New York Giants Playing in a Bear Market

From the desk: DO IT FOR THE DUKE

WEEK THREE

Cowboys  23

GIANTS    16

FINAL

The Giants essentially played the same game for a third consecutive week.  Although they escaped with a victory in their first two games - outscoring their opponents by a mere four points - reality finally caught up with them in week three.

Daniel Jones got off to a decent start with a string of completions.  But the opening drive stalled, punctuated by a blocked field goal attempt.  The Giants drove 51 yards on 14 plays on their next possession before stalling again.  This time Graham Gano kicked the pigskin through for three points.

And there's the rub ...

For a third consecutive week, Gano and the Giant defense have kept the team in the game and in a position to win.  

I saw a little bit of bend don't break.  The defense limited the Cowboys to field goals in the first and second quarter as the Giants entered the half trailing by only three.  Gano would kick two more field goals, and Saquon Barkley rushed for a touchdown.  

Did the defense give that TD right back?  Sure they did.  In fact, Ezekiel Elliot rushed for 73 yards, and Tony Pollard romped for another 105 yards on 13 carries.  Did the defense make Cooper Rush look good?  Sure they did.  The guys up front recorded nary a sack and just two QB hits all game.

Meanwhile, Daniel Jones got sacked five times and endured a dozen more QB hits.  The Giant offensive line has now yielded 13 quarterback sacks in three games.  Jones also lost his leading wide receiver, Sterling Shepard.  

Meanwhile, some things remain unchanged; I don't want my quarterback accounting for 79 of 167 ground yards.  Otherwise, Jones finished 20/37 for 196 yards with an interception.  Playing under massive duress, he has yet to surpass 200 yards passing through three games and has as many turnovers as touchdown passes.

Said another way, Saquon Barkley and Graham Gano cannot carry this team alone, and after three games, Daniel Jones is not trending well.

Cooper Rush, who was making his third career start in only his 13th career game, outplayed Daniel Jones.  

Or is the offensive line still this team's greatest weakness?

The Bears will supply a short-term answer.

New York Giants Tame Panthers in Home Opener

From the desk: DO IT FOR THE DUKE

GIANTS WIN HOME OPENER

WEEK TWO

Panthers  16

GIANTS    19

FINAL

Defense Cages Panthers; Graham Gano Takes Care of the Rest

Two recovered turnovers started the game, and the Giant offense scored six points.  

The first fumble occurred during the opening kickoff to Carolina and was recovered by the Giants at the Panther 22-yard line.  On their first possession, the offense feebly netted four yards on three plays, then settled for a field goal, albeit for an opportune lead.  

Six plays into Carolina's next possession, Andoreé Jackson recovered a Robbie Anderson fumble at Carolina's 40-yard line.  One must think the ensuing drive was geared at Daniel Jones taking advantage of Carolina's mistake (lest we forget, this season will likely determine his NYG future).  Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka dialed up three initial pass plays for Jones, which only netted nine yards.  

This is when Coach Daboll again demonstrated his promised aggressiveness.  Jones successfully scrambled around the edge on fourth and one to pick up the first down.  Jones was then called upon to execute six of the next eight plays and got the Giants to the Carolina eight-yard line before the offense again sputtered.  Graham Gano then kicked his second field goal to give the Giants a 6-0 first-quarter lead.

Big Blue did not score in the second quarter, while the Panthers managed a pair of field goals to end the first half tied at six.

Daniel Jones indeed outplayed Baker Mayfield in the second half.  Neither quarterback threw an interception, and each connected for third-quarter scores.  After the Giants opened the second half with a three and out, Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to put the Panthers ahead.  Big Blue answered right back, as Daniel Jones connected with Daniel Bellinger on a 16-yard score.  But whereas Mayfield completed 48.2% of his attempts for 145 yards, Daniel Jones completed 64.7% for 176 yards.  

Jones was also sacked three times which makes eight sacks in two weeks.  But the Panthers still got another nine QB hits on Jones, and for now, any Giant offensive lineman not named Andrew Thomas is a prime reason.

As such, there was not as much daylight to be found up front as in week one.  Saquon Barkley does what he does and often creates his own daylight.  But the rushing consistency needed weekly will be regulated by the big guys up front.  Barkley rushed 21 times for 72 yards.  Take away his long of 16 yards; the math says he rushed 20 times for 56 yards with another 16 yards receiving for 88 overall yards.

The undisputed offensive star of the game was kicker Graham Gano who was 4 for 4 in FG attempts, including the decisive kick from 56-yards out with 3:34 left in regulation.

On Carolina's next possession, the Giants defense held the Panthers to twelve yards on four plays, forcing them to punt and effectively secure the victory.

Much of this game was reminiscent of week one against Tennessee, wherein the offensive performance lagged behind that of the defense (and their competition).  And like in week one, the defense remained stalwart throughout the contest while the offense experienced a second-half surge.

Playing without Dak Prescott, the Cowboys have scored a mere 23 points through two games.  Meanwhile, Dallas and the Giants have yielded 36 points each.  Therefore, I'm looking forward to a defensive struggle and for Daniel Jones to give us something to rave about come Tuesday morning.