A miserable season-opening loss has a New York Giants quarterback’s starting status on the ropes. No, this isn’t a recording. But there are parallels from last year when Daniel Jones’ job security was a hot topic after a 28-6 season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Russell Wilson finds himself in a similar spot this week after a demoralizing 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders in the opener. The calls will grow even louder to replace Wilson if he struggles again because promising rookie Jaxson Dart is waiting in the wings.
Jones settled the discourse temporarily last year with a solid performance in a 21-18 loss to the Commanders in Week 2. The Giants then won two of their next three games before a freefall led to Jones’ benching after Week 10.
Wilson downplayed the fact that his status was left dangling for 24 hours when coach Brian Daboll didn’t confirm he was sticking with the veteran immediately after Sunday’s loss. But Wilson has been around long enough to know that teams don’t stick with veteran quarterbacks leading punchless offenses long when there’s a rookie like Dart on the sideline. Especially as Daboll continues to beam whenever he speaks about the only quarterback drafted in his four years with the Giants.
Dart’s primary role during practice is operating the scout-team offense against the starting defense, but the tight-lipped Daboll volunteered that the rookie is also mixed in “once in a while” with the first-team offense. Dart could get “mixed in” for a package of plays on Sunday, which was reportedly the plan for the opener. But he’ll only take over as the starter — at least in the near future — if Wilson struggles.
One doesn’t need to look far into Giants history for a reminder of how quickly a quarterback with a Hall of Fame-worthy resume can be benched for a rookie. Eli Manning was replaced by Jones in Week 3 of the 2019 season. History could repeat itself if Wilson has another performance in Dallas like he did in the opener.
Here are six more thoughts on a must-win game in Week 2:
Star watch
The good news for Wilson is that he’ll try to bounce back against a Cowboys defense that no longer features terrorizing edge rusher Micah Parsons, who was traded to the Green Bay Packers before the opener. Parsons’ absence is particularly noteworthy with Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas’ status uncertain.
There was optimism last week that Thomas, who is still recovering from a foot injury, could return for the Cowboys game. But it was alarming that he was held out of Wednesday’s practice after four straight days off. Thomas was a limited participant in Thursday’s practice, but Wednesday was the lone full-pads practice of the week. It’s hard to imagine Thomas making his return if he can’t make it through a full three-practice week.
Although the Cowboys lost major star power with Parsons’ departure, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a pass rush. They pressured Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on 41.2 percent of his dropbacks in a 24-20 loss in Week 1. By comparison, Wilson was pressured on 37.8 percent of his drop backs against the Commanders.
Defensive end Sam Williams led the Cowboys with five pressures, while defensive tackle Owa Odighizuwa added four pressures. The Cowboys interior defensive line was beefed up in the Parsons trade, as they acquired veteran run-stuffer Kenny Clark. The Cowboys limited Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to 3.3 yards per carry in Week 1.
The Cowboys are also expected to be without top cornerback Daron Bland, who injured his foot in practice this week. Bland, who recently signed a four-year, $92 million extension, didn’t play in the first matchup with the Giants last season.
The Cowboys initially didn’t have their other Pro Bowl cornerback, Trevon Diggs, travel with Giants No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers early in that matchup. But after Nabers torched a backup corner for a 39-yard gain, Diggs took over in coverage. Nabers finished with 12 catches for 115 yards on 15 targets. Diggs was on a pitch count in the opener as he returns from knee surgery, but he is expected to have a bigger workload in Week 2.
Diggs is talented and has a nose for the ball, but he can be susceptible to double moves and deep balls. Expect Wilson to take some deep shots to Nabers.
Denying Dak
The Giants’ vaunted pass rush showed flashes in the opener, but it wasn’t able to control the game against elusive Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and a quick-hitting offense. The pass rush should have greater opportunities against a more conventional Cowboys passing attack.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is nowhere near as dynamic as Daniels, but the Giants have only sacked the savvy veteran once in their past four meetings. Prescott is an elite processor, and he’s not afraid to stand in the pocket to deliver strikes while under duress.
Giants No. 1 cornerback Paulson Adebo shut down Terry McLaurin while traveling with the Commanders’ top receiver in Week 1. It’s more challenging to shadow Cowboys No. 1 wide receiver CeeDee Lamb because he lined up in the slot on 48 percent of his snaps last season. The Giants certainly won’t have Adebo travel into the slot, so nickel corner Dru Phillips will draw the Lamb matchup inside.
Dallas’ George Pickens is a much better No. 2 receiver than any of the Commanders’ complementary pieces, so that also could deter the Giants from having Adebo travel with Lamb.
More Carter
The Giants placed linebacker Micah McFadden on injured reserve Thursday. McFadden suffered a foot injury in Week 1, and it’s not known if he’ll return this season.
Darius Muasau replaced McFadden in the opener and is in line to take over as the starter next to Bobby Okereke. There’s a chance the Giants could mix in versatile rookie Abdul Carter more at linebacker.
