‘Things I think’: Giants’ season already feels like it’s on the brink of disaster

A few things need to change, and fast!

It is easy, and somewhat predictable, to overreact to Week 1 of an NFL season. You wait months and months to watch your team play, then, in one three-hour period your highest hopes or worst fears are confirmed. Your team is winning the Super Bowl. Or, everyone connected to it needs to be fired or cut.

All is not lost for the 0-1 New York Giants after one week of the 2024 season. I do not, though, think it is an overreaction to feel that the Giants’ season is already on the verge of going horribly sideways.

Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings was ugly in soooo many ways.

• The Giants went three-and-out on their first offensive possession, losing 9 yards in the process. The booing started before the offense got off the field.
• The Giants were out of the game early in the third quarter, and fans began shuffling their way to the parking lot shortly thereafter.
• The 6 points the Giants managed made them the only team in the league not to score in double digits.
• Daniel Jones was awful. He looked broken. Jones played like a deer in the headlights rookie, not a player in his sixth year as a starter. No feel for the pocket, creating — per Pro Football Focus — three of the five sacks and seven of the 18 pressures by Minnesota with his own actions. He was hesitant and off target. His mechanics seemed shaky, with him talking about balance and coach Brian Daboll saying his base wasn’t always correct. He looked like he didn’t trust the often good enough protection in front of him.
• Daboll didn’t do himself any favors in his first game as the offensive play caller. Jones’ intended air yards of 4.5 per pass was lower than every quarterback except Gardner Minshew of the Las Vegas Raiders. The coach may insist otherwise, but there weren’t nearly enough intermediate or downfield shots called.

Daboll got outmanuevered by Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores. The Giants stayed in heavy 12 personnel (two tight ends, two wide receivers, one running back) or 13 personnel (three tight ends, one wide receiver, one running back) a lot. They were expecting a lot of blitz pressure from a Vikings that blitzed a league-high 51.5% of the time in 2023. Instead, Flores blitzed only 24.5% of the time. He allowed the Giants to short circuit themselves, both because of Jones’ failing and because they too often had their playmakers on the sidelines.

• The only impact edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux made in the game was to gift the Vikings a first down on a third-and-16 that eventually led to a Minnesota touchdown. Otherwise, the 2022 No. 5 overall pick — GM Joe Schoen’s first-ever selection — was invisible.
• There were plenty of odd lineup decisions. I am still struggling to understand Cor’Dale Flott playing more snaps in the slot than Dru Phillips, especially when Phillips was playing well. I am also bothered by the lack of protection for punt returner Gunner Olszewski, who could not have been fully healthy entering the game despite Daboll’s protests to the contrary.
• Fan behavior even turned ugly. Booing is fine. Dexter Lawrence can be unhappy about it, but that is a fan’s prerogative. If the team’s performance justifies it, then boo all you want. What is not acceptable is treating a player the way Jones was treated after the game. It won’t be any surprise if that area is no longer made accessible to fans.

Giants great Carl Banks wasn’t happy with what he saw Sunday. No one should be.

Can things bet better? Sure they can. Will they? Who knows.

What has to change?

Jones has to be better

Everything starts here. Daboll has already announced that Jones will start in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders. We knew questions about Jones’ status as QB1 would come eventually if the Giants fell out of playoff contention. The injury guarantee for 2025 in his contract made certain of that.

It is stunning, though, that the question came up after one game. And that it was a legitimate one.

Can Jones be better? No one expects him to morph into Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. He needs to play competent football, though, to give the Giants a chance. Jones has never been prolific, but he has been competent — and sometimes better than that.

In 2023, he was terrible. Shell-shocked by the pressure he was under. Unable to see or reaxt to what was going on.

The Giants have put him in a better situation this time around. He has a No. 1 wide receiver in Malik Nabers. He has other speedy, play-making wide receivers. There is a promising tight end in Theo Johnson, although his debut game left a lot to be desired.

Jones has what appears to be an offensive line that can offer him better protection. Pro Football Focus ranked the Giants No. 10 in the league in pass-blocking efficiency in Week 1, charging only one of the five sacks of Jones by Minnesota 10 of the 18 pressures to the line. The Giants’ 72.3 overall pass-blocking grade was 14th in the league. I think they would sign up for that if it continues.

Yet, Jones still looked like 2023 Jones. Jittery. Not trusting his protection. Not seeing the field. Not standing his ground and delivering the ball with proper mechanics.

How long is Jones’ leash if his performance doesn’t get better?

Honestly, it can’t be long. That is not because of the injury guarantee. If it was about the injury guarantee at this point, Jones never would have been playing in the first place.

It is purely about performance. It is about being fair to the other players in the locker room who are putting their bodies and their careers on the line every time they step on the field. It is about preventing the 2024 season from turning into the debacle that was the first 10 games of 2023. It is about Daboll being fair to himself, giving himself the best chance to keep co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch from deciding someone else should be coaching the Giants next season.

Jones might well be playing for his job on Sunday.

Daboll has to be better

The head coach earned the gig he has by earning a reputation as an excellent play caller and excellent offensive scheme designer. I supported, and still support, Daboll’s taking over play-calling this season. Running an offense is his forte. So, why shouldn’t he lean into that?

Thing is, what we saw Sunday was not encouraging.

Daboll was outmaneuvered by Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores. The Giants ran 24 of 68 plays (41.7%) with multiple tight ends on the field, anticipating a heavy does of the blitz packages the Vikings are known for. Yet, Flores blitzed on 24.5% of the time when the Giants passed the ball.

All spring and summer the Giants emphasized getting the ball down the field with deep and intermediate throws. Yet, there was only one throw longer than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage on Sunday.

Daboll said there were “missed opportunities.” Those, though, were not exclusive to the quarterback or the receivers who dropped five passes.

Daboll missed opportunities, too.

• After Dru Phillips forced a turnover on Minnesota’s first possession, giving the Giants the ball at the Vikings’ 20-yard line the Giants ran six plays. They began with an off tackle run by Eric Gray and never once threatened the end zone vertically. How about a play-action shot to the end zone on the first play after a turnover?

You get an early turnover deep in your favored opponents’ territory, have a chance to excite the home crowd and grab the momentum, and don’t take a single shot into the end zone? Not good enough.

• Trailing 14-3 and facing second-and-5 at their own 49-yard line in the second quarter the Giants had good field position and good down-and-distance for a shot play. Daboll dialed up back-to-back quarterback runs with a guy who has had two neck injuries and was playing his first regular season game after a torn ACL. They gained 2 yards an punted.

Those, in my view, are missed opportunities directly tied to play calling.

Yes, you want Jones to use his legs as part of the offense. But, you collected play makers and revamped the offensive line for a reason. Take advantage of them!

John Jones-Imagn Images

The pass rush has to be better

Specifically, Thibodeaux needs to better.

Dexter Lawrence was his typically dominant self. He had a 92.6 overall PFF grade, a sack, and five hurries.

Brian Burns wasn’t great. His pass rush productivity score 2.8% was 77th among edge defenders graded by PFF. At least, though, he contributed four tackles, three for STOPS.

Thibodeaux’s contribution to the stat sheet? One hurry and a 15-yard face mask penalty on third-and-16 that gifted Minnesota a first down and eventually led to a touchdown.

Thibodeaux says he wants to break the single-season sack record and become a legendary Giant. He’s going to have to do a lot better than that.

Final thoughts

I figured before Week 1 that the Giants wouldn’t be terrible, that they could win somewhere around seven games and at least be respectable. I still believe that is possible, but things need to get better quickly.