N.Y. Giants: Daniel Jones Sacked by the Sophomore Jinx

From the desk: DO IT FOR THE DUKE

One Small Step Forward for the Rookie; 

One Giant Leap Backwards For Danny Dimes

With Daniel Jones recovering from a strained hamstring and foot sprain, Sunday's game was essentially a case study in his quarterbacking abilities from the pocket.  It wasn't necessarily his worst day at the office, depending on your point of view.  Jones was 24/41 (58.5%) for 252 yards, with one touchdown (Sterling Shepard), no interceptions, and no fumbles.  But he was sacked six times by the Baltimore Ravens while clearly playing on compromised legs.

As a rookie, Daniel Jones played in thirteen games and started twelve.  His performance was promising, throwing for 3,027 yards, with 24 touchdowns.  Although, his turnovers, twelve interceptions, and twelve fumbles were problematic.

Daniel's SOPHOMORE season has JINX graffitied all over it.  Due to injury, Jones is now at the thirteen-game mark of his season but is scheduled to end up benefiting from two more starts over last year.  This, in turn, brings into question the measure of his development and/or improvement.  On the one hand, Jones has to date thrown fewer interceptions and fumbled less than last year.  On the other hand, Daniel has thrown fifteen fewer touchdown passes.  

Then, there's the bright side; after all, the sun shines on a dog's posterior at least once a day.  If there is a team that allows opposing quarterbacks time and space to pad their stats, it's the Dallas Cowboys.  With one last game left in the season, Jones is still 36 pass attempts, 21 completions, and 313 yards away from merely matching last year's totals.  He'll need to at least complete 59% of his attempts this coming Sunday.  That reasonable to ask.  But the real problem is expecting Jones to do something he has yet to accomplish all season.  After passing for 300 yards in five games as a rookie, he is yet to register a single 300-yard game during this campaign.   

Sunday's 252-yard effort against the Ravens was actually his third-highest output of the season.  His second-best game was a 256-yard effort in his eighth start against Tampa, and his top effort came way back in week one when he threw for 279 yards against the Steelers.

Insofar as Daniel Jones (the passer) is concerned, it goes without saying he is behind last year's pace.  The best he can achieve this coming Sunday is avoiding a numerical regression.  However, there's likely nothing he can do in this last game that will stem the tide of off-season criticism heading his way regarding his actual regression in the pocket.  Last season he completed 61.9% of his attempts; this year he is completing a marginally improved 62.2% of his attempts.  His QB rating has so far plummeted from 87.7 last season to 78.9 this year.

Jones skews the overall offensive numbers as well.  This last game against the Ravens was only the fourth time this season Jones did not factor in the running game.  However, in nine other starts this season, Jones accounted for 44.2% of the Giants' rushing yardage.  

So, are we being led to believe the Giants only win when Daniel Jones is off and running?

This is not a viable system for a team that still lacks identity.

In both victory and defeat, Daniel Jones' ability to scamper has also diverted attention away from the deficiencies, inefficiencies, and collective ineffectiveness of this wide receiver corp.  The lack of a legitimate blocking/receiving tight end is also handcuffing this offense.  It's no wonder it took Wayne Garrett so long to figure out his personnel.

  

Look around the league; see what rookie, second, and third-year quarterbacks are doing.  Then compare and contrast them with Dave Brown ... sorry Daniel Jones' performance.  Sure other quarterbacks are running around like their hair is on fire.  But they're getting it done in the pocket too.

And, yes, by the sophomore jinx I believe I'm being kind.