The Giants played a home game. The Giants lost a home game. The Giants did not score a touchdown in the home game. Rinse and repeat.
This is already an unwatchable situation. Viewing this offense is like taking a stress test. You are putting one foot in front of the other on a steep incline, not getting anywhere and yet you feel exhausted.
For the third time in four games, the Giants failed to score a single touchdown in a loss at MetLife Stadium. The 28-3 drubbing by the Eagles turned a picture-perfect afternoon, with blue skies and spring-like temperatures, into another stormy experience for Giants fans.
Here is some of the badness that came out of loss No. 5 on the season for the Giants:
— If head coach Brian Daboll did not finally pull the plug on Daniel Jones, the way Saquon Barkley shredded his former team would have been even more of a body blow and an even bigger story. Yes, Daboll said he benched Jones early in the fourth quarter and inserted backup Drew Lock to find a spark — basically, he was saying this: “It couldn’t be any worse, considering we had 100 total yards at the time.’’ And yes, Daboll said this was a temporary benching and that Jones is the starting quarterback “going forward.’’
Still, what Barkley did was thoroughly embarrassing, from a Giants point of view. His 176 rushing yards were the second-most in NFL history for a player against his former team. His 187 total yards were 68 more than the Giants as a team. Remember that data general manager Joe Schoen revealed that indicated running backs start regressing at age 27? Well, Barkley is 27 and he has 761 yards from scrimmage this season — the most by a player in his first six games with a team since Barkley as a rookie had 811 yards from scrimmage in 2018. Barkley is the fifth player in league history with at least 115 scrimmage yards in five of his first six games with a team. He joins Curtis Martin, Adrian Peterson, Billy Sims and Curt Warner in that exclusive group.
Barkley’s 176 rushing yards were the most by a Giants opponent in the 15-year history of MetLife Stadium. The most yards Barkley ran for at MetLife Stadium with the Giants was 152 yards, against the Texans on Nov. 13, 2022.
Predictably, Barkley did not make this personal when he spoke earlier in the week about facing the Giants for the first time. Of course, he was not telling the truth. Of course it was personal for him. He took the high road afterwards, which is not surprising. Barkley is well-aware of his public image and he was not interested in dancing on the Giants while they were down. His new teammates with the Eagles understood what this meant to him.
“I think it’s self-explanatory,’’ quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “Everything that’s been documented publicly about his journey to becoming an Eagle. I’m just ecstatic for him, happy for him, not only how he performed, but how he was able to keep the main thing the main thing, amongst it all. He’s building and I’m proud of him.’’
— In the mood for some distressing stats and historical lowlights? If not, avert your eyes.
The 269 rushing yards allowed by the Giants were the most they gave up in a game in nearly 10 years. They allowed 350 yards to the Seahawks on Nov. 9, 2014, a 38-17 loss.
— The Giants were so feeble on offense that the Eagles knew there was no need to do anything at all in the second half, other than run the ball and eat up the clock — even though their halftime lead was only 14-3. Hurts after halftime threw only four passes, completing two of them for 16 yards. What is this, the old Army ground-and-pound team in days of yore? Thus, the Eagles won, easily, despite having only 70 net passing yards. That is the fewest net passing yards against the Giants since the Bears had only 51 — back on Oct. 3, 2010, a 17-3 victory for the Giants.
— The offense with Daboll calling the plays was supposed to get a kick-start. Instead, it has been more of a kick in the head. The 119 total yards were the fewest — by 31 yards — in a game since Daboll arrived in 2022. The 43 net passing yards was the second-lowest total under Daboll. The 10 first downs tied for the lowest total under Daboll.
— The 25-point loss was the fifth-largest margin of defeat under Daboll. What is most distressing is that the two largest margins came against the Cowboys and the next three were against the Eagles, including the playoff game following the 2022 season. Instead of gaining a foothold in the NFC East, the Giants are getting kicked around in their own division.
— The Giants believed they were better-prepared to handle the loss of left tackle Andrew Thomas this season than they were a year ago. They were wrong, if we are judging this on a one-game trial. They allowed a season-high eight sacks after not giving up more than three sacks in any of their previous five games. Josh Ezeudu as the replacement at left tackle was not up to the challenge and the other starting linemen did not pick up the slack as effectively as they needed to in order to offset the loss of their top player.
— Daboll continues to bemoan the lack of explosive plays on offense — plays that gain 20 or more yards. The longest gain in last week’s 17-7 loss to the Bengals was 15 yards. The longest gain against the Eagles was 14 yards. Meanwhile, their former best playmaker showed them what they are missing. Barkley had runs of 55, 41 and 38 yards against them.
— The last time the Giants were 0-4 at home was 2018 — Barkley’s rookie season and the first year with Pat Shurmur as the head coach.
— Malik Nabers returned after missing the past two games with a significant concussion and he played 54 of the 58 snaps on offense. Was that too heavy of a workload in his first game back? He was not much of a factor — he was targeted eight times and caught four passes for 41 yards. Then again, no one was much of a factor, as the passing game and pass protection was decrepit. Keeping Nabers upbeat after games like this is going to be a challenge. He said he was open several times but the ball did not come his way. That is tough for a 21-year old to take.
— Jalin Hyatt got on the field late for three snaps and got hit on one play and suffered a cracked rib. What an incredibly disappointing second season for a player that was supposed to be a big part of the downfield passing attack. Hyatt has one reception for 6 yards.