The New York Giants put together what has, unfortunately, become a typically uninspiring effort on Sunday in a 21-6 season-opening loss to the Washington Commanders. Let’s get to the ‘Kudos and Wet Willies.’ And, yes, there are a few ‘Kudos,’ even if I had to work to find them.
Kudos to …
Abdul Carter — The rookie had an impactful debut, with a partially blocked punt, a half-sack and a quarterback hit. Carter forced Jayden Daniels into a grounding penalty on the final play of the first half that cost the Commanders a scoring opportunity.
Brian Burns — After being named a captain for the first time, Burns had a solid first game. He had two sacks, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.
Wan’Dale Robinson — The diminutive slot receiver has limitations, no doubt. he caught six of the eight passes thrown to him Sunday, though, for 55 yards (9.2 yards per catch). He earned four first downs. He survived some big hits. He also returned two kickoffs, the first time he has been asked to do that since college.
Bobby Okereke — It did not seem like Okereke had a “wow” game, but when you look at the stat sheet he had 16 tackles. As much as I hate judging linebacker play by number of tackles, I have to give the veteran off-ball linebacker props for an active day.
Wet Willies to …
First-half offense — For the fourth time in Brian Daboll’s four seasons as head coach, the Giants’ offense failed to show up in the first half of a season opener The Giants scored just 3 points, having to settle for that field goal with a first-and-goal at the Commanders’ 1-yard line.
In four openers under Daboll, the Giants have been outscored 67-6 in the first half.
That’s ridiculous.
Russell Wilson — This really could be “overall offense,” but the quarterback is the face of all of it, and Wilson did NOTHING on Sunday to quell the clamor for rookie Jaxson Dart to start. We are one week into the season and Daboll, while saying the loss wasn’t Wilson’s fault, would not proclaim the 14-year veteran as the Week 2 starter against the Dallas Cowboys.
Wilson, eight carries for 44 yards, made a couple of plays with his legs. He could not, though, get anything going. He went 17 of 37 for 168 yards. The offense was dull and lifeless for the most part. It doesn’t help anyone, except the Indianapolis Colts, that Daniel Jones went 22 of 29 for 272 yards and a touchdown as the Colts routed Miami 33-8 on Sunday.
Wilson was, and is, supposed to be a clear upgrade over Jones. It did not look that way on Sunday.
And the calls for Dart will only grow louder.
Offensive line — Yes, Wilson deserved his “Wet Willie.” The bottom line was six points and no real impact plays, especially when there were chances. But, the line play didn’t help. It really didn’t give the offense a chance.
Wilson was sacked just twice. He was, though, hit eight times. The line’s issues did not end there. Running backs Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary and Cam Skattebo combined for just 30 yards on 15 carries. There was nowhere for them to run, with the longest non-Wilson scramble being 8 yards. That’s not good enough.
The Giants showed their lack of confidence in the line by throwing the ball twice when they had first-and-goal at the Washington 1-yard line.
Andrew Thomas being sidelined should not have had that much impact. The group that played Sunday has been together since the beginning of OTAs.
James Hudson had a holding penalty in the third quarter that negated a 15-yard Theo Johnson catch that would have put the Giants, trailing 14-6 at the time, in the red zone. Killer penalty, the type the Giants just aren’t good enough to play through on a regular basis.
Brian Daboll — I simply have to call out the head coach. This is now three straight awful performances in season-opening games on Daboll’s watch. Over the past three seasons, the Giants have been outscored 89-12 in Week 1.
They don’t have a touchdown in the first halves of any of the four season-opening games Daboll has coached.
Daboll made a few changes to the Giants’ training camp and preseason routines, and to the Week 1 practice schedule. Somehow, though, his teams continue to not show up when the season begins.
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