Is the New York Giants’ season already on the brink after one game? That’s how it feels after a disheartening 28-6 loss to the Vikings in Sunday’s season opener.
Here’s a final look at yet another discouraging season opener:
Jones’ last stand?
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones made the first start of the second season since signing a four-year, $160 million contract on Sunday. He has only made seven starts since signing that deal and has only finished five games.
Yet, coach Brian Daboll fielded questions postgame Sunday and again during his Monday postmortem about whether he will bench Jones. Daboll affirmed that he is sticking with Jones.
It may seem wild that Daboll is fielding those questions so early in the season. But it’s wilder that the questions are completely legitimate.
It’s not just that Jones didn’t perform well in Sunday’s loss. It’s that he looked like a rattled, broken quarterback. He looked even worse than he did last season when serious concerns about his future were raised by poor performance and injuries.
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Benching Jones after one ugly showing in his return from a torn ACL would be an overreaction. But it’s fair to wonder about the length of his leash.
Daboll had a quick hook for underperforming veterans in his first two seasons. Wide receiver Kenny Golladay was benched after one game in 2022, and guard Mark Glowinski got the same treatment last season.
But changing quarterbacks is a far more consequential decision, especially with no assurances that backup Drew Lock will be a significant upgrade. It would be much different if Giants general manager Joe Schoen had successfully traded up for a quarterback in this year’s draft. The calls to play the rookie would be deafening already. Think back to Jones’ rookie season in 2019 when he took over as the starter after franchise icon Eli Manning was benched in Week 3.
Even without a quarterback of the future waiting in the wings, Daboll’s patience will grow thin if Jones doesn’t turn things around quickly. A favorable matchup against a bad Commanders defense that allowed 37 points in a Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers could signal Jones’ last stand.
If Jones flops against the Commanders, a quarterback change should become a serious consideration next week.
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Not a concern
It’s obvious that Jones’ injury guarantee — the Giants will owe him $23 million if he suffers an injury and can’t pass a physical if the team cuts him next offseason — isn’t weighing on Daboll’s mind.
Daboll called three power runs for Jones, exposing the quarterback to additional hits in his first game back from a major injury. Jones needs to use his legs to be an effective quarterback, so Daboll can’t call plays with a fear of injury.
Trailing 28-6, Daboll called timeouts to get the ball back during Minnesota’s final possession. The Vikings punted to the Giants with 1:36 remaining, and Daboll kept Jones in the game.
The only explanation for keeping the quarterback and the rest of the starters in for a garbage-time drive is that Daboll was trying to give the offense a chance to end the game with some positive feelings. Instead, Jones took two more hits on a pathetic drive that resulted in a punt back to the Vikings with 29 seconds remaining.
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Outmatched
Brian Flores was a finalist for the Giants’ head coaching job that went to Daboll in 2022. Flores infamously didn’t get that job — and he still has a pending discrimination lawsuit against the Giants, Broncos, Texans and the NFL — so the Vikings defensive coordinator had extra motivation to make a statement on Sunday.
Flores certainly got the better of Daboll in the battle of former Bill Belichick assistants.
Daboll’s game plan was based on an expectation of a pressure-heavy attack from the ultra-aggressive Flores. But Flores threw a curveball, blitzing on just 22.4 percent of the snaps on Sunday, according to Next Gen Stats. Flores led the league with a 48.8 percent blitz rate last season.
The Giants leaned on heavy personnel with two and three tight ends in an attempt to minimize the exotic looks Flores could deploy on early downs. That was understandable in theory, but it didn’t play to the Giants’ strengths, which are at wide receiver. They don’t have dynamic receiving weapons at tight end, so getting the Vikings to put bigger defensive personnel on the field didn’t yield mismatches in the passing game.
The Vikings electing not to send extra rushers against the Giants’ big personnel led to multiple max protect pass plays with seven or eight defenders in coverage. That helps explain the lack of a deep passing attack because the Vikings had plenty of defensive backs to cover two receivers running routes.
Conceivably, the bigger personnel would be a boost for the run game, but the Giants couldn’t get anything going on the ground. Devin Singletary, Eric Gray and Tyrone Tracy combined for 45 yards on 14 carries (3.2 yards per carry).
The inability to run the ball or pass effectively on early downs forced the Giants into a whopping 18 third downs. The Giants went 6-for-11 on third-and-7 and shorter and 1-for-7 on third-and-8 and longer. Obviously, getting into so many third-and-longs is not a recipe for success, especially because that allowed Flores to deploy the type of looks Daboll was aiming to avoid.
