By Mike Basile, @MikeyFresh04
The Giants were completely outclassed Monday night in Tampa. The Buccs beat down Big Blue to the tune of 30-10 and Daniel Jones had his worst game of the season. He completed 23 passes on 38 attempts for 167 yards. 4.4 yards per attempt is pathetic in the 2021 NFL. He had 1 TD and 2 awful interceptions for a 57.7 QB rating. He only ran 3 times for 10 yards. The national audience watched him fall to 0-8 in primetime games. I am patient with QBs, always defended Eli, and I’ve cut DJ some slack. But if performances like this one show up again, he won’t have to worry about being a starting QB anymore.
This was the week where the excuses were gone. Star LT Andrew Thomas, WRs Kenny Golladay, and Kadarius Toney, and RB Saquon Barkley were all on the field. The offense had an extra week of preparation with the bye week and the Gmen needed a big effort from their QB in this one.
OLD HABITS:
Jones has played well at times this season, and we have applauded him for his toughness and playmaking ability despite missing several pieces on his side of the football. I mentioned just a few weeks ago How Jones was improving his post-snap progressions by getting to his 2nd and 3rd targets while manipulating the defense with his eyes. In this game, he stared down Toney on the opening drive and failed to see Kenny Golladay crossing through the middle of the endzone. In Tampa he did not stand tall under pressure in the pocket, it seemed like he panicked. The turnovers are back too. He threw 2 interceptions that are inexcusable for any QB at any level. He never looked right and contributed to the NYG problems.
WHAT IS NEXT?
I understand that the line has struggled. After all, Will Hernandez sealed his fate by committing penalties and getting dominated all game. Realistically, Andrew Thomas is the only sure thing. You could easily make the case that this team needs 3-4 new starters on the OL. Jason Garrett is finally gone, so moving forward that excuse no longer works either. Trust me, it’s obvious that Garrett has held back this team and hindered DJ’s development. But Jones is expected to be a franchise QB and overcome some of the deficiencies around him. Now there are 7 games left for Jones to show whoever the GM will be next year that he deserves to be the starter next season.
I don’t believe there are any QBs that are draft-worthy to replace Jones, but the Giants better be ready to speak to Seattle about Russell Wilson. First it was Garrett, and pretty soon the majority of the fan base will want Jones gone also. He can quickly change that though. The glimpses that DJ has shown need to stop being ‘glimpses’ and start being consistent performances down the stretch. He can’t afford to look as lost as he did in this one. Let’s see how he responds.