Danger vu for Giants: Same 1-7 record, same foe as in 2017
Giants quarterback Eli Manning passes against the 49ers during the first half of a game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2017, which the Giants lost, 31-21, to go to 1-8 on the season. Credit: AP/Ben Margot
The Giants lost 13 games last year, and because there were so many defeats, they all tend to get lumped together.
But looking back, one stood out as more than just a loss in the standings. It was exactly a year ago to the day, Nov. 12, 2017, that the one-win Giants went to play the winless 49ers thinking they had a chance to taste victory. Instead, they were turned away with a 31-21 loss, were humiliated by a poor result and an even worse effort, and the locker room began crumbling.
The season already had ended by that point. That was the loss that sent the entire regime into a tailspin that ended a month later with the firing of the head coach and general manager.
So as the Giants again head out west with one win to their credit to play the 49ers on Monday night, why should anyone think this result will be different?
Because this time they’re more angry about their situation than resigned to it.
“It was definitely a disappointing position to be in then, but we’re going out there with another opportunity to win a game, and that’s our goal,” second-year tight end Evan Engram said. “We know it [stinks], we know we’re [ticked], but we’re going out there trying to get a win and get some of this feeling out of our mouth.”
The Giants have undergone two overhauls since their last trip to San Francisco. The first was to their roster, and it has not provided much of an improvement.
“I was watching the game [against the 49ers last year] and I think there were four players on our offense that played last year,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “If you do the math, there’s seven new guys in there.”
The second was to their culture, and that one seems to be yielding subtle, silent benefits. Giants officials were impressed by the way the team practiced not just this week after returning from the bye but last week in the two days they were on the field before their break.
“There’s a lot of change, there’s a lot running parallel, but the urgency to win is always there,” Shurmur said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
“I think our guys have great character,” defensive coordinator James Bettcher said. “There hasn’t been a time this year, and I can honestly say this, there hasn’t been a time this year that I’ve had to challenge their effort, that I’ve had to show clips in the room after a game and say we’re not playing hard enough.”
That’s exactly what had to happen when the Giants returned from the 49ers game last year. Players were called out for their lack of hustle and for seeming to have given up. For some, it served as a wake-up call. For others, it created a deeper chasm.
The Giants certainly are disappointed that, a year later, they are heading to San Francisco with the same record (1-7) they took with them in 2017. Their goal is to come back with a different result. And if they can’t do that, at least with a different aftermath.
“That’s definitely crazy,” safety Landon Collins said of the similarities between this year’s game and last year’s. “But I don’t think the outcome — and I’m not saying we’re going to win, but how they took over on us last year — will be the same.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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