Losing can be a good thing. It all depends on how a franchise reacts when it happens.

The New York Giants fell to 1-6 on the season with a 23-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Based on the reaction from management in the 48 hours after the game, the loss might be the best thing that could have happened to the franchise.

We know the Giants are a bad football team. It’s time to tear this roster down and move ahead with a rebuilding plan.

There was plenty of talk about the Giants’ decision-making and play calls in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s loss. TSN NFL analyst Jabari Greer was asked about it immediately after the game.

Let’s begin with the obvious. Pat Shurmur’s decision to go for the two-point conversion down eight points with 4:47 remaining in the fourth quarter is supported by the basic win probability numbers.

NFL teams converted 48 per cent of their two-point conversions last season. Assuming that conversion rate, Shurmur improved New York’s net win probability from 46 per cent to 58 per cent just by committing to going for two rather than settling for kicking extra points in the final frame.

If the Giants convert the two-point attempt and manage to keep the Falcons offence off the board, they give themselves a chance to win the game with a touchdown and an extra point. If they don’t convert the two-point attempt, they can still tie the game with a touchdown and a two-point conversion if they prevent Atlanta from scoring.

A 56-yard field goal from Falcons kicker Giorgio Tavecchio with 1:55 left on the clock made all of this a moot point. However, it’s still worth reiterating that the numbers support Shurmur’s decision to go for two when he did.

Of course, basic win probability doesn’t take in to account the fact that New York has struggled in all aspects of execution on the football field this season. Those struggles were on full display during their final drive.

Down 10 points with just under two minutes to go, the Giants caught a break when Eli Manning connected with Sterling Shepard for 58 yards on their first play of the drive. It was all downhill from there.

After converting a first down to the Atlanta one-yard line with 41 seconds left, Manning brought the offence to the line of scrimmage and attempted a quarterback sneak. He was stuffed. Rather than spike the football and stop the clock, New York allowed it to wind all the way down to 20 seconds left before Manning attempted another sneak. He was stuffed again.

At that point, it was third down and the Giants weren’t going to spike the football. They finally ran a pass play and Manning connected with Odell Beckham Jr. for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. This time, New York converted the two-point attempt to cut the deficit to three.

The Giants still needed to recover an onside kick in order to get the football back for a chance to tie the game with a field goal. When that didn’t happen, the game was over.

There were a number of things that stood out about New York’s final two drives.

First, the fact the Giants converted on their second two-point attempt is testament to why Shurmur opted to go for two in the first place. New York would have had a chance to win or tie that game if Tavecchio hadn’t hit a 56-yard field goal to put the game out of reach.

Second, while conventional wisdom is that the Giants should have spiked the ball on first-and-goal from the Atlanta one-yard line with under a minute to go, I understand Shurmur’s decision not to do it – even if I don’t agree with it.

New York needed 10 points to tie the game. It’s easy for armchair quarterbacks to argue that New York should have spiked the football, ran a pass play for a touchdown, converted the two-point attempt, converted an onside kick, get into field-goal range and then kick a field goal to tie the game with 40 seconds left on the clock. But how can all of that be expected from a team that can’t even punch the football in on a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line?

The Giants decision-making and execution was ugly. But that was true for the entire game, not just the final 40 seconds.

When the final 40 seconds unfolded the way it did, it took away from the attention paid to the bigger issues that have plagued New York. Yes, the Giants failed to come back from down 14 points in the fourth quarter. But what about how they fell behind by two touchdowns in the first place?

Earlier in the game, Jabari identified two plays where New York ran similar concepts but came away with very different results.

On the first play, Atlanta’s disguised blitz disrupts Manning just enough for him to miss a wide open Beckham streaking across the middle of the field on a play in which he was sacked.

On the very next drive, the Giants run a similar play with similar wide receiver route concepts. This time, Manning stares down Beckham, then hits him with the football in stride for a 26-yard gain.

The video illustrates the type of maddening inconsistency that has plagued the New York offence this season. 

Monday night’s loss dropped the Giants to 4-20 over their last 24 games dating back to the 2016 season. New York has finished with a winning record just once over the last five seasons. Something has to give. 

Management responded by trading cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle Damon Harrison, showing a little more aggression when it comes to the rebuild this franchise so desperately needs.

A lot can change between now and the start of next season. There is a good chance moving out Apple and Harrison is only the start of the plans that management in New York have in place.

It’s time for the Giants to turn the page. If a loss to Atlanta helps accelerate the push towards a more aggressive rebuild, it might be the best thing that could have happened to New York.