‘Twas the day after yet another New York Giants loss, and not a soul was surprised. Not even this writer.
With Sunday’s 34-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Giants have dropped 10 straight games and are an NFL-worst 2-13 this season.
Needless to say, it’s been a tough year for fans of this team, so in the holiday spirit, we wanted to give you something to make you smile. Or maybe just laugh through the pain. We remixed a Christmas classic with a Giants twist. Because if you’re still watching after a 10th straight loss, you need something to laugh about.
So, without further ado, we present “The Twelve Day-Bolls of Christmas.”
On the 12th Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: 12 Saquon Barkley rushing touchdowns
Let’s get this detail out of the way: The Eagles running back actually has 13 rushing touchdowns this season. So why does he get this spot?
Though Barkley played six years in New York, he’s having the best season of his career with the Eagles. He never scored more than 11 rushing touchdowns in a season with the Giants. Barkley scored twice on Sunday to get to 13 in 2024.
He also rushed for 150 yards Sunday, putting him at 1,838 for the season and in position to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record (2,105 yards). And what’s worse, at least for general manager Joe Schoen and heartbroken Giants fans, Barkley could break Dickerson’s mark against the Giants in Week 18.
On the 11th Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: 11 players on IR
Again, a quick caveat. The Giants actually have 13 players on IR, but only 11 have played a snap this season. Here are the 11:
DL D.J. Davidson, CB Tre Hawkins III, LB Patrick Johnson, TE Theo Johnson, DL Dexter Lawrence, S Tyler Nubin, OLB Azeez Ojulari, ILB Bobby Okereke, OL Jon Runyan, OL Andrew Thomas and DT Armon Watts.
WR Gunner Olszewski and CB Elijah Riley are the two who haven’t played this season.
While injuries didn’t hit as early as last season, when they decimated the offensive line, losing Thomas again this year was a huge blow to what had been a relatively stable unit. Then, the last month of the season has just been a collection of longer and longer injury lists, with critical starters like Lawrence, Nubin and Okereke all sidelined.
The Giants can’t use injuries as an excuse for their wretched season — every team deals with injuries — but they certainly haven’t helped.
On the 10th Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: 10 straight losses
What was supposed to be a season of celebration in honor of the Giants’ 100th season has turned historic for all the wrong reasons. Their 10-game losing streak is the longest in franchise history, eclipsing 2019 and 1976 nine-game losing streaks.
What else is there to say?
On the ninth Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Nine new coaches
On the heels of last year’s 6-11 finish, coach Brian Daboll overhauled the coaching staff, which included firing special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey and a messy divorce with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
The hope was that the new coaches would help bring a new vibe to the Giants. Instead, things got worse with defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, tight ends coach Tim Kelly, running backs coach Joel Thomas, outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and three new assistants.
On the eighth Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Eight home losses
The Giants are 0-8 at MetLife Stadium this season. They haven’t gone winless at home since 1974, when they went 0-7 during a 14-game season.
Losses at MetLife Stadium this season have included some of the Giants’ worst, including blowouts against the Vikings in Week 1, the Buccaneers in Week 12 and the Ravens in Week 15.
Each passing defeat seems to lead to more paper bags atop fans’ heads. Giants fans sounded like they were cheering when the Giants missed a game-tying field goal in the Week 14 loss to the Saints. Last week, the stadium was overtaken by Ravens fans. With rain forecast for Sunday’s final home game against the Colts (7-8), more misery almost certainly awaits.
On the seventh Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Seven Xavier McKinney INTs
Barkley was the more notable departure during free agency, but another player who departed — McKinney — also left a huge hole on the roster. McKinney left for the Green Bay Packers and took the interceptions with him. The safety has a league-leading seven this season.
Meanwhile, the Giants have just three total interceptions — a league low. During one stretch, they went 11 games without one, which set an NFL record.
As my colleague Dan Duggan recently noted, many former Giants are finding success in new locales this season. While Barkley gets the most headlines, we shouldn’t forget how much this team has missed McKinney.
