Please allow me to introduce myself – I am not a man of wealth or taste. I am, however, the new guy on the Giants beat and it’s a strange place to be after spending 40 years in the Philadelphia market, covering the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and 76ers.
My family members in North Jersey and Long Island think I just won the lottery, but they don’t have to sit in gridlock on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike on their way to work.
My Philly-area family and friends think I’ve lost my mind. Some of them are even calling me a traitor. They don’t understand that covering sports gets into your blood and that you love the games and the stories regardless of what teams you are covering. Many times, when you’re not covering a game, you end up rooting for a team you used to hate because of the people you know who work for them.
In 2015, for example, I wanted the Mets to win the World Series because I thought it would have been an incredible gift for Shannon Dalton Forde, the team’s long-time media relations representative who was battling cancer at the time. She lost her battle during spring training of the next year after the Mets lost the World Series to Kansas City.
Oddly enough, the first professional event I ever covered involved a New Jersey team against a Philadelphia team. It was Herschel Walker’s second professional game and his N.J. Generals – Donald Trump’s USFL team -- got crushed by the Philadelphia Stars at Veterans Stadium.
Forty years later, the Generals, Stars and USFL are back, albeit without Trump, and Walker is running for the Senate in Georgia. The world is one weird place.
And if you’re wondering about my favorite teams in 2022, here they are with a reason why for each: Notre Dame football and basketball and Michigan State football and basketball because my daughter and son went to school there, which meant my money also went there. I’m also a big William Paterson and St. Joseph’s University baseball fan because my nephews play there.
Anyway, with the Giants set to begin the season Sunday against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, I thought I’d weigh in on how I see coach Brian Daboll’s first season in New Jersey unfolding. Spoiler alert: I hope my first season goes better than his.
• Week 1 (Sept. 11): at Titans
Loss, 31-14 (0-1)
The departure of star receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles and the season-ending injury to top pass rusher Harold Landry will likely prevent quarterback Ryan Tannehill from leading the Titans to a second straight No. 1 seed in the AFC South, but it’s not going to stop them from beating the rebuilding Giants.
• Week 2 (Sept. 18): vs. Panthers
Win, 24-17 (1-1)
Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield was 3-5 with a 58-percent completion percentage when he faced Wink Martindale’s Baltimore defenses. The Giants aren’t the Ravens, but they could have pass rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari back for this game.
• Week 3 (Sept. 26, Monday): vs. Cowboys
Loss, 34-27 (1-2)
The Cowboys have far too much firepower, but this is a rivalry game and the Giants are home, so they will keep it close before losing to Dallas for the 10th time in 11 games.
• Week 4 (Oct. 2): vs. Bears
Win, 38-28 (2-2)
The Bears are one of the few teams expected to finish with a worse record than the Giants, so consider this a must-win game for Daniel Jones and Brian Daboll.
• Week 5 (Oct. 9): at Packers (in London)
Loss, 38-10 (2-3)
Here are some nice memories: The Giants won the first regular-season game ever played in London, 13-10, over Miami on their way to their third Super Bowl title in 2007. They also beat the Rams in London in 2016, which is the last season they made the playoffs. This game against the Packers is not going to be a nice memory.
• Week 6 (Oct. 16): vs. Ravens
Loss, 20-13 (2-4)
It’s really not fair that the Giants do not get a bye after playing in London, but Martindale will be happy with his defense even in defeat against his former team.
• Week 7 (Oct. 23): at Jaguars
Loss, 28-17 (2-5)
First-year coach Doug Pederson was 8-2 against the Giants when he coached the Eagles. Make it 9-2 for the coach as quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the retooled Jags’ offense puts up four touchdowns.
• Week 8 (Oct. 30): at Seahawks
Win, 21-16 (3-5)
Seattle was one of the toughest places in the NFL to win when Russell Wilson played quarterback and the defense had that super cool Legion of Doom nickname. Those days are gone and even the Giants can beat the Seahawks at home with Geno Smith at quarterback.
• Week 9 (Nov. 6): Bye
• Week 10 (Nov. 13): vs. Texans
Win, 23-5 (4-5)
The Texans took Davis Mills in the third round of the 2021 draft and he went 2-9 with 16 TD passes and 10 interceptions last season. I don’t think Mills is Houston’s answer to Deshaun Watson’s disgraced departure at quarterback.
• Week 11 (Nov. 20): vs. Lions
Loss, 24-20 (4-6)
Count me among those who think Jared Goff still has a chance to be a good quarterback in this league and I also believe the Lions’ rebuilding project is slightly ahead of the one being undertaken by the Giants.
• Week 12 (Nov. 24, Thanksgiving): at Cowboys
Loss, 37-20 (4-7)
The Cowboys are 31-22-1 on Thanksgiving Day. The Giants are 7-6-3 on Thanksgiving Day. The last time the Giants won on Thanksgiving Day was in 1982 at Detroit. The last time they played in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day was in 1992 and they lost 30-3. Don’t let the game spoil your family dinner.
Week 13 (Dec. 4): vs. Commanders
Loss, 22-15 (4-8)
As someone who watched Carson Wentz at his absolute best in 2017, I can’t wait to see what he looks like with Washington. This is a pivotal year in his career and I wouldn’t count him out.
• Week 14 (Dec. 11): vs. Eagles
Win, 26-24 (5-8)
Every season has at least one upset and the Eagles will be coming off back-to-back tough games against Tennessee and Green Bay at home. The Giants have beaten the Eagles the last two seasons at Met Life Stadium.
• Week 15 (Dec. 17 or 18): at Commanders
Loss, 24-17 (5-9)
Washington’s Ron Rivera is one of the more underrated coaches in the league and he’s especially good at devising defensive schemes. Just ask Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
• Week 16 (Dec. 24, Saturday): at Vikings
Loss, 33-24 (5-10)
It will be a Merry Christmas Eve at home for Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. Cousins isn’t a superstar, but he’s more than capable of picking apart the Giants’ secondary, which figures to be a weakness for Big Blue.
• Week 17 (Jan. 1): vs. Colts
Loss, 21-20 (5-11)
It’s going to be weird seeing Matt Ryan in a Colts’ uniform. He’s on the downside of a terrific career, but he still has enough to pull out a close one at Met Life Stadium.
• Week 18 (Jan. 7 or 8): at Eagles
Loss, 34-14 (5-12)
The Eagles will be playing for playoff positioning and still upset about their Week 14 loss to the G-Men. Revenge will be sweet for Philadelphia and the first year of a difficult rebuild will finally be over for the Giants.
• FINAL RECORD: 5-12
The record will not look pretty, but some of the younger players will provide reason for hope. It seems likely that Daboll and GM Joe Schoen will want to move on from quarterback Daniel Jones because the quarterback always is tagged with the most blame when things go wrong and they will want to bring in their own guy in the hope that they can draft another Josh Allen.
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Bob Brookover can be reached at rbrookover@njadvancemedia.com.
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