It’s Week 4. Week 4? Yes, Week 4. After this week of football, one month and one quarter of the season will have been played. That doesn’t even seem possible. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting on my couch watching Ereck Flowers take a tripping and holding penalty on two of the Giants’ first three offensive plays of the season. But that was way back in Week 1. Weeks ago, when Flowers was still starting for the Giants. Now, he’s on the bench, where he has belonged for a long time and the Giants are undefeated without him playing.

The 10-6 fast start to the season in Week 1 was quickly slowed by a 6-10 Week 2, in what will always be the hardest week to pick games and last week was an 8-8 performance. So after three weeks it’s about as average as it could be with a 24-24 record. It’s time to get hot before we begin the second month of the season.

(Home team in caps)

Minnesota +7 over LOS ANGELES RAMS
Every week in the NFL needs to be treated like the movie 50 First Dates in that each week you need to forget what happened the week before and start over every week of the season. Aside from injuries and the absence of players, nothing from the previous week matters the following week. If the Vikings don’t get embarrassed in what was one of the biggest upsets in regular-season history as they were beaten 27-6 despite being 17-point favorite then this line is probably 4 given that these two teams might be the best two teams in the NFC, and quite possibly the entire league, and the only reason it would be even lower is that the Vikings are traveling in a short week

I had a feeling the Vikings might overlook their Week 2 game against the Bills with a potential NFC playoff or even NFC Championship matchup just four days later. And I had a bad feeling about the Vikings last Sunday after Mike Francesa pretty much said the only thing to watch for in that game would be if the Vikings recorded a shutout.

The Rams might very well be the best team in the league, and they have played like it through the first three games, scoring 102 points and allowing only 36. And they might be playing their third straight home game after also playing their season opener in California. But the Vikings are much better than whatever it is they were in that debacle four days ago. They might not be on the Rams level at this point, but a giving a touchdown to a fellow contender? That’s a lot.

Buffalo +9.5 over GREEN BAY
I hate everything about this game. I can easily see Aaron Rodgers going down the field with ease on the first drive of the game and me wondering how I could back the Bills. Like I said earlier, you need to forget everything you watched the week before, and I am. This pick has nothing to do with the Bills’ win over the Vikings. It has everything to do with me knowing the Packers defense is garbage and needing to cover two possessions is too much when your defense is as shaky as theirs is. The Bills aren’t good, but neither are the Packers, who needed a miraculous comeback in Week 1 and then the worst field-goal kicking game of all time to avoid being 0-3 right now. It’s one thing to give 9.5 points when you’re good, but the Packers aren’t.

Miami +7 over NEW ENGLAND
Is this the end of the Patriots? I want it to be, but I know better. Normally, I wouldn’t be surprised to watch them now win 12 of 13 and finish the season 13-3, but I don’t think this team is built to do that. It has to end at some point, right? I mean Tom Brady can’t play forever, right? He can’t just keep winning MVPs and reaching the Super Bowl every year, right?

The loss to the Jaguars made sense, but the loss to the Lions didn’t. Thankfully, I was against the Patriots in both game and have been against them all three weeks this season. Now they are playing an undefeated Dolphins team that keeps on winning close games for yet another season. I don’t expect the Dolphins to win, and they will probably even get blown out. But until I see even a hint of the Patriots of old, I have to keep picking against them. Especially in a division game with a touchdown line.

Houston +1 over INDIANAPOLIS
When the Texans are on the field on both offense and defense and you see the last names on the back of their jerseys, it’s absolutely ridiculous that they are 0-3. The team is stacked on both sides of the ball and yet they’re winless and their season is essentially over. Their playoff chances aren’t as bad as if they were in the NFC, but because of how weak the AFC is once again, there is still a path for them to get there and defy odds. A loss on Sunday will officially end their season. Meanwhile, I’m more than happy to root against Andrew Luck after he failed to drop the Eagles to 1-2 last week.

CHICAGO -3 over Tampa Bay
I was on a plane on Monday night during the Buccaneers last game, and while I was sitting looking out the window at the beautiful weather I was leaving behind in Florida to return to fall in the northeast, I was also watching my money go down with Ryan Fitzpatrick. I knew the clock would strike midnight on Fitzpatrick’s latest story because it always does, I just thought it might last another week, so I could cash in on the Buccaneers -1 after going against them the first two weeks of the season.

