The New York Giants (0-1) are on the road this weekend for a second straight NFC East game, this one with the also 0-1 Dallas Cowboys. Here are five storylines to watch.
Avoiding 0-2 … again
We have talked … and talked … and talked some more about the Giants’ annual propensity for awful starts to seasons. Stop me if you have this before, but the Giants have been 0-2 or worse in six of the last eight seasons. That includes the last two under head coach Brian Daboll.
Can they reverse that trend? It won’t be easy as they will be on the road as underdogs against a team that has had their way with the Giants for most of the last decade.
The Giants don’t want to use history as their guide in this instance.
“Every year is its own year. Every game is its own game,” veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton said on Monday. “Obviously, I see how you can get there as far as like a narrative goes. But that game, the reasons why we didn’t win that game or didn’t execute as well in that game, is different than any other game that we didn’t execute how we wanted to. So, we have to address those reasons for why yesterday didn’t go the way we wanted to go and then correct those this week going forward into our next game.”
More Abdul, please
The Giants rotated edge defenders Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter in Week 1, with Carter playing the fewest snaps (38, or 54%). Thibodeaux played 52 and Burns 47. As impactful as the No. 3 overall pick was defensively with a half-sack, a quarterback hit, a touchdown-saving tackle of Jayden Daniels and a pressure that forced an intentional grounding, he needs to be on the field for a higher percentage of plays.
That does not mean Burns or Thibodeaux should play less. It means defensive coordinator Shane Bowen needs to figure out how to get Carter, Burns and Thibodeaux on the field together more often. The trio was on the field at the same time for just eight of 70 snaps vs. Washington.
An obvious possibility is to give Carter, who began his collegiate career at Penn State as an inside linebacker, some snaps there with Micah McFadden sidelined for the foreseeable future with a foot injury. Darius Muasau, who replaced McFadden vs. Washington, had a rough game.
The Giants drafted Carter to be primarily an edge defender, but his versatility opens up numerous possibilities. The Giants don’t have their best defense on the field when Carter is on the sideline, wherever they line him up.
Can somebody around here block?
The Giants’ offensive line obviously struggled vs. the Commanders. Russell Wilson faced too much pressure, though Pro Football Focus charged the quarterback with creating three of the 12 pressures he faced (25%) and one sack himself.
James Hudson, subbing for Andrew Thomas at left tackle, allowed six of the 12 pressures.
The Giants, with one of the best deep passers in the game at quarterback, only threw one pass of 20+ yards. They either didn’t trust the line enough to dial up those shots, or couldn’t give Wilson enough time to deliver them. Wilson, who has never averaged fewer than 7.1 Intended Air Yards per pass since Pro Football Reference began charting that statistic in 2019, averaged 4.5 Intended Air Yards on Sunday.
Perhaps more disturbingly with a veteran offensive line where Hudson was the only new player, the run blocking was atrocious. Giants running backs had 15 carries for 30 yards, 2.0 yards per attempt. In watching the All-22, you can see there was a blocking breakdown of some sort on almost all of those 15 rushing attempts.
Tyrone Tracy had 0 yards before contact on his 10 carries, per Fantasy Pros. Cam Skattebo had -3 on two rushes, and Devin Singletary was the lucky one, getting 9 yards before contact on three rushes. That, if you haven’t done the math, is 6 yards before contact on 15 rushing attempts. Not good.
Thomas will return to the lineup eventually, fortifying one spot. His presence, though, can’t fix them all.
Daddy Dallas?
Forgive the Cowboys and their sometimes obnoxious fans if they don’t see the Giants as real competition. They haven’t been. Dating back to 2017, the Giants have played the Cowboys 16 times. They are 1-15, with losses in their last six meetings.
The only time the Giants won, Jan. 3 of 2021, Andy Dalton was at quarterback for Dallas as the Giants managed a 23-19 victory.
Russ’s short leash
There is no doubt that the Jaxson Dart watch is on. The fact that Daboll was unwilling in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s 21-6 loss to the Commanders to commit to Wilson as the starting quarterback in Week 2, confirms as much. Daboll announced Wilson as the starter on Monday, but the hesitation was still there.
Whether or not playing early in his rookie season is the best thing for his development, if the Giants’ offense looks as lifeless and inept against the Cowboys in Week 2 as it did against the Commanders in Week 1 it might be impossible for the Giants to resist the temptation to turn to their prized rookie.
Remember, back in 2019 Pat Shurmur ended the Eli Manning era and turned to Daniel Jones after an 0-2 start. Could we see the same thing happen this time?
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