Signs of growing Giants tension between Daniel Jones, Brian Daboll

They came, they saw, they lost.

Chalk up another one for the Giants, who provide weekly doses of frustration to a fan base that by now has come to anticipate failure and come to expect that what can go wrong will go wrong.

This one was close and contested but ultimately more of the same. The Giants never took a lead on Monday night, trading field goals in the first half and then did things to ensure they would not pull the upset against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. They allowed a 73-yard punt return and turned the ball over twice in the final three minutes. There is no margin for error for this team and the result was a 26-18 loss that drops the Giants to 2-6 for the second consecutive season.

Here is a closer look at what went down:

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— Do you detect growing friction between Daboll and Daniel Jones? There is no doubt there is growing frustration. Jones has never reacted so vehemently on the field as he did after the botched two-point conversion try with the Giants trailing 23-15 early in the fourth quarter. On this occasion, Jones was on it and his teammates were not and the play was blown up before it ever had a chance. It sure feels as if Jones knows his days as the starting quarterback are dwindling and that he can read the writing on the wall that he will be elsewhere in 2025. Daboll goes out of his way to defend Jones and not put all the blame on him and that almost feels as if he is overdoing it.

— The term “inflection point’’ seems overused but it is difficult to avoid the sentiment when considering Deonte Banks. The second-year cornerback was benched in the second quarter for what head coach Brian Daboll described as not giving the required effort — “Just thought during that series we needed him a little bit more’’ is how Daboll termed it — and that was that for Banks for the evening. That was not a first-time offense and Banks supposedly was already on notice with the coaching staff and his teammates for two previous incidents where he displayed questionable effort. There are two things at work here: Banks is not playing up to the level of a first-round pick and there are no comforting indications for the Giants that he is developing into a shut-down cornerback. There also is Banks’ seemingly “What me worry?’’ attitude toward all this. He does not put his head down and vow to do better. He does not say he is letting his teammates down. He just sort of shrugs and wonders what all the fuss is about. Banks is 23 years old and there is plenty of room for maturity.

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— The first-round picks are not exactly leading the way, are they? The two from 2022 are not on the field: Kayvon Thibodeaux is on injured reserve following wrist surgery and Evan Neal is so far down the depth chart that he isn’t the next man up or the second next man up when injuries hit the offensive line. The 2023 first-round pick, Banks, got benched. This is not exactly quality returns on the massive NFL Draft investment.

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— “Extremely high’’ is the way Dexter Lawrence described what level of frustration he is feeling. The Giants have lost three straight games to fall to 2-6 and their best player, one of the team captains, is trying everything he can think of to stop the bleeding. Lawrence by nature is not a stand-in-front-of-the-room type of guy that wants to hear himself talk all the time. He will deliver a message if needed. He laid into his teammates on defense, especially the defensive backs, after the secondary allowed a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to George Pickens. Yes, the touchdown call was overturned because it was determined Pickens did not get both feet down in the end zone, but Lawrence lashed out before the points were taken off the board. Did he think his words had a positive effect?

“I think we started to play better toward the end of the second and the second half we played better so it probably was received well,’’ Lawrence said.

He said he has done this before, but perhaps not so visibility.

“Probably the first time you all seen it,’’ he said. “I’m a passionate dude and I put a lot into this game and I expect a lot to come back.’’

— One game in, Josh Ezeudu was pulled from the starting lineup and newcomer Chris Hubbard was installed as the starting left tackle. It did not go well for Hubbard against Alex Hightower. All spring and summer, the coaching staff put Ezeudu at left tackle in training camp and during practices and the insistence was he could serve as the backup to Andrew Thomas — even though he failed in that role last season. Thomas is gone for the season and after Ezeudu got the call in last week’s loss to the Eagles, just like that the plug was pulled on him. Ezeudu is a former third-round pick and he is supposed to be able to get on the field and play at an acceptable level. That he is not able to do so is a failure for the scouting and coaching and development of the entire operation.

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— The thought process is working out, somewhat. The Giants believed they could put together a credible running game even if they did not re-sign Saquon Barkley. They picked up Devin Singletary in free agency and then selected Tyrone Tracy in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Singletary has done less than expected and Tracy has done more. The rookie ran for 129 yards in a victory in Seattle and amassed 145 yards in the loss in Pittsburgh. Tracy looks like a keeper, as long as the Giants can keep him on the field. He was forced out of the game against the Steelers and is now in concussion protocol.