EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Giants co-owner John Mara declined to comment when asked about the airplane that flew above MetLife Stadium before Sunday’s 14-11 loss to the Saints carrying a personalized message directed at him.
“Mr. Mara enough — plz fix this dumpster fire,” read the banner towed by a small jet that circled the stadium during warmups before Mara’s team lost its eighth straight game. The Giants are 2-11 overall and 0-7 at home.
Circling MetLife stadium:
“Mr. Mara enough – Plz fix this dumpster fire” pic.twitter.com/gmI4ajWK0C
— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) December 8, 2024
Mara’s response to his franchise reaching “dumpster fire” status — again — will come when this miserable season reaches its merciful conclusion in four weeks. But Mara will have to endure two more home games to get to that point, giving creative fans more opportunities to voice their displeasure.
“I’d say look, we’ve won two games, so I’m not happy either,” coach Brian Daboll said when asked about the pregame aerial display.
The product on the field has been bad enough to put Daboll’s job in jeopardy two years after he was named NFL Coach of the Year. But off-field embarrassments like the plane stunt could push Mara to make drastic changes.
Sunday’s pregame scene drew an obvious parallel to another low point in franchise history. Fans famously rented an airplane to fly over Giants Stadium during a 1978 game towing a banner that read: “15 years of lousy football — we’ve had enough,” as the Giants were in the midst of a 17-year playoff drought.
The Giants experienced a revolutionary change after the 1978 season, as John Mara’s father, Wellington, and his cousin, Tim, were engaged in a bitter conflict that caused a stalemate on a general manager hire. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was forced to intercede, presenting George Young as a compromise candidate for the feuding Maras.
Wellington Mara relinquished control of football operations when Young took over. What followed was a 20-year run that restored the franchise’s glory with two Super Bowl titles.
Things aren’t quite that bleak now. The Giants’ most recent Super Bowl was 13 years ago. But they’ve only made the playoffs twice since then, and they have the second worst record in the NFL since 2017.
With each loss it’s becoming harder for Mara justify his desire to maintain continuity with Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. This could be one of the Giants’ worst teams ever, which must hit Mara especially hard since this season was supposed to be a celebration of the franchise’s 100-year anniversary.
The Giants are averaging 14.9 points, which is the worst in the league, and their fifth-lowest season average in the Super Bowl era. They’re averaging just 10.1 points per game at home.
There were fans in attendance Sunday wearing paper bags over their heads while tickets were available for $1 on the secondary market in the hours leading up to kickoff. The brave souls who attended could at least claim they got their money’s worth, since the game ended in dramatic fashion with Graham Gano’s tying 35-yard field goal blocked with eight seconds remaining.
Giants fans really have been going through it pic.twitter.com/QsslC7ZU7n
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024
Daboll repeatedly referred to the outcome as disappointing, but that sentiment wasn’t shared by the many fans who have fixed their attention on the draft order. The Giants moved up to the No. 2 spot after the Jaguars won on Sunday to improve to 3-10.
`,p(s,”class”,”credit svelte-btcuqr”),p(h,”class”,”see-all svelte-btcuqr”),p(a,”class”,”footer svelte-btcuqr”),p(t,”class”,”app-wrapper svelte-btcuqr”)},m(g,v){ce(g,t,v),Qr(n,t,null),P(t,r),P(t,a),P(a,s),P(a,c),P(a,h),f=!0,l||(d=et(h,”click”,e[4]),l=!0)},p(g,[v]){const x={};v&2&&(x.initialMetric=g[1]),n.$set(x)},i(g){f||(Jr(n.$$.fragment,g),f=!0)},o(g){go(n.$$.fragment,g),f=!1},d(g){g&&oe(t),Kr(n),l=!1,d()}}}function al(e,t,n){let{data:r}=t,{teamData:a}=t,{chartOption:s}=t;const c=ol(r.forecast_history,a,s,r.clinches),h=()=>window.location.href=`https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5698572/?page=${a.alias}`;return e.$$set=f=>{“data”in f&&n(3,r=f.data),”teamData”in f&&n(0,a=f.teamData),”chartOption”in f&&n(1,s=f.chartOption)},[a,s,c,r,h]}class ll extends ti{constructor(t){super(),ei(this,t,al,sl,Gr,{data:3,teamData:0,chartOption:1})}}new ll({target:document.getElementById(`graphics-app-${teamalias}-${chartOption}`),props:{data:JSON.parse(document.getElementById(`graphics-data-${teamalias}-${chartOption}`).textContent),teamData:JSON.parse(document.getElementById(`graphics-teamData-${teamalias}-${chartOption}`).textContent),chartOption}});
