When your coach is threatening to bench everyone, that's a pretty good sign that your season is lost, and that's what Ben McAdoo did after the Giants' season officially hit rock bottom on Sunday in the team's 51-17 loss to the Rams.
The Giants were bad in every way that a football team can be bad. Before Sunday, the Giants' defense had basically been the Scotch tape that was keeping the team's season from turning into a total disaster, and that tape gave out in spectacular fashion against the Rams.
In four ugly quarters, the Giants got shredded by a quarterback who set multiple career-highs in the Rams win. The ugly part wasn't even that Jared Goff threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns (both career highs), it was how he did it. The Giants surrendered five passes in the game that went for 35 yards or more, including two touchdowns that went for more than 50 yards. The Giants defense just couldn't stop the big play, and really, just couldn't stop any play.
One failure that summed up the team came on a third-and-33 for the Rams in the second quarter that should've led to an easy stop and a punting situation. Instead, the Giants got torched for a 52-yard touchdown.
3rd & 33? Just the way we drew it up.@JaredGoff16 ➡️ @robertwoods for the 52-yard TD!! pic.twitter.com/agvG4juXan
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 5, 2017
Even if it looks like the team has quit on him, McAdoo insists that's not the case.
"No. The team didn't quit today," the Giants coach said, via a transcript provided by the team.
With the season falling apart around him, McAdoo doesn't seem to have any answers. One thing that could change is that McAdoo might start letting younger players get more reps on the field now that the Giants basically have a zero percent chance of reaching the postseason.
"You have to look at getting some players some reps in the game," McAdoo said. "So, we'll take a look and see if there's any players that we can give reps to that have a chance to be a part of our future."
McAdoo was then asked if that would include possibly benching Eli Manning and letting a younger player take some reps at quarterback.
"That includes everybody," McAdoo said.
The 34-point loss to the Rams is just the latest part of an ongoing nightmare that is the Giants' 2017 season, and by the time McAdoo wakes up from this nightmare, he might not have a job. The Giants' front office is going to have a big decision to make at the end of the season, because it's going to be hard to justify holding on to a coach who's led the team to its worst start since 1980.
L.A. Rams 51-17 over N.Y. Giants
Rams: A+
It's fitting that the Rams looked like the "Greatest Show on Turf" in this game because at 6-2, they're now officially off to their best start since the "Greatest Show" team in 2001. The Rams' offense doubled as a fireworks show with Jared Goff tossing two touchdown passes that went for more than 50 yards, including a 52-yarder to Robert Woods and a 67-yarder to Sammy Watkins. Overall, five different receivers caught at least one pass that went for 35 or more yards.
Despite the fact that he only played three quarters, Goff still reached his career-high in passing yards and touchdown passes (4). Of course, maybe we should've seen this coming: The Rams are now 4-0 on the road this year and they've averaged 38.5 points in those four wins. The 51 points by the Rams marks only the third time since 2000 that they've scored 50 or more points in a game.
Giants: F
The Giants played their worst game of the year, which is saying a lot for a bad team that's played a lot of bad games in their 1-7 start. One thing the Giants haven't been able to figure out all season is how to stop a tight end, and that trend continued on Sunday. A touchdown by Rams tight end Tyler Higbee means that the Giants have now given up a TD to a tight end in every game they've played this season.
Carolina 20-17 over Atlanta
Falcons: C
If Matt Ryan had gotten any offensive help in this game, the Falcons might have been able to win, but that didn't happen. Not only did the Falcons completely fail at running the ball, but the team also had to deal with some mistakes from players who usually don't make them, like Julio Jones. A dropped touchdown pass from Jones on a perfect fourth down throw by Ryan in the fourth quarter might have been the ugliest play of the game.
You never see Julio Jones drop these. Wow.pic.twitter.com/V6609ypXpI
— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) November 5, 2017
The Falcons only totaled 53 rushing yards, which is an ugly number for a team that's now 0-7 under Dan Quinn when they don't rush for at least 55 yards.
Panthers: B+
When Cam Newton can't beat you with his arm, then he'll just do it with his legs. Although Newton struggled through the air in this game, he came up huge on the ground with nine runs for 86 yards and a touchdown. Newton made clutch play after clutch play, including a touchdown run just before halftime on third down.
CAAAAMMMMMMMMM! #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/3HONgjVal0
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2017
Newton spearheaded a Panthers rushing attack that totaled 201 yards, and if we've learned one thing about the Panthers under Ron Rivera, it's that they never lose when they hit the 200-yard mark on the ground. Including Sunday's win, the Panthers are now 8-0 since Rivera was hired in 2011 when hitting that mark.
Tennessee 23-20 over Baltimore
Ravens: C
Letting Joe Flacco throw the ball 52 times is never a good idea, but the Ravens still did it in Tennessee. For the fourth time this year, Flacco threw multiple interceptions in a game, and not coincidentally, the Ravens are now 0-4 in those games. The Ravens have also never won any game in Flacco's career where he throws 52 or more passes (0-7).