I want Fitzpatrick to do well. I really do. Because I want nothing more than for Jameis Winston to return from his suspension and stand on the sidelines with an earpiece in, holding a clipboard. But when you’re the backup to a former No. 1 overall pick, the leash is short, even if that former No. 1 overall pick isn’t any good. A loss in Week 4, which would produce back-to-back losses for Fitzpatrick would likely mean back to the bench for Ivy leaguer. And with the wild decision making and errant throws we saw from him on Monday night, the Bears defense is going to send him back to the sidelines.

Philadelphia -4 over TENNESSEE
I like Carson Wentz as a player and as a person, but as a Giants fan, I so badly wanted the Eagles to lose to the Colts last week in his return from knee surgery. A loss would have sent the Eagles to 1-2 and created chaos for Eagles fans wondering why the Super Bowl MVP was benched after one loss even if it was for the face of the franchise. Luckily, there’s a still a chance for that to happen and for the biggest quarterback controversy in history to take place. After this week, the Eagles play the Vikings, who will be coming off two bad losses and will have three extra days of the rest on the Eagles. Then they go on the road to play the Giants in a short week on Thursday Night Football. Then they host the Panthers and the Jaguars, and later in the season after their bye week, they have trips to the Superdome and to the Rams.

There’s plenty of time and opportunities for Eagles fans coming off the team’s first Super Bowl win to completely turn on their team and question why Nick Foles isn’t playing after beating the Falcons, Rams, Vikings and Patriots months ago and then having a statue built in his honor. Just sit back, relax and wait for it to happen.

ATLANTA -3.5 over Cincinnati
When are the Falcons going to put it together? I remember asking myself that same question last season, a season in which they were coming off the biggest collapse in Super Bowl history. If the Falcons can’t win big at home against the Bengals, I will finally have an answer to my question and that answer will be never.

JACKSONVILLE -7.5 over New York Jets
It was fitting that the Browns’ first win since 2016 and their second win in two-plus seasons came against the Jets. The same Jets whose fans thought after their Week 1 rout of the Lions that they would then take care of business at home against the Dolphins and then go on the road in a short week and hand the Browns yet another loss and be sitting at 3-0 with the very real chance of reaching the playoffs in Sam Darnold’s first season. Instead, the Jets are now 1-2 and going on the road to play what’s currently the best team in the AFC. The Jets are going to be 1-3 after Sunday and the only games you might consider them a favorite in for the rest of the season are against the Bills, and after what the Bills showed against the Vikings in Week 3, there’s a very good chance the Jets will be picking in the Top 3 of the draft again in 2019.

Seattle -3 over ARIZONA
The Seahawks saved their season last week with a rather easy win over the Cowboys. I think there are going to be a lot of easy win against the Cowboys this season, unfortunately, just not when the Giants play them. Now the Seahawks get a Cardinals team that looks like the early favorite for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft after getting outscored 74-20 in their first three games, and they get a Cardinals team that is starting rookie quarterback Josh Rosen for the first time. This after Rosen was thrown into his first NFL game needing a game-winning drive against the Bears defense. It never seizes to amaze me the poor decision making of NFL head coaches and first-year Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is the latest to join the club.

OAKLAND -3 over Cleveland
I couldn’t help but feel happy for the fans of Cleveland who suffered through a 4-45-1 record since the start of the 2015 season before beating the Jets last week. And I couldn’t help but feel happy for the fans, who might actually have found their franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield after so many failed attempts to find their guy at the top of the draft for years. If not for missed field goals in both Weeks 1 and 2, the Browns would be 3-0. But because they’re the Browns, they did miss those field goals and are 1-1-1. Maybe the culture will finally change for the team with Mayfield playing.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the news that the Browns officially named Mayfield their starting quarterback for Week 4 as if there were another option. It’s not that Tyrod Taylor played poorly in his two starts with the team, but there’s just no way you’re going to sit the No. 1 overall pick and the face of your franchise after he just led your team to its first win since the end of the 2016 season and its fifth win three-plus seasons.

