The Giants’ disastrous 2024 season has reached a breaking point. This team didn’t just lose to the Buccaneers on Sunday — it was embarrassed and literally mocked when Baker Mayfield did a Tommy DeVito touchdown celebration. Veteran captain Dexter Lawrence and rookie Malik Nabers both called the performance “soft.” Offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor declared: “I personally don’t think everyone’s giving 100 percent.” And this all came after head coach Brian Daboll and the Giants had two weeks to self-assess and prepare after a bye week. “It wasn’t up to our standard in terms of overall execution of play, but there wasn’t a lot of guys that were not giving effort,” Daboll said Monday. “We looked at that with a fine tooth comb this morning.” Daboll obviously wants to do damage control and defend his turf, but saying there weren’t “a lot” of players lacking effort is a startling admission of guilt. The Giants have lost six in a row. They are 0-6 at home while being outscored by a pathetic 150-60 margin. They are tied with the 1979 Giants for the lowest points per game (14.8) in franchise history in a season with at least 16 games. Worst yet, they haven’t even held a lead in a game since Oct. 6, when the divisional round of the MLB playoffs was still taking place. Yikes! Team president John Mara insisted last month that in-season firings are off the table, but that was five games ago. All bets have to be off if the Giants mail it in again on Thanksgiving in Dallas against the Cowboys. It’s a national stage against a division opponent, and there are already signs that the locker room is cracking. “I don’t know,” wide receiver Darius Slayton said when asked if he thinks the Giants are capable of a couple more good performances before the season is over. “I think we have a lot of guys that made up of the right stuff, I think we have guys that care. But obviously caring and hoping is not enough. At the end of the day, to a man, when the game comes, you have to make plays if you want to win. And we’re not doing that.” There is a clear disconnect between Daboll and the players, which started last week when the staff not only benched Daniel Jones, but essentially forced him off the team by relegating him to QB4 and having him play scout-team safety. It would’ve been one thing to have Jones as the game day backup holding a clipboard on the sidelines. But since he had no chance of appearing in another game because of a non-football reason (the injury guarantee in his contract), he instead had little choice but to request his release. And that came after players like Lawrence and Slayton defended him publicly as the team’s best quarterback. So the fact that the Giants’ offense only got worse with DeVito at quarterback against the Bucs while scoring a measly seven points likely widened the chasm in the locker room. When asked after Sunday’s game if the connection between the staff and players is still strong, Lawrence hardly gave a ringing endorsement. “Of my knowledge, I think so,” he said. “I don’t know, we can have more accountability all around. But as my knowledge, I don’t see any disconnect.” It’s hard to buy that as anything more than the Giants trying to maintain some level of positive public relations, because whatever is happening behind the scenes isn’t producing competitive football — let alone victories. Daboll continues to note after these losses that the Giants “had a good week of practice,” yet that only means his process is completely flawed. Three of the four teams with worse point differentials than the Giants had respectable showings in Week 12 including the Cowboys knocking off the Commanders with backup quarterback Cooper Rush, the Panthers losing by three to the Chiefs, and the Raiders losing by 10 to the Broncos. The Cowboys’ season is supposed to be over with Dak Prescott lost for the year and head coach Mike McCarthy potentially a lame duck — you never know with inept owner Jerry Jones — but Dallas is still showing some fight. So it’s difficult to see the Giants as presently constituted going into Dallas, a place where they haven’t won since 2016, and being competitive. It’s a borderline hopeless situation on a short week considering that not even a bye week was able to rejuvenate this team. It is uncertain if DeVito will play because of forearm soreness. Drew Lock will start at quarterback if DeVito cannot suit up. “The only good thing about a short week is that you don’t have a lot of time to dwell on this,” Slayton said. “The reality is, really (Monday) you have to get on to Dallas and flush it, so in some ways it’s kind of better that it is a short week because you don’t have as much time to sit around and be depressed.” If the Giants get their doors blown off again, though, Mara just might be fed up enough to pull the trigger on canning Daboll. The Giants would have 10 days to transition to an interim coach. This, for all intents and purposes, might just be the third-year head coach’s last stand. Giants Gameday The Game: Giants (2-9) at Cowboys (4-7), AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Thursday, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX) The Line: Dallas by 4 History: The Cowboys lead the all-time series, 76-47-2, and have won seven in a row. The Giants’ only win against Dallas in the last 15 matchups dating back to 2017 came at home in 2021 when the Cowboys had Andy Dalton at quarterback. Key Matchups: Giants offensive tackles vs. Cowboys OLB Micah Parsons: The Giants largely neutralized the All-Pro edge rusher in Week 4 (two tackles, one tackle-for-loss, no QB hits), but they could be down to third strings at the tackle spots because Jermaine Eluemunor and Evan Neal are nursing injuries. Chris Hubbard and Josh Ezeudu would likely be the next men up, which could spell disaster for the Giants’ offense. Giants WR Malik Nabers vs. Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs: Nabers feasted in the first matchup with a season-high 12 catches for 115 yards, but he hasn’t topped the century mark since. He also has only one catch of more than 20 yards in five games since returning from a two-week absence due to a concussion. Diggs has eight passes defended and two interceptions. Giants WR Deonte Banks vs. Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb: Banks was under fire in Week 4 for his lack of effort in trying to tackle Lamb on a 55-yard touchdown. Lamb finished with seven catches for 98 yards, and he has 24 receptions in the three games since Dak Prescott got injured. He’s likely to torch the Giants again. Giants run defense vs. Cowboys rush offense: The Giants rank last in yards allowed per carry but played their best run defense of the season in the first matchup with Dallas, allowing only 3.4 yards per carry. Dowdle, though, is coming off his second-highest output of the season (86 yards) against the Commanders last week. Giant Facts: The Giants are 7-6-3 all-time on Thanksgiving and 0-2 against the Cowboys (losses in 1992 and 2022). Their 2022 Turkey Day clash is the most-watched NFL regular season game ever with a reported 42 million viewership, according to Nielsen. … The Giants’ defense hasn’t had an interception in 10 straight games, which ties the NFL record (since 1933). … The Giants’ offense has allowed the eighth-most sacks (34). The Prediction: Cowboys 24, Giants 10