The last decade of NY Giants football has been an unmitigated disaster. Since the moment Tom Brady’s Hail Mary pass to Rob Gronkowski fell to the ground in Super Bowl XLVI, clinching the second Lombardi Trophy in a four year span for the Giants, the franchise has been in a downward spiral.
In the 10 seasons since, the Giants are 61-100 and have parted ways with four different coaches: Tom Coughlin, Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, and Joe Judge. The last four seasons, the Giants are 22-58, tied with the Jets for the worst record in football.
The last decade is in the past now. It is a new era in Giants football. For the first time in franchise history the Giants hired a general manager that had no previous ties to the franchise. The Giants hired Brian Daboll as head coach, Mike Kafka as offensive coordinator and Wink Martindale as defensive coordinator this offseason, forming a creative coaching staff of elite football minds.
While the Giants roster still needs serious work, new general manager Joe Schoen had an excellent draft, including the picks of Kayvon Thibodeaux, Evan Neal and Wan’Dale Robinson, three rookies who project to be impact players immediately. Schoen also rebuilt the offensive line by adding three new starters, which will help the Giants immediately. Though the Giants have a long way to go to become a Super Bowl contender, the roster is solid, which will lead to the Giants surprising a lot of people this season. Here are the top four reasons why the Giants can stun people and win the NFC East this season.
4. The Giants play a weak schedule
A big benefit of being one of the worst teams in football last season is that it means the Giants will play a fourth place schedule this season. While 14 of the 17 games for each NFL team are pre-determined, the final three games are decided by the place you finish in your division the previous season.
The three games the Giants received for finishing fourth in the NFC East are against the Panthers, Seahawks and Ravens. In contrast, Washington has games against the Falcons, 49ers and Browns, Philadelphia has games against the Saints, Cardinals and Steelers, and the Cowboys play the Bucs, Rams and Bengals.
It’s clear the Giants have the easiest three-game grouping in the NFC East, and with the division seemingly decided by one game every year, this could be the advantage the Giants need to steal the NFC East crown.