John Harbaugh fixing Giants on field is misguided franchise’s best shot

In the middle of Thursday’s numerous Giants developments , from concerning player injuries to a startling contract extension for underperforming GM Joe Schoen, the only thing that truly mattered was happening on the field. Head coach John Harbaugh gave his first-team offense with the ball on the 46-yard line, trailing the game by one point on 3rd and 10 with 14 seconds remaining. The play was as live as a football play can be during OTAs, when players are not hitting in full pads.

Corner Greg Newsome II broke up Jaxson Dart’s pass. Then Harbaugh gave the first-team offense the ball on the 45-yard line with the game tied, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter and no timeouts. Dart hit Calvin Austin III down the right sideline for a completion.

Austin got down to the ground, sprinted the ball to the middle of the field and got the ball spiked and the clock stopped. Then Harbaugh gave the first-team offense the ball on the 47 with eight seconds remaining in the first half, down seven points, with eight seconds remaining. Ryan Miller dropped Dart’s pass.

Then Harbaugh sent Brandon Allen and the second-team offense on the field to do it all over again against the second-team defense. Why does this matter? Because Harbaugh is spending time on game situations, on details, on repetitions that this team has not gotten in the past.