Carl Banks: The 'scary' Giants 'don't like each other'

After what was virtually a 60-minute beat down of the New York Giants by the Carolina Panthers Sunday, one former Giants great called the team "scary."  And not in a good way.

Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks, a part of the Giants' radio broadcast team, spoke with WFAN on Monday and didn’t hold back when reflecting on what he saw while Big Blue was embarrassed in Charlotte, losing to the Panthers, 38-0.

"They were banging Giants, receivers getting knocked all over the place, and there’s not one guy that showed emotion," he said.  "And that’s scary. That really is scary."

But Banks didn't stop there and thinks New York’s problems might run deeper than just a lack of talent.

"They don’t like themselves," the two-time Super Bowl champion said. "That’s what it really comes down to. They don’t like each other. They’re not willing to fight for each other. When you have a premier quarterback in this league, and you don’t have enough self-respect — not for him, but for yourself — to protect him to do your job, I think it speaks volumes. I think these guys really do need to all stand in (front of) the mirror, and it’s gut-check time."

The Giants (0-3) have now been outscored 115-54 in the first three games of the season. It doesn’t get any easier from here, as Tom Coughlin’s squad will head to Kansas City this weekend to take on the undefeated Chiefs after the worst loss of the Coughlin era.

"I have a pretty good idea of what type of coach Tom Coughlin is, and what he expects of his guys, but he doesn’t play," Banks said. "And if they don’t have enough pride as men … And you can hate your coach, and never want to play this bad ever again. If you don’t have enough pride to stand up and do something … I don’t think I’ve seen a collective group just line up and get punched in the face, and stand up and do it again and again and again."

"I think the most disturbing aspect of it is … in all my years of being around the team, they’ve had some bad losses," Banks told WFAN co-hosts Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. "They’ve had some highs and lows, and some good teams and bad teams. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team just not show emotion as they were just getting pummeled … I don’t advocate fighting, but show some emotion."

The final stats say it all.  The offensive line couldn’t protect Eli Manning, who completed 12 of 23 passes for 119 yards and threw an interception. He was also sacked seven times for 45 yards. The defense was equally as ineffective, surrendering 402 total yards and five touchdowns.

Not exactly Giants football — at least how Banks remembers it.