What are some of the things to pay attention to this week as the New York Giants travel to Landover, Md. to open their season against the Washington Commanders? Here are five Week 1 storylines to ponder.
68-6
If you are a regular Big Blue View reader, you know what that references and you know we have been over it before. The is the combined score of the Giants’ last two season-openers — a 40-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 and a 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings last year.
Head coach Brian Daboll has been asked again and again about getting off to a better start this season, and, win or lose, it is important that the Giants play a good, competitive game on Sunday against the Commanders.
Can they do that?
Daboll played many of the front-line players more this preseason than he has in other years. We will see if that increases their readiness.
Since making the playoffs in 2016, the Giants have started six of the last eight seasons 0-2 or worse. With the Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers following the Commanders on the Giants’ schedule, 0-4 beckons if the Giants begin the season in the sloppy, unprepared manner of the past two seasons.
Andrew Thomas’s status
The Giants’ best offensive lineman seems unlikely to play vs. Washington, though Daboll has not given an indication either way. Still recovering from Lisfranc surgery, Thomas admitted late last week that he had yet to participate in any team practice periods, and that his recovery had been difficult.
More than likely, we will see James Hudson start at left tackle in place of Thomas.
The first injury report of the season comes out later on Wednesday. Perhaps we will get a better indication of Thomas’s status at that point.
Abdul Carter’s coming out party
The prized rookie, favored by oddsmakers to win Defensive Rookie of the Year, did not play much during the preseason. Carter played just 28 snaps — almost like the Giants did not want to show the rest of the league much of how they planned to deploy the versatile No. 3 overall pick.
Carter is listed as a backup on the team’s unofficial Week 1 depth chart, but that doesn’t matter. There won’t be any holding him back on Sunday, as Carter will be a big part of the Giants’ effort to both harass Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels and try to keep him in the pocket. Daniels ran for 891 yards last season, second-most among quarterbacks behind Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.
Matching the hype?
Since we mentioned trying to contain Daniels, let’s talk about the Giants’ “damn good defense.”
With Carter, Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux the Giants are expected to have a dominant pass rush. With Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland added to Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin, they should have a quality secondary. They should get capable, perhaps above average, play from Bobby Okereke, Micah McFadden and maybe Darius Muasau at off-ball linebacker.
For the Giants to be a competitive team in 2025, the defense has to be what it has been hyped up to be. The Commanders, fifth in the NFL in points scored last season at 28.5 per game, provide a stern season-opening test.
The right bet?
The Giants were 31st in the NFL in scoring in 2024, and 30th in 2023. The only significant change they made on offense, though, was to completely revamp their quarterback room.
Russell Wilson, beginning his 14th season, is the starter. First-round pick Jaxson Dart is waiting in the wings to — hopefully — become the team’s next franchise quarterback. Jameis Winston provided a veteran security blanket. It is, to say the least, an interesting quarterback room.
Is it, though, the right one? Wilson can still deliver the “moon ball,” he showed that in the preseason. Since 2021, though, the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers have all discarded the 10-time Pro Bowler. Will New York, where Wilson’s leadership and professionalism have been widely praised, turn out different in his age 37 season? Will Dart take over at some point? Where does Winston, perhaps the poster child for what we call a “Kwillie” here at Big Blue View — a player who alternately helps both teams — fit?
If the defense is what it is cracked up to be, the Giants’ offense probably only needs to be league average for the Giants to be competitive. That means adding roughly a touchdown each week to last year’s output of 16.1 points per game.
Sunday we begin to learn whether or not the Giants made the right bet, or bets, at quarterback this offseason.
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