With many of their all-time greats in attendance to celebrate the 100th season in franchise history, the New York Giants humiliated themselves on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
From top to bottom, the Giants looked like an undisciplined, unprepared, non-NFL-caliber team. They were handled with ease for four full quarters by the Sam Darnold-led Minnesota Vikings, who ultimately walked away with a 28-6 win that wasn’t even that close.
Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 1 embarrassment? Let’s take a look.
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His comments after the game notwithstanding, nose tackle Dexter Lawrence was once again dominant on Sunday. Although the Giants limited his role for reasons that have yet to be explained, Lawrence was a nuisance in the middle, repeatedly collapsing the pocket and giving the Vikings fits. He finished the game with eight pressures, one sack, one tackle for a loss, and a pass defensed that turned into an interception.
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The focus will be on quarterback Daniel Jones this week, and we’ll have more on that in a moment. But perhaps no one should shoulder a larger percentage of the blame than head coach Brian Daboll. His personnel decisions leading up to and throughout the game were baffling, his play-calling was predictable and atrocious, and he was completely out-coached by the man (Brian Flores) who he landed the coaching job over — and who is currently suing the organization. Complete and total embarrassment.
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Rookie linebacker Darius Muasau started in place of Micah McFadden (who saw zero snaps) and played relatively well. He responded with six tackles (four solo, one for a loss), one pass defensed, and one interception. It wasn’t a flawless performance but it was a solid one, save for the INT celebration with the team getting blown out of the water.
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The Giants certainly didn’t do Daniel Jones any favors on Sunday but that excuse doesn’t suffice anymore. The terrible play-calling, multitude of drops, and offensive line issues aside, DJ looks like a shell of his former self. 2022 playoff Jones is long gone and since suffering a second major neck injury early last season, he has regressed rapidly. It’s time for the Giants (Joe Schoen and Daboll) to strongly consider moving on from Jones or risk going down with the ship.
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Again, rookie safety Tyler Nubin was far from flawless but he had some solid moments in his regular season debut. He led the team with seven tackles (five solo) and played solid football for a secondary that resembled Swiss cheese, especially early on. He’s a very physical player who doesn’t shy away from contact and it’s easy to see why so many believe he has a high ceiling.
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The Giants have invested heavily in the duo of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, both from a draft assets and financial standpoint. In their tag team debut, the two edge rushers combined for four tackles, one QB hit, and one pressure. That’s it. That’s all these two were able to muster up in Week 1 while often facing one-on-one matchups. Thibodeaux was even briefly benched in favor of Azeez Ojulari following a backbreaking penalty on third down.
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Booing two minutes into the game? Fine. Leaving at halftime? Fine. Emptying the stadium almost entirely in the third quarter? Fine. Complaining on social media? Fine.
Stalking the players’ parking lot to film yourself mocking and taunting Daniel Jones, and demanding money from him? That’s Philadelphia Eagles fans kind of stuff. An absolute rock-bottom moment for Big Blue fans.
That display was as embarrassing as the play on the field. Be better.