But right now there is too much Cleveland love, and don’t you think for one second the Football Gods don’t recognize all of the hype surrounding a team people think should be undefeated and on their way to the playoffs. I’m not sure what the exact mood is in Cleveland entering Week 4 after last week’s win, but a trip to Oakland to face a winless team that had incredibly high expectations this season will be make the Browns remember they still have a long way to go.

NEW YORK GIANTS +3.5 over New Orleans
If this game were being played in the Superdome, I wouldn’t even watch it. OK, who am I kidding, obviously I would watch it, but it would be painful. I want no part of watching the Giants ever play against the Drew Brees Saints in the Superdome. But the Drew Brees Saints outdoors in the elements? That’s a different story.

The Saints were embarrassed in Week 1 by Ryan Fitzpatrick, needed the Browns to pull a Browns to avoid a disastrous loss in Week 2 and then needed overtime in Week 3 to get by their division rival Falcons. I really thought this season might lead to a Super Bowl appearance for the Saints in what is a stacked NFC, but through three weeks they haven’t been even close to the team that was a Stefon Diggs miracle touchdown away from going to the NFC Championship Game last season.

The Saints will be outside this week, in the northeast, where it might not be November or December yet, but this week has been rainy, windy and cold and no matter what the weather is in the Tri-state area on Sunday, it always seems to be worse in East Rutherford. The Saints offense has an inside and outside version even if they do have Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. And with their defense having allowed 103 points in the first three games, I’m not sure how they plan on covering Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley given the trouble they have had covering anyone this season. The Giants are going to win this game.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS -10.5 over San Francisco
The 49ers season came to an end in Week 3 when Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL. Now the 1-2 49ers are heading on the road, knowing their season is over, to play a good Chargers team (that I keep thinking plays in San Diego) and they are starting C.J. Beathard at quarterback. Remember how bad the 49ers were last season before the Garoppolo trade? Those are the 49ers you will be seeing for the remainder of the season.

Baltimore +3 over PITTSBURGH
When these two teams meet, the game is decided by 3. So knowing this, how can you not take the team getting points?

DENVER +5 over Kansas City
The Chiefs offense is incredible. Their defense is not good at all. I get that the Chiefs are built on the idea that “the best defense is a good offense” and they have the best in the league and maybe even the best in history, but offense doesn’t always travel, and it rarely travels to Mile High Stadium. Five points is a lot to be giving on the road against an elite defense in a divisional game. The Broncos likely won’t be able to stop the Chiefs because I don’t know if anyone can, but the Chiefs won’t be able to stop the Broncos either, and five points becomes too much to give up in a back-and-forth offensive divisional game.

Last week: 8-8
Season: 24-24

The last time the Giants won a game that mattered was Week 17 of the 2016 season when they beat the Redskins 19-10, and that game didn’t even really matter. It mattered more to the Redskins, who had to win to clinch a playoff berth, but it didn’t matter for the Giants. All it did was make everyone think the team could go on an extend postseason run because they played to win a game they didn’t need. Instead, their extended postseason run lasted one half.

I forgot what it felt like to experience a Giants win because it had been so long. That win over the Redskins was nearly 21 months ago and since that win the Giants had been 3-16, including the postseason. That’s an incredible amount of losing over almost a two-year period that had Odell Beckham Jr. telling the media last week he didn’t remember the last time he won a football game since the Giants were still winless when he was lost for the year last season.

I didn’t think the Giants were going to win in Houston. Even though I wagered on them at +260 despite swearing off betting on them following the disaster in Dallas the week before, I talked myself into placing money on them despite not truly believing they would win.When the news broke that Ereck Flowers was going to be benched, I was ecstatic. It had been a move now two seasons overdue and even if the Giants were going to lose, at least they weren’t going to lose with the untalented Flowers ruining the game for them.

After their first two losses and the way the offensive line played against the Cowboys, going on the road to play the also 0-2 Texans and the mobile Deshaun Watson and Top 5 wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and the stacked pass rush featuring J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus, I figured the Giants were in for their second straight 0-3 start. When the Texans marched down the field to the Giants’ 5 on the opening possession of the game, my expectations for the game were flawlessly unfolding.

