Giants’ season hits new low in overtime defeat to Panthers for fifth straight loss
MUNICH — John Mara has said he will not make any changes with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll during this season and that he did not “anticipate’’ making any moves with them for 2025.
Well, the co-owner of the Giants surely did not anticipate the Giants being a laughingstock.
He did not anticipate loss after loss after loss and disappointment most every weekend.
And he certainly did not anticipate his team stepping onto an international stage and stinking up the joint in a foreign country, somehow looking like the inferior side to a team that was, based on most statistical metrics, the worst in the NFL.
In a season filled with lousy football, the Giants saved their lousiest for a showcase game in the southern tip of Germany.
They could not stand up to the usually docile Panthers, going down 20-17 in overtime in an embarrassing performance at Allianz Arena.
The Giants trailed 10-0 at halftime and 17-7 late in the third quarter, but tied it at 17 on Graham Gano’s 42-yard field goal with five seconds left in regulation.
When Daniel Jones called tails and it came up tails, the Giants got the ball first in OT with a chance to win it.
Instead, they lost it. Rookie Tyrone Tracy on the first snap in overtime lost the ball on a fumble and Panthers linebacker Josey Jewell recovered it on the Giants 23-yard line.
Eddy Pineiro’s 36-yard field goal moments later ended it. Auf Wiedersehen.
“I mean, I just didn’t hold the ball correctly,’’ a somber Tracy said. “I was trying to make a move, so I got in a hole. Got to get the ball up. That’s on me. I’ve got to live with it.’’
Living with failure and disappointment is a way of life for this team and this fan base. The hits keep coming, as the Giants lost their fifth consecutive game.
They limp into their bye week with an unsightly record of 2-8.
“Obviously we’re not where we want to be,’’ Daboll said. “We’ll go back. We’ll evaluate things in the bye week.’’
Part of that evaluation could lead to the benching of Jones, who got out to a ridiculously slow start and ended up tossing two interceptions — one on the red zone, the other just on the edge of it.
The run defense was suspect, again, as Chuba Hubbard turned the corner repeatedly for 153 of the Panthers’ 188 rushing yards.
There was a field goal miss of 43 yards by Gano in the second quarter that could have put the Giants on the board.
There was a botched flea-flicker attempt in the second quarter, with Wan’Dale Robinson and Malik Nabers both running free but Jones unable to launch the throw as D.J. Wonnum eluded newly installed left tackle Jermaine Eluemunor for a sack.
It is bad. Really bad. And an acknowledged team leader has a warning that it could get worse.
“Really just evaluate yourself before you start pointing fingers or starting cliques or stuff like that,’’ Dexter Lawrence said. “It’s a young team, and that can happen really easily if the leaders don’t jump on top of it.’’
Lawrence said he has not seen signs of finger-pointing of clique-forming.
“But it could happen,’’ he said. “It’s the nature of humans.’’
The Giants in the first half had no points against the league’s most porous defense — the Panthers came in allowing 32.6 points a game. Yet the Giants in the first 30 minutes made them look like the ’85 Bears.
Jones finished 22-for-37 for 190 yards and rushed for a touchdown, but once again finding enough points was his downfall.
The Giants late in the fourth quarter had a shot, down by three points, when rookie Dru Phillips forced a fumble on Hubbard and D.J. Davidson recovered it on the Carolina 22-yard line with 8:01 remaining.
The Giants got to the 6-yard line and then melted away.
Nabers was dropped for a 2-yard loss and then disaster struck.
On third-and-7 on the 8-yard line, Jones threw a 1-yard pass that hit Tracy in the hands but Jewell ripped it out for a killer turnover with 5:56 to go.
The Giants got the ball with 2:30 left, with no timeouts remaining. Jones completed eight short passes to set up Gano for a 42-yard field goal.
Gano, playing for the first time since Week 2, hit this one to send the game into overtime.
Jones was not benched at halftime and the Giants scored on their first possession of the third quarter — thanks to a 32-yard touchdown run by Tracy, who ran for 103 yards.
Down 10-7, the Giants could not establish a foothold in the game, as Hubbard ran through them on an 80-yard drive finished off with his 1-yard run.
Is Daboll’s messaging getting through to the players?
“I think it is,’’ Lawrence said. “Just has to be comprehended a little better.’’
Not comprehended?
“Yeah, it’s annoying for sure,’’ Lawrence said. “But I’m not in other people’s heads or brains. Maybe it’s got to be communicated differently or got to hear it from somebody else.’’
