The Giants defeated the Washington professional football team 24-3 on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Here are five thoughts from the game.
1. Daniel Jones is a rookie quarterback.
Breaking news.
The rookie quarterback has talent and does certain things well. But, he’s still a rookie and that will include growing pains and mistakes.
He threw two interceptions on Sunday and fumbled twice in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As the quarterback he needs to value the football and understand that you can’t give away possessions.
The turnovers didn’t hurt the Giants in either game, but that is not a recipe for success moving forward.
On Sunday he was slow with his progressions, and on a Sterling Shepard deep cross he was late with the throw and got intercepted. His decision making process needs to be faster and it should get better with time.
He threw another pick in the first half into tight coverage. A poor throw by his admission postgame.
He narrowly missed throwing a third interception on a badly under thrown ball to Bennie Fowler on a deep post that Washington DB Josh Normal should have grabbed.
But it wasn’t all bad for Jones on Sunday.
His escapability remains a weapon for the Giants. Given the uneven play of the offensive line, he will need to rely on his legs the rest of the season.
In the third quarter he looked to be engulfed by the Washington defensive line, but was able to escape and scramble for a big gain.
𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓽#GiantsPride | #WASvsNYG pic.twitter.com/XJi0JWtZxm
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 29, 2019
Following the game Giants head coach Pat Shurmur talked about Jones’ mobility.
“Him moving around helped us out a ton on third down. We were 8 for 12 and a lot of that was the quarterback.”
2. Can we talk about Nate Solder?
The Giants starting left tackle looks a step slow this season and he wasn’t great last season. He was routinely beat off the edge with quick first steps.
The stat sheet says zero sacks given up by the Giants line and besides the delay of game penalty on the offense, they had a clean sheet.
But stats can be misleading.
Daniel Jones has above average mobility for an NFL quarterback. Just an average quarterback in terms of mobility would’ve been sacked at least three times on Sunday.
If Eli Manning were still the quarterback…
3. Saquon Barkley the soothsayer?
The Giants best player is out with an ankle injury, and for a guy that loves the game as much as he does you know being out is killing him.
He tweeted out a prediction prior to the game.
22 gonna go crazy today 😤
— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) September 29, 2019
#22 of course is Wayne Gallman. The backup running back and the starter now that Barkley is injured.
Gallman had 24 touches for 118 total yards on Sunday. The Clemson product ran hard and was fleet of foot with the ball in the open field.
“He stepped in with a heavy load today,” said Shurmur. “And did a pretty good job.”
4. The Washington professional football team decided to play Dwayne Haskins.
Jay Gruden said the season isn’t over yet when he was asked about starting his rookie quarterback. So, is the season over now?
It might be for Washington. They now sit at 0-4 and it is highly unlikely they get out of that hole.
From that perspective, start the kid.
But he was a deer in headlights on Sunday. He finished 9-17 for 107 yards and three interceptions, which could have easily been five.
He was high, wide, and late with some of his throws. Haskins also held the ball for way too long at times on Sunday. A quarterback’s internal clock has to start sending alarms to his central nervous system at 3.5 seconds. If not, disaster usually strikes.
His mechanics also looked a bit uneven. Haskins has a strong arm and he might rely on it a bit too much.
Teammate Josh Norman said during training camp that Haskins has a big arm and sometimes tries to rely on it to fire passes into his receivers. In the pros, defenders are much faster and can jump those throws, and the Giants were all over them.
Sorry, but I think that belongs to us 👀 #GiantsPride | #WASvsNYG pic.twitter.com/RkBiCoMBny
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 29, 2019
5. You are what your record says you are.
This was not a well played game on either side. Both teams combined for 17 penalties and eight turnovers.
But, the Giants are 2-2 after the first quarter of the season. Two weeks ago 0-4 looked likely. Now there is optimism.
To be fair, the Giants two wins have been against the Buccaneers on a missed field goal at the end of regulation and against the lowly Washington professional football team.
Not exactly the elite of the NFL.
However, a former two-time Super Bowl winning head coach that used to roam the sidelines around these parts once said, “you are what you’re record says you are.”
That’s 2-2 for these Giants. They play the Minnesota Vikings at home next Sunday.
Flip the page for Daniel Jones discussing the areas in his game that need improvement.