If these were the old days when superstition outweighed budget costs, the Giants would be staging training camp back at SUNY-Albany, hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened last season.
The decision to leave Albany after 16 seasons and hold their 2013 training camp at the Giants practice facility in East Rutherford was prudent considering the latest collective bargaining agreement has essentially eliminated two-a-day practices and the need for multiple fields.
But the inaugural year of working from home produced an 0-6 start that ruined any chance of making the playoffs. Put simply, the Giants were out-coached, out-prepared and often dominated in losing to the Cowboys (36-31), Broncos (41-23), Panthers (38-0), Chiefs (31-7), Eagles (36-21) and Bears (27-21).
“We made way too many mistakes that put us in that position,” defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said Wednesday.
It was a demoralizing stretch, when the tone of futility was set in a season-opening loss at Dallas where the Giants committed six turnovers with Eli Manning throwing three interceptions and running back David Wilson losing two fumbles. After six games, the Giants had committed 23 turnovers, with Manning throwing 15 of his eventual career-high 27 interceptions.
The Giants would win seven of their last 10 games, but avoiding another damaging start is at the top of their priority list.
“We want to start fast this season and not put ourselves in a hole like we did last year,” GM Jerry Reese said.
Here’s why the Giants should start 4-2, assuming Manning is healthy:
Change is good
A new offensive coordinator in Ben McAdoo, a new offense and new faces on the coaching staff and roster have produced more attention to detail.
“We can’t take any shortcuts,” veteran fullback Henry Hynoski said. “We can’t skip any beats. We have to get everything as detailed as we possibly can. You have to demand perfection out of yourself and each other.”
How quickly everyone jells is a concern, but a longer preseason because of the Hall of Fame game should help.
“We think we’ll have enough time to get ready to go,” Reese said.
The early schedule isn’t brutal
They open at erratic Detroit before home games against the high-spirited Cardinals and the rebounding Texans before a road game at division rival Washington. The Giants then return home to play the Falcons before heading to Philadelphia.
It doesn’t include the Broncos and Chiefs, who were two of the hottest teams in the NFL last season when the Giants played them. The more difficult stretch this season is in November, when the Giants play the Colts, Seahawks, 49ers and Cowboys in successive weeks.
Eli can’t possibly throw that many interceptions again
Three picks against the Cowboys, four against the Broncos, and three each against the Eagles and the Bears. If it happens again, the Giants need a new quarterback.
The primary concern in camp is the development of the offensive line, which gave up seven sacks against Carolina en route to 40 on the season. David Diehl and Chris Snee have retired, David Baas was released and Kevin Boothe signed a two-year deal with the Raiders.
The Giants are counting on left tackle Will Beatty (recovering from knee surgery) to be ready and James Brewer (drafted fourth in 2011) to become dependable at left guard. Free agent John Jerry could be the right guard working with right tackle Justin Pugh. Competition at center will feature free agent J.D. Walton and second-round pick Weston Richburg.
Reese feels he has done his part to help improve the Giants, though he’s not exactly sure why 0-6 happened considering the Giants opened 4-2 the previous three seasons and 5-1 in 2009.
“If you stay in the business long enough, some of these things might happen to you,” he said. “It happened to us last year. I don’t have a lot of good answers for that. But we sure don’t want it to happen again.”
If it happens again, the Giants might want to go back to Albany.