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The New York Giants fell to 0-4 Sunday with a 31-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, just the latest in a long string of games dating back to the second half of last season in which they have not been competitive. Here is some of what is being written and said this morning.
Dave Hutchinson of the Star-Ledger cuts right to the heart of the matter in his post-game notebook:
Super Bowl XLVI is a lost memory these days and maybe, just maybe, that team simply wasn’t that good. Admittedly, they caught lightning in a bottle in the postseason after finishing 9-7 during the regular and perhaps Giants general manager Jerry Reese was lured into a false sense of security about how talented it actually was.
Fact is, the Giants, who are off to their first 0-4 start in a non-strike years since 1979, have lost nine of their past 12 games, dating to last season.
Hutchinson is probably right. The results on the field -- 3-9 in their last 12 games with six of those losses coming in blowout style -- back up that assertion. Not to mention that this is looking like the fourth playoff-less season for the Giants in five years. Even if the New York Post does want to remind everyone that the Giants are only two games out of first place in the embarrassingly bad NFC East.
Complete Giants-Chiefs Coverage
Visit our hub page for the entire week of coverage, from pre-game to post-game.Defensive end Justin Tuck has been part of two Super Bowl-winning teams. Now he is part of a team that looks a whole lot more like the Jacksonville Jaguars than one capable of contending. To say the least, he doesn't feel good about it:
"That’s a hell of a thing to have your name attached to," Tuck said of being 0-4. "It feels like crap. Every time you go out on the football field, you look at the N.Y. on your helmet and you realize all the people, the great ones that came before you, all the championships. It’s hard walking in the locker room looking at your owner’s face when you’re 0-4.
"How do you think it feels? It feels like s—."
Should the Giants have gone for the first down with fourth down and a half-yard to go from their own 30-yard line after Andy Reid won a challenge to overturn a first down? Coach Tom Coughlin chose to punt, saying he did not want to make a "foolish error." Victor Cruz wanted to see the Giants go for the first down there.
Valentine's View: Coughlin made the proper decision. You don't go for it from your own 30 trailing 10-7. Of course, things could not have turned out worse with Dexter McCluster returning a Steve Weatherford punt 89 yards for a game-changing touchdown.
McCluster left a trail of embarrassed Giants on the ground during his return. He also made Cruz unhappy with a salsa dance.
Tom Coughlin said after the game that the Giants' play-calling is like "throwing a dart at board." Coughlin did not mean that as a criticism of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. He meant that right now the Giants have no consistency and no ide what will work. The players are not questioning the play-calling, either.
At 0-4, ESPN's Dan Graziano writes that it might be time for the Giants to begin thinking about their future.
[Note: 'Don't forget that 'Kudos & Wet Willies' will be up later this morning.]