It’s 1978 all over again.
A plane flying over MetLife Stadium Sunday morning carried a banner with a scathing message for Giants co-owner John Mara:
“MR MARA ENOUGH – PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE,” the black, block letters read across the sky.
Then the Giants lost their eighth straight, 14-11, to a terrible New Orleans Saints team that already fired its head coach.
They fell on a last-second field goal block by Saints defensive lineman Bryan Bresee.
The defeat dropped Joe Schoen’s and Brian Daboll’s team to 2-11 this season and 0-7 at home.
The plane could get them fired on Monday.
So could paper bags on fans’ heads that read “2-10 Sell the team” and “One Giant Mistake” and “Saquon was here.”
Mara saw this 46 years ago, on Dec. 10, 1978, when a fan flew a rented plane over the field during a win over the St. Louis Cardinals with a sign that read:
“15 Years of Lousy Football….We’ve Had Enough.”
Fans protested and burned tickets in the Giants Stadium parking lot.
That preceded what Mara once called “no question the low point in the history of the franchise.”
The Giants fired coach John McVay and ended Andy Robustelli’s tenure as director of operations. And then Mara’s father, Wellington, and John’s cousin, Tim Mara, held an infamous dueling press conference on Feb. 8, 1979, that put their bitter dynamic on display.
The eventual result was NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle’s appointment of George Young as the Giants’ first true general manager, a step-in that helped turn around the lost franchise.
This comparison obviously puts Schoen and Daboll in regrettable company, but it’s where they belong. It’s hard to imagine them returning for a fourth season, if they even make it past Monday morning.
Schoen put one of the worst rosters in Giants history on the field Sunday. This was a preseason depth chart.
Most of the Giants’ key players have tapped out or gone down with injuries.
Daboll, who took over the offensive play-calling this season, is running the lowest-scoring offense in football.
Unbelievably, the Giants offense had starting field position near or across midfield five times in the first half and scored a total of three points before halftime.
And despite a late surge by Drew Lock with plenty of teammates down with injuries throughout the game, Daboll’s team sure enough committed a false start penalty and let Graham Gano’s field goal attempt get blocked for another loss.
