Just In: Frustrations show on Giants sideline as another pathetic injury occurs

Even-keeled wide receiver Darius Slayton lost his cool on the sideline and initiated a “spirited conversation” with position coach Mike Groh, prompting teammate Sterling Shepard to try and calm him down.

This was one of several signs of discord on Brian Daboll’s bench. Slayton’s exhaustion with the Giants’ futility epitomized just how bad it has gotten.

“It’s week 10, ya know?” Slayton said. “And we’ve not done a lot of winning or been very productive on offense. And it’s very frustrating.”

Frustrations were boiling over as the Giants (2-8) were outgained an astounding 640 yards to 172 by Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys.

In addition to Slayton’s stewing, the FOX broadcast pointed out an “animated discussion” between Saquon Barkley and Daboll after a failed fourth down play in the red zone, and a long conversation between Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.

“Everyone’s trying to figure out what to do to help right the ship, and we got our asses kicked tonight,” left guard Justin Pugh said. “So there should be some pissed off people. You get embarrassed on national TV, that’s not a good feeling.”

The Giants know they don’t have a chance in these games, though.

They lost their two head-to-head games against the Cowboys (6-3) this season by a combined score of 89-17. Daboll is now 2-7-1 against NFC East teams in his two years, with the two wins and tie all coming against Washington.

And the Giants have opened as 10-point underdogs for next Sunday’s road game against the Commanders.

Maybe the theme of safety Xavier McKinney’s criticism of the coaching staff after last week’s 30-6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders wasn’t off-base, even if his specific reason at the moment wasn’t totally valid.

Maybe it was the tip of an iceberg.

“It’s definitely tough right now, losing like that, getting embarrassed week after week,” Barkley said. “But you gotta be a man about it … It’s been tough in my six years here going against Dallas and Philly and coming up short, getting our butt whooped against them.”

The Giants did their best to bottle and contain the controversy.

Barkley led the way when describing how he spoke to Daboll after his first-quarter run up the middle for no gain on fourth and two from the Cowboys’ four-yard line.

“Was I frustrated that we didn’t get it? Yes,” Barkley said. “Maybe that was a sign of frustration. But it was no argument, nothing like that … I’m not gonna get too much into the details, but as a player and competitor you want the ball in your hands. Just leave it at that. I didn’t convert it.”

Daboll, true to form, pretended everything was fine as Rome burned around him. Slayton said he spoke to Groh afterwards and told him “I gotta control my emotions better in those moments” and “we’re good.”

Daboll set an inept tone from the start of the game, however. He threw a panic challenge flag on the first play from scrimmage to assert that Cowboys receiver Brandin Cooks had fumbled after his first down catch.

When a replay on Dallas’ enormous Jumbotron clearly and quickly showed Cooks was down, Daboll tried to pick up the red flag and rescind his challenge, telling the referee “never mind.”

But that’s not how the NFL works. The official announced he was charging the Giants for the timeout anyway. So then Daboll said fine, review the play. But everyone knew it wasn’t a fumble, and that’s what the video showed.

This is how a scoreless game already feels like a blowout loss before a team even scores a point. These are the kind of game management gaffes that have piled up on top of poor roster management to create one of the most disappointing seasons in this franchise’s history.

“We could all do better,” Daboll said, when asked if he could take any drastic steps to fix this.

The FOX broadcast presented a strange dichotomy for national viewers, though. Because while Daboll’s team was melting down in Texas for the world to see, analyst Greg Olsen repeatedly was preaching Joe Schoen and Daboll as the unquestionable GM and coach of this team’s future.

Olsen said there was no legitimacy to any noise about their jobs being in jeopardy, and he said this season’s scores and results aren’t what matter because this year is an “evaluation process” of what players should be a part of this team’s future.

“The coach of the year doesn’t forget how to coach in one offseason,” play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt said.

This was an interesting window perhaps into the organization’s preferred narrative and vision for the immediate future. The problem was that the scenes on the field and the sideline told a completely different story about the efficiency and promise of this current operation.

Also, try telling the players what Olsen said. The same players who were talking “Super Bowl” in the summer are now having the rug pulled out from under them.

Start with the non-stop injuries: edge Kayvon Thibodeaux (concussion), wideout Jalin Hyatt (concussion), corner Deonte Banks (ankle) and corner Cor’Dale Flott (shoulder) all went down in defeat. Left tackle Andrew Thomas fortunately returned from an early left knee injury. Barkley endured some late-game pain in his high right ankle sprain.

Continue with the Tommy DeVito-led offense, which tacked on late touchdown passes to Lawrence Cager and Shepard to at least avoid a shutout.

Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka made that killer fourth down play call while trailing 7-0 after a Cor’Dale Flott interception. Dak Prescott took that turnover and marched 96 yards for his second of four touchdown passes for a 14-0 lead, and the rout was on.

Prescott only played three quarters and finished 26-of-35 for 404 yards, four touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown and a pick before Cooper Rush replaced him for the fourth.

Martindale’s defense managed a fourth-and-goal stop on the game’s first possession and two interceptions from Flott and Darnay Holmes. But the dam broke, and the Cowboys were running wild.

Brandin Cooks had 173 receiving yards and a touchdown. CeeDee Lamb had 165 total yards and two touchdowns. Six Cowboys players scored a touchdown in the game, the most in Dallas’ franchise history.

At one point in the second half, FOX said the 526-yard differential between the Cowboys and Giants at that juncture was the largest in any NFL game since 1962.

There is just nothing to say at this point. And it is hard to imagine how the players are going to get through their final seven games.

1. “We have a strong-minded group, and that’s what it’s gonna take,” Shepard said. “We’re gonna see who really has a strong mind, especially with how the season has been going so far. These are the times where you really see who’s got mental toughness.”