Titans: B
It's a good thing Marcus Mariota's hamstring finally looked healthy because the smashmouth part of the Titans' "exotic smashmouth" offense was missing on Sunday. The Titans' leading rusher in this game only totaled 26 yards, but that didn't matter because Mariota was deadly, completing 19 of 28 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, the Titans MVP of the game wasn't anyone on offense; it was safety Kevin Byard, who picked off Joe Flacco twice and will likely end Week 9 as the NFL's interception leader.
Jacksonville 23-7 over Cincinnati
Bengals: D-
A.J. Green got ejected from this game, and that's probably because he got tired of watching his own offense. The Bengals only totaled 148 yards of offense in this game, which was the team's second lowest total since Green and Andy Dalton were drafted in 2011. The problem for the Bengals is that they continue to be one of the worst second-half teams in the NFL. Going into Sunday, they were averaging just 5.7 points per game in the second half this season, and they somehow managed to make that number worse by scoring zero second-half points against the Jaguars. Even worse for Cincinnati, the Bengals only totaled 16 yards of offense in the second half.
Jaguars: A
We already knew the Jaguars' defense was scary, and now we might have to give that same label to their offense. The Jaguars steamrolled the Bengals on Sunday, which was surprising for two reasons. One, the Jags didn't have Leonard Fournette and two, the Bengals went into the game with one of the best defenses in the NFL. This win was probably especially gratifying for Blake Bortles (24 of 38 for 259 yards), and that's mainly because Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict had said that the Jaguars quarterback wouldn't be able to lead the Jags to win over Cincinnati.
"Leonard Fournette can beat us, Blake Bortles can't" - Vontaze Burfict pic.twitter.com/A9vu6QoKtq
— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) November 5, 2017
The Jaguars totaled 407 yards of offense in this game and have now hit the 400-yard mark in three games this year, which equals their total for all of last season.
Philadelphia 51-23 over Denver
Broncos: F
It looks like Brock Osweiler wasn't the answer to the Broncos' quarterback problem, and the bad news for the Broncos is that the answer to their quarterback problems might not actually be on their roster. Osweiler threw two interceptions and only completed 50 percent of his passes in this game. For the first time all season, though, it might not have mattered who was at quarterback for Denver, because the Broncos' defense had no answer for Carson Wentz. The 51 points scored by the Eagles was the most points the Broncos have given up since 2010 and the third-most points the Broncos have given up since 1990.
Eagles: A+
Not even the No. 1 defense in the NFL could slow down the Wentzwagon. Carson Wentz didn't put up huge numbers but he was highly efficient as he threw four touchdown passes on just 15 completions. Of course, Wentz's performance wasn't even the most impressive thing about what the Eagles offense did to the Broncos. The most impressive thing is that the Eagles racked up 197 rushing yards against a Broncos defense that was only surrendering 72.9 yards per game on the ground going into Sunday. The Eagles are now 8-1, which is good news because no 8-1 team has ever missed the postseason since the NFL playoffs expanded in 1990.
Indianapolis 20-13 over Houston
Colts: B
It's not quite Peyton Manning-to-Marvin Harrison, but the Colts might be on to something with their newest offensive combination: Jacoby Brissett to T.Y. Hilton. Brissett threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and Hilton was on the receiving end of more than half of those yards (175) and both touchdowns. Hilton actually seems to have better chemistry with Brissett than he did with Andrew Luck. The 175-yard game means that two of the three best performances in Hilton's career have come this season with Brissett as his quarterback. Hilton had 177 yards in a Week 5 win over the 49ers.
Texans: C
After watching Tom Savage play against the Colts, it's a miracle that he was somehow able to beat out Deshaun Watson for the starting job during training camp. Without Watson, the Texans' offense looks mostly helpless. Most of Houston's offense on Sunday consisted of Savage throwing up the ball to DeAndre Hopkins, who caught six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
New Orleans 30-10 over Tampa Bay
Buccaneers: F
It might be time for the Buccaneers to blow up everything up and start over. The Bucs looked horrible in every way that a team can look horrible. Their quarterback play was bad, their run game was worse and their offensive line surrendered four sacks. The Bucs defense also had no answer for Drew Brees and the Saints offense. Oh, and let's not forget about Tampa's special teams, which surrendered a blocked punt that New Orleans was able to return for a touchdown.
Saints: A
Alvin Kamara is slowly turning into one of the biggest steals of the 2017 NFL Draft. The rookie running back had his biggest game of the season, totaling 152 yards and two touchdowns. The Bucs couldn't figure out how to stop Kamara, who averaged 6.8 yards per carry (10 carries, 68 yards, one touchdown) and 14 yards per catch (six catches, 84 yards, one touchdown). In the past, this is a game that probably would've turned into a shootout, but not with this year's Saints' defense. New Orleans held the Bucs to just 200 total yards marking just the third time since Sean Payton was hired in 2006 that the Saints held an opposing to team to 200 or fewer yards at home. The good news for Saints fans is that New Orleans just became the third team in NFL history to win six straight after starting 0-2, and things ended up pretty well for those two other teams.
