The 2023 season has been a disaster thus far for the New York Giants. They are 1-2 after being defeated handily by the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football, but have looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL through three games.

The only reason they have one win is the Arizona Cardinals blowing a 21-point second-half lead in Week 3. If not for that meltdown, New York would already be preparing for the 2024 season as 0-3 teams have virtually zero chance of making the postseason.

A big reason for the Giants’ struggles has been their inability to get going early in games. New York puts themselves in an early hole which they have been able to climb out of only once. Quarterback Daniel Jones commented on the slow starts following Thursday night’s game.

“Yes, it’s not what we’re trying to do, so we have to find a way to figure that out,” Jones said. “Execute better early in the game, finish in the end zone, take advantage of opportunities, but it comes down to making plays and executing better in those situations.”

Week 3’s start wasn’t nearly as disastrous as Weeks 1 and 2 as the Giants scored in the first half for the first time this season. They were hanging around with the 49ers, trailing 17-12 at halftime. But, they had no answers in the second half, as San Francisco ended up winning 30-12.

“We went down there and got points,” Giants coach Brian Daboll responded when asked about the first-half deficit. “Obviously, you want to start fast. That’s a heck of a team. It usually comes down to making plays when you have an opportunity to make plays. They did a good job, give them credit. That’s a heck of a football team there. We came back out in the second half, had a score, went for two to try to cut it to three. It was a 17-12 game. Just give them credit. They did a lot of good stuff. That’s a good team.”

The Giants mustered up only 150 yards of total offense and 10 first downs in the game. The time of possession was dominated by the 49ers, who had the ball for 39:10 compared to 20:50 for New York.

Not having star running back Saquon Barkley in the lineup certainly hurt. Barkley suffered a sprained ankle late in the victory over the Cardinals and he just didn’t have enough time to heal up for the TNF matchup.

Not having Barkley certainly hurts, but it is fair to question how much he would have actually helped. Unless he can lineup along the offensive line, he wasn’t going to aid the team too much as the Giants were destroyed in the trenches.

“We didn’t create a rhythm,” Jones said. “We didn’t execute, didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. Certainly is a good defense. It’s a good team. When you’re playing good teams, you can’t afford to do that. We didn’t play well enough.”

The Giants will now have a mini-bye to regroup and figure things out. But, their schedule isn’t getting any easier. New York will head home for a Monday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks before heading on the road to face the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. 

Things could get a lot uglier before they improve for the Giants with the daunting schedule facing them.