NFL

Giants still winless after rancid offensive showing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The calendar says the Giants are still in September, so early, but in this season, this dreary, unforeseen season, the bell has struck midnight for the Giants, who are 0-4 and fading fast.

“Right now, we’re as low as you can get,’’ Justin Tuck, one of the team captains, said Sunday. “I hope this is as low as you can go.’’

It just might be that these Giants can sink even further into the abyss. They failed again to find their first victory of the 2013 season and this one was excruciating because their defense was spirited and more than kept the Giants in the game. But their offense was so ineffective that it is almost hard to fathom a unit with Eli Manning and his receivers can be so feeble for so long.

Other than a Manning to Victor Cruz touchdown pass of 69 yards that pulled them even at 7-7 in the second quarter, the Giants were dismal with the ball. Their special teams let them down, again, and the result was a 31-7 loss to the undefeated Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium that at some point has to usher in big changes.

“What do you mean, ‘Where do we go from here?’ ’’ coach Tom Coughlin said, repeating a question. “We go back to work. What else is there for us to do.’’

The work thus far has been futile. This is the worst start for the Giants since 1987, when replacement players were used and they went 0-5. This is their worst non-replacement player start since 1979. Only one team in NFL history, the 1992 Chargers, made the playoffs after starting a season 0-4.

“We got a long season to go and I still believe we can accomplish everything we set out to do,’’ Tuck said. “We’re going to find a way to right this ship or we’re going to die trying. I know I am.’’

This loss falls squarely on an offense directed by Manning that really cannot get anything accomplished. Three times, the Giants defense took the ball away from a Chiefs offense that did not turn the ball over even once in its first three games. Those three sparks turned into one dud after another, as Eli and Co. went three-and-out each time, adding to what was a 1-of-14 showing on third down — 0-of-8 in the second half.

“Offensively, not being able to do anything, it’s just bad,’’ Manning said.

The Giants, after getting blown out 38-0 in a horror show in Carolina, knew their season was on the line Sunday and they hung around, trailing 10-7 late in the third quarter. In a flash, six inches the Giants did not make turned into six points for the Chiefs, a deadly and numbing turnaround that turned the tide of the game.

At long last, the Giants seemed to finally make a play when on third-and-17 Manning hit a sliding Cruz. The spot was on the Giants’ 31-yard line, enough for a first down. The spot, though, was wrong and after a challenge by Chiefs coach Andy Reid, the ball was placed back on the 30 and the Giants punted.

Cruz wanted to go for it.

“If it was me, yes, because we had the momentum,’’ he said. “I felt like it was a yard, not even a yard, a half a yard. We got to take a risk at some point and make something happen.’’

Of course, there was no way Coughlin was going to go for it because it was not the appropriate move to make, down by three points.

“If it hadn’t been on the 30-yard line I would have gone for it on fourth down,’’ said Coughlin, who added it would have been “a foolish error’’ to go for it where the ball was.

It was the right decision, but it went oh so wrong. Steve Weatherford has been erratic this season and he sent a booming kick 59 yards to the 10-yard line at the numbers, but not where Coughlin wanted it, which was out of bounds. Dexter McCluster fielded the ball and immediately went into attack mode. Zak DeOssie was blocked off the play and Keith Rivers was faked out of his shoes, allowing McCluster to turn on the jets and scoot 89 yards for a backbreaking touchdown return.

“It wasn’t a perfect punt, but it wasn’t a bad punt,’’ Weatherford said.

The Chiefs then went to work on the tiring Giants defense with a 14-play, 80-yard drive ended when Jamaal Charles hauled in a 2-yard pass from Alex Smith to make it 24-7 with 5:45 left.

“It’s frustrating because defense was playing their hearts out, man, and I tip my hat to them,’’ Cruz said.