The necessary change Giants must make in push for elusive fast start

There are many reasons not to, and there is compelling evidence to break with extreme caution and just do it.

The Giants absolutely, positively cannot start this season the way they opened up in 2023 and 2024. Cannot happen. This is not a decree that on Sept. 7 they must go into Landover, Md., and upset the Commanders. That is silly talk for Week 1. Yet it is imperative that the Giants do not leave the field at Northwest Stadium embarrassed and dominated. They cannot look listless and inept. They cannot fail to score a single touchdown.

The damage done by a 40-0 no-show loss to the Cowboys to open 2023 inflicted harm to the body, souls and minds of the Giants. That game was sheer folly. The sluggish, incompetent way the Giants welcomed in their 2024 season, barely showing up in a 28-6 defeat at the hands of the Vikings, set a dire tone that never could be shaken as the 100th year in franchise history turned into a Sad Centennial.

Both of those games were at MetLife Stadium and in neither of those games did the home team cross the goal line and venture into the end zone. Eight quarters, zero touchdowns, six total points.