New York Giants Fans Might Be In For A Long Season Again In 2019

New York Giants, Janoris Jenkins
Dec 2, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins (20) reacts after the final play of the game against the Chicago Bears during overtime at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not time to throw in the towel yet, but it would also be overly optimistic and unrealistic to not compare the way the 2019 season has gone so far for the New York Giants to last year – the team went into midseason in 2018 with one of the worst records in the league, and right now, the Giants are sitting at the bottom of the division with an 0-2 record one year later in 2019.

Of course, record doesn’t always tell the entire story. At the same time, however, the Giants haven’t looked like winners in either of their games so far. This is a case of a team looking bad rather than a case of a team playing close in both games and starting 0-2 thanks to mostly luck or one or two mistakes.

And it looks like some of the weak spots of the team will be hard to correct without allowing time to pass – and allowing young players to learn, and potentially allowing time for the team to acquire new talent at the position. It is, of course, the position of defensive back that has been one of the most notable in terms of underperforming.

The Giants have multiple problems including a stagnant offense which couldn’t threaten to outscore the Bills on Sunday, but the secondary is the one that has put the team out of the game more than anything else within the first two games.

The problem is also one that’s hard for the team to fix, at least in the time frame of the immediate weeks ahead. Roster changes have left the Giants with no option but to adjust to a new composition at this position, including some less experienced players like DeAndre Baker, as well as safety Jabrill Peppers, who has more experience in the league in general but is a rookie with the Giants after joining them this offseason.

If the group of players stays together, the experiment might work out, but so far it hasn’t produced the results that many were hoping for when the Giants made moves such as acquiring Peppers and Baker, which would perhaps be expected by most fanbases – the Giants have higher expectations however, and it remains to be seen how patient the Giants will be when pressure steps up on the secondary.

The team also has problems on offense but it also seems the team has little options there. They’ve already made the moves that they intended to make at receiver, getting rid of Odell Beckham Jr. and bringing back Sterling Shepard on a new contract while picking up Golden Tate. No one would have predicted the bad luck both players had, back when they were signed. The Giants had to play without both of the receivers thanks to concussion and suspension respectively, and it’s unknown how the offense will perform when both of them are back. Whether it performs better or worse, we’ll see.

The fact of the matter, though, is that this might be a season where expectations need to be lowered due to the team just not having the pieces to compete in some of the ways that were advertised this offseason – it’s easy to say that things will get better even if the team doesn’t display too much promise on the field, but as last season showed everyone, that’s not something that can just be taken for granted.