GIANTS: Time to Face Facts

Like most fans, I assume, I spent the first two weeks of the season making excuses for the Giants. Week 1, the team could have easily beaten the Cowboys without so many sloppy turnovers, a problem that would abate as the season progressed. Week 2 they hung in against a tough Broncos team that they trailed by only a point at halftime, and if not for a few unlucky plays thereafter the game could have turned out much differently.

But after a Week 3 shellacking in Carolina, at the hands of a team considered one of the worst in the league, it may be time to face facts that this Giants team just isn’t very good. The Giants were outplayed in every facet of the game on Sunday. You watched it. You know this already. But the reality is that there are no excuses left to make.

Coming into the season, I had very high hopes for the Giants. They still have the core of a team that won the Super Bowl just two years ago (although at this point it feels much longer). They appeared to make improvements to the defense and running game, two areas that plagued them in a 9-7 season a year ago. Now, 9-7 feels like a miracle. I don’t know what happened to the Giants that I expected to compete for an NFC East division title, but that wasn’t the team we watched on Sunday.

To be fair, it’s only Week 3 and there’s plenty of time for them to salvage the season. It’s also true that Carolina has seemed to have our number in the Coughlin-era, for whatever reason. But Giants fans have little reason to be optimistic after Sunday’s game. Maybe we turn things around, but it’s time to lower our expectations for the 0-3 Giants.