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That was embarrassing. Infuriating? Disgusting? Just flat-out awful. What a miserable joke. Different year, same bullshit. A garbage-time touchdown doesn't make up for the pitiful performance by the whole team.
Broncos 27, Giants 13
You're telling me a team that spent $80+ million dollars and the 20th overall pick on offensive players (not even on a decent offensive lineman) to score 13 points in the first game? 7 if you don't count the closeout run by Daniel Jones.
Are you actually kidding me? The coaching staff was a joke today. If John Mara doesn't wake up a take a look at what Dave Gettleman did and who is being employed, then this season is a waste of a year.
Key Takeaways
Daniel Jones - 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
Daniel Jones didn't have an awful game. He went 23-for-37 with 267 yards passing and a TD, plus 27 yards rushing on carries 6 and a TD. I'll take that any day of the week. His decision-making, however, killed the momentum and cost the game. When will he ever learn to hold onto the ball, let alone slide instead of the barrelling through? DJ averages 1.44 turnovers a game, and that does not win you football games. He leads the league in turnovers since entering in it, and from the looks of it, that stat won't be going away anytime soon.
Offensive Line needs to generate a run game
Andrew Thomas looked fine and Daniel Jones did have a pocket to pass. He only was sacked twice, and it was by Von Miller, so hey not bad. What was tough to watch was the lack of a run presence that the Giants O-Line provided. Coming off an ACL injury and getting a "snap count", I wasn't expecting Barkley to rush for hundreds of yards, but he had no opportunity to even attempt that. He ended with a mere 27 yards, and the offense as a whole rushed for 60 yards. This needs to be fixed ASAP.
Coaching Errors
Joe Judge didn't do his job well today. The personnel was off, the assignments were messy. It was just overall a bad football game. The icing on the cake that made anything he did irrelevant (unless a win), was throwing the challenge flag after a touchdown, which is already reviewable. That's embarrassing. The team did not capitalize on any opportunity in this match-up, thus resulting in a dominating loss.
How about Jason Garrett? He clearly is not a component offensive coordinator. He is terrible at calling plays and made the Giant's offense look minuscule. Why aren't we utilizing Saquon in the passing game? Why are we button hooking instead of sending the deep threats down the field? Why are we taking into account a two-TE system and creating mismatches? Why is Garrett still calling the shots?
Sterling Shepard, have yourself a game
The only bright spot on the offense this game. Eclipsing over 100 yards and scoring a touchdown, you can't ask for any more from the slot receiver. The remainder of the offense was unseen and drops were another key factor in why the team could not move the ball much further.
The defense made the Broncos look like Super Bowl contenders...
Teddy Bridgewater and the offense controlled this game entirely. Noah Fant exposed the middle of the field and Jerry Jeudy was carving it up before leaving with an ankle injury. The nail on the coffin was the 70-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon, which closed any opportunity of a comeback.
Logan Ryan - Blake Martinez - James Bradberry - Jabrill Peppers - Leonard Williams all combined for 23 tackles, which just isn't enough from that core. The pass rush needs to be better, especially the linebackers, period. Two sacks are not enough for this defense, but shoutout to the Georgia Bulldogs, Azeez Ojulari, for collecting his first. The coverage was so spotty too. The fumble recovery was clutch, but it ultimately didn't change the outcome of the game.
Fantasy Points
QB Daniel Jones: 267 yards, TD. 27 yards rushing, TD, 1 fumble | 21.38 points
RB Saqoun Barkley: 10 carries, 26 yards rushing. 1 rec. 1 yard | 3.7 points
WR Sterling Shepard: 7 rec. 113 yards, TD | 24.3 points
WR Darius Slayton: 3 rec. 65 yards | 9.5 points
WR Kenny Golladay: 4 rec. 64 yards | 10.4 points
TE Kyle Rudolph: 2 rec. 8 yards | 2.8 points
Defense + Special Teams: 1 FR, 2 Sack, 27 points allowed | 1 point
K Graham Gano: 1/1 xp | 1 point
Giants +3 X
Giants Moneyline X
NYG/DEN Under 41.5 ✓
Sterling Shepard Over 48.5 receiving yards ✓
Daniel Jones Over 20.5 rushing yards ✓
Saquon Barkley Over 55.5 rushing yards X
Next Game
Giants head to Washington for Thursday Night Football. Ryan Fitzpatrick left the first game early with a hip injury. Reports are saying he has a hip subluxation and will miss multiple weeks. It's safe to say that Taylor Heinicke will be the QB for the game.
The WFT front-seven is going to be a tough one to stop, so will definitely need Andrew Thomas and Co. to stand up. The defense should do fine slowing down Terry Mclaurin and Antonio Gibson. In my opinion, NFC East matchups are must-wins and mean so much more down the stretch. If the Giants clean up some of the mistakes from this week, I expect them to take control of this matchup. FYI Daniel Jones is 4-0 verse Washington with a passer rating of 100 and throwing for 901 yards, 8 TDs, and 3 INTs.
Cover Photo: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post