Win-Loss Record Only Change for Giants These Days

His team may be falling apart around him, its playoff chances and confidence crumbling, but apparently Ray Handley doesn’t feel the need to make any major changes to keep the USS Giants from sinking.

Some 12 hours after the franchise’s most embarrassing defeat in more than a decade, Handley presented a stiff chin Tuesday and said: “I don’t think I’ll be kicking any butt.”

If ever a team deserved a swift kick in the pants, it’s the 4-5 defending Super Bowl champions. Monday night’s 30-7 loss at Veterans Stadium to the Philadelphia Eagles before a national television audience was the Giants’ worst defeat since the San Diego Chargers waxed Ray Perkins, 44-7, at San Diego in 1980. More humiliating is that it came against an Eagles offense regarded as one of the league’s worst. The Eagles averaged only 69 yards rushing and 12.8 points in their first eight games. But against the Giants, they ended a four-game losing streak and looked like a Super Bowl contender. They rushed for 137 yards, passed for 229 and controlled the ball for 37:46. The Giants, meanwhile, rushed for only 46 of their 180 total yards, allowed four sacks and played so poorly in the second half that Lawrence Taylor said, “I can’t remember when all 47 players and coaches completely quit.”

Yet, in explaining the Giants’ second straight loss, Handley chose to be more pragmatic than peeved. He said simply, “The (Eagles) just played better than we did. They took it to us early in the ballgame. I think we responded somewhat, but we didn’t play as well as Philadelphia did.”

It was the Giants’ sixth loss in seven games against the Eagles and fourth straight loss at the Vet, but never in that string had the Gmants been so thoroughly dominated. Who would have thought Jim McMahon, protecting sore knees with braces, would outrush Jeff Hostetler 14 yards to 3?

“I don’t know what the hell is going on out there,” Taylor said. “I’m completely and totally confused.”

Apparently, Handley doesn’t sense that same urgency, or at least he wasn’t letting on Tuesday. Although the Giants have been outscored 47-7 during the last six quarters, he said Hostetler will remain the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game at Phoenix, leaving Phil Simms on the bench.

And instead of chewing out his pleyers or threatening their jobs or making public his disappointment in their play Monday night, Handley essentially said it’s up to the players to dig themselves out of this hole. “As a staff we can put together the very best game plan that we can and try to get the players to rally,” he said. “There’s some things they want to regain and part of that is some of their pride. I think that’s been hurt.”

Their confidence is shot, too. The Giants seldom have played like champions this season. Now they’re playing almost too cautiously. It’s something Handley admits he’s noticed, but seems unsure how to address.

“I hope they’re not getting to the point where they’re just waiting for something bad to happen,” he said. “We do have enough veteran players on the defense that they shouldn’t find themselves in that situation. They should be able to rally among themselves and make plays. It’s not as though we’re playing a lot of rookies.”

If it’s up to the players to make the plays, then Handley and defensive coordinator Al Groh have to come up with better game plans. Although the Eagles entered with 28 sacks, second only to the Saints’ 31, the Giants opted not to keep their backs and tight ends in to help with pass protection, even though right tackle Doug Riesenberg was playing on a sprained ankle. Apparently, Handley thought Hostetler could get his passes off before the Eagles arrived. The result: Hostetler was dropped four times and pressured constantly.

“Obviously, we felt staying with Riesenberg was the right thing to do,” Handley said. “If we didn’t feel it was the right thing to do, we would have made a change there.”

The rookie coach also was second-guessed about his decision to run David Meggett on a quick pitch left on fourth-and-2 at the Eagles’ 31 with 57 seconds left in the first half. The swarming Eagles dropped Meggett for a 3-yard loss, securing their 13-0 halftime lead.

In defending the call, Handley said: “I thought it gave me a good chance to make 2 yards and the first down. I’m not just flipping coins. I do put some thought into it beforehand.”

Groh’s call for linebacker Steve DeOssie to blitz earlier in the second quarter would have worked had DeOssie wrapped up McMahon. But the seemingly unnecessary gamble against a bad offense backfired when McMahon ducked DeOssie and fired a 73-yard touchdown pass to Keith Jackson. The tight end burned the single coverage from Taylor, who expected help from the safeties.

Asked to explain the coverage responsibility on the play, Handley buried his head. “Better check with Al Groh and see what Al wants to say about that rather than me getting involved in the middle of a dispute,” Handley said.

All in all, it wasn’t a very reassuring day after the disaster. No changes, no butt-kicking, nobody taking the blame.

There’s something broke with the Giants, but nobody seems to want to fix it.