What did we learn in Giants’ 20-10 loss to Redskins? Nothing good, that’s for sure

When I was making my pick for Thursday’s New York Giants-Washington Redskins game, I picked the Giants. I got that wrong, and my record now matches the Giants’ at 2-9. I almost picked the Giants to score 30 points for the first time in Ben McAdoo’s tenure as head coach.

Thank God I didn’t go that far.

What did we learn Thursday? Well, primarily that the Giants’ offense stinks. We knew that already, but each week we seem to find out more and more about just how bad it really is. Without Odell Beckham Jr., without three starting offensive linemen and with two undrafted rookies now playing on the line, with receivers dropping balls all over the place and with Eli Manning at times missing throws that need to be made, the Giants’ offense is a complete disaster. The Giants managed 170 yards and seven first down on 55 plays Thursday night, 3.1 yards per play, and they now have two touchdowns in their last 11 quarters.

The McAdoo watch is back on

And maybe the GM Jerry Reese watch, too. Truth is, neither ever really left. It’s just that last week’s upset of the Chiefs, crummy offense and all, gave rise to the notion that the Giants could win enough games to save McAdoo’s job the rest of the way.

I think we see now that there is no late-season run coming. Which increases the likelihood of at least McAdoo going.

Mini McAdoo has a partner

Mini McAdoo made an appearance at FedEx Field on Sunday. Only this time, he was joined by a sidekick — mini-Mike Sullivan.

Kalif Raymond is an adventure

Kalif Raymond lost jobs with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets largely because of ball security, with five fumbles in six games with those two teams. He had a muffed punt in his debut with the Giants last week, though he recovered the ball.

Thursday night, Raymond tried to return a second-quarter punt with a defender in his face. He got nowhere. In the third quarter, he called for a fair catch with no Washington defender within 15 yards of him.

So, uncertain ball security and questionable ball security, Lovely. On the positive side, at least there is something exciting about watching the Giants. Raymond returning punts is edge-of-your-seat stuff.

The Salsa is back

Victor Cruz is on his couch somewhere, but the Salsa apparently lives on with the Giants. This is how defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson celebrated his first career sack on Sunday night. That sure looks like a Salsa dance.

Bad offensive line play equals bad offense

Chad Wheeler had a rough night for the Giants, giving up a pair of sacks to Washington’s Ryan Kerrigan. So, let’s pump the brakes on anointing him as a solution on the line. Ereck Flowers had his streak of pass protection snaps without allowing a sack come to an end at 348. Flowers also had two penalties. Manning was sacked four times in all. The Giants gained 170 total yards and averaged 3.1 yards per play.

The Redskins were missing three starters of their own on the offensive line, and surrendered six sacks. Washington at least made enough second-half plays to resemble a professional offense.

Evan Engram is struggling

Has tight end Evan Engram hit a rookie wall? A couple of weeks ago Engram was marveling at the fact that the season was so far from being over. He had only one catch against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and had three catches for only 18 yards on Thursday, along with three drops.

The Redskins are a mess, too

Washington won the game, but we saw plenty of the reasons why they had four of five before Thursday. They had a player intentionally run a ball into the end zone after downing punt, creating a touchback. They surrendered six sacks. They committed a delay of game penalty after a timeout. Yeah, beating the Giants the way they did is certainly nothing to brag about.