It was almost one year ago that New York Giants co-owner John Mara made his bold proclamation to the media after the team’s dismal 3-14 campaign in the 2024 season.
One that expected an obvious display of improvement on the field next fall, lest there were to be sweeping changes once again handed down in East Rutherford.
Since that decree went out, it’s hard to say that the Giants have done very well to heed his words as they’ve hit their late Week 14 bye.
With just a handful of games left on their slate, they sit at 2-11, with a roster depleted at certain positions and needing to replace two key coaches on the staff soon over the upcoming offseason.
As they say in the NFL, an organization doesn’t just stumble into the level of mediocrity that has plagued the Giants franchise for over a decade by accident.
The team entered the season drawing on some optimism to be competitive and potentially steal a few games that little was expected of them, but a lot more has changed the gloomy narrative.
When the offseason eventually arrives for New York in about a month, they will have to reckon seriously with these select failures that have sent their 2025 season in the wrong direction and potentially towards another historically bad finish that could reset the entire operation once again.
Here are what we believe are the biggest reasons why the Giants find themselves in a worse position than when they started the year back in September.
Run Defense
New York Giants defense lines up against the Philadelphia Eagles during a Thursday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Oct. 9, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Despite the Giants’ efforts in the spring to stockpile a flashy group of playmakers who could clog the line of scrimmage and put an end to their struggles against the run, the trend has only worsened since the season started with high expectations for their defense in year two under defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
In 2024, the Giants might have had a good thing going with their passing defense, which ranked among the top 10 teams in yards and touchdowns allowed.
On the rushing side, they were gashed far too often by opposing running backs, which led to long drives that tired them out and weakened their resolve down the stretch of games.
In total, the Giants allowed 13 different opponents to tally over 100 yards on the ground, including two that surpassed the 200-yard mark, and inflated their season average to 136.2 yards per contest.
That lack of a run response made them the 18th- and 22nd-ranked defenses in time and yards allowed per drive, and didn’t help their second-worst scoring offense, which had inconsistent quarterback play, get more chances to strike the scoreboard.
While general manager Joe Schoen made the defensive interior a massive priority in both his offseason spending and draft selections, bringing in veteran players like Roy Robertson-Harris and rookie prospect Darius Alexander, none of his work has come anywhere close to fixing the problem, as the Giants have plunged further into the basement against the run game.
Through the first 13 games, the Giants’ opponent rushing metrics have completely imploded into some of the ugliest numbers in the entire league.
They are now giving up almost 155 yards per game and an average carry of 5.8 yards in that span, both of which leave their unit in dead last and with their worst opponent production in the last five seasons.
Eleven of those baker’s dozen foes have collected over 100 yards, while three (Commanders in Week 1, Eagles in Week 8, and Lions in Week 10) have gone well over the 200-yard threshold.
Even when the secondary managed to tighten up against the pass, it’s been that counterpart that has let opponents set the tone or stage late-game comebacks that have haunted New York in recent weeks.
It was only weeks ago that one of their worst displays happened against the Detroit Lions when the Giants let running back Jahmyr Gibbs go wild to the tune of 15 carries for 220 yards and two touchdowns, including a 69-yard house call in the first play of overtime that elevated the Lions to their 34-27 comeback victory.
That game would be the final straw for Bowen as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, but the issues have run far beyond his leadership or failed system.
The Giants’ inability to slow down ball carriers has largely been fueled by more inefficient tackling (21st overall PFF tackling grade), with 67 total missed tackles and 10 players holding a double-digit rate in that category in at least 130 defensive snaps.
Put it all together, and the Giants have gone from being the 24th-ranked defense last season to the 30th-ranked unit that also remains on the field at the third-longest time and has become extremely generous in giving opponents favorable field position on late downs.
Those teams have converted at a high clip and found the end zone 66.0% of the time in the red zone, with 17 rushing touchdowns contributing to that success.
It’s hard to win in the NFL consistently if one can’t shut off the faucet from churning yards at ridiculous margins every Sunday, and the Giants are still learning that lesson as they get trampled by less-than-stellar backfields throughout their schedule.
Injuries
Sep 28, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) is carted off the field following an injury during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at MetLife Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Avoiding any injuries in the game of football is an impossible task, but the Giants always seem to get caught up in them, and that story is no different, as they’ve lost a couple of key contributors on both sides of the ball this season.