.@Saints are the 3rd team in the Super Bowl era to win 6 straight following an 0-2 start. The other 2('93 Cowboys, '07 Giants) won the SB. pic.twitter.com/sSNWVQMMAy
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 5, 2017
Arizona 20-10 over San Francisco
Cardinals: B+
It's a good thing the Cardinals traded for Adrian Peterson because it looks like their entire offense is going to be designed around him now that Carson Palmer is out for the season. All Day was getting the ball All Day as he carried the ball 37 times for 159 yards. The 37 most carries marked only the fourth time since 2010 that a running back has received 37 or more carries in a game. Peterson's performance was a big reason the Cardinals were able to control the clock. The Cardinals offense was on the field for an impressive 36:22 in this game.
49ers: C
Now that the 49ers have Jimmy Garoppolo, it seems that coach Kyle Shanahan's strategy this week was to make C.J. Beathard's arm fall off so that Garoppolo could get in the game. The rookie quarterback threw 51 passes as the 49ers did everything they could to attack Arizona through the air. Although Beathard struggled (24 of 51 for 294 yards, one interception), it wasn't completely his fault that the 49ers only scored 10 points. The rookie quarterback got sacked five times and didn't get much protection from an offensive line that was missing let tackle Joe Staley. Shanahan might want to wait until Staley's back before starting Garoppolo.
Washington 17-14 over Seattle
Redskins: B
The Redskins offense didn't do much in this game, but it came through when it mattered most with a game-winning 70-yard touchdown drive in the final 90 seconds. Whatever Kirk Cousins is going to make next year, he can probably double it after coming through in the clutch in this game. Cousins completed two passes for 69 yards on the Redskins final drive that was capped by a Rob Kelley TD with 59 seconds left to play. A big reason the Redskins were even still in the game at that point is because Washington's defense completely shut out the Seahawks through the first three quarters of the game (The Seahawks only points in that span came on a safety).
Seahawks: C+
If Blair Walsh still has a job by the time the Seahawks play in Week 10, that will be mildly surprising after what he did against the Redskins. Two years after melting down in the playoffs with the Vikings, Walsh had another meltdown on Sunday with three missed field goals -- from 39, 44 and 49 yards -- against the Redskins. Walsh's struggles overshadowed an impressive performance by a Seahawks defense that sacked Cousins six times. Also, in the loss, it might have just become official that Russell Wilson is the best running back that the Seahawks have. The quarterback led the team with 77 yards rushing in a game where he also threw 297 yards and two touchdowns.
Dallas 28-17 over Kansas City
Chiefs: C
The Chiefs might want to figure out what's happened to their running game over the past few weeks, because Kansas City's offense has fallen apart without it. After averaging 156.2 yards per week on the ground during their 5-0 start, the Chiefs are now down to 67.3 yards per game over the past four weeks after only managing 68 rushing yards against the Cowboys. Not coincidentally, the Chiefs are 1-3 in those games. Alex Smith might not be a game manager this year, but he can't win games by himself, which is what the Chiefs have basically been asking him to do over the past month. The Chiefs defense also hasn't been helping Smith very much. The unit came in to the Cowboys game ranked 30th in the NFL and they had no answer for Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams, who had a career-high 141 receiving yards.
Cowboys: B+
Not many teams have been able to shut down the Chiefs offense this year, but the Cowboys did exactly that on Sunday. The defense in Dallas bottled up Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, who only rushed for 37 yards. On the offensive side of the ball, Dak Prescott had his way with the Chiefs defense, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns that both went to Cole Beasley. Prescott came through in the clutch for the Cowboys by leading consecutive touchdown drives in the second half after the Chiefs jumped ahead 17-14 in the third quarter.
Oakland 27-24 over Miami
Raiders: B+
Derek Carr's still not on the same page as his wide receivers, but that didn't matter in this game because he has a new favorite target in tight end Jared Cook. Cook came out of nowhere to total 126 receiving yards, which is his highest total of the season and the third highest total of his nine-year career. The Raiders also got a big assist in this win from Marshawn Lynch, who came off his one-game suspension and went Beast Mode on the Dolphins by averaging 4.1 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns.
Dolphins: B+
One week after a meltdown against the Ravens in a 40-0 loss, the Dolphins' offense responded by putting up their highest yardage total of the season (395). The problem for Miami is that the team's offensive outburst just happened to come in the same game that the defense gave up their highest yardage total of the season (376). One bit of good news for the Dolphins is that their offense actually seems to be functioning better without Jay Ajayi. Ajayi's replacement Kenyan Drake carried the ball nine times for 69 yards. Jay Cutler also proved why there's no way Matt Moore will be taking the starting spot away from him at any point this season. Even though he was playing with two cracked ribs, Cutler still played his best game of the season, going 34 of 42 for 311 yards and a touchdown.