Can the Giants come back? History says no

BEHIND THE NUMBERS

- John Gidley

Through eight games of the 2020 season, the New York Football Giants have only one win, with seven losses. It is one of their worst starts in franchise history. It got me wondering about other Giants teams who stumbled out of the gate, and if any of them were able to piece it together as the season progressed. By and large, this theory was proven false, as you will see below:

• Let’s begin in 1966, only three years after the Giants played in the NFL Championship game. The bottom fell out for New York as soon as the whistle sounded on that cold day in Chicago. After winning only two games in 1964 and finishing at .500 in ‘65, the Giants won one single solitary game in 1966, a 13-10 home victory over Washington on October 16th. This was in large part due to one of the worst defenses pro football has ever seen. That aforementioned win was one of only two games that season in which the Giants gave up less than 20 points. Their most egregious performance was turned in on November 27th in Washington, when they became the first team ever to score 41 points...and lose by 31 (that’s right, they gave up 72 points). The next week, they lost 49-40 in Cleveland. Needless to say, after a 1-5-1 start through seven games, things didn’t get any better as the season progressed.