Former Panthers CB Josh Norman a healthy scratch for Redskins today

The Josh Norman situation could have been handled much better by former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman.

The Josh Norman situation could have been handled much better by former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman. That doesn’t mean giving Norman the massive contract extension he wanted would have been the right move. Norman still makes plays here and there but his performance has declined significantly over the last few seasons for Washington.

Heading into today’s game against Detroit, Norman has been put on the sidelines. He’ll be a healthy scratch, per Adam Schefter at ESPN.

Norman signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Redskins that has become extremely burdensome.

According to Pro Football Focus, he’s now one of the worst cornerbacks in the league. They have Norman ranked No. 110 out of 116 in 2019.

Norman’s future with the Redskins is now very much in doubt.

Meanwhile, his replacement has been outstanding for the Panthers. James Bradberry took his lumps in his first couple of years, but he’s developed into one of the best cover corners in the NFL. Signing Bradberry to a multi-year extension should be priority No. 1 for Carolina’s front office in 2020.

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Why Ron Rivera could fit as next Giants head coach

If the New York Giants were to part ways with Pat Shurmur and the Carolina Panthers with Ron Rivera, there might be some synergy there.

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Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper spoke to the media earlier this week about the state of the team and refused to comment on the futures of general manager Marty Hurney, head coach Ron Rivera or quarterback Cam Newton beyond this season.

Tepper requested to not be quoted directly, but stated that mediocrity will not be tolerated. The Panthers went 7-9 last season and are off to a 5-5 start in 2019. If things head south in the final six games for the Panthers, there could ultimately be a shakeup, which could work in the New York Giants’ favor.

With Pat Shurmur’s Giants tenure off to a 7-19 start (17-42 as an NFL head coach overall), it is fair to wonder whether the Giants will make a coaching change at the end of this season. Despite receiving a vote of confidence from Giants brass, Shurmur has not shown any indication of improving as the head coach of a team that is off to a worse start in year two at 2-8, as opposed to 3-7 in 2018.

Shurmur has also refused to give up play calling, which has seen his offense take a step back ranking 24th in total yards (322) and scoring 20.3 points per game as opposed to averaging 358.8 yards and 27.7 in the final eight contests in 2018. The offense has only converted 40% on third-down, while sporting a lowly 51% (14-of-27) conversion rate in the red zone.

One of the few bright spots in Shurmur’s second season as head coach comes from the development of rookie Daniel Jones, who has put up promising numbers (15 TDs, 8 INTs, 1,984 yards, 63% completion rate, 208 rushing yards, 2 TDs). The only concerning factor is that Shurmur and his coaching staff have been unable to clean up Jones’ fumbling problem (13, leads NFL), which was also a problem for him at Duke (54 fumbles). Offensive coordinator Mike Shula has harped on keeping two hands on the ball in the pocket, but unfortunately, this remains an issue.

If the Giants do decide to move in a different direction following 2019, Rivera would make all the sense in the world if he is let go from Carolina. Unlike Shurmur, who previously failed as a head coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2011-2012 (9-23), Rivera has proven himself with the Panthers going 76-60 (.558) in nine seasons. Rivera also has two AP NFL Coach of the Year awards (2013, 2015), four playoff appearances (3-4 record), and an NFC title (2015) during this span.

Rivera has won at least six games in every season since the Panthers hired him back in 2011. This is something Shurmur has yet to do in this league. Interestingly enough, Shurmur’s Browns teams regressed from a 5-11 campaign in 2011 to 4-12 the following year before he was let go. History has a funny way of repeating itself, as he is on pace to replicate this sequence in 2018-19 with the Giants.

An additional factor worthy of note stems from Rivera’s previous ties with Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, who served in this exact role with the Panthers from 2012 until he was fired in July of 2017. This duo went 51-28-1 during their five seasons together making the playoffs three-times (3-3 record), capturing three-division titles and making a Super Bowl appearance. What’s more impressive about this feat is that the Panthers have only made the playoffs eight times in their 24-year history.

The Shurmur-Gettleman duo has not gotten off to the most promising start in their first two seasons together. If Tepper decides to make wholesale changes in Carolina and Rivera becomes available, the Giants should jump to hire him given his prior success with Gettleman and proven track record in this league.

