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Giants General Manager Jerry Reese held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon and faced questions about what’s gone wrong with the team he put together over the first seven games of the season.

The Giants are 1-6 in those games, which is well below the expectations that built up around the team heading into the season. Reese believes that paying attention to those expectations is part of the problem as he said too many people in the organization “bought into the hype” about how good they could be in 2017. By way of illustrating that feeling, Reese said he thought the team looked hungrier last year than they do this year.

Teams don’t lose six of their first seven games just because they had too high an opinion of themselves in August, though, and Reese addressed issues with the roster construction by saying he’s “the reason we’re 1-6” and taking ownership of the roster that he put together this year.

One of the spots on that roster that has come up for the most criticism is the offensive line, but Reese said he doesn’t believe the team’s overly optimistic view of the 2017 season extended to the offensive line. He said he didn’t feel there was a lot of help out there for the team to acquire, although the Vikings and Rams both seemed to find needed upgrades in free agency this offseason.

While the combination of the awful start, the shaky line and the loss of Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall at receiver would seem to eliminate the Giants from any hope of making a run at the playoffs. Reese wouldn’t concede that, saying the Giants have “been left for dead before” and shouldn’t be counted out.

If that sounds like hype to keep up interest in the final nine games of what has looked like a lost season for weeks now, it’s surely a coincidence.