For NY Giants, losing became an unshakable fabric of their storied history a while ago

When the Giants set out to commemorate their 100th season, this was not the sort of history they expected to make.

And there are only so many times Giants coach Brian Daboll can say all of this is on him - his team's 2-13 record, 10 consecutive losses for the first time in franchise history and continued lack of attention to details in just about every facet - before it winds up being so.

That's what is facing Daboll and these Giants following Sunday's 34-7 defeat to the Falcons in Atlanta, as this lost season turns to the final two games on the schedule.

Whether this Giants' regime is history - most notably Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen - remains a question that ownership can't ignore as the temperature rises inside 1925 Giants Drive, and outside even more so.

In some ways, the results are leaving John Mara and Steve Tisch no choice but to contemplate if this team is headed in the right direction. Their Giants have won a Super Bowl in each of the last four decades. The four Vince Lombardi trophies in the lobby of their training facility are proof that they actually did happen.

They've also been double digit losers nine of last 11 years, and this has become their reality, and on game day, the product is nowhere near what it needs to be.

A rebuild like the one the Giants needed after 2021 was bound to be messy, and the fact that it didn't start out that way two years ago when Daboll and Schoen got here has been overshadowed greatly by what has transpired since.

Whether that's fair or unfair doesn't seem to matter to many observers, and truth be told, what matters is through what lens Mara and Tisch view the current circumstances.

"Look, it's not good enough. Again, that's my responsibility," Daboll said after the game Sunday. "Of course after every game it hurts. Hurts to lose."

I expressed this sentiment in a column the day after Thanksgiving, that in another dead season for the Giants, this was a much-needed means to an end. I made a plea to Mara to be honest about what his franchise needs, that he should bite his lower lip, block out the noise and bring back Daboll and Schoen.

In the month since, I have no doubt that this is becoming harder and harder for anyone to stomach. The fans have certainly let their feelings be known, with planes pulling banners over MetLife Stadium the two previous weeks demanding Mara "fire everyone" involved in the team's decade of despair, rented by a select few, but championed by more.

The timeline is catching up to Daboll, for certain, and for Schoen, whose job relies on the patience of the NFL Draft and development just the same.

What would have happened if Schoen and Daboll said good-bye to Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley after the 2022 season despite nine wins and a 10th in the playoffs, seeing the postseason appearance as fool's gold with a refusal to compromise what they believed needed to be a complete overhaul and rebuild?

That's revisionist history, of course. Had the Giants done that, ownership may have turned the page on them last year.

We want to talk about all sorts of history: why is it that it's so easy to forget what transpired in the seven years before 2022, and how the mere mention of it gets interpreted as an excuse for Daboll and Schoen?

It's not, but just as you better not gloss over this season, or last, there must also be an appreciation for just how bad the Giants were in 2017 when they jumped on this merry-go-round, and nothing has been merry about it.

The Giants are 50-95-1 since Tom Coughlin's exit following the 2015 season. They have hired and fired three head coaches in his wake: Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge with an interim tag for Steve Spagnuolo for four games after McAdoo was dismissed in 2017.

The Super Bowl-winning foundation Jerry Reese helped build as a trailblazing GM and as one of Ernie Accorsi's right-hand men crumbled under his watch, and he got to stay beyond Coughlin's departure, only to be asked to leave, he and McAdoo together.

Then came the Dave Gettleman experience, and his way of doing business shook the organization to its core, his arrogance in the job spread through numerous departments and the product was wrecked across the board.

The Giants have put themselves in this position, and that started well before Daboll and Schoen got here. They embraced what stood as one of the most challenging jobs in the NFL at the time.

Anyone who suggests otherwise is being disingenuous.

So where do the Giants stand now? It's more complicated than those screaming to "clean house" are willing to admit.

I still would give Daboll and Schoen another shot at pulling the organization out of this tailspin. If the Giants truly looked in the mirror at their bye week, despite what Schoen had to say publicly, when they decided to move past Jones and truly acknowledge the gaping hole they have at quarterback, they should have embraced 2-15 as a necessary evil.

If you want a franchise quarterback, the best chance to take that swing is as close to the top of the draft as possible.

But admittedly, there comes a point in time when the losing becomes overwhelming, smothering any steps forward toward success like campfires destined to be extinguished.

Here is something that also needs to be addressed: what qualified candidate(s) is coming here when, despite the Giants being one of the most storied franchises in football, they have had no problem shrinking the window to prove a losing foundation can be built into a winner to three years, maximum.

And there's no quarterback on the roster, even with the Giants picking no worse than No. 2 in the 2025 NFL if they lose their final two games.

There's only so many times a head coach can take responsibility for repeated mistakes by his team before ownership is finally going to listen. Daboll knows this. His coaching staff puts the game plan together, and even if the execution is the problem on game day, ultimately, the coach is responsible.

The Giants have lost the last two games by 20-plus points. They went on the road Sunday to face an 8-7 Falcons team still fighting for the playoffs and lost the turnover battle in addition to committing 10 penalties.

With two weeks left, the Giants are in position to claim the No. 1 spot in the 2025 NFL Draft, and that could mean a facelift for the franchise with the selection of one of two quarterbacks, Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.

Either that's the backdrop for what is taking place for the Giants, which is all about hope and gritting your teeth.

That's certainly better than the alternative for everyone involved.

"At the end of the day, it wasn't good enough. It's my fault," Daboll said. "Put it on me."

Daboll kept his postgame comments limited to that, refusing to let whatever emotions he may be feeling to bubble over into a blame game. He is well aware of what happened when his predecessor, Judge, decided to try to fight for his job by pointing fingers and doling out reasons for what went wrong.

Firing Daboll or Schoen does not solve the problems they inherited, as much as starting over might feel like yet another clean slate. It's not - just ask Daboll and Schoen how clean the slate was when they got here.

How the Giants ended up back here is certainly a lesson in history and the challenge is making sure not to relive another failed chapter all over again - and again, and again, and again.