First-and-5 at the Giants’ 5 after driving 69 yards and I was furious both at the Giants defense and at myself for wagering on the team after what they had done to my bank account in the first two weeks. Somehow, the Texans didn’t target Hopkins once in the end zone, after a pair of runs to Lamar Miller and an incomplete pass to Will Fuller, and the Giants were able to hold them to 3.

Not only had I forgotten what it felt like to win, I had forgotten what it felt like to have a lead. The last lead the Giants had that mattered was back in Week 3 last season when they scored 24 fourth-quarter points against the Eagles to take a 24-21 lead before eventually losing 27-24. Once they lost that game, their season was over at 0-3, so that 24-21 lead was the last time they had a meaningful lead.

Ten plays and 75 yards later and Saquon Barkley capped off the Giants’ most impressive drive of the season (their only real drive of the season) and the Giants had a 7-3 lead. I didn’t know how to feel or how to react. It had been so long since I had that feeling, I can only imagine it’s how a major league pitcher feels to take the mound after a pair of Tommy John surgeries. I suddenly remembered what it felt like when watching the Giants was fun and when they were good and when they were expected to win.

The Giants scored on all four of their first-half possessions for a 20-6 lead at halftime, and they were getting the ball to start the second half. I began to wish I had only hammered their money line at +260 even more than I had, but the negative thoughts about blowing a two-touchdown lead started to creep in.

The Giants punted on their first possession of the second half and the Texans answered with a field goal. 20-9.

The Giants punted again and I began to get worried as the Texans drove to the Giants’ 33. But on second-and-10 from the 33, Miller fumbled and the Giants recovered to take at least three points off the board from the Texans.

Unfortunately, the Giants punted again, and the worrying returned as Watson hit three passes in a row for 24, 22 and 14 yards to put the Texans on the Giants’ 8. An illegal block penalty on Miller followed by a sack moved the Texans back to the 25. And on second-and-goal from the 25, Watson noticed Miller was being covered 1-on-1 by linebacker Alec Ogletree, so he went for the touchdown, and Ogletree intercepted it in the end zone.

The offense had punted three times in the second half already and had been saved twice by the defense with two turnovers in Giants territory. Four plays and a couple of sacks later and the Giants were punting again, having wasted the interception.

With 8:28 left in the game, Hopkins scored a touchdown that was called back for a holding penalty, but two plays later, the Texans scored a touchdown that would stand to cut the Giants’ lead to 20-15. The two-point conversion failed. The once 20-6 halftime lead had dwindled to 20-15 and visions of the Vince Young Titans comeback started to appear as I stared blankly at the TV.

There was 7:37 remaining and the Giants were clinging to a five-point lead, having failed to add on to their 20 first-half points. They desperately needed to put points on the board. And now just 3. They needed 7. I envisioned them either not scoring or kicking a field goal only to have the Texans score a touchdown and tie the game on a two-point conversion. These are the thoughts that enter your mind when you’re a Giants fan.

Eli Manning found Sterling Shepard for 23 yards on the first play of the drive to put the ball on the Giants’ 46. Three plays later and the Giants were face with a third-and-2 at the Texans’ 27. I could already feel the handoff to Barkley getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage to bring out Aldrick Rosas, who would miss for the first time this season, giving the Texans great field position to go down the field to win the game. I had seen this game too many times before, and I knew what was going to happen before it happened.

The Giants didn’t run the ball though. Instead, Manning hit Barkley for 21 yards and a first down, putting the ball on the Texans’ 6 and forcing the Texans to use their second timeout. I felt a sense of relief, but not complete relief, for the red zone stall followed by a field goal followed by a Texans touchdown and two-point conversion were all still on the table.

On first-and-goal from the 6, the Giants lost two yards on a pass to Barkley. On second-and-goal from the 8, Barkley ran the ball one yard. Here it was, third-and-goal from the 7, a season-changing play. There would be no end-around to Beckham like there had been in Week 1. There would be no draw to Barkley. Manning connected with Shepard for the touchdown. 27-15, Giants. It was everything Manning and the Giants used to be. A clutch, game-winning (or game-sealing) drive. It’s weird how when given time, Manning is no longer old or washed up or unable to start in the league anymore.