The latest round of ailments began early with inside linebacker Micah McFadden, who suffered a foot injury in the season opener against the Washington Commanders and has spent the rest of the campaign on injured reserve, where it seems he will now spend the rest of the slate rehabbing for next fall.
McFadden was a tough player to lose for the Giants right out of the gate, given he had been a solid piece against the run with two 100+ tackle seasons, seven forced turnovers, and was the franchise’s most active defender with 107 tackles, three sacks, and eight tackles for loss in 2024.
His absence left a huge hole next to fellow starting linebacker Bobby Okereke, and the impact has carried over into the secondary, which was without a reliable backup to help slow big runs on the ground.
Then, that same deep secondary started getting bit by the injury bug as well, particularly at the starting cornerback spots with Paulson Adebo (5 games) and Cor’Dale Flott (12 games) missing a handful of contests to lower body ailments that forced the Giants to dig deeper into their depth that wasn’t as experienced with competing at the highest level against premier receiving threats.
The Giants have since been one of the bottom third teams in the league in coverage for another season, and their poor fundamentals have been tormented in some of their biggest fourth-quarter collapses.
They’ve been caught playing in extremely soft coverages on the most important possessions of certain games, and it has led to them coughing up five games that could have gone in the win column.
A lot had been invested in the secondary by Joe Schoen as he tried to revamp the defense on both sides of the ball. Sadly, the ultimate result thus far has been six missed games among the group and a team-wide 70.6% opponent completion percentage, averaging 10.8 yards per reception and 23 touchdowns.
Finally, no injuries that the Giants have sustained this year could top the list more than their two biggest losses on the offensive side of the equation in wide receiver Malik Nabers and rookie running back Cam Skattebo, who were quickly becoming two of the main options for both quarterback Russell Wilson and eventually Jaxson Dart who took over in Week 4 for the benched veteran arm.
Nabers came into 2025 expecting to make a run and potentially beat out his impressive rookie numbers from last season of 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns, with the idea that he was finally getting paired with a room of capable signal-callers that could get him the ball in bunches after he had to fight for every one of his record-setting 109 receptions with four different and woeful passers.
The Giants got a flash of that impact for a single game in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, when the 22-year-old receiver went berserk on a weak Cowboys defense and connected for nine catches for 167 yards and two gorgeous moonball touchdowns that nearly put New York over the top what would have been a thrilling divisional victory that fell just short due to a game-win field goal by Dallas.
Just as Dart was entering the starting role and would have his first chance to make magic happen with his new No. 1 option against the Chargers, Nabers was gone for the rest of the season with an ACL tear, leaving the rookie gunslinger without the benefit of his trusty threat and needing to look elsewhere for that same production.
The Giants’ prodigy soon after found his next reliable weapons in the dual-threat rusher in Skattebo and tight end Theo Johnson, the latter forming a nice duo that has created a second-best 456 yards and a team-high five passing touchdowns this season.
Meanwhile, Skattebo was bringing excitement back to the rushing offense with his aggressive style of play, which matched Dart’s and made the two a beloved partnership for the future.
That was until Skattebo suffered his own brutal ankle injury in Week 8 against the Eagles, which left the backfield searching for answers.
While several names on the roster have stepped up to some extent during the team’s losing skid, it’s a daunting surprise that Nabers still ranks fourth on the Giants in receiving production despite seeing just four contests this season.
Outside of Skattebo and Dart’s efforts, the Giants’ remaining ball carriers have only reached the endzone four times despite being a top ten yards per carry unit entering the bye week.
So, the offseason task will remain for the front office to bolster the arsenal of playmakers around Dart, allowing the offense to continue to flow at a winning level if injuries rear their ugly heads again in 2026. Otherwise, the Giants’ status as a perennial “most injured” team will continue to haunt them.
Special Teams Malfunction
Dec 1, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Giants place kicker Younghoe Koo (37) makes an extra point during the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Similar to the run defense, the Giants have done themselves no favors in resolving their long-standing issues in the third phase of the game. Instead, their special teams demons have continued to negatively affect the direction of several of their games, creating a couple of embarrassing moments along the way.
