Feels fitting amongst the pair losses this weekend
They say hope springs eternal when a new season begins. Usually that’s true and we end up riding the anticipation of new games to watch. Ideally of course that hope is not dashed after just one game, but it feels that way in one case this week, and the other didn’t feel much more encouraging. I’ll be honest, I’m sick and tired of writing about losses on the gridiron in this town, and I’m hoping that it’s not a recurring theme again this season. Let’s start with the Giants who got hammered by the Vikings in the opener.
Giants
I told you in the season preview that the Giants had a path to winning games this season. Was it a difficult needle to thread? Yes. But it wasn’t impossible if the things we saw in 2022 could re-appear. If this unit could be organized, well prepared and gritty it wasn’t impossible that they could get it going. But, through one game we saw absolutely none of that.
In that first game, the Montreal Canadiens, or rather the Giants came out looking to play an inspired game in the presence of franchise icons, as they celebrated their 100th season. On the first possession of the game their defense actually showed some fire as they forced a turnover. But the offense couldn’t move the ball, even in a short field (a sign of things to come), and then the game got away from them. Those offensive struggles were personified by the play of their QB en route to a 28-6 loss.
Number eight was, to put it bluntly, absolutely horrendous against Minnesota, going 22/42 for 186 yards and two INT’s. Daniel Jones decision making has never been the best, but this performance in particular felt like a low point. Sure Malik Nabers flashed in his debut, but Jones was unable to accentuate his talents. The rest of the weapons weren’t utilized much better and play calling was atrocious. This was a top to bottom failure on offense and it’s frankly hard to see how it gets better from here.
The Giants defense didn’t fair any better, struggling against Sam Darnold of all people. I have a lot of love for Darnold since his college days, but this defense, especially with its big name front line, should have made his life more difficult. After an early interception, number 14 went 19/24 for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Thibedoux and Burns weren’t heard from at all and new Vikings back Aaron Jones ran by Dexter Lawerence with 14 carries for 94 yards and a score. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison torched the secondary and things just got worse and worse. The aforementioned Thibedoux and Lawrence decided to pour gasoline on the fire postgame by attacking the fan base and dodging questions, always sound logic after you make fools of yourselves at home.
The coach of course didn’t perform any better in the postgame, saying that the Giants had a “great week” of practice and that they were “prepared.” They certainly didn’t play like it and now Daboll, who was already on the ropes a bit, needs to rally this group in spite of its seemingly losing culture. They enter week two in what feels like a “must win” scenario against a Commanders team they have owned for years. That needs to continue before they enter the real teeth of this schedule. They’ve already wasted one winnable game, now they need to find away not do it again.
Jets
Meanwhile across the country on Monday night, the Jets took on the 49ers to conclude week one. Unlike the Giants, this 32-19 loss wasn’t without some positives. We’ll get to those in a bit but let’s start with the negatives from a game where gang green actually got off to a decent start. Early on both sides of the ball were clicking and it felt like they’d be able to give the Niners trouble, especially with Christian McCaffrey out of the lineup.
That early momentum was keyed by an offense that moved the chains thanks to Breece Hall finding some room to run, which opened up the air attack for Aaron Rodgers. Number eight made some big throws to Garrett Wilson, which was enough to tee up a Hall touchdown for the lead. But then things got away as the run game faded and Rodgers protection broke down a bit. This was made worse by Aaron Rodgers looking physically uneasy, and somewhat incapable of escaping pressure or extending plays. That is to be expected from a 40 year old coming off an ACL injury, but it was still a bit unnerving. While he made up for it with his arm as the night went on, Rodgers will hopefully improve in the physical department.
If you thought the offense was underwhelming, the defense was far worse. At least for one week, last year’s physical front seven that stuffed the run was nowhere to be found as the Jets were bullied up front most of the night. The Niners offensive line controlled the trenches and Jets secondary struggled to cover Deebo Samuel and company, as they picked apart the Jets zone coverage. They struggled to get pressure on Brock Purdy and looked like they missed last year’s departures in that area and things may only get better if they sign defensive hold out Hassan Reddick.
Of course an adjustment or two would be nice but I’m not entirely sure the man responsible for those can fully execute them. As I said in the season preview, Robert Saleh and his staff worry me, and as per usual they looked out coached by the Niners staff, one familiar with Saleh and his tendencies. Saleh never moved beyond the confused expression you see above on Monday night and handed out platitudes postgame, in a spot where challenging this group probably made sense. For a team that prides itself on being tough, especially on defense, that was far too soft to allow them to skate on.
There were enough positives like Rodgers arm looking intact and the offensive line looking improved, to move forward without losing belief. Perhaps the best news of all is that the Jets won’t face a team as good as the Niners the rest of the year. Saleh has an opportunity to rally his team for a soft landing this week in Nashville against the reeling Titans. If they play even remotely well they’ll be 1-1 coming home for an even softer landing against the Patriots and Broncos, before a trip to London to face Minnesota. Anything less than winning three of the next four would be pretty concerning.
You can find Nick on Twitter @YNWA9623, Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our fall of podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. The store is live and Little Ed has been in the lab cooking up some can’t miss items for you fans. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!
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