Good Morning, New York Giants Fans!
The New York Giants are close to reaching a tipping point. Not only with the fan-base, but with upper management as well. Owner John Mara was seen with his head down, storming towards the locker room with an angered face stretched across his mouth after the Giants’ abysmal loss to the Jets on Sunday afternoon.
However, his anger has been seen many times before, and many times nothing came to fruition. Nobody was fired, nobody was put on the hot-seat, but Mara still managed to throw a few chairs around in his suite. The reality of the situation is that head coach Pat Shurmur is not in line to be fired.
Shurmur has leverage over Mara at this point, and you can thank rookie quarterback Daniel Jones for that. In two of his last three games, Jones has logged over 300 yards passing, four touchdown passes and zero interceptions. Those numbers, especially after factoring in the lack of offensive line support and dismal pass-protection from Saquon Barkley, really stand out.
Mainly, Jones’ performance and development this season will save Shurmur’s job, and rightfully so. Despite the poor time management and decision making from Shurmur, he has done a stellar job helping Jones through his progression as an NFL player. Every week Jones seems to improve, and while his awareness/fumbling issue is a real problem, it’s something that can be solved with experience.
Where does DC James Bettcher stand?
Factor in the plethora of rookies on the field (DeAndre Baker, Dexter Lawrence, Oshane Ximines, Corey Ballentine, Ryan Connelly, etc.), and you can conclude that maybe, just maybe, Bettcher isn’t on the hook for the poor defensive performances this season.
The New York Giants will enter free agency next offseason with an estimated $80 million in cap space, which will be allocated primarily towards the defense. My primary worry is that Bettcher will be seen as the scapegoat for this lost campaign. He’s been forced to dial back his blitzing packages at the expense of a porous secondary, which is his bread and butter. It’s time to wake up and realize that the Giants are in year two of a full rebuild, and expecting them to compete is unrealistic. However, coaching mistakes are unacceptable, and Shurmur has proven he cannot be trusted in that facet.
Nonetheless–
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