McAdone? Have the New York Giants quit on Ben McAdoo?

After being embarrassed by the Los Angeles Rams 51-17 on Sunday, the big question for the New York Giants is have they quit on their head coach?

As the New York Giants walked off the field on Sunday in front of a near empty MetLife Stadium, the already lost season had bottomed out as the Los Angeles Rams humiliated Big Blue 51-17. Now 1-7, the Giants are off to their worst start since 1980 when the franchise started the season 1-8. The performance on the field was appalling, but what’s more concerning is how the Giants are quitting on their head coach halfway through the season.

The injuries the Giants have faced, such as losing their best player Odell Beckham Jr. for the entire season, is one of the reasons this team has underperformed this year. While the Giants can use the injuries as an excuse, with their quarterback and defense, they should still be in position to be at least a .500 team. However, it’s clear that there has been a divide between the team and their second-year head coach that started a few weeks ago and has only grown worse over time.

If there’s one unit that is especially at odds with the New York Giants head coach, it’s the defensive unit. Maybe it’s the fact that their offensive-minded coach has struggled to get anything out of the offense this year or maybe it’s that he just leaves the defense to fend for itself with Steve Spagnuolo. Who knows? But the division on this team began against the other Los Angeles team just a few weeks ago.

It was the game against the Los Angeles Chargers where any chances of a successful season crashed and burned. Most people remember this as the game where the Giants lost multiple wideouts to injuries such as Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall for the season. What gets forgotten in this game, however, was what happened at the very end.

After Eli Manning fumbled the ball to essentially end the game and seal an 0-5 start for the Giants, McAdoo decided to call a timeout with 38 seconds left to have the Chargers take one more kneel down. At this point, defensive players Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins headed to the locker room thinking the game was over. Rodgers-Cromartie was already furious with McAdoo for pulling him late in the loss and threw his helmet in disgust.

Later that week, Rodgers-Cromartie was suspended for the game against the Denver Broncos after reportedly leaving the facility in the middle of the week. However, with their surprising win over the Broncos, it looked like the Giants had turned around the locker room situation.

Since that win, however, the defense has surrendered 75 points over two games, has shown a lack of effort, and appear to have phoned in this season. Multiple experts on NFL broadcasts Sunday agreed and if you watch the hustle on plays, especially when chasing down Rams players, some Giant players just gave up.

The best example of this lack of effort was how the Giants defense allowed a simple screen on third down and 33 (yes you heard me, third down and 33) to not only be converted but result in a 53-yard touchdown. Players in the secondary such as Eli Apple just coasted at the end of the play.

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Even if they are out of the playoffs, this team needs to play hard because that is what they are paid to do. Another big reason is if the New York Giants decide to clean house at season’s end, the other 31 NFL teams will be watching film on prospective players. Let’s just say it surely won’t help players get a new job or a big pay-day if they are quitting on the field.

These next eight games will be very telling for the New York Giants. While there will be questions about the quarterback position, the one thing Ben McAdoo must do to save his job is get his team to play hard. If a coach loses the respect of his team, it is almost impossible, no matter how much turnover there is in the offseason, to have the players believe they will be successful under his leadership.

Next: New York Giants: It is time to clean house

If there are more lackluster performances like the one against the Rams, the question will be not if, but when will Ben McAdoo be relieved of his coaching duties.