For those that know me, I’m sure you can guess what this blog post is going to be about. For those that don’t, however, allow me to paint the picture. There I am, in my old-timey, Lawrence Taylor New York Giants Jersey, anxiously awaiting for my hometown team to kick-off at 7:20 p.m. CST. After the NFL’s first full Sunday slate of the season left some teams excited (looking at you, Miami) and some disappointed, albeit likely unsurprised (sorry, Chicago), I couldn’t help but feel hope for hope for the game. My G-Men had a shocking season in 2022, making the playoffs and dethroning the Vikings at home for their first playoff win in over a decade. They went out and made key roster improvements all over the field, both through the Draft in April and throughout the summer during free agency. Tight End Darren Waller had an amazing camp, gelling with newly-minted franchise quarterback Daniel Jones all throughout the offseason. Rumor had it that this is the best the team has looked in many, many years. 

I started to believe it after the Big Blue came out dominant on their opening drive, marching right down the field but ultimately settling for a field goal. Obviously, you want to see a touchdown after such a nice, well put-together drive, but hey, I’ll take the points. 

My heart sank after the field goal attempt was blocked and I watched Dallas Cowboys defensive back Noah Igbinoghene race down the sidelines and strike paydirt. 6-0 Cowboys. A 3-and-out for the Giants led to a Dallas field goal to make the deficit nine. The Giants got the ball back on the next possession to go down 16-0. Halfway through the first quarter and the game was already pretty much over. 

“They need to show resilience here,” my Dad texted me after the pick-6. 

How about another punt, another interception and another missed field goal on the team’s final three drives before the half? The Cowboys went into the locker room leading 26-0. 

My Dad and brother called me as they drove back from MetLife Stadium in disarray. My friend texted me and told me he’d left. ‘Let’s Go Cowboys’ chants emerged from the stands and a wave of metaphorical nausea rocked me. I put my computer away for a bit, only to open it back up to see that the Giants had turned it over on downs, fumbled and punted. Oh, and America’s Team had scored two more times. When all was said and done, the final scoreboard in East Rutherford showed 40-0 in favor of Dallas.

That wasn’t even the worst of it, though. The texts that came after, the taunts, were the worst. I got around ten texts in the span of 30 minutes and turned my phone off and went to sleep. I woke up to a few more this morning. Truly, how on earth can a football team perform as bad as the Giants did Monday? They looked (arguably) worse than the Vanderbilt Football team has looked against Georgia over the past couple years. 

Still, hope is on the horizon, as Danny Dimes and Co. will travel to Phoenix, Arizona to clash with one of (if not the) worst teams in the National Football League in the Cardinals. It will present head coach Brian Daboll a brilliant opportunity to bounce back and build up some confidence going forward. 

I was going to reserve this space for some hot takes after every College Football Saturday NFL Sunday throughout the fall, but I couldn’t resist the urge to rant in a relatively informal fashion for all to see. Still, I’ll tack on some hot takes at the end of this, for good measure. 

Tony Pollard will finish as the “RB1” in fantasy football this season. The Cowboys’ line is too good, as they proved against a very respectable Giants defensive line this week. The Vikings will finish in last place in the NFC North, behind the bottom-feeding Chicago Bears. And last, but not least, the Jacksonville Jaguars will finish first in the AFC South, and Trevor Lawrence will win his first MVP award. 

 

That’s all for me, folks! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Be sure to tune in to my shows this week! Scoreboards and Soundwaves runs every Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and Anchor Talk (with superstar co-hosts Jack Morris and Owen Andreas) runs on Fridays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.