The current fallout actually began in the offseason, when the Giants elected to run it back with 16-year veteran Graham Gano as their place kicker for the campaign despite the lingering health questions that have followed the aging specialist, whom they re-signed to a three-year extension before the 2023 season.
Gano, who has still been one of the leading point producers in the Giants’ building over that span, has continuously battled nagging lower-body ailments that have made his full-time availability and his once reliable leg a thing of the past.
After signing the extension two years ago, the 38-year-old has not played in more than 10 games in a single season and has seen his field goal efficiency drop to as low as 64.7%.
In 2024, Gano would injure his hamstring while warming up for the Giants’ season home opener against the Minnesota Vikings, then aggravate it one week later on the opening kickoff against the Washington Commanders.
The ailment would require a multi-week absence for the Giants’ lone activated kicker and send the team into a desperate scramble to find a replacement.
Gano would still finish that year with an 81.8% conversion rate on his kicks, including a strong 6-of-7 from ranges of 40+ yards.
However, the Giants’ offense was already woeful enough. Without the veteran boot in their arsenal, it made trusting the kicking game to score any points a fearful proposition, as they had to turn the reins over to two other kickers, one of whom was coming off the practice squad, international-exemption player Jude McAtamney.
One would think the Giants would have learned their lesson after that frustrating year for the special teams department. Still, the answer was a resounding no, as they brought Gano back for the final year of his contract, only to face a very similar outcome heading into the final stretch.
The Giants got three perfect games before Gano suffered his second pre-game hamstring injury in as many seasons before the team’s Week 4 contest against the Chargers, which would leave them without a backup place-kicking option for the remainder of that affair that they snuck out behind the strength of their defense.
They had a chance to call up McAtamney or sign another proven kicker off the market during the week, knowing Gano was experiencing discomfort in practice. Yet, they elected to save their active roster spot for a dormant player who wouldn’t see the field anyway.
That mishap forced the Giants to have to rely on punter Jamie Gillan to assume the kickoff and field goal duties, and the Scottish-born player kept that position for several weeks.
It didn’t yield solid results, though, earning him a horrendous 9.0 PFF grade on kickoffs and sending a few out of bounds that have cost the Giants important yards and given their opponents solid field positions.
New York’s next course of action was to turn back to McAtamney while bringing in veteran Younghoe Koo to compete with the foreign-born player from the practice squad, and somehow, the coaching staff concluded that McAtamney was more suited for the job, given their familiarity with him and his ability to spare a roster spot.
That decision was just as misinformed and added more insult to injury for coordinator Michael Ghobrial’s future.
McAtamney’s resume as a shaky kicker in big spots dating back to his college days reared its ugly head as the Ireland native shanked an extra point in the Giants’ 34-17 win over the Eagles in Week 6 before failing on two more attempts that could have helped seal the deal against the Broncos amid a 33-point fourth quarter collapse.
The Giants even went to the lengths of giving Gano one more shot to come back and reclaim his rightful place at the helm. He made it through two games, missing another 45-yard field goal before suffering a neck ailment that put him on the IR list for the rest of the season, and finally turned the spotlight over to Koo.
Koo hasn’t been perfect either, converting just 85.7% of his field goal attempts and 90.9% of his extra point tries. Like bad things that always happen in threes, he put the Giants in a dark mishap once again when he landed his kicking foot improperly into the turf at Gillette Stadium and foiled a 39-yard attempt that added to the misery of a 33-14 rout in primetime.
All those misfortunes can be added to a slew of poor tackling by the Giants’ coverage units, two pitifully large returns by New England, including one that went for 94 yards behind Marcus Jones to the house for a touchdown, and an ineffective return game behind Gunner Olszewski and numerous other players that have only netted 27.0 yards on kickoffs and 8.7 yards on punts.
Still, the kicking element looms the largest over the heads of the current regime, especially when one considers it’s arguably the easiest position in football to fill, and most names can nail the long-range prayers without any hesitation in the modern league.
They’ve even had recent history to convince them to take action, yet they’ve stood by the same moves that have brought repeated eggs on their faces after brutal losses.
Getting special teams down pact will always be an important step toward success in well-rounded organizations, and the proof is in the pudding: the Giants haven’t recognized that timeless reality enough until it cost them a few potential wins on their dismal 2-11 record.
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