INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Behind the corner of one SoFi Stadium end zone, up in the rafters of this beautiful new ballpark, Dave Gettleman sat in the second row of the press box and watched what was effectively the bitter end of his mostly distinguished football life. 

It is one of the logistical oddities of NFL Sundays that team executives often sit among the very people who write up their professional legacies and obits. So as the credentialed New York scribes seated in Row 1 pounded Gettleman’s Giants while pounding away on their keyboards, there was the general manager seated in Row 2, watching his dreadful football team indict him yet again. 

The Chargers were up 24-7 at intermission after the Giants ruined a promising opportunity late in the second quarter with near-comical incompetence, allowing Justin Herbert to heave a 59-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds left. The fans were then treated to a halftime act of dogs chasing frisbees, which felt appropriate to New Yorkers in the crowd and in the press box. 

They have watched the Giants chase their own tails for far too long. 

After they were completely outclassed by a Chargers team that had struggled against the rest of the NFC East, losing to Dallas and beating Philly and Washington by a combined seven points, the Giants have to know they are broken beyond repair. This is no longer about merely replacing Gettleman, whose pending retirement should be announced sooner rather than later, providing the Giants a head start on front-office recruiting. 

This is also about giving that next GM the power to make all changes he or she wants to make. And if that means the Giants have a new head coach and/or quarterback for 2022, then that’s what it means. 

Russell Wilson over Daniel Jones would be the ultimate no-brainer, no matter how many draft picks are required to get a deal with Seattle done. Joe Judge is a different story. Personally, I’d still prefer to see the Giants coach get a third year, but he is making it harder and harder for any believers to keep the faith. 

By gathering his players in Tucson, Ariz. last week, Judge was hoping to create a feeling of camaraderie that doesn’t often exist on 4-8 teams. The Giants went all-in on male-bonding exercises that failed miserably. They lived like college kids in a college town, then went out and made a bunch of college-team mistakes in a 37-21 defeat that was a blowout betrayed by the final score. 

No, the Giants didn’t respond to Judge and his methods at all. Of that positive experience in Tucson, the coach said, “We’ve got to carry that over.” 

No kidding. Judge reminded reporters that he understands what a winning culture looks like, given his time in New England, but his insistence that internal progress is being made that outside forces (media, fans) can’t see sounds as lame as his claim that his Giants fought to the death in the final minutes — after the Chargers were already discussing dinner plans on the bench. 

“We’ve got to put a product on the field that everyone’s proud of,” Judge said. 

Who could possibly be proud of this? Though it would’ve been easier to deliver a competitive effort had Jones been available, there was no excuse for getting pancaked by a 7-5 team. 

Even in his diminished physical state, and even behind this offensive line, Saquon Barkley, Gettleman’s signature draft pick, should’ve been able to punish the league’s 31st-ranked run defense. Barkley was bouncy and engaged on his first couple of touches yet was reduced to a nonfactor in the relevant portion of the game, before catching a touchdown pass in garbage time. 

Mike Glennon, a career journeyman coming off a concussion, had no chance keeping up with Herbert. 

“There’s just not many guys on this planet that can throw the ball like him,” Glennon said. 

As the No. 6-overall pick in 2020, Herbert has thrown 61 touchdown passes in his first 28 starts, or 16 more than Jones, Gettleman’s No. 6-overall pick in 2019, has thrown in his first 37 starts. 

But the quarterback disparity Sunday was one of a hundred alarming stories to tell. The Giants looked ridiculous when they went three-and-out after being handed point-blank field position near the end of the first half, and when they then allowed Jalen Guyton to get behind their secondary for that 59-yard score. They looked ridiculous again in the third quarter when they ran a fake punt, only to have Riley Dixon sail a pass over the head of Keion Crossen, who was covered. 

Co-owner John Mara saw a playoff team in this roster, and now the 4-9 Giants are guaranteed their fifth straight losing season, and their eighth in the past nine years. Mara doesn’t just need a new general manager from outside the organization. 

Mara needs a new GM who is free to make all the changes he or she deems necessary, including the positions of quarterback and head coach.