The Giants were a cocky group in training camp four months ago, and no one typified the self-assurance more than the team’s robotic coach, Ben McAdoo, and his aloof boss, General Manager Jerry Reese.
The 2017 Giants were coming off a stellar 11-5 record from the previous year and were widely lauded as Super Bowl contenders. But when this season started, a series of debilitating injuries, lethargic play and glaring missteps exposed the Giants’ manifold weaknesses, many that could be traced to years of poor draft selections by Reese.
As the team’s losses mounted this season, the Giants, N.F.L. standard bearers since 1925, were humiliated and mocked, never more so than last week when McAdoo benched the popular longtime quarterback, Eli Manning.
The furious outcry over the treatment of…
