MUNICH – There are always different and unexpected questions when an NFL team comes to a foreign country to play a game far, far from home. There were members of the media from all over the world last Friday, all with different accents, interests, agendas and levels of expertise in passing and crossing routes.
The giants are still a little bleary-eyed when they touch down in the Bavarian capital, and after the shake-it-off training in the low afternoon, some players hit with various questions coming from this corner and wide. One question is striking for its simplicity and innocence: For international fans who have no allegiance to an NFL team, why should they choose to give allegiance to the New York Giants?
Daniel Jones leaned into the history of the franchise.
“I think there’s a good tradition, there’s a good history in this organization,” Jones said. “The Giants have been around for 100 years and have been very successful throughout their history. They do things the right way. The Mara and Tisch families are known for the right way and the way they work. I think it’s a great tradition to be a part of.
Malik Nabers, a rookie at the midpoint of his first season, tried to anticipate giving the fence-sitting fans something special to see.
“I’m going to say, ‘Get the ship,’ we’re going to try to save it this Sunday,” Nabers said.
There was a false start when a slightly nervous member of the media said “Jet” when he said “Foam” when asking Dexter Lawrence to be a salesman for the team. Lawrence grimaced then feigned dismay before the question quickly corrected himself.
“I apologize to you,” Lawrence said with a smile. “I mean, the tradition is here. We are celebrating 100 years this year, and blue collar, hard working men. Watch us play, we play hard, we play physical, and that’s a team you want to cheer for.”
Brian Burns, nine games into his unlikely Giants career, made no sales.
“Maybe after they see us play, we can convince them through the game, rather than what I can say,” he said.
There it is. There was nothing, really, the Giants could do to salvage what had been a disappointing season as they took a 2-7 record into Sunday’s international clash with the Panthers at the Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern Munich. So far, the only thing the Giants have been able to convince through the play is an indictment of talent, roster construction and coaching, proof that they can’t dig in and find a way to win.
As bad as it is, we haven’t seen anything if the Giants find a way to go from the bottom to the bottom for the most with a loss this weekend. The teams have similar but not identical records.
The Giants have lost games by points margins of 22, 3, 5, 10, 25, 8 and 5. The Panthers have lost games by points margins of 37, 23, 10, 26, 18, 33 and 14. Blind Spot. The minus-63 differential is tied for sixth-worst in the NFL. The Panthers, by comparison, are subterranean, with a minus-146 point differential, the worst in the league.
Losing to this particular team is causing more than alarm. It is a cause for action. The Saints were beaten by the Panthers last week, 23-22, and immediately fired head coach Dennis Allen.
That certainly wasn’t the end result of the fourth regular season European trip for the Giants. They went 3-0 in their previous international matches, winning in London in 2007, 2016 and 2022. In each of those seasons, they made the playoffs.
The first regular-season game for the Giants on German soil — a preseason game win in Berlin in 1994 — wasn’t about starting the playoffs. They are too far for that. It’s about restoring some pride and avoiding abject shame. John Mara a few weeks ago announced there would be no changes with head coach Brian Daboll or general manager Joe Schoen during the season, and, “I don’t expect to make any changes in the offseason either.”
He said the Giants were 2-5. You have to test his patience, until what awaits the franchise, if the Giants fall to 2-8 with a loss on the global stage to the weakest team in the league.
There really isn’t a “must win” game in the league until the playoffs are postponed. However, there are “must not lose” games, and one of them is for the giants.
