Things were supposed to be different in 2018 for the New York Football Giants, after a year of disappointment that saw Ben McAdoo relieved of his duties. 

With the second overall pick in the draft, the Giants defied conventional wisdom by going with running back Saquon Barkley over a quarterback of the future, with the belief being that a stud RB, along with an upgraded o-line and their receiving corps would be enough to lift Eli Manning out of his slump.

But that hasn't happened. Eli and the Giants have both struggled their way to a 1-4 record that was topped off yesterday by a last-second loss to the Panthers thanks to a 63-yard field goal from Graham Gano. 

Before the game, the big talking point surrounding the Giants was an interview that Odell Beckham Jr had done with Josiah Anderson of ESPN earlier in the week, that didn't exactly dissuade any of the negativities surrounding the G-Men.

Asked if the Giants have a problem at quarterback, Beckham did not rush to defend the veteran quarterback Manning.

“Uhh, I don’t know,” OBJ said. “I feel like, he’s not going to get out of the pocket. We know Eli’s not going to run it. Can he still throw it? Yeah. It’s cool catching it shallow and trying to take it, but I want to go over the top of somebody."

OBJ also seemed to take a shot at the offense Pat Shurmur has installed in New York since being named the head coach, saying that so far the team has been out-schemed.

“I feel like, in the past five years, they found a way to play cover two. Keep everything in front of them,’’ Beckham said in the interview that aired Sunday morning. “How do we beat this? I feel like I’m getting out-schemed. I can take a slant and go 60. All the top receivers get the ball that they should, and if they don’t, they say something about it."

Now, Shurmur has responded.

"I publicly declared that I didn't agree with [Odell Beckham Jr's] comments and I asked anybody that was interested if they wanted clarification to go to Odell, cause he's a big man," Shurmur said.

Apparently, Shurmur was livid with Beckham’s comments and forced the star receiver to “make it right’’ with his teammates, by explaining himself in front of everyone.

“These are the kind of things, when we have the locker room that we have will help galvanize them, because the locker room took care of it and that’s all I’m saying on it. Finito. Done. Let’s talk football, not drama.”

Will this be the end of it? Absolutely not.

That's what we love about the New York Giants. When a team has all the pieces to succeed except a quarterback, other players will get angry and fed up. Even if that QB has won two Super Bowls in the past. 

And that's what we're seeing here. Eli had his best game of the season, completing 61% of his passes for 326 and two TDs, but he also threw 2 killer picks and Odell had to throw a TD pass of his own to Saquon Barkley. And they still lost.