Ben McAdoo Could be Fired by Giants Today. Owners are to Blame for Fiasco

RAIDERS 24 - GIANTS 17 

The clock is now ticking on Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. The embattled coach is in danger of losing his job possibly today after the Giants return home from their 24-17 loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Giants had no answer for Oakland, especially in crunch time. But this game was really all about the play of Geno Smith, who was given the start at quarteraback after McAdoo benched Eli Manning.

Geno was Geno on Sunday. He was ok sometimes, but mostly unspectacular and uninspiring most of the time. He was 21-of-34 for only 212 yards, a touchdown and three sacks. He was not good. Of the 12 possessions the Giants had on Sunday, seven of them were three and two. Two of them ended in a fumble. What made it even more frustrating to watch, the Giants were within shouting distance in this game almost all afternoon.

They trailed 10-7 at the half, and even trailed 17-14 as late as the fourth quarter, but Smith just couldn't get this offense moving. That is on McAdoo, who is a position he can't talk himself out of now. He said Geno Smith gave him the best chance to win, a better chance than a Super Bowl MVP could on Sunday in Oakland against a lousy Raider team, and he came up predictably snake-eyes.

When asked about his job status Sunday, McAdoo wouldn't touch it, saying only that "I'm going to coach this team as long as my key works."

Reports earlier in the day said that the Giants were considering firing McAdoo after the Raider game. Both John Mara and Steve Tisch were at the game in Oakland on Sunday, and both avoided reporters afterwards. As of Sunday night, nothing has happened ... yet. By the time you read this, McAdoo might be a goner.

As much of the blame for this mess belongs on McAdoo, owner John Mara is the one who really is to blame here. He allowed McAdoo to bench his franchise quarterback. He should have had the foresight to know the kind of backlash that would come with such a controversial move, especially when the Giants were not going to rookie Davis Webb.

 Mara has said that he took responsibility for the way the communication between his coach and quarterback was handled, but at this point, firing McAdoo is more of a scapegoat move than anything else. Firing McAdoo on Monday is not going to repair the damage that Mara let happen between the organization and the face of the franchise. If Manning feels he can still play in this league, and the Giatns truly feel he is no longer a viable option for them,  they should just find a suitor and trade him this off-season to any team his desires. I hear the Jaguars would be a prime spot?  -- Tom Coughlin anyone?

If the Giants fire McAdoo on Monday, the fair question should be, why now? Why did the Giants allow him to coach this game in Oakland if they knew that McAdoo shouldn't be the head coach anymore? Why didn't Mara or Steve Tisch act right away last Monday when McAdoo made it official that he was going to bench Eli Manning? Hell, why didn't they fire McAdoo when he brought up the idea to them in the first place?

Shame on the Giants for allowing this mess to metastasize. Firing McAdoo now is only about saving face, while trying to avoid the fear of seeing the Giants play two home games in front of Cowboys and Eagles fans. Guess what, MetLife Stadium will still be filled with Cowboys and Eagles fans over the next weeks. It doesn't matter if the coach is McAdoo, Steve Spagnolu or even Mara himself.

By the way, should the Giants fire McAdoo today, they better make sure that Jerry Reese, the architect of this nightmare team goes with him. There is no reason for Reese to stay for the rest of the month if McAdoo is gone this soon.

Let the rebuild begin.