The Texans had 2:08, two timeouts and the two-minute warning to score 12 points. I was cautiously optimistic about the Giants’ chances, but again, I’m not foolish enough to think any Giants game is over.

The Giants were going to exchange yards for clock, but it looked like it might not matter anyway after the Texans were suddenly faced with a third-and-20 from their own 15. But this is the Giants defense, and sure enough, after a 16-yard pass and 12-yard pass, the Texans had a first down.

The Texans did score a touchdown, but by the time they did, there was one second left in the game. The Giants had won and they have saved their season. It’s never good when you’re faced with a must-win game in Week 3 of the season, but for the second straight season, the Giants were, and this time they won. The win was overshadowed by my anger of wondering how many more wins the Giants could have had over the last few seasons if not for the presence of Flowers on the offensive line.

Nothing has ever come easy and nothing ever will for this team, not even when they hold a 20-6 lead at halftime, are getting the ball back, and win the turnover battle in the game. That magic record of 4-4 is still needed if this team is going to go on a run when their schedule softens after the bye and this win was just one of the four. It was finally a step in the right direction for a team that hasn’t taken a step in the right direction in almost two calendar years. But don’t get too excited yet. I’m not.

I thought putting up a 3-spot in Dallas in Week 1 last season was as low as it could get for the Giants on the road in Dallas. And then Sunday night happened.

Let me start by saying the Cowboys aren’t good this season. In fact, they suck. Their best player is out with an unfortunate illness, they released the team’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions and possibly the best kicker in the history of football, their Hall of Fame tight end retired, their quarterback can’t throw the ball accurately over seven yards, their running back is in effective without the offensive line completely healthy, they don’t have a No. 1 wide receiver and they might not even have a real No. 2 and their defense is blah. So yes, the Cowboys suck.

All of this was evident in their Week 1 loss in Carolina when they put up 8. It’s why I was stunned to see the Giants getting so much disrespect on the money line and why I once again jumped on it. The idea that the Giants need to be at least 4-4 entering their bye week has always felt a little easier despite their schedule because of this game in Dallas.

It took three plays for all of that to go away. On the third play of the game, Dak Prescott hit Tavon Austin for a 64-yard touchdown. It was everything the Cowboys aren’t in 2018 and a play I wasn’t even remotely worried or concerned about occuring against the inconsistent Giants defense. But one minute and 34 seconds into the game, the Giants were down 7-0 and AT&T Stadium was rocking like it was the Super Bowl.

How did that play happen? How could Austin, a complete bust with the Rams, torch the Giants defense that bad? How could Prescott, who could barely achieve a first down passing against the Panthers a week prior make that pass? I have no idea.

The game never got better from there.

The Giants had five first-half possessions and punted on all of them. Then they fumbled to open the second half, giving the Cowboys three points to go down 10-0. Then they finally got the offense going, driving to the Cowboys’ 3 before settling for a field goal in true Giants fashion. After another punt, the Cowboys scored a second touchdown to take a 20-3 and end the game with 8:23 left to play. Sure, the Giants scored 10 garbage time points when the Cowboys were giving them the entire middle of the field, but the game was effectively over at 20-3. Before those 10 points were given to the Giants, they had scored one touchdown in seven-and-a-half quarters of the season. The 20-13 final score is in no way indicative of what happened in the game.

The only thing to take away from this game was how bad the offensive line was and it was bad as the line allowed Eli Manning to get sacked six times for a combined loss of 59 yards. When Manning wasn’t getting sacked, he was getting hurried or hit, forced to dump the ball off to Saquon Barkley 14 times (he was targeted 16 times), only being to complete four passes to Odell Beckham Jr. and three passes to Sterling Shepard, including the garbage time stats.

If someone wants to think Manning is no longer a starting quarterback, they’re wrong, but they can have that opinion as long as it’s not based on his actual abilities. Manning can still throw and can still throw the deep ball and his health is fine and he should still have his consecutive start streak intact. He’s not mobile, and he never has been, and certainly isn’t going to start being at age 37. But no mobile quarterback would be able to produce with this offensive line. It’s impossible to produce when the ball is hiked and you’re already about to be hit.

