TAMPA, Fla. — No season advances as quickly as the NFL, where the games come week by week and a team that opens up after Labor Day can be on fumes by Columbus Day, glumly looking ahead on a lost year by Halloween and irrelevant long before Thanksgiving.
The Giants did not make it out of September. They have crammed so much losing and angst into a three-week span. Baseball teams have yet to set their postseason pitching rotations as the Giants drone on about getting that first victory.
“If somebody would have told me in the offseason we’re gonna start out 0-3, I would have said ‘Yeah, right,’ ” linebacker Devon Kennard told The Post. “It’s definitely a sense of surprise. We’ve got to take ownership. It’s our fault and got to make sure we fix it.’’
There might not be a fix, if history is a guide: Teams starting 0-3 rarely finish with a playoff appearances (five of 168 teams did it since 1980, 2.9 percent). The season is in danger of closing down prematurely, but it is open season on the Giants. They cannot run the ball worth a darn, all of a sudden their run defense is shabby and even when they score touchdowns, they cannot celebrate without breaking the rules of the NFL and good taste (thanks, Odell Beckham Jr.).
At 0-2, the Giants stood up and said no more, and the result was a 27-24 loss in Philadelphia after blowing not one, but two, fourth-quarter leads. Is there any way to predict what will transpire Sunday afternoon against the Buccaneers (1-1) at Raymond James Stadium, other than heat (88 degrees) and humidity (60 percent chance of thunderstorms)?
Coach Ben McAdoo said the Giants have “our noise blockers on” to muffle the harsh and deserved scorn directed at his team. The Bucs have a strong-armed quarterback (Jameis Winston) who will make big plays for his team throwing to Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson and, possibly, give up big plays to the Giants, who have yet to intercept a pass this season.
The Bucs have a rugged defense — though they will play without their top two linebackers — and will present problems to a Giants offensive line that is always on the verge of breaking down.
McAdoo says his team “needs to quit learning the same lessons over and over again.’’ At some point, the Giants have to learn from their mistakes, don’t they? If not, they are simply a bad team with a bad record.
“Absolutely not,’’ Kennard said. “I definitely think we have the talent on this team to turn things around. That’s what we need to do, starting this week. We got a lot to prove and we got to get our first win. Our backs are against the wall and I think we’re gonna come out swinging.’’
Marquee matchup
Buccaneers DT Gerald McCoy vs. Giants RG John Jerry
Giants coach Ben McAdoo said McCoy “makes messes’’ on the field, and it is Jerry’s job to clean up after McCoy, who can penetrate against the run and apply pressure as a pass rusher — though he does not have a sack in two games. After losing to the Vikings, McCoy was so disgusted with hearing criticism that he invited fans to come to the team facility to talk to him about it. Thankfully, the Bucs disinvited the fans.
Jerry, despite his bulk, has never been a punishing run blocker, and he was called for a rare delay of game penalty last week for grabbing the wrist of an Eagles defensive lineman trying to get off the field. Jerry has had to adjust playing alongside Bobby Hart, and now Justin Pugh at right tackle after Hart went down with a sprained ankle. D.J. Fluker might get dusted off and move in at left guard for Brett Jones (hip injury). Jerry has to be a stabilizer on this offensive line and McCoy is a disrupter.
4 Downs
Sterling polishes up his game: In his solid rookie season, Sterling Shepard was often frustrated by his inability to display what he perceives as one of his strengths: yards after catch. He averaged just 10.5 yards per catch in 2016, and in his first two games this season was at 12.5 yards per catch. He turned on the jets last week by turning a 12-yard slant into a 77-yard touchdown, the longest of his career.
“I feel like it definitely helps me out,’’ Shepard said. “Now I know I can do it, so I can just trust it now. Odell [Beckham Jr.] and I have been talking about that for a long time, just trusting my speed and hitting it and going. Now that I did it one time, hopefully I can become a normal thing. Just hitting the hole and going, not hesitating.’’
The Buccaneers gave up pass plays of 45, 47 and 59 yards last week and are 31st in the NFL in pass defense, allowing 329.5 yards per game.
Running on empty: Can the Giants run the ball? Do they care to? Coach Ben McAdoo hardly used the only fullback on the team and this week cut him. McAdoo had three downs from the Eagles
2-yard line last week and passed it twice. Starter Paul Perkins has been ineffective, and Shane Vereen and Orleans Darkwa are banged up. McAdoo in the past has put youngsters on the field. Will he do it with rookie Wayne Gallman?
“We obviously want to run the football,’’ McAdoo said. “That’s important to us, but we need to get the ball in the hands of the people who can make the plays for us. The players who can change the game and can change the score for us.’’
Translation: The Giants are a passing team.
Safety first: Decreasing Darian Thompson’s workload is happening. He played 74 of 76 defensive snaps in Philadelphia and missed four tackles. Andrew Adams, the replacement starter for 13 games in 2016 when Thompson hurt his foot, played just four snaps last week. Thompson grudgingly admitted he could be rusty — his rookie year ended after two games — and knows his tacking cannot be an issue.
“Of course it’s frustrating, because when they break through the defense and I’m the last one back there if somebody else misses a tackle, it’s not really noticed,’’ Thompson said. “If I miss a tackle, it’s kind of in the open field, everybody sees it. That has to be a strong point in my game.’’
Adams is not considered as strong in coverage as Thompson.
Target practice: Eli Manning in his first 13 seasons completed 59.7 percent of his passes. Through three games in Year No. 14, he is hitting on 73.5 percent, second in the league behind Alex Smith, but Manning has completed more passes (86) than Smith has attempted (84). In many ways, it is empty accuracy, as the Giants went the first 11 quarters of the season managing to score only 13 points. McAdoo and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan admit last week’s up-tempo, get-the-ball-out-of-Eli’s-hand-quickly approach was opponent-specific and not an attack style the Giants can lean on every game.
Paul’s pick
Scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter last week has to enliven a dormant offense. Allowing so many rushing yards has to enrage a stunned defense. Playing a third road game in the first four is not easy, and the Giants specialize in making things difficult on themselves.
Giants 23, Buccaneers 16