Giants Look Stuffed From Christmas in Loss to Vikings

Well, put a fork in the 2015 Giants, who embarrassed themselves with a 49-17 loss to the Vikings on Sunday night. In fact, put a knife in the G-men, too. And a spoon. And a soup ladle. And any other eating implements you have lying around your kitchen following this long, gut-busting Christmas weekend.

Heaven knows, I ate and drank enough to bring lethargy to a small army. And apparently the Giants were on a similar diet, as they galloped around the gridiron like so many confused animals that had been hit with tranquilizer darts.

The only thing sadder than watching the Giants get trampled under the wheels of the playoff bound Minnesota team would have been hearing a friend say on Facebook that he needed to have Eli Manning post big numbers to win the championship game of his fantasy football league.

Living in the northeast amid rabid, homer fans of all persuasions, there was a high likelihood that I might have encountered such a plea for Manning’s success on Facebook; approximately the same odds as seeing a friend re-post a “lottery ticket” that gave them a shot of winning $4.5 million from Mark Zuckerberg.

That, in a chestnut shell, was this Christmas weekend: Friends opting to announce themselves as dolts on Facebook -- on the non-chance of winning free millions -- instead of doing a little research that might have allowed them to retain the respect of their “friends.”

I have no proof, but I’m willing to bet a lot of Giants players reposted that Zuckerberg charade, too. They obviously didn’t spend the past few days devising a functional game plan against Minnesota.

This game really had it all from a failure standpoint, so let’s just go around the room and say a few words.

Eli Manning. At one point in the game, ESPN stats shared this nugget on Twitter: “Eli Manning is now 1-of-8 with three interceptions on passes more than 5 yards downfield.” That's a stat from a Pop Warner game.

Andre Williams. He ran the ball three times for 5 yards, and on one play tried to make a cutback move and was knocked down when an offensive lineman did a swim move and took out Williams with his arm. From now on, Williams should just take handoffs, yell “timber” and fall forward on every carry; he’d get just as far as he does now and not expend as much energy.

Odell Beckham Jr. Thanks to the Eagles' inability to beat Washington, your suspension had no bearing on the Giants’ inability to make the playoffs. Oh, and Julio Jones and the Falcons ended the perfect season for Josh Norman and the Panthers. So sounds like you had a nice, enjoyable day off.

J.T. Thomas III. Thomas got ejected in the fourth quarter of the game against the Vikings, an obvious makeup call for not throwing Beckham out of last week’s game. With the ejection, Thomas was unable to match his season average in missed tackles.

Jason Pierre-Paul. You need to lose the club by next season. Even a one-handed Lawrence Taylor wouldn't have succeeded in the NFL.

Tom Coughlin. I keep telling myself that most of this Giants’ Dumpster fire was not caused by Coughlin. But the team was absolutely flat against Minnesota, and that’s on him. I think he deserves to come back next year, but general manager Jerry Reese has to give him a better roster. Beckham’s absence in Sunday’s game underscored his importance, but it also highlighted how pathetic this Giants team is in so many phases of the game, particularly on defense. Speaking of which …

Steve Spagnuolo. Somebody has to lose their job following this season. If it’s not Coughlin or offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, then it stands to reason it will be the architect of a defense that is on pace to set records for incompetence. Yes, the team has had a slew of injuries, but so have many other teams. It might not be fair, but it’s also not fair that some people are stupid enough to think Mark Zuckerberg might give them $4.5 million just for re-posting something on Facebook. These are the times we live in. 

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