MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Giants. They previously could not score enough with Daniel Jones and on Sunday they could not score enough with Mike Glennon.
For their next game, they might have to turn to Jake Fromm. Seriously.
It doesn’t matter who calls the plays. They were impotent with Jason Garrett and continue to be just as atrocious with Freddie Kitchens.
It doesn’t matter where they play, who they play or if it is cold or warm or windy or still. The Giants are equal-opportunity dreadful when it comes to finding a way to take the ball and stick it into the end zone.
Considering that scoring touchdowns is kinda, sorta a prerequisite for winning in the NFL, you can pretty much assume what went down at Hard Rock Stadium. Glennon took over at quarterback because Jones has a strained neck and what was already bad looked worse, if that is possible.
Oh, it was possible. Even for the Giants, this 20-9 loss to the Dolphins feels like a low point, considering it was indeed their lowest point total of the season. Three Graham Gano field goals was all there was.
“Nine points is not acceptable,’’ Saquon Barkley said.
There were two dropped passes in the first half by Barkley, who continues to struggle (55 rushing yards on 11 carries). Glennon (22 of 42, 187 yards, one interception) looked like a career backup who is now 6-22 as a starter. After the game, he was diagnosed as having sustained a concussion. With Jones’s physical status very much up in the air, it could be Fromm — signed last week off the Bills’ practice squad — making the start against the Chargers in Los Angeles next Sunday.
“Get a good week of preparation and I’m pretty sure he’ll get the job done,’’ receiver Kenny Golladay said, probably not entirely sure who “he’’ actually is.
This offensive ineptitude is all so tiresome.
“Yeah, very tired,’’ Barkley said. “We know that we’ve got to be better on offense. It’s something that we haven’t been doing this year. We haven’t been scoring touchdowns. Even though we’re tired, I know the defense is annoyed, too, because the defense is playing lights-out.’’
This seems like it cannot be true, but it is: No Giants wide receiver or running back has scored a touchdown since October.
The defense was not great dealing with the short stuff thrown by Tua Tagovailoa, who threw touchdown passes of 5 and 2 yards, and failed to produce a turnover for the first time all season. If there are, as Barkley said, signs the defensive players are “annoyed’’ they are well-hidden, although cornerback James Bradberry did admit “it’s definitely difficult to go out there and play perfect.’’
Safety Logan Ryan, acknowledging how well the Dolphins are performing on defense during what now is a five-game winning streak, said, “We understand our starting quarterback was out’’ and that meant preventing touchdowns — even one of them — was going to be paramount.
“We got to generate points on defense,’’ Ryan said. “We couldn’t afford to give up sevens. If it was going to be a field goal-fest we had to keep it a field goal-fest. We didn’t have the margin of error to give up sevens.’’
They gave up two sevens and lost by 11.
Just like that, the Giants (4-8) once again failed in their bid to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dolphins (6-7) were in control the entire second half and sealed the deal on Jason Sanders’ 48-yard field goal with 1:11 remaining.
This was a ridiculously feeble offense. On the last series of the third quarter, John Ross broke wide open in the middle of the field and Glennon threw it about 3 yards behind him. Glennon on consecutive plays held onto the ball, resulting in two sacks for Jaelan Phillips.
There was a third-and-2 play in the third quarter, as tight end Evan Engram blew by cornerback Nik Needham and ran free down the field. Engram looked for the ball inside, Glennon threw it outside and it dropped harmlessly to the grass, near no one.
“They had a blown coverage, and we didn’t make the play,’’ Barkley said.
Afterwards, coach Joe Judge did not appease any fan angst by taking a wildly — even for him — optimistic view of the offensive mess.
“I saw a lot of players make a lot of big plays,’’ Judge said.
As for the team as an entirety, Judge said, “There were a lot of things that I saw in the way we played, a lot of things that are moving in the right direction, a lot of things I’m very pleased with in terms of how we competed.’’
They might have to compete this next game with Fromm, the former Georgia quarterback who has never taken a snap in an NFL regular-season game.
“No matter if it’s Mike or if it’s DJ or if it’s Jake, when the opportunities are there, the plays need to be made,’’ Barkley said. “We didn’t do that today, no matter who was at quarterback.”
Yup. It doesn’t matter with these Giants.
