ATLANTA — It has been 77 days since the Giants last won.
In a brutal sport with extreme physical risk, the need to find ways to keep pushing forward and force a smile every now and then amid the losing is essential for mental and emotional well-being.
No one on the outside cares much about the feelings of those inside the building.
Rest assured, it is a struggle going through a nine-game losing streak.
The Giants won at Seattle in Week 5, and since then it has been months of losing.
Nine consecutive walks off the field with nothing to show for all the sweat. Nine straight locker-room post mortems. Nine weeks of media sessions peppered with questions about failure and disappointment.
Can there be anything other than misery extracted from any of this?
“Yeah, I think you try to enjoy the process with the guys in the meeting rooms, on game day making the adjustments,’’ offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. “The results will come. So, you’ve just got to believe that part of it, and I think we do, and it’s been tough. Those things have been tough. That’s in the past. ‘What can we control today?’ And that’s our mentality. That’s our mindset.’’
It is tough to discern what the collective mindset of the Giants (2-12) will be Sunday as they face the Falcons (7-7) inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
No Giants team in the previous 99 years has ever lost 10 consecutive games, and that is the infamy that awaits this group if what has happened every week since Oct. 6 happens again this weekend.
This game is a pivot point for the Falcons, as they sent veteran free agent addition Kirk Cousins to the bench — in the midst of a playoff race — to give rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. his first NFL start.
One way or another, this will be a significant development for the Falcons.
Not so for the Giants, as they continue to turn the most important position on the field into an irrelevancy or a redundancy or a calamity.
Take your pick.
In the past five games, five quarterbacks have thrown passes for the Giants. It is nice to share, but not like this.
In the past 31 games — all of last season and the first 14 games this season — the Giants have started four quarterbacks: Daniel Jones for 16 games, Tommy DeVito for eight games, Tyrod Taylor for five and Drew Lock for two.
They are 8-23 in those games, offering further proof that the more quarterbacks, the worse it is for a franchise.
Injury and upheaval have been the story. And, lest we forget, also painfully sub-par play.
“It’s part of the business, it’s part of football,’’ Kafka said. “Really, it happens at every position — whether it’s offensive line, whether it’s receiver, those things happen. So, you’ve just got to be really prepared and make sure we’re staying on top of not just the starters, but we’re prepping the backups. It’s unfortunate. You obviously don’t want those type of things to happen, but when they do, you’ve got to work through it.’’
It is part of the business, but usually not to this extent.
“It’s probably a first for me going through that as a coach,’’ Kafka said.
Jones incurred a neck injury in 2023 that put him on the sideline. He returned for one game then tore his ACL.
Taylor took over, cracked four ribs and gave way to DeVito. Jones this season started the first 10 games before the decision was made to send him to the bench, with the Giants at 2-8 after Jones experienced red-zone failures and failed to uncork a throw on a flea flicker in a brutal loss to the Panthers in Munich.
DeVito, surprisingly, was head coach Brian Daboll’s choice as the replacement and that lasted only until DeVito was banged around by the Cowboys and Lock had to step in.
Jones joined the Vikings on their practice squad and nowadays is pretty much an afterthought around the Giants, though the work of DeVito and Lock make it clear the Giants sat then released the best quarterback on their roster.
Last week, DeVito was forced out with a concussion and newly acquired Tim Boyle played the second half of a 35-14 loss to the Ravens.
Lock is healed enough from a heel injury to return to the starting lineup.
Got all that straight?