The New York Giants are watching another season circle the drain, falling to 2-7 after a crushing 27-22 loss to the Washington Commanders where they had a chance to erase a multi-score deficit in the final moments. They functionally have no chance to make the playoffs, with another slow start by the offense forcing a mad scramble at the end of the game to try and win in the waning seconds.
Once again, the Giants’ offense turned into a unit that was desperately trying to hide its quarterback, particularly in the first half of the game. It’s obvious to anyone watching that this will be Daniel Jones’ final year as the Giants’ QB1, and based on how hampered their offense is, it might make sense to see if any other quarterback has the juice to keep this unit on schedule.
Bad teams tend to dig themselves into holes. That’s exactly what happened with the Giants in the opening half of this game. They averaged -1.3 net yards per passing attempt (which factors in sack yardage lost), averaged -0.09 expected points added per play, and if it wasn’t for a grueling 16-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, they would’ve been blanked for the entire first half.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll is pulling out all the stops when it comes to generating an offense with quarterback limitations, running an incredibly diverse ground game to try and keep defenses off balance.
After the game, Daboll denied any suggestion the Giants were hesitant to have Jones throw in the first half. Jones, meanwhile, admitted he was surprised with the run-pass balance.
“I knew we wanted to run the ball in this game,” Jones said. “That was part of the game plan. The way it played out, maybe didn’t expect to run it that much, but we were running it really well and effectively.”
That strategy can take a team only so far. When facing an offense like the Commanders, it’s hard to have so many drives sputter out into nothing. In what felt like an instant, the Giants saw a 7-7 tie end up as a 21-7 halftime deficit.
To their credit, they mounted a few scoring drives in the second half, but they’re not a good enough overall team to essentially waste a half of football doing nothing.
The Giants’ defense absolutely deserves criticism here, and superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said as much to reporters after the game, following a postgame conversation with teammate Brian Burns.
“If I’m talking to my teammate, that ain’t nothing for you to be concerned about,” Lawrence said. “We were just talking about the game and what we are gonna do to be better.”
Lawrence and Burns have done a lot of heavy lifting this year for the 2-7 Giants, but even those guys will need consistent help from their offense. Help they aren’t getting.
The problem is, like most teams, the Giants’ options at backup quarterback in a lost season are bleak. Behind Jones, they have Drew Lock and the sensation of the 2023 season, Tommy DeVito. It’s unlikely that either player would fare better than Jones at this point, but the Giants should probably at least try.
What they have going on just isn’t cutting it, and it’s too bare for everyone to see. There’s a small chance that Lock would allow them to open up the passing game, but his inconsistencies are a big reason he’s a backup in the first place. All in all, this is a problem that can’t be fixed until after the season. Even then, it’s still worth a try.
This offense is not completely bereft of talent, with young players like Malik Nabers, Theo Johnson and Tyrone Tracy Jr. looking like potential difference makers, but at some point a complete performance will be needed instead of just checking off boxes for their building blocks.
“You’ve got to build up,” Nabers said. “You’ve got to put the right people in place to be successful. You’ve got to get the right keys. You’ve got to get the right guys on the team to win. Obviously, the Commanders have done that. They’ve got the right guys that they want to be on the team, and they’re winning.”
The Giants would love to be on the same path as their division rival, but there’s a stark difference in one area: quarterback. The Commanders have their quarterback, but the Giants clearly need to make a change to find one for themselves. The Daniel Jones era is done. It’s time for the Giants to acknowledge that fact as well.