This might be the worst offense in Giants history (and that's saying something) | Politi

LANDOVER, Md. -- So just how awful is this Giants offense?

Put it this way: If Dave Brown was watching its latest putrid performance in a 20-10 loss to the Redskins on Thanksgiving night -- and this is not something we would wish on anyone -- he could have fairly reached a conclusion that would have seemed unthinkable a few months ago:

"Hey, not even my teams were that bad!"

This is not hyperbole. This is true. This Giants offense is on pace to eclipse all but one of Brown's teams, generally held up as the Dark Ages for the franchise over the past quarter century, for total ineptitude. 

The Giants scored 242 points in 1996, Brown's final season as starting quarterback. They have 172 this season with five games left this season. If you think the offense that was on the field against the Redskins can average two touchdowns a game the rest of the way to match that, just know that Eli Manning himself couldn't even fake that level of confidence.

"Every time you get the ball, you can get something going," the quarterback said on Thursday night, but his body language was saying something else entirely. He looked and sounded like a beaten man, and given the results -- and his own performance -- that's understandable. 

Manning completed 13 of 27 passes for 113 yards against the Redskins, needing a garbage-time drive just to crack triple digits (something he has done in every game since 2007). The offense as a whole mustered 170 total yards and just seven first downs, and the touchdown on the scoreboard came courtesy of a cornerback Janoris Jenkins pick six. 

So rarely does a single play encapsulate an entire offense, but this is exactly what happened in the fourth quarter. The Giants were facing a fourth and three with 2:19 left. Manning dropped back to throw and, almost instantly, was sandwiched between a pair of Washington pass rushers who had spun the Giants' tackles around like pinwheels. The quarterback was sacked, then fumbled, and then left tackle Ereck Flowers was hit with a holding penalty for good measure. Not that any of this mattered, of course, because all of the receivers were covered.

"It wasn't good enough," head coach Ben McAdoo said when asked about his offense. Gee, ya think? 

This is not an overstatement: We might be watching the worst offense in Giants history, or at the very least, the worst one in almost 40 years. The 1976 team that got Bill Arnsberger fired after an 0-7 start scored just 170 points over 14 games, or a little over 12 points an outing. The 1979 team mustered 237 points, the lowest in team history over a 16-game schedule.

Good, bad and ugly from the loss

The fact that we even have to dig that deep into the record book is enough of an indictment on McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese. The former is the coach who was supposed to be an offensive genius when he arrived here, and while injuries are part of the reason this team can't score, this offense was bad long before its top receivers got hurt. 

Over the 27 games with McAdoo as head coach, the Giants are the only team without at least one 30-point performance. They are second-to-last in points per game, last in explosive plays and 30th in yards per game. They have been bad for a long time and they're only getting worse.

That falls on the coach, whose tenuous grip on his job just got a little looser on Thursday night. But Manning isn't helping. The Giants defense had played well enough that he only needed to make a few plays to steal this game, but he airmailed a short pass over running back Shane Vereen that likely would have gone for a touchdown in the second quarter.    

"I have got to hit Shane on that," Manning said, but that wasn't his only poor throw on the night. Yes, he's trying to move the ball with Travis Rudolph instead of Odell Beckham Jr., but he doesn't get a free pass. He's part of the reason this team is 2-9.

"Yeah, yeah, it definitely does," he said when asked if the season is wearing on him. "It's no fun losing, it's no fun not scoring enough points offensively, so yeah, it can wear you out. It'll test you, but (you) just gotta keep going to the drawing board and find ways to play better and move the ball and score some points."

Maybe the return of Sterling Shepard, who missed a second straight game with migraines, will help. Tight end Evan Engram is the only target who can reliably get open, but after dropping three passes against the Redskins, the rookie looks like he's hit a wall.

The Giants have five games left, including three at MetLife Stadium. Can they avoid ignomity as the worst Giants offense in decades? Or is Dave Brown going to lose his spot in team lore? 

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

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