Is a Dream a Lie if It Don’t Come True, or Is it Something Worse
Those words. “Is a Dream a Lie if It Don’t Come True,” are not from Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” describing the protagonist, Willy Loman, but lyrics from New Jersey native son Bruce Springsteen’s “The River.” For those audacious enough to still talk about the playoffs after being dismantled by the Dallas Cowboys on opening day, take note, the New York Giants face a serious uphill climb.
There have been various blow-out losses over the fifty years, with only one team making the playoffs that year. The Baltimore Raven beat Buffalo in 2018 by a 47-3 score. The Bills’ starting quarterback that day was Nathan Peterman. He was replaced by rookie Josh Allen in the second half. Allen did not fare much better.
The Washington Redskins opened up their 1991 season with a 45-0 win over the Detroit Lions. Barry Sanders was injured; the Lion offense was effectively impotent. The Redskins would go on to win the Super Bowl that season.
In 1989 the Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 51-0. This was the Bubby Brister era, and the Iron Curtain committed eight turnovers that day.
Historic defeat
The worst beat down came in 1973 as the Atlanta Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints by a 62-7 score. Quarterback Archie Manning was the recipient of the worst loss of his career. Putting up over 60 points is actually quiet a rarity in the NFL. Other that the Atlanta game, only five other games since 1973 has seen a team score over 60 points. None of the above opening day losing teams went on to the playoffs that season after starting off so poorly.
So where is the optimism for the Giants? One has to dig hard to find some soothing data. The 2020 Chicago Bears lost their home opener to the Los Angeles Rams by a 27-0 score. The Bears went on to finish the regular season with an 8-8 record. The Bears were led by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in arguably his best year of his career to date. And yet, he was still not ranked as a top 30 QB in the league. As a wild card team, the Bears lost to the New Orleans Saints by a 21-9 score in the first round of the playoffs. In search of an elusive second chance, Trubisky is still in the league today and serves as a backup to Kenny Pickett of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Is a Dream A Lie
The Giants head to Arizona to face the Cardinals. The hope by the New York Giant fan base was that not only would the team be better, but that it manifests this dream with a better record than last year’s 9-8 regular season record. Don’t really need to find out if a dream is a lie if it don’t come true. The acquisition of Bobby Okereke, Darren Waller, Parris Campbell, A’Shawn Robinson along with draft choices Deonte Banks, John Michael Schmitz, Jalin Hyatt and even Tre Hawkins III amounts to seven new starters, a turnover of almost 30% of all starting positions from last year. And with the turnover in talent is the idea that the team has more talent.
Translating better talent to more wins is easier said than done. The Giants are on the road today as a 4 ½ point favorite. This is their first time in the Brian Daboll regime that they have been favorites on the road. Time will play out if the Giants are indeed a better team than last year, or if the dream is a lie, or is it something worse.
Barry Schustermann
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