Getting conservative
Daboll appears to have lost his nerve as an aggressive coach. After conservatively calling a pair of Jones keepers, Daboll was faced with fourth-and-3 from the Vikings’ 49-yard line with four minutes left in the second quarter. Trailing 14-3, Daboll elected to punt. The lack of confidence in the offense was palpable on the two Jones runs and the decision to punt.
Trailing 28-6 late in the third quarter, the Giants had fourth-and-3 on their own 37-yard line. Daboll kept the offense on the field, but it was just so Jones could try to draw the Vikings offside with a hard count. That didn’t work, so the Giants took a delay of game penalty and punted. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if the Giants converted in that spot, but Daboll waved the white flag with the punt.
Strange choices
There were some head-scratching personnel decisions in the opener. Cor’Dale Flott, who worked exclusively at outside corner during the offseason, was the starting slot corner in the Giants’ nickel package. Rookie Dru Phillips, who had won the starting slot corner job in camp, was relegated to a reduced role in the dime package.
“Just getting ready to go here for the first game, we thought that that was the best thing for us,” Daboll said.
Phillips made an impact in limited action, forcing a fumble on his first career snap. Phillips took over as the slot cornerback in the second half after corner Nick McCloud left with a knee injury, and Flott shifted outside.
Daboll indicated Flott will probably play outside more going forward, especially with McCloud “day-to-day, maybe week-to-week.”
Linebacker Micah McFadden didn’t play despite not being listed as questionable on the injury report. McFadden had been dealing with a groin injury that limited him in practice last week. Daboll said McFadden was on a pitch count, but wasn’t used because rookie Darius Muasau played well. Muasau had tallied tackles and an interception while playing 82 percent of the snaps in his debut.
Returner Gunner Olszewski aggravated his groin injury in pregame warmups and will be out “weeks,” according to Daboll. While a pregame re-injury was impossible to predict, the Giants paid for not having a true backup punt returner active considering Olszewski clearly wasn’t 100 percent.
The Giants only had 51 players on the active roster for the opener in a cost-cutting move. That made it indefensible to not have a backup punt returner on the roster. Wide receiver Darius Slayton, who had no punt returns in his first five seasons, was forced to replace Olszewski. That was an adventure, as Slayton failed to field his first punt cleanly and then fumbled the return.
The Giants signed Ihmir Smith-Marsette to replace Olszewski after working out returners on Monday. A fifth-round pick by the Vikings in 2021, Smith-Marsette has been on four teams in three seasons. He averaged 8.7 yards on 37 punt returns for the Panthers last season. He was released by Carolina on Aug. 28.
Second-year wide receiver Jalin Hyatt played just 23 percent of the snaps, and even that total is misleading. Hyatt played just three snaps in the first half before getting most of his playing time when the game was decided in the fourth quarter.
The Giants gave Hyatt every opportunity to win the No. 2 receiver job in camp, but Slayton proved to be a better, more reliable option. Hyatt had a bad drop on his lone target on Sunday.
Daboll called Hyatt the team’s “third/fourth” receiver, so it seems like he has ground to make up. But he could get an opportunity this week because Slayton is in the concussion protocol.
Out for the year?
Carter Coughlin is likely out for the season after Daboll said the linebacker will be out for “months” with a pec injury. Coughlin was on the active roster before getting cut last Thursday and re-signed to the practice squad Friday. He was then elevated Sunday, playing 10 snaps on special teams before the injury.
The Giants juggled the roster for financial reasons, as Coughlin’s $1.1 million salary would have been guaranteed for the season if he was on the active roster for Week 1 because he’s a vested veteran. Making him a practice squad elevation provided the team more flexibility with Coughlin, although his injury will cut into the savings from the roster gymnastics. Coughlin will make $570,000 for the season, which is the minimum salary for a player with his experience on IR.
Formation notations
The Giants mostly played a base 3-4 defense and a nickel package with two defensive linemen, four linebackers and five defensive backs on Sunday. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen used a dime package eight times on passing downs.
Deonte Banks and Adoree’ Jackson were the perimeter cornerbacks with Phillips or Flott in the slot in the dime package. Dane Belton was the third safety in the package, playing in the box at the “money” position. With Belton filling that role, Isaiah Simmons didn’t play a defensive snap.
The Giants added outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari to Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux on three third downs in the dime package in the second half. Burns lined up off the ball across from a guard on those three snaps. Like the rest of the game, the package with the three outside linebackers didn’t produce much of a pass rush.
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(Photo of Daniel Jones: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
