Being a New York football fan this season must feel like living an endless nightmare.
Nearing the halfway point of the season, both the Jets and Giants have a combined record of 3-13. Their respective 1-7 and 2-6 records only scratch the surface of the horrors that have dragged the teams down.
It must’ve been a thriller for the Jets to win their first game of the season in come-from-behind fashion against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. However, I think this win serves as a distraction for the flaws they’ve had thus far.
A treat I will spotlight is their rush offense. The Gang Green are ranked second in the league in both total rushing yards and rushing yards per game, only trailing behind their division rival, the Buffalo Bills.
Leading the charge in the run game is running back Breece Hall, who currently ranks sixth in rushing yards this season and ran for two touchdowns to help with comeback efforts against the Bengals.
In addition to Hall, the Jets have Justin Fields, who loves an opportunity to run the ball whenever he sees fit. Let’s not forget the 1,000-plus rushing yard season he had with the Chicago Bears back in 2022.
But this leads me to the biggest flaw that’s holding the Jets back. With a run-minded quarterback, the pass game isn’t utilized frequently and is ineffective. In this case, the Jets rank dead last in the passing yard stat lines.
Sometimes, I forget Garrett Wilson can be an absolute playmaker. He currently has a three-season streak of catching for 1,000-plus receiving yards. With his current total of 395 this season, I am uncertain if he’ll hit that mark with this new offensive scheme.
Meanwhile, for fans of the Big Blue, they’ve fallen into a series of unfortunate events.
To start, veteran quarterback Russell Wilson showed everyone that he is well past his prime days. His 450-yard, three touchdown performance against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 took us back to the old days. But instead, he fell back to reality, throwing for just 160 yards and two interceptions in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and cementing an 0-3 start.
Then came along rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, whom fans rooted for to be brought in as early as the Chiefs game.
The 2025 first-rounder out of Ole Miss would find his opportunity to make a statement in his first game against the Los Angeles Chargers, which he did from the opening drive. He scrambled through an open route to score his first touchdown of his NFL career.
With every treat comes a trick: For the Giants, it’s season ending injuries that have haunted them.
The first victim would be Malik Nabers, who tore his ACL later in that same game against the Chargers.
Then came the rise of rookie running back Cam Skattebo, who revived the offense back from the dead in a primetime game against the Philadelphia Eagles and ran for three touchdowns.
But this treat just became a horror show — when Skattebo dislocated his ankle on Sunday in a rematch against the Eagles, putting his rookie season to an abrupt rest.
And while their offense has been losing its star players, the defense and special teams have had their struggles as well.
In Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, the Giants had a 99.8% chance to win the game, leading 26-8 with just over seven minutes left.
Spoiler alert: The team caved in and lost the game.
The G-Men struggled to put the nail in the coffin on offense. Dart threw a pick in their own territory, and later, the Broncos defense forced a three and out in the following drive.
On the defensive side, the Giants defense committed crucial penalties that allowed for the Broncos to continue their scoring drives. This included a defensive pass interference on a Broncos fourth down and a neutral zone infraction in the dying seconds of regulation.
And even though the Giants were able to respond with a late touchdown, kicker Jude McAtamney missed an extra point that would’ve made it 33-30. McAtamney — who was eventually waived by the team — missed another extra point earlier in the game.
To sum it all up, the entire team collapsed — and that itself is a scary sight to see.
But I think what still haunts both teams the most is the old talent they’ve brought in the past who are doing much better outside of MetLife Stadium.
For the Jets, it’s Sam Darnold, who they drafted third overall in 2018. The quarterback found his breakout moment with the Minnesota Vikings, where he amassed his first 4,000-plus passing yard season, throwing 35 touchdowns and 12 picks.
Today, Darnold’s finding his rhythm with the Seattle Seahawks, where he is projected to have another 4,000-plus passing yard season.
For the Giants, it’s obvious to mention Saquon Barkley, who came off a historic season with the Eagles and won a Super Bowl with them. We also have to add Daniel Jones to the conversation, as he continues to shatter franchise history books with the Indianapolis Colts.
With that said, there’s another half of the season left for the team to wake up from these nightmares. But who knows? It might be too late to dig out of their graves.