Monday Morning Java with Jones: Week 8
By Michael J Basile, @MdoublejB
The Giants are 2-6 after a 4th straight loss. The coaches decided to improve a bit from a 17-0 deficit last week so after the first quarter in Detroit against the Lions this week, they were only down 14-0.
THE DIGITS:
Daniel Jones was one of the bright spots, going 28-41 for 322 yards and 4 TDs. Jones went 7 out of 12 on 3rd down conversions.
Major Improvement.
AREAS TO IMPROVE:
Shoker…Jones fumbled again. It was a tough one as he got hit on a swing pass to Saquon Barkley; however…it’s becoming chronic. The pass fell laterally to the ground and former Giant Devon Kennard picked it off the turf for a 13 yard TD return. Jones fumbled later in the game as well but fortunately, he fell right back on top of the ball. He will quickly be labeled a “fumbler” and Defenses around the league will be licking their chops. Unless Shula and Shurmur decide to do something…expect it to get worse.
On the very next possession, he telegraphed an out breaking pass that should’ve been picked off, yet he got away with it. These were actually the only mistakes of the day for Jones.
DANNY DIMES TERRITORY:
The rookies had it working: Jones and wideout Darius Slayton connected onto two beautiful touchdown passes, one down the ride sideline, the other the right side of the field. These were 2 possessions after the Jones fumble, and coming off of a Lions touchdown that made it 14-0; Jones has shown time and time again in his young career the ability to shake off a bad play and come back in a big way for Big Blue.
The short and intermediate routes were accurate for Jones, specifically to Golden Tate and Barkley. Each had 10 targets and 8 completions.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Jones looked comfortable and the line definitely protected a lot better this week than the 8 sack performance against the Cardinals a week ago. Having Barkley carry 19 times was a big help to take the load off of Jones, and now that Barkley seems to have the ankle injury in the rearview mirror I’d expect Pat Shurmur to give him 20+ touches moving forward.
Jones and the GMen will host the Dallas Cowboys next Monday night at MetLife. They will try to even up the season series from their season-opening loss in Dallas.