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6 things to watch for over the Giants’ final six games

Here are six things (plus more) to watch over the final six games of the New York Giants’ 2019 regular season.

There’s not a whole lot to root for in these 2-8 New York Giants, but fans will be looking for any signs of life– and hope — in Pat Shurmur’s team over the last six games of this lost 2019 season.

Fans are shedding themselves of as many tickets as they can for the remaining three home games (Week 13 vs. Green Bay, Week 15 vs. Miami and Week 17 vs. Philadelphia) and there won’t be a ton of viewers watching on television, either, as the Giants close out their sixth losing season over the last seven years.

But there are a few things to watch for. I like No. 6, so I narrowed (or expanded) the things to watch to that number for the heck of it.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Pat Shurmur

Is he coaching for his Giants life? It doesn’t look like they’ll better last year’s record of 5-11, but if he can only win two or three of the last six games and the team is still a disorganized mess, do the Giants look to move on?

Ex-NFL exec Jeff Diamond offers pessimistic take on Giants’ future

Retired NFL executive Jeff Diamond believes Dave Gettleman can turn things around for the New York Giants, but it may take some time.

The New York Giants entered 2019 pushing the narrative that they would be able to compete while rebuilding, which essentially blew up in their faces after just two weeks.

It was immediately clear that New York had a plethora of problems, including a lack of depth at several key positions leading to the over-use of rookies and all of the problems that come along with that.

Coming up on Week 12, the Giants are 2-8 and in the running for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which speaks volumes about just how far off they are from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders. But perhaps they can make a playoff push in 2020?

Not so fast, says former NFL Executive of the Year, Jeff Diamond.

“I think it’s too soon to make that statement. I think that they’ve added some pieces, but there’s a lot of work to do. It will help them to have that cap cleaned out a little bit,” Diamond told Big Blue View. “They’ll have an opportunity to kind of re-fortify. Not that free agency is a cure all; it’s not. I still believe that you build through the draft primarily and you augment through free agency.

“They’ll have opportunities to add some quality free agents and hopefully they’ll turn out better than they did the last time. . . We’ll see. It’s going to be incumbent on Dave Gettleman if he survives this he’s going to have to make better free agent calls.”

Diamond does believe Gettleman benefits the Giants with his knowledge of personnel and history of winning, but eventually some of that has to show up in New York or his resume will no longer keep him afloat.

“I do believe Dave Gettleman knows personnel, he knows the business, he’s built winners before,” Diamond added. “We’ll see how it shakes out.

“I think the next draft and the next free agent class [are] really important for this Giants team to take a step forward.”

Make no mistake about it, Diamond believes the Giants can turn things around, but he doesn’t see it happened in a one-year span. Rather, he’s looking at least a couple seasons down the line and assuming that if all goes according to plan, the Giants will reemerge as competitors.

Unfortunately for Giants fans, that may mean another down year or two.

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Giants’ brass content on leaving fans confused and in the dark

The New York Giants are mired in another embarrassing season and seem to have no qualms about leaving fans in the dark.

Usually during the bye week, we hear from either the owner or the general manager of the New York Giants. This week, we have heard nothing from CEO John Mara or his football czar, Dave Gettleman.

Some say it’s no big deal but others — present company included — believe there is a depression of sorts seeping into the team’s mentality. They are in the middle of their sixth losing season in seven years and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

They are a poorly coached team devoid of talent at key positions and have been playing this season with more rookies and inexperienced players than the handbook on “how to run a franchise” recommends.

The least the fans deserve is to have management come out and speak to them. They are already being asked to sit through this miserable season, so it would go a long way for Mara or Gettleman to come out of hiding and reassure the faithful that they are going down the right path.

Gettleman has never held a presser at the bye. Not here or in Carolina. It’s not the way he does things. But the Giants always did. Gettleman’s predecessors, Jerry Reese, Ernie Accorsi and George Young always took time out to give a ‘state of the team” update.

From George Willis of the New York Post:

We should have heard from Dave Gettleman this week. We should have heard from the leader of this storied NFL franchise about what he thinks about a 2-8 record and a six-game losing streak. We should hear from Gettleman what has gone wrong and what, if anything, he thinks is going right.

