Are the Giants facing an 0-9 start?
Daunting schedule ahead. Two weeks to college football. Happy Birthday to the Cous.
Good morning, all! I hope your weekend is off to a pleasant start!
The New York Giants open their preseason today at Buffalo. As a New York Giants fan, it pains me to write this, but I believe the Giants are staring at an 0-9 start to their 17-game season.
Are the Giants improved from last season? Yes! They are better at quarterback, on defense, perhaps on the offensive line and in the backfield. Now the bad news. They play in arguably the toughest division in the NFL. The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the much-improved Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys are all head-and-shoulders above the Giants, no matter how improved they may be. Take a look at their schedule and you tell me where the Giants have a win in their first nine games?
It amazes me how the Giants have fallen to such depths, again. How do other teams manage to be perennial contenders and the Giants, one of the NFL’s legacy teams, continue to languish? After much success, the Giants from the mid-1960s to 1979 became a laughingstock, with a couple of successful seasons sprinkled in. But in that period, they were never contenders. Then they flourished under George Young and Bill Parcells, only to languish again, until Tom Coughlin came along. Now they are once again in the depths.
Coach Brian Daboll provided some hope, guiding the club to a postseason berth in his first year as coach, including a playoff win against the Minnesota Vikings. His second and third years as coach have been a disaster. Only because ownership did not want to make yet another coaching and GM change do Daboll and Joe Schoen survive.
I believe the team has had a successful draft and will be improved. Maybe Schoen and Daboll are laying the foundation for the future. I hope so. This, however, will be a massive learning year for that future and I see numerous bumps and bruises along the way.
The bottom line is, the legacy New York Giants should be perennial contenders, something they have never done. In my lifetime they have won four Super Bowls and been to five, more than enough to fulfill any fan’s dreams. But they have a habit of winning a Super Bowl and then quickly plummeting to rock bottom. And that is where they are now.
So are the Giants better than last year? Yes! Will they exceed last season’s 3-14 record? Perhaps. But not by much. Will they contend for a playoff spot? No way! They are eyeballing an 0-9 start. Look at that schedule and tell me where I am wrong.
Here are some other stories that caught my eye for Saturday, August 9, 2025:
Wow! The starting third baseman for the Hartford Yard Goats this season was Kyle Karros, son of the former LA Dodger Eric Karros. Last night he started for the Colorado Rockies. I wish him well. He has a lot of talent but is still learning. With the Rockies buried in last place - although they will not end up with the worst-ever record in MLB history in my opinion - here’s a chance for some on-the-job training for Karros and the other young Rockies.
The opening night of the NBA season will be going primetime on OTA network NBC. That’s right! On a Tuesday night no less. And the network will show a doubleheader. Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets will battle the defending champion OKC Thunder, followed by the Lakers vs. Warriors. Mark down the date: Oct. 21. And why is the NBA going primetime on NBC, which has returned to carry the league for the first time in 22 years? Because the ratings will be better than any regular programming NBC has to offer on Tuesday night.
In case you’re wondering, the NBA has scheduled five games on Christmas day to go up against the NFL’s tripleheader. I’m old enough to remember when the only game televised on Christmas day was the Blue vs. Grey game. Just sayin’.
By the way, the college football season opens two weeks from today with five games on tap, including the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Iowa St. battles Kansas St. in that one.
Happy Birthday to Boston Celtics great Bob Cousy, who turns 97 today.
Enjoy your Saturday and thank you for subscribing!
DAN