At the beginning of the season, the Giants were heralded as a potential Super Bowl team, with many analysts predicting a Patriots vs. Giants Part III. Last season the Giants had a top 3 defense oozing with talent, including Defensive Player of the Year candidate Landon Collins. We had 2 time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. We even had the best wide receiver in the world (no, it’s not debatable), Odell Beckham Jr. We were coming off a 11-5 playoff season, only losing in the end to the Packer’s offensive juggernaut led by all-world quarterback Aaron Rodgers. We just had a successful offseason, signing undervalued players on value contracts and drafting several new playmakers on offense and defense. The Giants had everything set up for another run at the Lombardi Trophy. So, what happened?

The season started at Dallas against one of last year’s top teams in the Cowboys. Armed with an explosive new stable of playmakers, Eli Manning and the Giants came out and scored… 3 points. After being completely manhandled by the Cowboys in their first loss of the season, the popular rationale was that they were missing Odell Beckham Jr, their most valuable offensive weapon, so the problems would fix themselves next game. We were dead wrong. The Giants were once again destroyed on the football field in their second game against the Lions, with OBJ. Ok, so Giants fans are a little worried, not overly concerned, but share a fair amount of caution, as the chances of making the playoffs as a 0-2 team are a little scary but nothing to worry about, after all, we have OBJ! After coming off their 3rd straight loss, we have all begun to actively think about what would happen if we lost again, but we convince ourselves that the Giants have too much talent to lose this much, and chalk up the losses to bad luck. Then the Giants lose their 4th game of the season. That empty feeling in your stomach after the loss tells you that the Giants might not make the playoffs this year, but then you start thinking, we could still make the playoffs if we start a winning streak to finish the season. Nope. The Giants lose their entire starting wide receiver lineup to injury, including OBJ who breaks his ankle and is done for the season. Your heart drops when you see OBJ leave the field on a cart, then watch Eli Manning fumble to end the game the play right after. It’s over, the dread finally settles in as you consider life after OBJ.

All of those emotions have probably gone through your system, at which point you start getting salty. “Our offensive line can’t even block a dead camel!” or “Fire our head coach!”or even “We should trade Eli Manning”. The blame game runs its course over the next few weeks until you come to the conclusion that the Giants are simply just bad, which leads to: “Hey, what if we tank and get the No. 1 overall pick in the draft?”  *Sigh* I can’t wait for next season.