EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants are the worst team in the NFL record-wise, and they aren't doing much on the field to disprove that as fallacy.
Pat Shurmur's Giants are who they are, not much better than Ben McAdoo's Giants.
The biggest difference is they have not quit, not on each other and not on the coaching staff, certainly not yet, and the fight is there with no reason to believe that's going to change.
But truth be told: the Giants still are not a good football team.
And the worst part about being a team with a 1-7 record after Sunday's 20-13 defeat to the Washington Redskins – the Giants have been running on empty offensively for a while with no signs of finding their way to the end zone any time soon.
Eli Manning threw a pair of interceptions, including a crushing one in the red zone on which he forced a pass to Odell Beckham Jr. The offensive line was abysmal across the board, turning Shurmur's preseason coaching declaration about the Giants only going as far as the unit takes them into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's as if Nate Solder's $62 million contract is dangling over his helmet before every snap, an incredibly lucrative reminder of how much the Giants invested in his play. His performance had been up and down, but the last two games have been terrible.
Veteran John Greco was run over at times at right guard, and Big Blue finished with its third right tackle in two months when Brian Mihalik replaced the injured Chad Wheeler.
Manning was sacked seven times, riding the roller coaster between aging veteran with enough in the tank to recapture lost magic and fading two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback who has lost miles on his fastball and appears too tentative within an offense that requires conviction and confidence to operate at a much higher level.
The Giants are at the halfway point of their season and the line appears no better than the one that slogged through the debacle of a 3-13 campaign last season.
For the fifth time in eight games, the Giants failed to score 20 points.
Thanks to the winless Cleveland Browns, there was never a time in the second half of last season when the Giants were, in a league of 32 teams, the 32nd best.
That's what they are right now, and heading into the bye week, that's not a reflection Big Blue likes seeing in the mirror.
"Try to hit the reset button," Giants outside linebacker Olivier Vernon said at his locker after the game, adding: "Our record is what our record is. Can't say nothing but we're 1-7 right now."
Shurmur acknowledged that, in light of his team's current fate and the offensive struggles that have led the Giants down this road, "I'm going to look at everything as we move forward."
To what degree any changes will alter the Giants' on-field performance will be debated.
Of course, the spotlight will shine brightest on Big Blue's two biggest names.
It's clear that Manning's future beyond this season will be a talking point in 2019, considering the Giants can clear $17 million of salary cap space by parting ways with one of the franchise's all-time greats. It is not an insult to tell Manning that the organization wants to see the young quarterback on the roster to truly evaluate the position heading into next season.
The Giants botched that last season, and they can't afford to do it again.
Does anyone know how good rookie Kyle Lauletta can be behind this offensive line – with its shortcomings – and thrust into the fire of an NFL season? No, but the Giants need to find out. The 22-year-old from Richmond has been sharing reps in practice with veteran Alex Tanney, who has been the one active on game days as Manning's backup. The Giants are developing Lauletta behind the scenes – they opted to keep him over Davis Webb as the quarterback to do that with – and the challenge for Lauletta has been figuring out ways to chart his own improvement while not playing in a game since the preseason.
By the time the Giants return from their bye week for the Nov. 12 game at San Francisco, Lauletta should be elevated to the game day roster. At that point, the Giants should trust Shurmur and his coaches to get Lauletta ready to play. Let game circumstances dictate if and when he plays, and when to start him over Manning down the stretch for evaluation purposes.
Then there is the never-ending speculation centering on Beckham, who caught eight passes for 136 yards in the losing effort Sunday. He's not getting traded, there's no reason to believe the Giants will look to deal him despite Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reporting Sunday morning that teams have called the Giants inquiring about Beckham.
If Giants want to take on a ton of dead money from a contract with Beckham – their best player – a deal they signed two months ago, anything is possible in today's NFL.
In fact, that might just be the best thing for Beckham's legacy in the short term.
Even considering such a trade would be financial lunacy for the Giants, not to mention making zero football sense for a team – you know – desperate for offense.
Beckham's desire to win is one of the major reasons for his frustration, and he's not alone. And with the way the Giants are playing right now, his decision to leave those answers open to interpretation is absolutely part of that.
"I don't think I'm going anywhere," Beckham said, nodding when asked if wants to be here, adding: "This is where I'm at. All I want to do is be the very best that I can be. Off the field. When I'm on the field. It's really hard to think about that. It is what it is."
The most difficult thing for the Giants to figure right now is where they go from here.
At some point, the Giants are going to find rock bottom. They can only hope this is it.
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