The start of the 2024 NFL season has seen somewhat underwhelming performances from both the New York Giants and New York Jets as they seek to gain early momentum.
While the Jets have fared slightly better over the opening four games—winning two and losing two—the Giants have struggled, losing three of their first four fixtures and finding themselves in a difficult position before autumn has started in earnest. At least they beat the Seahawks on the road in week 5, sparking some life into their season.
To add to this indifferent start, Week Four saw both New York franchises lose, and in the process, they set a new unwanted record at their shared home, MetLife Stadium.
The Arrangement Between the Giants and Jets
The Giants and Jets have, of course, shared a home stadium dating back to the start of the 1984 season. During this time, both franchises called Giants Stadium home before eventually relocating to their current site in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 2009, to take up residence at MetLife Stadium.
It isn’t an entirely foreign setup as there are other examples of professional sports teams from the same city sharing a home ground. However, what is unusual is the watered-down rivalry between the Giants and Jets owing to how infrequently they face each other as they compete in different divisions— the Giants in the NFC East and the Jets in the AFC East.
The result is a subdued dynamic, where despite cohabiting in the same stadium, the teams’ paths rarely cross, except in the occasional preseason or interconference matchup.
Giants and Jets Fail to Pull Up Trees in the Garden State
You might say there is a sense of lethargy dominating the relationship between the two teams and this malaise is now also manifesting on the field this season. This was especially evident after Week Four, when the Giants and Jets both played home matches at MetLife Stadium just 72 hours apart and both teams failed to score a touchdown.
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 27, 2024
It was the first time in history that neither side managed to hit paydirt while playing in the same stadium during the same game week. Remarkably, in their previous 56 back-to-back appearances at MetLife Stadium, at least one of the teams had always found the end zone but game number 57 saw both sides come up empty.
One-Time Wonder or Season-Long Blunder?
Fans of both teams will be hoping that it isn’t an ominous sign of things to come this season. In the Jets’ case, it might have just been a one-off with Robert Saleh’s men (scratch that, Saleh was fired just 5 games into the saeason) priced competitively to win the Super Bowl in February at +2000. In other words, it’s unlikely the Jets will be as ineffective as they were against the Denver Broncos when they were prohibited from scoring a touchdown. Oh wait. Let’s not talk about what just happened to the Jets against the Vikings in London.
🦵 pic.twitter.com/BPTed9OrSh
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 29, 2024
Oppositely, in the case of the Giants, at +15000 to win Super Bowl LIX, the road ahead this season looks long for Brian Daboll’s struggling team who appear to be lacking any genuine offensive threat (outside of potential rookie of the year Malik Nabers).Â
However the NFL season turns out for either of these famous New York franchises, it’s hard to imagine that they will stoop as low as they did during Week Four when the wrong type of history was made at MetLife Stadium.