Barnum and Bailey Circus officially shut down in May.
Giants’ head coach Ben McAdoo sounded like a pitchman for the former unit trying to encourage fans Friday afternoon. The team is in the midst of an increasingly downward spiral and predicted 20-plus mile per hour winds that will bring temperatures down to the low 40s isn’t ideal weather to watch an abysmal team.
“We want your support,” said McAdoo when asked to address fans about coming to Met Life Sunday to watch the Giants-Chiefs matchup. “Come out, watch a great show. We plan on playing great football on Sunday and getting a win.”
The Giants have yet to win at home, and now they will upset the Chiefs, who are coming off a bye week. Kansas City head coach Andy Reid’s team have a record of 18-2 in this situation. The Chiefs have the fifth-best ranked offense in the league.
So since McAdoo met with his players to evaluate their mostly minuses than pluses earlier in the week, does this reassure Giants’ fans that the team will turn it around? Indications aren’t very good.
McAdoo appears to be a coach down to his last resort. He reached out to his players to have his “brutally honest” sessions with them. But why wait until your team is 1-8 to do this? Is it because they have been embarrassed with their play – primarily defensively — on a national scale the past two weeks? Where was this kind of meeting a month ago or even sooner?
Over the past month, the players’ responses have been generally repetitive, stating how they will solve the problems. After watching their play the past two weeks, they still have a long way to go.
The words need to translate into actions. The effort that was clear in Denver needs to return.
“He was just trying to be honest with people, push them a little bit more,” said safety Landon Collins about McAdoo’s address to the team. “That’s what I took from it. Not really too much from a big-time meeting or an aggressive meeting [standpoint]. Trying to give people a good little push.”
That push will need to be big and stern one.
The Giants have the talent on both sides of the ball to make this a competitive game. Kansas City (6-3) has lost some of its early season luster, as they have dropped three of their last four games.
Unless the team turns this season completely around and heads for .500, McAdoo likely will be an offensive coordinator on another team in a few years.
Take your chances coming out to see the Great Show Sunday. Chances are by 4 p.m., you’ll still be waiting for the elephants. P.T. Barnum did say there is a sucker born every minute.