No matter the result of Eagles vs. Commanders, the Giants are the real losers

A couple of weeks back, Saquon Barkley appeared in a business for a sleep-aid item.

” I heard a few of you were having difficulty sleeping, so I composed you a lullaby,” a pajama-clad Barkley stated in the advertisement, a clear chance at Giants president and CEO John Mara, who had notoriously stated he would have “a bumpy ride sleeping” if Barkley signed with the Eagles … which naturally he did.

” It sure is difficult to lose sleep over football,” Barkley continued in the area. “Not for me, however. Excellent night to you all!”

Mara called Barkley quickly after seeing video of that pitch to inform the running back he was insulted.

” The least you might have done was ask me to be in the business with you,” a smiling Mara stated he informed Barkley. “I might’ve been tossing and turning, and it would’ve been terrific. There is an acting gene in our household, you understand. It’s not simply my nieces.”

Those would be Kate and Rooney Mara, naturally.

It’s a good idea that the leading Giant can make fun of himself, even a bit, because, rather honestly, almost everybody else in the football world has actually been. And no matter the result of Sunday’s NFC National championship in between the Eagles and Commanders, the strength of those buffooning snickers is going to be sky-high for a minimum of the next 2 weeks.

This isn’t almost 2 competitors having success. It’s even worse. Among them is going to Super Bowl LIX, and in no little part thanks to the mismanagement of the Giants themselves. No matter who wins on Sunday, the Giants lose.

Hint the unfortunate trombone music that has actually ended up being the soundtrack to their headache season and continues to score their presence 3 weeks after they last played a video game.

It’s currently begun, naturally. 2 weeks back, even Michael Strahan was taking chance ats basic supervisor Joe Schoen for not keeping the services of Barkley this previous offseason.

” Thank you, New York City Giants, since you let [Xavier McKinney] go and you let Barkley go,” he stated throughout Fox’s pregame program ahead of the Eagles-Packers championship game.

” Well done,” Strahan stated sardonically.

And on Friday, Commanders running back Austin Ekeler got his jabs in.

” What a joke over there letting this guy go,” he stated on “The Dan Le Batard Program,” relating to the Giants’ choice to let Barkley stroll in complimentary company.

This from a guy whose group needs to deal with Barkley on Sunday, too.

The Leaders remain in this area mainly since of the play of novice quarterback Jayden Daniels … the gamer the Giants wished to trade as much as get (however could not).

Naturally, they would not have actually needed to swing an offer for him had they not won a couple of worthless video games at the end of the 2023 season and end up with the 6th total choice. For the previous couple of years, it’s felt as if winning has actually had more unfavorable repercussions for the Giants than losing has.

There is a marvelous world in which the Giants might have had both Barkley and Daniels on their group.

It’s simply not this world.

None of this is to state that Barkley would have had the ability to produce among the best seasons by a running back in NFL history had the Giants kept him. In truth, he most likely would not have. Nobody understands that more than he does.

” You may have media offers, you may get commercials, you may have fans on IG [Instagram],” Barkley informed press reporters this previous week. “However at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how you contend as a group. And if you do not have a fantastic group, it will not matter. You will not succeed. I believe I’m a prime example of that today.”

Barkley was excellent even on really bad Giants groups. He’s ended up being extraordinary on this excellent Eagles group.

Nor is it a safe bet that Daniels would have ended up being the slam dunk offending novice of the year and on the brink of ending up being the very first novice quarterback to lead his group to a Super Bowl had he end up being a Giant. He most likely would not have actually even started the 2024 season as the starter. The Giants were determined on providing Daniel Jones a minimum of a chance at keeping that task early on. And if the Giants had actually prepared Daniels, they would not have actually had the ability to get Malik Nabers as a target for him.

Daniels’ success has actually can be found in an offense in which he can target Terry McLaurin and Zach Ertz and hand off to Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. The Giants do not have those sort of weapons … although in our little dream believed experiment, they still may have had Barkley.

Here’s something that is ending up being glaringly inescapable, though:

The Eagles and the Commanders not just are far better than the Giants this season however appear poised to preserve that lead for several years to come.

Things might alter. The Giants might alter. They might make the type of leap that Washington took, going from 4 wins to the last 4 in one upgraded offseason. However today– and for a minimum of the next couple of weeks– among those opponents is going to be the toast of the league and the Giants will be the butt of the jokes.

A tossing and turning John Mara? He most likely will not require those acting genes to manage that function for a while.