Giants running out of scapegoats as Jayden Daniels’ first-place Commanders descend on MetLife
Everyone is at fault here, which is why there may be a lot of empty, gray seats at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Now it’s Deonte Banks’ turn to be the scapegoat.
The Giants corner’s lack of effort in multiple games deserved to get him benched, and his poor tackling is a problem as he returns to Sunday’s starting lineup against Jayden Daniels’ first-place Washington Commanders (6-2).
But it is disingenuous to blame the rampant problems of these dysfunctional Giants (2-6) only on the second-year cornerback and on quarterback Daniel Jones.
The reality is Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll have sprung leaks all over their operation, and Jones and Banks are just the easy targets to identify as culpable — especially when the head coach preemptively points out the QB’s flaws himself.
Everyone is at fault here, which is why there may be a lot of empty, gray seats at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The fans know this is a bad situation that is going to get worse.
It wouldn’t be surprising to hear louder-than-ever “Tommy DeVito” chants before this game is up.
Dexter Lawrence, as great as he is, is the leader of a defensive line and defense that is allowing a league-worst 5.4 yards per carry to opposing offenses.
Malik Nabers, as promising as he is, had multiple drops last Monday in Pittsburgh and failed to come down with three well-thrown Jones deep balls. None of them were the quarterback’s fault.
Even the best players shouldn’t have to be perfect. That’s what is required, though, when a team is overmatched weekly and the margin for error is razor-thin.
Jones, of course, is running out of time to be the Giants’ starter as the season drags further into the depths, as well. He turned the ball over twice to end the Pittsburgh loss, and if Sunday goes badly, Drew Lock may end up replacing him in the middle of a second straight home game — and eventually as the starter in upcoming weeks.
Chris Hubbard is starting a second straight game at left tackle after allowing 12 pressures in pass protection in his Giants debut. O-line coach Carmen Bricillo said Friday that Hubbard blocked well in the run game but had avoidable breakdowns in pass pro.
“Somebody’s gonna be out there playing,” Bricillo said of the left tackle spot. “We have contingency plans. We have options.”
What does he see from Hubbard on Jones’ blind side?
“Probably what you see,” he said.
Kicker Greg Joseph (oblique) became the third Giants kicker or punter to get hurt in practice this season, and that is expected to thrust rookie kicker Jude McAtamney into his NFL debut.
That will put a ton of pressure on McAtamney, because the Giants haven’t scored a first-half touchdown since Oct. 6 in Seattle. It’s been all field goals since:
No first-half points against the Bengals, one field goal against the Eagles and three Joseph field goals for a 9-9 halftime score against the Steelers.
The Giants are scoring 7.75 points per game at home this season with an 0-4 record at MetLife. Jones incredibly hasn’t scored a touchdown on his home turf yet this season.
Frustration boiled over in Pittsburgh, with Lawrence screaming at the Giants’ defensive backs and Banks being benched immediately by the coaches in response.
This was an inevitable development once Daboll declined to bench Banks for the start of the game after he quit on a Jalen Hurts scramble in the 28-3 blowout loss to Saquon Barkley and the Eagles.
And now the focus is primarily on Banks and the defensive staff for that ugly scene and benching.
Defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, coordinator Shane Bowen and Banks all took accountability, though. They have been transparent, and they take responsibility — absent anyone else doing so.
“I didn’t really do a good enough job having those guys ready to go,” Bowen said of the defense’s early Pittsburgh letdown. “We were a little sloppy, not really as locked in as we needed to be fundamentally. The tackling really showed up early for us. So I get Dexter’s frustration.”
Henderson said of the disappointing results: “It’s painful. Every week we lose, it’s like a stab.”
He said of Banks’ benching: “When that happened to him, it happened to me, as well. We’re tied at the hip, he and I. It wasn’t good enough by him, and for that reason it wasn’t good enough by me. I expect more out of me.”
Banks backed up the position coach who had his back.
“It’s an ‘I win, he wins, I lose, he loses’ type of thing,” he said.
But everyone loses if the Giants drop this game, fall to 2-7 on the season, 0-5 at home and 0-4 in the division. More than two people will be on the chopping block when the consequences of this mess arrive.
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