It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for another New York football recap. If you haven’t realized by now this features title is a reference to Bruce Springsteens Rosalita, felt like a natural fit since the Jets and Giants play “somewhere in the swamps of Jersey.” Full disclosure, I was at a wedding Sunday (congrats Sam and Alicia) and didn’t see either game live, so I had to go back and “review the tape.” While checking the scores I was worried I wouldn’t have a victory to recap for either team, at least until I saw the Giants rallied to win late. Stick around for some thoughts on the rest of the league at the end, but let’s start with Big Blue’s win in Arizona.

Giants

Simply put this was an absolutely massive comeback win for the Giants. An 0-2 start with a Thursday night trip to San Francisco would have been a death sentence for this season. While the win was great, they did it the hard way, which is still cause for concern. The lackluster Cardinals deserve some credit for how they have competed through two games, the Giants should never have trailed this team, especially by three scores.

Many of the issues that plagued them against the Cowboys in week one carried over to week two. Losing in the trenches on both sides of the ball, sloppy mistakes, poor tackling, and missed assignments are things we expect to say about the Cardinals, not the G-Men. Entering the season there was hope the Giants respective lines had improved, but through two games they have yielded 10 sacks without recording one of their own. Nine penalties won’t cut it either against any team, let alone Arizona, so there remains a lot to clean up.

This game swung as the second half began, with the Giants trailing 20-0. The offense, found a spark from rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt. The former Volunteer’s 58 yard reception would set up an eventual Daniel Jones 14 yard TD run to get the Giants on the board for the first time this campaign. It would be nice to see Hyatt stay involved going forward, as he adds another dimension to this offense. While the defense did surrender another score, the Giants offense now had life and started to take over from there, behind an o-line that found their legs a bit. A pair of Saquon Barkley touchdowns would draw them to win 28-21, which set up the game tying strike from Jones to Isiah Hodgins.

Tied at 28 Jones and company went on another clutch drive, one led by Jones and Barkley. Graham Gano drilled the game winner from 34 yards out to complete the comeback. While the elation of the win was somewhat muted by Saquon Barkley’s injury, this one lifted a weight off the Giants shoulders. They showed the heart and competitive spirit that made them so likable a year ago. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and there is much to improve upon, but they don’t ask how, they ask if.

Barkley’s aforementioned injury will sideline him for at least two weeks, a lucky break for the Giants as it could have been worse. With a short week coming up, they will go forward with Matt Breida as the feature back. I’m never one to say a team should give up on a game, but it’s hard to imagine a victory over the 49ers, even with Barkley, so it’s not the end of the world that he misses out. They will have 11 days off following the Niners game so he could return for their week four tilt with Seattle.

With all that said, a blowout loss by the bay shouldn’t be tolerated either. If the Giants want to take the next step, they need to prove they can compete with the elite teams. They failed in that regard in week one, but they’ll get another bite at the apple this week. If they can’t get the offensive and defensive lines sorted out in a hurry, Thursday could be a long night. The rally against Arizona needs to lead to a solid performance in SF, one the Giants can build on to hopefully be 2-2 after the home game against Seahawks.

Jets

Well that wasn’t the follow up we were all hoping for. The Jets took an inspiring win, with a rallying cry of “do it for Aaron” and replaced it with a rather poor performance. This team has to become very formulaic in their approach to winning, Sunday was nowhere close to that formula. They played poorly on the field and coached just as poorly off it.

The overall coaching staff was an area of concern preseason and they showed why with their approach against Dallas. With the talent on Gang Green’s defense and no Rodgers under center, this needs to become a run first offense. While I understand they fell behind, the Jets stable of running backs cannot get 10 total carries in any game, let alone one against the Cowboys pass rush. Zach Wilson simply isn’t accurate enough to have 27 attempts in this offense, especially given the poor pass protection. Running the ball is a mindset, you have to stick with it, what doesn’t work early can open up later. Nathanial Hackett, has to be much better calling the plays…the question remains, is he capable of improving?

As for Wilson himself, his aforementioned inaccuracy was on full display, going 12 for 27 for 170 yards with three interceptions in the 30-10 loss. It remains pretty clear that number two isn’t ready to play the position in the league, frankly, he may never be. Inefficient performances like the one in Dallas will hold this team back, much like they did last season. Wilson can hit on big plays, he always could, given his raw tools, something he showed once again with his TD strike to Garrett Wilson.

But it’s avoiding big mistakes that cost him his job before and will cost him again. This Jet team needs someone under center who can act like a point guard, efficiently running the offense and distributing the ball to the right place. That may sound overly simple, but a little game management would go a long way here. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, just keep things on schedule. I feel they already made a mistake by not bringing someone in prior to the Cowboy game as another option. Sure, that person wouldn’t have played Sunday in Texas, but they could learn the offense and give Saleh someone to turn to sooner rather than later.

It’s hard to get on the Jet defense, but this week was well below standards for them. The 85’ Bears defense, the unit the current Jets compared themselves to, wouldn’t get gashed like this. To quote Mike Francesa, “if this defense wants to talk the talk, they have to walk the walk.” Winning without Rodgers will take an extra big play a week on defense and or special teams. They got it from Xavier Gipson week one, they didn’t get it from Sauce Gardner when he dropped a sure pick six when the game was still close in week two.

Across the board, this was just nowhere near good enough from the Jets. Give Dallas credit, they’re very good in all phases, they feature a ton of talent, including Micah Parsons, who may be best player in the sport. I didn’t expect a win in Jerry World, but to hardly show up was extremely disappointing. The best remedy for this would be a home win in week three against long time nemesis Bill Belichick and the Patriots. New England has suffered two tough loses, but also hasn’t looked explosive on offense at all, something that bodes well for the Jets in this matchup. Make this an ugly defensive affair, avoid turnovers and mental errors, and you should win this game. No more excuses about injuries, officials, and self pity. Go get it done!

Around the League

NFC South Supremacy?: Despite being the butt of many an off-season joke, the NFC South now boasts three 2-0 teams. The Saints are undefeated as expected but the upstart Falcons and surprising Buc’s have made noise with Baker Mayfield leading the charge. Keep an eye on Atlanta and Tampa, they may be in the race after all.

NFC Big 3: Speaking of meeting expectations, the 49ers, Cowboys, and Eagles are off to fast starts, as expected. While they each have some kinks to work out, it seems they will be unopposed in the conference yet again.

Bengals Bust: If you’ve followed my picks, you won’t be surprised to learn my mush powers extended to the Bengals, my preseason Super Bowl champ. They look lost at 0-2 and Joe Burrow is playing through injury. The season is on the brink this Monday at home against the Rams

Only Bait In Town: That’s just what the rest of the AFC may be against the Dolphins. Tua and the Fins are 2-0 with Waddle to the left and Tyreek to the right. It may be chow time in South Beach (RIP Jimmy Buffet).

We’ll be back with The Week in Review on Friday and a look ahead to an epic Saturday in college football. Also be on the lookout hockey fans, my NHL and New York Ranger previews are on the way! Follow me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the blog by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Special thanks to our video department (my friend Mike) who helped provide some of the content this week. Let me know what you think of the Jets, Giants and the NFL at large.