First, the good news. Daniel Jones had his best start as a Giant. The beleaguered quarterback threw for 249 yards and a touchdown; he also ran for 95 yards and a touchdown. And he would've had another running TD had C.J. Board not been called for holding.
More good news: the offensive line also had its best day in years. Going up against arguably the best defensive front seven in the NFL, Jones had plenty of time in the pocket to hit his receivers. Frankly, I was stunned at how little pressure Jones got during most of the game. I haven't seen a Giants offensive line protect this well in a decade.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news.
The defense, which was supposed to be the strength of this team, was about as tough as a Mister Softie ice cream cone. Between the lack of a genuine pass rush and a porous secondary that played way too far back, Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who a year ago was in the XFL, looked more like Tom Brady than a backup. Receiver Terry McLaurin ate cornerback James Bradberry alive for 11 catches and 107 yards. The lone exception was when Bradberry jumped a poorly run route by McLaurin and intercepted a pass deep in Washington territory to set up what should've been the winning field goal.
But that was not where this game was lost. As is typical in most Giants games, mistakes proved to be the difference. I'll do my best to catalogue them.
There was the above-mentioned holding penalty against Board that nullified a 58-yard touchdown run by Jones. Instead of being up 14-7, the Giants had to settle for a field goal that put them ahead 10-7.
But before that, there was the costly false start and the sack on the second possession that took the Giants out of field goal range. If your counting, that's seven points so far.
And then there was play that could've iced the game. With the Giants up 23-20, Darius Slayton was all alone in the Washington secondary sprinting towards the end zone. Jones threw a perfect pass to him. All he had to do was catch it and his team would've been up by ten with just over 6 minutes left. Instead, the ball bounced off his fingers and landed in the end zone. The Giants settled for another field goal, making the score 26-20. That's eleven points that got away.
Even with all that, the Giants still could've won this game. That's because kicker Dustin Hopkins, with five seconds left and his team trailing by two, did his best impersonation of Scott Norwood and kicked what should've been a game-winning 48-yard field goal wide right. Game over. Giants win, right?
Wrong!
Dexter Lawrence, who was lined up over the center, jumped offsides, thus giving Hopkins a shot at redemption. And unlike the Giants, when presented with a second chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, Hopkins didn't blow it. He nailed it as time expired, and for the fifth year in a row, the Giants start the season 0-2.
It's getting a little tiresome to keep saying this. But sine its last Super Bowl win in 2011, this franchise, save for the 2016 season, has been one of the worst in the NFL. It constantly finds new ways to lose. Last night was particularly tragic because for much of the game, the Giants were clearly the better team on the field. Jones looked great, the offensive line did its job, Saquon Barkley had a nice run for 41 yards, and kicker Graham Gano nailed five field goals. This team deserved a better fate than the one the football gods ordained for it.
Since his arrival in New York, Joe Judge has promised Giants fans that this team would be a blue-collar team that will "punch you in the nose for 60 minutes." Well, last week they laid an egg and last night they shot themselves in the foot. The simple truth is there are still way too many careless mistakes that are being made at critical junctures. The irony of last night's mistake was that it occurred on special teams, Judge's last coaching job with the Patriots.
Is the season over? A lot depends on what happens next Sunday against the Falcons at MetLife. Atlanta is one of the worst teams in the league, so the Giants should be 1-2 after three weeks. Unfortunately, they go on the road to New Orleans to play the Saints in week four. So, 1-3. The frustrating thing is that Denver and Washington were winnable games that got away. In a 17 game schedule, games like that don't grow on trees.
The bottom line is this: until Judge gets this team to play a full 60 minutes of mistake-free football, any chance of winning a division title will continue to remain elusive. It's on him to right this ship and to hold his players accountable. As I wrote in my last piece, the jury is still out on whether he is the best coach to lead this franchise.
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