Records, as they say, are made to be broken.
But if the Giants come close to, or surpass one in particular, it will bring shame to the franchise and further highlight a lowlight that has plagued this organization for more than a decade.
Through 11 games, the Giants have allowed 63 sacks. They have spread the punishment around. Daniel Jones leads the way with 30 sacks. Tyrod Taylor has been sacked 10 times. Tommy DeVito, fairly new on the scene in terms of taking the field, has been dropped 22 times, a figure inflated by last week’s nine-sack barrage in a 31-19 victory over the Commanders.
That was the first time in team history the Giants won a game while allowing at least nine sacks.
Add up 30 plus 10 plus 22 and it gets you to 62. Where is the other sack? Well, wide receiver Parris Campbell was sent back to try a pass in the Week 4 game against the Seahawks and was tackled with the ball in his hands, one of the 11 sacks the Giants gave up that day. Yes, even non-quarterbacks get sacked on the Giants.
The Giants are on pace to allow 97 sacks. That will not quite get them to the NFL record for sacks given up in a season.
The Eagles own that ignominious mark with 104 sacks allowed in 1986.
There are six games remaining for the Giants, though, starting with Sunday’s meeting with the sagging Patriots at MetLife Stadium, affording plenty of opportunity for quarterbacks to duck and dive for cover.
“The level of play has to be better,’’ Carl Banks, the former star linebacker for the Giants and currently their radio and digital broadcast analyst, told The Post. “It’s not sustainable. It doesn’t have to be perfect but you’ve got to have guys who don’t blow assignments in key, crucial situations, or else. As important as the quarterback position is, you can’t afford to lose these guys to bad offensive line play.’’
It is Banks’ contention that whoever starts at quarterback for the Giants in 2024 will fail if the offensive line is not upgraded significantly.
It can be Jones, returning from the reconstructive knee surgery he underwent Wednesday. It can be DeVito, if the undrafted rookie continues to show rapid improvement. It can be Caleb Williams from USC or Drake Maye from North Carolina or any other college prospect the Giants might select high in the NFL draft.
Even if the Giants were able to magically acquire Patrick Mahomes, the gold standard at the position, it would not work if Mahomes had to operate behind a shabby offensive line incapable of protecting him.
“He’s going to get hurt,’’ Banks said. “The Chiefs don’t have a free runner four, five, six times a game. I mean, literally free runners. They don’t have missed twists every time there’s a third-and-long. He would not survive it.’’
In a 49-17 loss to the Cowboys, the line gave up four sacks and 18 pressures on 37 drop-backs. DeVito ran himself into several of the nine sacks in Washington and so that bloated total is not all the handiwork of the linemen.
Through the first 10 games, Pro Football Focus graded the Giants at 30 out of the 32 offensive lines in the league.
That ranking improved, slightly, to the current standing of No. 28, thanks to Andrew Thomas returning after missing seven games and settling back into his spot at left tackle.
Thomas is signed through the 2029 season and is a fixture. Rookie center John Michael Schmitz has a home in the middle of the line but his first taste of the NFL has been a learning experience.
Evan Neal did not progress as anticipated at right tackle and is out, again, with a sprained ankle. There are serious questions if the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 draft can handle himself at tackle and if moving him inside to guard is in his future. The two starting guards, Justin Pugh and Ben Bredeson, are not signed beyond this season.
Banks as a menacing defender — he was inducted into the Giants Ring of Honor in 2011 — made it his business to search for and try to instill fear and uncertainty into opposing quarterbacks.
After watching every snap Jones took this season, Banks remains a believer.
“He’s a smart kid, got great size, he’s mobile, good arm,’’ Banks said. “We can, in hindsight, say what he doesn’t do and there’s a cause and effect to everything. There are no perfect scenarios in football. I will say universally outside of the quarterback position, the offensive line is the most premium position and you have to get it right. It doesn’t have to be perfect but you got to give your guy a chance and it doesn’t matter who that quarterback is.’’
Did Jones have a chance?
“This year, no, absolutely not,’’ Banks said. “He’s shown beyond what the narrative is that he can make plays. It’s easy to pick this year and say, ‘He’s one read and that’s it,’ or you can see somebody on TV that says, ‘He ran into that sack, that sack is on him.’ OK, that happens, too. I’ve seen Dak Prescott do it, I’ve seen ‘em all do it. This is not a Daniel Jones defense, but it’s a quarterback-position defense because they’ve had three of them back there, two of them injured. You have to have adequate offensive line play, it’s just that simple.’’
This will not change, Banks insists, just because the Giants bring in someone to compete with or supplant Jones.
“If the guys who get paid to pick players decide they want to go in another direction, that’s fine with me,’’ Banks said. “I like what Daniel Jones brings.
“If they decide to go whatever direction they go in, my position won’t change because I know, I spent a lifetime doing it and I know it’s not sustainable at the level they’re playing at right now. I don’t care, you can have Houdini back there, he’s going to get hurt and it’s not going to be effective running your offense.’’
The Giants held a Thanksgiving morning practice before the players left the facility to enjoy the holiday. CB Adoree’ Jackson was a full participant and he is expected to play Sunday after missing the past two games in concussion protocol. … DL Dexter Lawrence (hamstring) did not practice for a second straight day. LB Bobby Okereke (hip/rib) and WR Darius Slayton (neck) were limited after not working Wednesday.
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