Carter, who played linebacker during his first two years at Penn State, lined up at linebacker on five of his 38 snaps in the opener. But having Carter bang heads with guards in the run game isn’t the best way to utilize the explosive edge rusher’s skill set.
The Giants want Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the field as much as possible, but it’s not a simple equation. It’s easy on third downs, when Carter can move inside while Burns and Thibodeaux stay on the edge. But it’s harder to find a spot for the three edge rushers on early downs. Whatever defensive coordinator Shane Bowen comes up with, he needs to find a way to get Carter on the field for more than the 54 percent of the snaps he played in the opener.
Complicating matters at linebacker, backup Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles aggravated the calf injury that sidelined him for most of training camp during Wednesday’s practice. Flannigan-Fowles, who played 74 percent of the special teams snaps in the opener, will surely be sidelined for Sunday’s game and possibly longer. That leaves special teamer Chris Board as the only healthy backup inside linebacker behind Okereke and Muasau.
Expect linebackers Zaire Barnes and Swayze Bozeman to be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game to play special teams. Muasau was a core special teamer in the opener, but those snaps will likely be reduced due to his increased defensive role. It’s not ideal to be missing core special teamers for this matchup because Dallas’ KaVontae Turpin is the most dangerous returner in the league.
Keeping Nabers happy
It can come as no surprise to the Giants that Nabers can be a combustible presence. Area scout Scott Hamel noted “there is a lot to the personality” when describing Nabers during a 2024 pre-draft meeting.
“You’ll hear about it if he’s not getting his targets,” Hamel said on a clip shown on Hard Knocks. “We need to get around this kid and see if we can work with him.”
Properly channeling emotions was a topic Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen addressed with Nabers in multiple pre-draft meetings. So the Giants were well aware that a scene like Nabers and Daboll jawing on the sideline one quarter into the opener could occur if the receiver was frustrated.
Daboll downplayed the interaction after the game, but Nabers said he and the coach talked about his “sideline demeanor.” Nabers joked that he has “NBF: Natural b— face,” and that he’s trying to be more positive when things aren’t going well.
The easiest way to make everyone happy is for Nabers to get a bunch of targets and the Giants to score a bunch of points. But that obviously won’t happen every week, so Daboll is trying to rein in a potential issue from mushrooming.
Damaging draft
It looks like the Giants may have whiffed on their entire 2023 draft class. Their four Day 3 picks from that class are either gone (sixth-round cornerback Tre Hawkins and seventh-round safety Gervarrius Owens) or not on the active roster (fifth-round running back Eric Gray is on the PUP list and seventh-round defensive tackle Jordon Riley is on the practice squad).
It would have been nice for some of those picks to become role players in their third season, but Day 3 selections are a crapshoot. It’s the top of that draft class that is so damaging.
First-round cornerback Deonte Banks has been reduced to a limited situational role after being handed a starting job on Day 1 as a rookie. That’s a dramatic fall for a player who has struggled with performance and effort. The Giants gave up fifth- and seventh-round picks to move up one spot to take Banks at No. 24 overall.
Second-round pick John Michael Schmitz is the only starter from the class, although he remains a below-average center. Schmitz’s underwhelming play has been a disappointment for a player who was viewed as a plug-and-play center after spending six years at Minnesota.
Third-round wide receiver Jalin Hyatt has been the biggest flop from the class. The Giants were prepared to take Hyatt in the second round if Schmitz wasn’t available and then traded a fourth-round pick to move up 16 spots to take the wide receiver with the 73rd pick in the third round.
After showing flashes of big-play potential as a rookie, Hyatt had just eight catches for 62 yards last season. He then didn’t play a snap in the opener, falling behind undrafted rookie Beaux Collins as the No. 4 receiver.
Getting so little from a draft class helps explain why the Giants haven’t made more progress in their rebuild. Meanwhile, offensive lineman Evan Neal, the seventh pick in the 2022 draft, was a healthy scratch on Sunday. The early training camp optimism about Neal’s transition to guard has been eliminated, with him falling behind veteran backup Aaron Stinnie on the depth chart.
Neal was joined as a healthy scratch by defensive tackle Darius Alexander, a third-round pick this year. It’s too early to panic about Alexander, but it’s telling that the team elevated defensive lineman Elijah Garcia to play six snaps on Sunday.
Beat the streaks?
Another game, another set of ignominious streaks the Giants are confronting. The Giants’ NFC East losing streak reached seven games with the Week 1 loss to the Commanders.
That nearly matches the Giants’ eight-game losing streak against the Cowboys. Dallas has won 15 of the past 16 matchups between the rivals. The Giants have lost eight straight games in Dallas. The Giants have lost 13 straight games started by Prescott in the series.
Prediction
Cowboys 23, Giants 16. It’s wild to have a must-win game in Week 2, but that’s what the Giant are facing. If they’re 0-2 heading into their prime-time home opener against the Chiefs, disgruntled fans will be firing up the banner-toting planes. This is a winnable game, but it’s impossible to pick the Giants coming off that showing in the opener against their longtime tormentors.
(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
Source link
