Esiason: Giants head toward ‘slaughter’ Sunday night vs. Broncos

The New York Giants season thus far, to put it mildly, has failed to live up to many people’s expectations.

Among the top tier of NFL teams expected to make a push for the Super Bowl in September, the now-0-and-5 Giants sit at the bottom of the NFC East, are one of three teams in the league that hasn’t won a game in 2017, and have the prospects of a championship in the rearview mirror.

Add on that New York will be without at least one, if not two, of their top receivers against the Denver Broncos on Sunday — Odell Beckham Jr underwent surgery for a fractured ankle and will miss the season, while Sterling Shepard has ‘no idea’ when he’ll return from an ankle injury — and a successful outcome this week looks bleak.

“This is going to be a slaughter on Sunday night in Denver,” NFL analyst Boomer Esiason told “The Drive” on Tuesday. “This is a team that’s basically has lost its way. It’s got no personality.”

Esiason, who in addition to his work as an analyst on CBS Sports’ “The NFL Today,” “Monday Night Football” on Westwood One, and Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,” hosts a radio program on WFAN-AM in New York.

And the Giants, he says, are a big story in the area, but mostly because of the “negative.”

“They’re a big disappointment. They were 11-5 last year. They had legitimate Super Bowl hopes coming into the year. They added Brandon Marshall to their wide receiver corps. They drafted Evan Engram. They thought they had their offensive line problems figured out,” Esiason said.

“And, basically, they can’t even get out of their own way.”

Esiason called the Giants a “horror show of a football team right now,” and that, instead, it’s actually the 3-2 New York Jets who have been a positive surprise.

“Before the season started, everybody here thought the New York Jets were trying to tank to get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft … and that the Giants were going to go to the Super Bowl, Esiason said. “Now, all of a sudden, five weeks into the season, it’s starting to look the other way around.”

But perhaps more disappointing, Esiason said, is how the Giants defense has performed in 2017 compared to last season.

“This was a top-five defense last year. This was a good run defense. This is the defense that has two outstanding pass rushers (Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon),” Esiason said.

Instead, in 2017, the Giants rank 28th in total defense and have given up 24.4 points per game.

Comparatively, the Denver Broncos have given up an NFL best 1,043 yards and allowed only 18.5 points per game.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.