Unfortunately, Pat Shurmur’s illogical in-game decisions will be lost in all the attention the offensive line will receive. On the Giants’ first possession of the game, the Giants had fourth-and-1 on their own 48 and Shurmur decided to punt. In the second quarter, the Giants had a fourth-and-1 on their own 35 and Shurmur decided to go for it. Later on that same drive, the Giants had a fourth-and-1 on their own 46 and Shurmur decided to go for it again. I love his aggressiveness to go for it the second and third times, but how can he defend not going for it on the 48, but going for it on the 35? I don’t want decisions being made by his gut. I don’t want someone coaching the Giants who stays on 16 with the dealer show a 7 in blackjack sometimes, but hits with the same hand other times. It makes no sense. The decision not to go for it on the 48 immediately after the Cowboys’ big-play touchdown likely changed the momentum in the game and quite possibly changed the game as a whole. Luckily for Shurmur, his Hall of Fame quarterback, who didn’t stand a chance behind his embarrassing offensive line will be dealing with all the criticisms from the game.

Those dreams of winning the division or even making the playoffs are now on the brink of destruction. The Giants are 0-2 and everyone knows the history of 0-3 teams: they don’t make the playoffs. The Giants are now faced with going 4-2 before their bye week and essentially 10-4 the rest of the season and there was absolutely nothing on Sunday night that showed that that is even a remote possibility.

The good news is if the Giants win next week, their season is saved. And if they don’t win, well every Giants fan got about 39 hours of their life back that they would have wasted watching this team in the remaining 13 games after Week 3.

The Giants will once again play a must-win game in Week 3 in Houston. The NFL playoffs don’t start until January, but for the Giants, the playoffs start on September 23.

Change the general manager, change the head coach, change the coordinators, change the majority of the roster, but it doesn’t matter, the New York Football Giants will never change. They will always be the same team.

You never would have known if it was Tom Coughlin or Ben McAdoo or Pat Shurmur on the sideline on Sunday in the first game of the 2018 season because the performance from the Giants over the last several seasons, spanning all three coaches, has been the same. Even if it’s unfair to group Shurmur into the disappointing losses suffered during the tenures of the other two after just one game, it was such a Giants-esque loss that I can’t help but include him.

The second play of the season was a 31-yard pass against the Giants defense and the first play of the season for the offense was a tripping penalty on Ereck Flowers at the Giants’ 14. And they were at their own 14 because Cody Latimer decided to run the ball out of the end zone, gaining only the 14 and costing the Giants 11 yards of field position on their season-opening drive. After the Flowers trip, the Giants were backed up to their own 7. They then ran a play for no gain before Eli Manning connected with Evan Engram for 34 yards. But that play was negated by a flag. Who was the flag on? Do you even have to ask? Flowers, of course. This time for holding. Now facing a second-and-20 from their own 4 against the best defense in the league, it was no surprise the possession would result in a punt. Thankfully, three plays later, Blake Bortles would turn into Blake Bortles and throw an interception.

The second Giants possession took the Giants 59 yards from their own 37 to the Jaguars’ 4, where it would stall out in typical Giants fashion. Facing a third-and-Goal from the 8, the Giants decided to run an end-around to Odell Beckham Jr. The play, which actually made me laugh out loud, shockingly resulted in a loss of one yard. Aldrick Rosas converted the 27-yard field goal to tie the game.

From there, the Jaguars kicked another field goal to gup 6-3 and the Giants punted for a second time, leading to a Jaguars touchdown to put the Giants behind 13-3. The Giants got the ball back with 2:42 in the half and a chance for my favorite thing in football: the double score with a possession before the half and the first possession of the second half. The Giants once again got the ball to the red zone and couldn’t get it in the end zone against the vaunted Jaguars defense, and they trailed 13-6 at half.

On the first play of the second half, the Giants called timeout after not being able to get the play off in time. It was the most Giants thing of all time. Even more than the two penalties in the first three plays of their season. How could they come out of halftime and not have the first play of the half decided upon? That’s not rhetorical. I’m asking because I need to know. Using a timeout on the first play of the half is irresponsible. But don’t worry, I’m sure they won’t need that timeout later in the game.

