Happy Bye Week everyone. The first half of the season and the Giants are sitting at a disappointing 3-6. The last 3 games they are 2-1 and they look completely different on the defensive side of the ball. The offense has been BAD with Andrew Thomas out. They have been struggling to score points, play calls of 10 yards+ seem to be only called on 3rd and 15+. The offensive play-calling has been absolutely terrible, which makes it difficult to evaluate Daniel Jones.
Jones is playing well, but would I be happy with him getting that big extension? Not even slightly. I will say that in the first 4 games of the year – before the team got banged up – he BALLED. His top 2 games were New Orleans and Washington, no turnovers (1 int on Hail Mary) in either game over 650 yards through the air and 4 Total Touchdowns. He has been making plays all year that are winning plays. He is still incredibly accurate, pretty deep ball and is impressive when he runs the ball. The things we wanted to see Jones improve on, he most definitely has. Turnover issue is not a large issue at all anymore, he currently has 5 interceptions (including a Hail Mary and a Sterling Sheppard slip and fall) and now only 3 fumbles. His pocket manipulation has taken a MASSIVE step forward and that is what the most impressive thing is in my opinion. I still think Jones has the potential to be a franchise guy and I do think he will get another year because of how weak this QB class is and The Giants will not be able to afford a free agent QB.
Now let’s talk about the defense. The defense seems to have figured it out the last three games not allowing over 20 points in any of the games and a HUGE reason the Giants have gone 2-1 in the last few games. They have been running a single high safety and the defense was not doing a very good job pre-snap disguising what they were in. Over the last 3 weeks Xavier McKinney has really come into the role of the single high safety. I noticed hes made a few plays and was a step or two late for forcing an incompletion the first few games of the year where he is not there forcing the drop or interception. I think his play and the defensive line stepping up and forcing some pressures is a huge reason for the success.
Lastly, I will have to talk about Joe Judge. Joe Judge is responsible for the Giants starting 0-3 in my opinion. Taking the first 3 games as an “extension of the preseason” makes absolutely no sense in year 2 of a system. Last year was a totally different situation because of COVID and no preseason. But if you are going to be trying some new things, play your best guys in the preseason games for more than 1 half of 3 games. His conservative approach on 4th and shorts and settling for field goals is a huge reason The Giants have struggled to put points on the board. Discipline is a massive issue, they lost 2 games on off-sides penalties (Washington – Kansas City). Take away Graham Gano and The Special Teams are TERRIBLE. The clock management has been laughable. Getting the ball with 3 minutes in the game and settling for a field goal before the drive even starts is a big reason they lost to Kansas City and Atlanta. He’s been bad all around.
Overall, it has been disappointing. But I do think many fans are over reacting. My expectation at this point was 4-5 (Win against Denver and Atlanta – Loss in New Orleans is where the differences are). It is more where the struggles are that make it disappointing – Judge has been bad, Graham gave us a scare early in the year and Jason Garrett is not using 1 player on the offense to their strengths. The New York Giants can turn this season around with a weak schedule, but that will require a near perfect remainder of the season to finish above 500 at 9-8. This could also give them a shot at the playoffs, but that is a bit of a stretch.
A Fan With A Mic 