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Forget Playoffs For Big Blue

Hope springs eternal for the Giants and their fans.

Every year is the Giants year according to them. Never mind they have stunk since winning the Super Bowl few years ago.

This year is no different. Everyone has the Giants winning the Super Bowl again this year. All I can do is laugh.

It’s amazing Giants fans are so high on their team year after year despite disappointment. It’s like the Lions teasing their own fanbase.

Giants fans and Giants are optimistic for two reasons. For one thing, Ben McAdoo is known as a dynamic coach that has great ideas.  Second of all, the Giants spent money to improve their sorry defense from last year.

I look at it another way. McAdoo does not know what’s going to hit him as a head coach, especially coaching in a big market like New York. Can he handle the pressure? Also, free agency does not usually work for football. The Giants spent money on free agents over the years with poor results.

Why should this year be different?

Graduating from offensive coordinator to a head coach is an enormous leap for a young head coach like McAdoo. It’s one thing to run a good offense, but it’s another thing to oversee the whole team. It’s a hard adjustment. There have been many great offensive coordinators that failed as head coaches. Norv Turner and Mike Martz come to mind.

McAdoo has to coordinate game plans for three units in defense, special teams and offense. That could be too much for a new guy to handle when he has never been.

He also has to establish relationships with defensive players and special teamers, which he didn’t have to do as an offensive coordinator. It takes awhile for players to trust him. That is a long process.

It was a curious choice by the Giants to have McAdoo replace a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Coughlin. The Giants were better served hiring a proven coach like Nick Saban or Brad Childress than a rookie coach.

Yes, the Giants wanted to hire their next Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh in McAdoo, which they can have him coach for 10 years, but it’s a risky hire.

If McAdoo was the Giants offensive coordinator five years ago, it would have made sense to hire him, but he got the job just two years ago.

It will be interesting how he handles the media when the Giants are going to go on a losing streak. That could be a chore for a head coach. This isn’t Podunk anymore for him, so it will be interesting the transition he is going to make.

How he handles crisis and players will go a long way for McAdoo. It’s hard to believe he can handle it in year. That’s like a student cramming to study to get ready for a final exam.  History of young coaches doing well as Giants coaches is not very good.

The Giants spent money to improve their defense by signing Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins. This is the only resort they have since they can’t draft well.

I have my doubts on those guys. Harrison should be okay, but how much he benefitted playing with Sheldon Richardson and Mo Wilkerson? Now, he has to be the guy, and he is not going to get help anymore. He has to do on his own. It remains to be seen if he can get it done.

It’s a reach to think Jenkins will do much at cornerback. I have seen him get burned by wide receivers time after time.

If Vernon is so good, how come the Dolphins were more than happy to let him go?

The Giants are taking a risk in taking chances of signing free agents. There’s a reason these guys are free agents. NFL teams rather trust a young player than go with a proven veteran that had his chance.

This is a roster that has failed to win big games since winning the Super Bowl. Why should this year be any different?

Here’s what’s going for the Giants: The Eagles, Redskins and Cowboys are not any better.

Still, it’s hard to trust the Giants. The last few years every team in the division has been mediocre, and the Giants failed to take advantage of winning a winnable division.

How can the Giants be trusted to get it done when they haven’t?

Hope spring eternal, but I live in reality.

The Giants need to show me before I take them seriously.

Leslie Monteiro
I'm the author of 10 books. If you're looking for autographed copies just go to my Twitter @Sportsology and DM me.

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