A third Rosas field goal to open the half cut the deficit to 4, but I started to think how Rosas was now 3-for-3 and if the game were to come down to a field-goal attempt, the odds would be against him at that point. You can only trust Rosas for so long. The Giants defense got the Jaguars to punt again and thanks to an unnecessary roughness penalty and a bad punt, the Giants would start with the ball on Jaguars’ 46, trailing 13-9. The Giants had a chance to take the lead against possibly the best team in the AFC and all of football.

On third-and-7 from the Jaguars’ 43, the Giants did what the Giants always do in situations like these: they threw the ball five yards. The Engram reception left the Giants two yards short of a first down at the Jaguars’ 38. Shurmur knew what every Giants fan knows and that is that letting Rosas try a 55-yarder isn’t the best idea, considering it’s almost a certainty the Jaguars would then have the ball at midfield. So being stuck in no-man’s land, Shurmur decided to go for it on fourth down, which to me was the right call. The actual play that ran? Not so much the right call. Manning handed it off to Saquon Barkley and he was only able to gain one of the two yards. Turnover on downs.

It felt like a huge opportunity had slipped away and the Giants had gone from the chance to take the lead, or at worst make it a one-point game, to potentially being down two possessions again if the Jaguars scored a touchdown. The Giants’ defense, which came to play (something they didn’t do at all in 2017), allowed only 15 yards and the Jaguars punted again. One first down and three incomplete passes later, and the Giants punted it right back. Then the Jaguars punted, then the Giants punted, then the Jaguars punted. The game had become a defensive standoff, something I expected from the Jaguars, not the Giants. With 11:24 left in the game, the Jaguars defense basically put the game away when Manning threw a pick-6 into the hands of Myles Jack. 20-9, Jaguars.

The play was deflating. I went from thinking for the fourth straight possession that the Giants might take the lead and win a game I didn’t expect them to win to realizing I was a fool for ever having that thought. But two plays later, Barkley made me regret being so against drafting him with the second overall pick as he broke through with a 68-yard touchdown run.

It’s been so long since the Giants had a good running back. Actually, it’s been so long since the Giants have had an average running back that I forgot what it was like to have someone who can run like that and also catch balls out of the backfield and force the defense to not focus on Beckham. The touchdown made up for Barkley’s inability to get the two yards on the drive that ended with a turnover on downs earlier in the game. Naturally, the Giants’ two-point attempt failed and instead of the game being a three-point game, it was a five-point game at 20-15 with 10:39 remaining.

Another punt from the Jaguars, followed by a punt from the Giants and another punt from the Jaguars gave the Giants the ball at their own 19. The Giants were able to drive the ball 45 yards, but on fourth-and-6 from the Jaguars’ 36, they turned it over on downs for the second time in the second half.

With Leonard Fournette out of the game, the Giants were able to stop T.J. Yeldon and get the ball back with 54 seconds left and no timeouts. (No timeouts because remember the first play in the second half?) But having no timeouts or all their timeouts wouldn’t matter. Recently-signed Kaelin Clay was set to receive the punt, but he muffed it, allowing the Jaguars to recover and take a knee to run out the clock. Why was Clay out there? Why wasn’t the best hands on the team and possibly the league in Beckham not out there? There’s no reason. If you wanted Clay to just catch it and not return, Beckham would have made more sense. And if you wanted a return, Beckham still would have more sense. There’s nothing in a football game in which Kaelin Clay would make more sense than Odell Beckham Jr.

From start to finish it was the exact type of Giants game I have gotten used to watching in my life. Between allowing third-and-longs to convert, to taking two offensive line penalties in the first three plays of the season, to turning the ball over on downs twice, to not being able to convert once in the red zone, to throwing a pick-6, to failing to convert a two-point conversion, to wasting a timeout on the first play of a half, to muffing the punt with a chance to win the game, the game have everything a Giants can could expect. If I were to explain to someone what it’s like to watch the Giants every week of every season, I couldn’t have put together a more accurate depiction of the team if I tried.