There might be a gray afternoon sometime when there is snow on the field at MetLife Stadium, the wind chill feels like football in December and the fans are cheering as Daniel Jones leads the Giants on a late-season push.
The conditions were all there Sunday but Jones and Saquon Barkley — the two cornerstone players — heard their team booed as it took the field and might still have “Go Pack Go’’ chants ringing in their ears long after they dried off and warmed up from a 31-13 loss to the Packers that was as predictable and as a long line at the checkout register on Black Friday.
There was as much Green and Gold in the building as Giants blue, and cheers aplenty when Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and Jones tossed three interceptions as the Giants lost their eighth consecutive game, their longest losing streak since 2004.
“Yeah, that sucks, to be honest, that sucks,’’ Barkley said of all the cheers for the Packers, “but we’re 2-10 right now, you kinda expect it I guess.’’
There was a time before Barkley arrived when the hearts and minds of Giants fans were not filled with a sense of dread and inevitability. On a day when the Giants fell to 2-10, the Bengals gained their first victory of the season and the Dolphins and Redskins also won. A case can be made of all the NFL dregs, the Giants are the dregs-iest of them all.
For the first time in the 94-year franchise history, the Giants did not win a game in the months of October and November. Next Monday night, they can match a record against the Eagles in Philadelphia, as the only time a Giants team has ever lost nine straight games was 1976. The Giants are 5-17 in their past 22 home games and the wide expanses of empty seats that ushered in December is a warning sign for ownership that apathy has taken over the building.
Pat Shurmur is 7-21 in his 28 games as the Giants head coach. This past week he said he sees signs of progress “behind the scenes’’ and bristled when asked about his concern for the lack of positive results whenever his team actually plays a game.
“I’m always concerned when we don’t win,’’ Shurmur said.
“This is a historically young team that’s going out there and competing against some really good football teams. At some point, we’ll be good enough to win.’’
At this point, Shurmur is being judged on loss after loss after loss.
“I’m a realist when it comes to that,’’ he said. “You know what, when you don’t win, I expect what is written and said and what people think. I expect fans to be upset because we are, too. But we go about trying to fix it.’’
Jones came into the game with a league-high 18 turnovers but mostly has avoided throwing the ball up for grabs, with only eight interceptions in his first nine starts. His three interceptions in this game came on two bad reads and one blatant overthrow.
“Obviously there’s still a lot to work on, and I understand that,’’ Jones said, “but I feel like I’m improving.’’
Jones midway through the second quarter picked up a first down on a fourth down run-pass option scramble for 2 yards and came away from the play with an ankle issue. He remained in the game.
“It’s sore, but that’s part of playing the game,’’ he said. “I’ll be fine.’’
The backup quarterback is Eli Manning, who has not played since getting benched in Week 3.
Jones did not have the extreme pleasure of throwing against the Giants secondary. Rodgers late in the first quarter looked up and spotted Allen Lazard running so free in the defensive backfield it was as if he had a contagious disease and the Giants did not want to risk infection. Lazard lined up in the slot and put a move on safety Antoine Bethea, losing the veteran safety for an oh-so-easy 37-yard touchdown hookup for a 14-7 Packers lead.
The Giants were within 17-13 after three quarters. The Packers put the game away early in the fourth quarter, when Rodgers hit Adams for a 17-yard touchdown, as inexperienced Sam Beal turned outside as Adams cut inside, which is not the way they teach it in Cornerback 101.
Janoris Jenkins, the only veteran cornerback on the roster, complained afterward he is being used wrong in the defense.
“I play on the left side of the field, all game,’’ Jenkins said. “I get two passes a game. C’mon, bro, common sense. Everybody in the league who got a top corner, they travel. Rabbit don’t travel no more. C’mon.’’
The Giants keep Jenkins on one side of the field to simply things for rookie DeAndre Baker. These are the sounds of losing.
“It’s crazy. It’s upsetting, it’s frustrating, it sucks,’’ Barkley said of the losing streak. “I sound like a broken record, but I promise, when this thing turns around I’m gonna sound like a genius.’’