Once again, here we are after only two weeks, and another New York Giants’ season has begun 0-2 and seemed like it was about to go off the rails. Which past season might it most resemble? Putting my rose-colored glasses on, I’d like to imagine 2007, when Eli Manning hadn’t yet convinced the doubters, the Giants had gone one-and-done twice in the playoffs, and they started like this:

Courtesy of Pro Football Reference

That defense was coming off a terrible 2006 in which they finished 24th in the NFL in points allowed, and those first two games made it seem like nothing had changed. The 2007 team also had big questions about the viability of its quarterback. We all know how that season turned out, but even I cannot imagine 2024 going this way.

Many of you instead might expect something more like the 2021 season:

Courtesy of Pro Football Reference

That season start looks A LOT like the start of this season: A dispiriting opening loss at home to an opponent many of us thought the Giants would beat, in which the opponent shut down the Giants’ offense and the defense was unable to handle a quarterback they thought they’d be able to contain. Then a loss on the road to Washington in excruciating fashion at the end in a game the Giants should have won. Many fans seem to think this season will wind up like that one: A 4-13 record, 31st in offense and 23rd in defense, with a head coach losing his cool and being gone and a general manager fired.

My best guess (I’m writing this part before the game) is something more like the 2013 season:

Courtesy of Pro Football Reference

Let’s face it, having lost their two opening games to teams many thought they’d beat, with a gauntlet of tougher teams coming up, who would be surprised at an 0-6 (and possibly worse) start? The thing about the 2013 team, though, is that they somehow regrouped and finished 7-9. I could easily imagine the 2024 team having a season like this: A defense that finally comes together after a poor start, and an offense that is capable, but not against the best defenses.

Now on to the present: Which of these scenarios seems the most likely now that the Giants’ 21-15 win over the Cleveland Browns is in the books? Well, on the face of it, the 2007 team, which barely squeaked out a win over Washington to save their season and then did enough right the rest of the season to make the playoffs. We know this Giants team is nothing like that one, though. It could still turn out to be a redux of the 2021 team. At least, though, it won’t be the same as the 2013 team, and let’s face it, 0-6 to start the season was probably on many of our Bingo cards after the Washington debacle.

Here are a few things we learned along the way.

The Giants do have a defensive line

Through two games, the Giants’ defense looked awful. The more passive approach of new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen stood in stark contrast to the bring-it philosophy of Wink Martindale.

Then a funny thing happened. Bowen learned to love the blitz. The Giants brought numbers at Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson throughout the first half. With Cleveland’s once formidable offensive line limited by injuries, which only increased during the game, the Giants pressured Watson mercilessly in the first half. the Giants finished the game with eight sacks, 17 QB hits, and five tackles for loss. Of the five sacks, six were by the defensive line. Dexter Lawrence had his usual disruptive game, but for the first time this season, the edge defenders showed up, with Brian Burns making his first significant contribution, Kayvon Thibodeaux making a few appearances, and long-lost Azeez Ojulari reviving dreams of an effective three-man edge rotation with his best game since…I don’t know when. Elijah Chatman got his first NFL sack, and even Rakeem Nunez-Roches joined the party.

In the second half, with a 21-7 lead, Bowen called off the dogs (the red dogs, that is, to use an old term) and played it more straight up. I get it…but it didn’t work. Cleveland worked their way back into the game, and it came down to a nail-biting finish that shouldn’t have happened. That was a team-wide failure, which we’ll get to.

The Giants have a Deonte Banks problem

Deonte Banks had a nice start to his Giants career last season. He seemed to be able to hang with some good receivers, and while he got beaten sometimes, he also broke up a decent number of passes. Things got dicey in mid-season, with consecutive bad games against the Jets, Las Vegas, and Dallas, but he bounced back with some pretty good play in the final five games.

Entering this season, Banks has been considered the clear CB1, and 100% of the hand-wringing among Giants’ followers has been about CB2. The hand-wringing should be starting for CB1. Here are Banks’ stats through three games:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

In the eyes of Pro Football Focus, Banks has been below average in coverage all three games. If you don’t like their subjective scores, consider the hard numbers. Teams have targeted him 22 times in three games; that says that opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks are not afraid to throw his way. When Eric Gray fumbled the opening kickoff return, the very first thing Cleveland did was to take a shot at Banks with their WR1, Amari Cooper. Cooper beat Banks for two TDs and six receptions in 10 targets.

It’s not an isolated occurrence. In three games NFL QBs have had a passer rating of 125.6 when targeting Banks. (For reference, Brock Purdy’s 113.0 led the NFL last season.). Banks usually stays with his man well enough, but he has developed a disturbing habit of rarely trying to contest catches. I can live with Banks being out-fought by great receivers. I can’t live with him seemingly just conceding catches. It’s early, but if Banks doesn’t start playing like a CB1 the Giants’ defense is in trouble.

Andrew Thomas is human

Thomas has been one the Giants’ few bright lights through the past 3+ mostly disappointing seasons for the team as a whole. He got off to an excellent start in the first two games this season.

Today was a different story, though. He gave up 3 QB hits and 5 hurries, and was called for two penalties. His preliminary PFF pass blocking grade was 5.9 (that’s not a typo). I didn’t keep track of him on every play, but Myles Garrett’s stats are identical to Thomas’, so we have to conclude that Garrett just took AT to the woodshed today. That’s no embarrassment; Garrett is probably the best edge defender in the NFL. Still, it’s a shock to see Thomas dominated like that.

Daniel Jones was good…until he wasn’t

Jones had an excellent first half against Cleveland: 17 of 19, 178 yards, 9.4 yards per attempt, 2 TD passes, 140.8 passer rating. Against a defense as good at all three levels as Cleveland’s, that is really outstanding.

Then the second half began. Jones was only 7 of 15 for 58 yards and zero TDs. In fairness, the Browns really pressured him a lot in that second half, and we’ll have to see his clean pocket – pressured splits to get a better idea. The one thing that was obvious to every observer (and was last week too) was his absolute inability to complete deep passes. And it’s almost always the same thing – overthrowing the receiver by A LOT. On the bright side, at least he’s trying. My guess is that he has been trying to compensate for under-throwing his wide receivers and is putting too much on his throws. And that’s a shame because…

Malik Nabers is a beast

I think I will just cut-and-paste the following paragraph into most of my “things we learned” for the rest of the season and just change the numbers each week.

Nabers had eight catches for 78 yards and 2 TDs on Sunday. Does he look like the best pick of the 2024 NFL Draft? Yes. Nabers gets open, he high points high passes with great hands, he made an amazing contested catch today (one of three contested catches) by reaching out to grab a ball over the shoulders of two defenders…and he would have had amazing numbers if Jones had only thrown those deep shots well. And that was against a great Browns secondary: three catches on Martin Emerson, one on Greg Newsome, and two on Denzel Ward.

Don’t be surprised if Nabers makes the Pro Bowl; he’s more than just a great rookie.