The New York Giants will be closing in on some infamous milestones this week when they host the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
A loss to the Colts would set a new NFL single-season record for home losses with nine. The Giants would be the first team to achieve that in the 105-year history of the NFL.
Since the league expanded to 17 games in 2021, 16 teams have been getting an additional home game each season, so nine home losses has only been achievable in the past four seasons.
Any franchise with such a measly output would surely be seeking to clean house at the end of the season and push the reset button. The Giants call this “blowing it up,” something they’ve avoided doing under John Mara and Steve Tisch’s watch, which began in 2005.
They might not do it this time, either. They could conceivably keep general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll and simply make changes among the rest of the staff.
They could replace Daboll but it is unlikely that Schoen will be fired. He is coming off a very strong offseason in which all six of his draft choices ended up contributing in their first seasons with the club. He also added defensive end Brian Burns vis a trade and several key offensive linemen.
But it’s the rookie class that has the team — and the players — remaining optimistic for the future.
“We’re happy where we’re at,” said wide receiver Malik Nabers, who the Giants selected sixth overall in this year’s draft. “Continue to grow every day. A lot of things to fix, a lot of things we can look back on in our rookie year and continue to try to get better for next year. I’m happy with the group that decided to come here, that they picked. We’ve been doing a lot of great things. I’m hoping that we continue to do those things throughout the year.”
Nabers has already set a franchise record for receptions by a rookie (97) and is now chasing the NFL record of 105 set by the Rams’ Puka Nacua last season.
He knows he’s not the only rookie who has made an impact this season. Safety Tyler Nubin, cornerback Andru Phillips, tight end Theo Johnson, running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., and linebacker Darius Muasau have all played valuable roles this season.
“I feel like we’re all dogs,” added Nabers. “Theo… you go through everybody. Nubin, he had a lot of broken stuff in his foot. He continued to play. Theo, he got his foot broken in the first quarter of the game, he continued to play. We’ve got that mentality that we want to win. Nothing’s going to stop us from getting done what we want to get done. To have that as a group and all in one, the sky’s the limit for us, I’m happy for that.”
This could be the start of a strong trend for the Giants. Yes, it took some time, but Schoen could be on the cusp of building something big here. He might just have the top pick in this year’s draft to work with, too.
If the Giants make a change now, they could be missing out on a chance to become winners again.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
