E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls up until last year. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

OFFENSE, DEFENSE SPECIAL TEAMS CAUSED GIANTS' 48-22 LOSS

By Dave Klein
Okay, what do you get from a defense that can't tackle?

And what do you get from a special teams unit that politely opens the door to the other teams' kick returners?

Oh, and don't forget the question of what do you get from an offense that simply cannot protect its quarterback?

Well, what you get is an embarrassing loss, 48-22, to the Philadelphia Eagles, who clinched the NFC East on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. The Eagles improved to 12-1 while the Giants fell to 7-5-1, and next Sunday night they'll play the other NFC East team with a 7-5-1 record, Washington.

Oh, right, and the Eagles' only defeat was applied by that same Washington team, which is also the other team in the entire NFL that has the symbol for a tie affixed to its record.

But despite all this mediocrity, there is a mathematical certainty that if the Giants win this game Sunday night at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., no matter what else the remainder of this peculiar season has in store for them, they will earn a spot in the post-season playoffs.

Go figure.

The first-year head coach, Brian Daboll, has kept a staunch position during this fall from grace, since the Giants opened their season with a shocking 6-1 record and, obviously, have played at a 1-4-1 pace since then. There are four games remaining on the regular season schedule, and based on Sunday's performance, they should be underdogs in all of them - even the game on Jan. 1 against 4-8-1 Indianapolis.

Yesterday, Daboll conducted his weekly after-game press conference, and not much has changed in his tenor or appraisal of the next game. It is just the next game, and that's all.

For instance, the running game. Production from this segment of the team has been sabotaged by the shoddy play of the interior offensive line, and the coach "kind of" admits to that.

"I think earlier in the year we had some good numbers but some of that came from [Saquon Barkley's] big runs," he said. "So you look at the type of game you're playing in, whether you're ahead or behind, you look at the play design, you look at all 11 [players] and I think it's a variety of things."

It comes down, as it always does, to this: "All that being said," he continued, "we're just not doing a good enough job. And I'm really not making excuses, we just have to do a better job."

And with regard to the breakdowns in each aspect of the overall game, Daboll admits to that, too.

"I think there's always a reason for each play to break down," he offered. "Yesterday was a variety of issues, whether that was missing a tackle, whether it was getting [beat] on a kickoff return. We made a play on that blocked punt, but we gave up far too many yards in the kickoff return and really didn't give ourselves a chance to get going on our kickoffs. So that is certainly an area we need to improve, and we'll continue to try to do that."

So try to keep this uppermost in your mind. There are four games remaining and the Giants, whether deservedly or not, have a valid chance at making the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Whatever transpires from now to the end of the season will decide on whether it was a successful first year for Daboll, yet there will still be the enormous problem of fixing what is broken, i.e., the offensive line, secondary, wide receivers, et al.

Coach Daboll, one more time: "We got beat, and I said this last night: We got beat soundly. And you don't want that to happen, but it happened. So, we've tried to preach consistency in our meeting rooms, in our practices. And it's easy to do when you get the results you want.

"The challenge is when you don't get the results you want. I think that's where leadership, that's where consistency, that's where teamwork - all that stuff - comes in because again, this is the world we live in. We are judged on results, which I completely understand. But I've done this long enough. I've been on both ends of it."

Finally, it was pointed out to star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence that the Eagles gained almost 200 yards rushing in the second half alone.

He was nonplussed, and then he said: "That can't happen because you'll lose. We all have to execute. We all have to be aware of playing good technique, what plays are coming and how to defend those plays."

Well, he gets another chance Sunday night, in what for all intents and purposes is a playoff game, and the early spread favors the Commanders by four and a half points.

davesklein@aol.com

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