Instead we have heard nothing. Nothing from Gettleman. Nothing from co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch. Nothing from any decision makers other than Shurmur, the embattled head coach, who is left on his own to fend off the critics.

At 2-8 and the direction of the franchise in question, Gettleman needs to break tradition and answer some questions. The team he is “rebuilding” is an abject failure and his hand-picked head coach is floundering.

Gettleman has been right about a few things. He can hang his hat on his draft classes and signings such as wide receiver Golden Tate. He can crow about cutting ties with Odell Beckham Jr. and Landon Collins, two stars who have basically vanished from the NFL landscape.

We would like to know management’s thoughts on the coaching staff, Daniel Jones’ progress, Saquon Barkley’s injury, the mindset behind the Leonard Williams’ trade, DeAndre Baker’s struggles and much more.

But we’re not getting that. Instead, we get a angry John Mara blowing by reporters in the hallway too miffed to stop to make a statement. We get Gettleman avoiding the media because Mike Francesa called the Giants a “clown show” back in the spring. Shurmur is left to diplomatically dance around the key questions with either guarded speech or complete refusal to divulge any information.

This is not the Giant way. But then again, neither are back-to-back-to-back double-digit loss seasons. No one likes to admit their plan is failing, that they made mistakes and might have to start over.

That is the mindset in the media and throughout the fan base. The fear is that Gettleman messed this thing up and his three-year plan could now be a six-year one.

This is New York, though. Nothing happens in a vacuum here. If they want to keep the fans in the dark, they’re going to find themselves in the same situation as the Los Angeles Chargers — playing their home games in front of a crowd dominated by the visiting team’s fans.

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Bye week blues: What can Giants fans look forward to following the break?

What can New York Giants fans expect to see over the final seven weeks of the regular season and into the offseason?

The New York Giants have racked up a 2-8 record after 10 games, which is one game worse than they were at this time last season. With six games remaining, is there anything left for Giant fans to look forward to?

The answer is… not really. There will be some talk about draft position (they are currently third overall) and their schedule is not really a friendly one, so as November morphs into December, Giant fans will likely be tuning out as another losing season comes and goes.

Here is a quick snapshot of where the Giants are at right now and some other thoughts that I know many of you are thinking.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The last six games

The Giants open up the final leg of the season in Chicago against the disappointing Bears, but that means nothing. The strength or weakness of their opponents matters not to a team that is poorly prepared, poorly coached and lacks discipline and direction. The Giants must learn not to beat themselves first before concentrating on beating another NFL team.

They have little to no shot to win either game against the surging Eagles — a team they’ve only beaten once since 2014 — and if they manage to win the game against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers there should be an investigation.

The only two games they could win are the ones against Washington (who they beat already) and Miami, a team who is said to be tanking but has been competitive in doing so.

That equals 4-12, folks. That’s a record that gets people fired in this league.

Giants’ John Mara, Dave Gettleman not scheduled to speak during bye week

Despite the ugly state of New York Giants football, neither co-owner John Mara nor GM Dave Gettleman will speak during the bye week.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara furiously stormed out of MetLife Stadium following a 34-27 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, and that very well may be the last time we see him for several weeks.

As the Giants enter their bye, their schedule is highlighted by, well… a lack of highlights. Neither Mara nor general manager Dave Gettleman are scheduled to speak and, in fact, there will be absolutely no media availability of any kind from Wednesday, November 13 through Sunday, November 17.

Head coach Pat Shurmur will address the media during his weekly Monday conference call and players will have a brief availability on Tuesday, but that will be all she wrote until Monday, November 18.

That means, barring a sudden schedule change, there will be no staff changes and that Shurmur will return as the head coach in Week 12, which should come as little surprise to anyone who has followed this team for any length of time.

That’s not to say all is right in East Rutherford — it very clearly is not. But Mara is not a reactive man for the most part and he’s likely to go stew about the current state of the team for a few weeks before speaking (if he speaks at all until the end of the season).

Additionally, Shurmur made it abundantly clear on Sunday night that now changes to his staff are coming despite the venomous calls for a fall guy.

That’s not going to sit well with Giants fans who are mired in the most miserable football stretch of their lives, but the bye week should allow for a little healing and acceptance. Then, in Week 12, we’re right back to the horrendous reality that is New York Giants football in 2019.

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