NY Giants’ blown leads, injuries have made a mess of 2025 NFL season

In an alternate reality, the New York Giants could be in the midst of an amazing, unexpected, fun season.

Think of the possibilities.

• If they had not blown a game in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys they led by 10 points. But, clinging to a three-point lead with :25 left they played soft and let the Cowboys get into position for the best placekicker in the world to kick a game-tying 64-yard field goal. They lost in overtime.

• If they had not blown a 14-3 to the New Orleans Saints, the one team on their schedule clearly worse than the Giants, by committing turnovers on five straight possessions.

• If they had not blown a Week 7 game to the Denver Broncos they led 19-0 after three quarters, becoming the first team in more than 1,600 NFL games to lead by 18 points with less than six minutes to play and lose.

• If they hadn’t frittered away a 10-point lead against the Chicago Bears in the final 10 minutes.

• If they had been able to make one play on defense in the final seven minutes against the Green Bay Packers rather than watching another game they were winning turn into a defeat.

• If they had not lost Malik Nabers to a season-ending injury after four games. Or, Cam Skattebo after six games.

• If Jaxson Dart hadn’t suffered that concussion in Week 10, a contributing factor in that meltdown.

• Shoot, the Giants even scored first in what turned into a 34-24 Week 9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Think of it. If the Giants win the games they were in position to win, they could be 7-5 right now and in position to have a chance at a playoff berth. Instead, they have lost six straight games and might be en route to earning the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Think of all of the “feel-good” things that have happened for the Giants this season.

Advertisement

• In Dart, they have found the player who looks like he could be the franchise quarterback they have been searching for since the twilight of Eli Manning’s career.

• They added Skattebo, who, along with Dart, began to change the expectations around the Giants. Until he was gone, that is.

• The offensive line is actually good, playing better than any Giants’ offensive line has in many years.

• Wan’Dale Robinson is having a career year. He has 66 receptions for 794 yards. At this pace, he will catch 94 passes and gain 1,124 receiving yards. He has already surpassed his previous best of 699 yards, set last season. His average of 12.03 yards per catch is also a career best.

• The Giants are averaging 22.0 points per game. That is more than they have scored per game since 2018, despite the playmaking weapons they have lost.

• Tight end Theo Johnson looks like he might be developing into a problem for opposing defenses.

• Brian Burns has already established a career-high with 13.0 sacks.

• Isaiah Hodgins returned and has quickly become a major contributor.

• The Giants beat — no, manhandled — the Philadelphia Eagles on national television in a Thursday Night Football game that actually mattered.

• The Giants watched Russell Wilson throw for 450 yards in a game this season. They lost.

• On Sunday, they watched Jameis Winston throw for 366 yards AND catch a touchdown pass during which he stiff-armed a defender out of the way for one of the most amazing touchdowns you will ever see. They lost.

Imagine if all of those things were happening in a season where the Giants actually had a winning record.

Instead, they are 2-10. Their head coach got fired. They keep losing game after game they should win, mostly because they can’t play good enough defense to help an over-achieving offense.

It would be funny, if it wasn’t sad.

This quote from Robinson sums it up:

“I feel like I’m in a movie sometimes,” Robinson said. “It’s just not believable sometimes. A lot of movies are fake, so it just feels like it just can’t be real. But obviously, we’re living in reality.”

For the Giants right now, reality bites.

Yes, Malik Nabers was missing something

Malik Nabers seemed to realize quickly that he had spoken out of turn on Sunday when he took to social media after the loss to say this:

“Sometimes I think they b makin us lose on purpose! Cause it’s no way bro, you throw the ball instead of runnin it to make em burn 2 timeouts?? then you dnt kick the field goal.??? Then they have to go down and score!!! Football common sense!!!! Am I missing something?

Nabers quickly deleted the tweet. But, since this is the Internet nothing is ever really gone. So, we get to talk about it.

Advertisement

We have been over what, from my perspective, Nabers is missing. If the Giants had a good, trustworthy, defense they could have kicked the field goal and banked on the defense to keep Detroit out of the end zone.

They do not.

Mike Kafka played the best hand he felt he had, using his offense to try and make it a two-score game the defense could not surrender.

My bigger problem is Nabers speaking out about any of this. He has not been around the Giants in seven weeks, not since he suffered his season-ending torn ACL. Maybe Brian Daboll would let Nabers speak his mind and say what he felt like saying about whoever he felt like saying it about, but that is one of the reasons Daboll got fired.

Advertisement

Nabers is not part of what is going on with the Giants right now. Players feeling free to say stuff like that is another part of the reason the Giants are in the mess they are in.

What was Nabers missing? The good sense to keep his opinion to himself.

Dexter Lawrence’s overtime absence

Much has been made of Dexter Lawrence not being on the field for Jahmyr Gibbs’ 69-yard game-winning touchdown run in overtime on Sunday. Kafka said it was because Lawrence was “nicked up” and “battling” through whatever was ailing him.

Lawrence confirmed to reporters after the game that he was playing through something and the Giants were trying to use him only on passing downs.

Advertisement

The problem, as The Athletic’s Duggan pointed out, was that Lawrence was not on the field for Gibbs’ 69-yard run. Or, either of his 49-yard runs. That’s 167 yards of game-changing runs.

Players like Lawrence don’t grow on trees. The Giants are not going to easily find another one. They need, though, to spend some capital this offseason finding a real nose tackle who gives the Giants a fighting chance to defend the run when Lawrence is not in the game.