that we can do to change the game,’’ Burns said. “If we want to be an elite defense and live up to who we say we are, then we have to make those plays.’’
The defense can do only so much, though.
“Shoot, we know what we got to do,’’ Robinson said. “We know we got to put up points for us to win and seven points isn’t going to do it.’’