On the sixth Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Six double-digit losses
It’s not just that the Giants have been losing. It’s that they’ve had some real clunkers throughout the season, especially after the bye week amid quarterback turnover. Three of those double-digit losses have come in the last five games, making the losing streak even more difficult to stomach.
The Giants have a point differential of minus-147. Only the Carolina Panthers have been worse (minus-165).
On the fifth Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Five division losses
The Giants are on the brink of more unfortunate history. New York has never gone winless in the NFC East, but it’s possible this year with one game left (Week 18) against the playoff-bound Eagles.
While this year is particularly bad, the real problem is the Giants haven’t made much progress in the NFC East since the new regime took over in 2022. In that span, the Giants have gone 4-12-1, not counting the playoff loss to the Eagles in 2022. This year, it seems the NFC East has gotten stronger around the Giants, with the Commanders no longer an easy win thanks to their new quarterback and coaching staff. For an organization and division with such a rich history, this stat is another that shows just how dire things are this season.
On the fourth Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Four QBs
Ever since the Giants decided to bench, then release, Daniel Jones after the Week 11 bye, the QB position has been on rotation.
To recap: After benching Jones, the Giants started third-stringer Tommy DeVito, who leapfrogged backup Drew Lock (signed this offseason to a one-year, $5 million deal). After DeVito was hurt in the Week 12 loss, the Giants turned to Lock for two games. But then Lock suffered a heel injury, forcing him to miss Week 15. The Giants went back to DeVito, who then exited the first half with a concussion. Journeyman Tim Boyle, who joined the team only once it benched Jones, played the remaining second half. The Giants then turned back to a healthy Lock on Sunday.
Got all of that?
While the number was too high for this exercise, a noteworthy stat this season is the Giants’ points per game average: 14.3, their lowest since 1974. They haven’t scored 30 points once this season. The offense has been inept, no matter who’s at quarterback.
On the third Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Three sacks taken per game
The Giants have taken 48 sacks this year, per TruMedia, which is tied for fifth-worst in the league. That averages out to 3.2 per game, but hey, we’ll round down for your sake.
The bright side (maybe?) is that the Giants allowed five sacks per game last year, so three per game is actually an improvement.
Still, they haven’t been good at preventing negative plays. While the offensive line hasn’t been as susceptible as last season’s historic lows, it’s still rough out there for whoever is lining up at quarterback for the Giants. Once again, the Giants will likely have to spend some of their resources this offseason trying to fortify the offensive line.
On the second Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: Two planes a-flying
You know, we couldn’t forget about those flyover messages with the, uh, warnings. Ahead of each of the last two home games, a plane has flown over MetLife Stadium, each towing banners addressed to co-owner John Mara.
The first message read: “Mr. Mara enough — plz fix this dumpster fire.” That banner circled the stadium ahead of the Giants’ 14-11 loss to the Saints.
The second one escalated: “Mr. Mara enough — we won’t stop until you fire everyone.” That flew over the stadium before the Giants’ 35-14 loss to the Ravens.
This all harkens back to 1978, when fans rented an airplane to fly over Giants Stadium during a game with a banner that read, “15 years of lousy football — we’ve had enough.” When that flyover occurred, the Giants were in the middle of a 17-year playoff drought. The current Giants are only two seasons removed from a playoff win. But since then, they have gone 8-23.
With the skies potentially more interesting than the on-field play, all eyes will be looking up at the home finale.
On the first Day-boll of Christmas, your Giants gave to you: One No. 1 pick!
For all the misery this season has brought, Giants fans could be rewarded with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The last time that happened was in 1965.
As the only two-win team left in the NFL, the Giants have the inside track to securing the top pick. All they need to do is lose their last two games, and it’s theirs.
Would that make a miserable season full of historic lows worth it? Probably not, but at least the Giants would be in position to potentially draft their next franchise quarterback. This time next year, maybe that’s who we’ll be writing about. Giants fans have certainly earned the right to hope.
They’ve also earned the right to have a great holiday season. And so have you! While we parodied a Christmas song here, we want to wish you and your families a joyous holiday season, no matter how or what you may be celebrating.
(Photo of Brian Daboll: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
