So much for the manageable early portion of the New York Giants’ 2024 schedule.
After an embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, Big Blue squandered a fourth-quarter lead to the Washington Commanders — who did not find the end zone one on Sunday — as roster construction and an ill-timed dropped pass relegated head coach Brian Daboll’s men to a second-straight loss to begin the new year.
Here are three takeaways from the 21-18 loss:
3 Giants takeaways from Week 2 loss to Commanders
Coaching malpractice: Kicker Graham Gano made his way on the injury list leading up to Week 2 with a groin issue, yet Daboll and the Giants went full steam ahead with the 37-year-old veteran as their only kicker against the Commanders.
After the first play, he was done for the day after suffering a hamstring injury, leaving punter Jamie Gillam to serve as the interim kicker.
Gillam missed an extra point after the Giants’ first touchdown, prompting Daboll to stay away from the kicking game completely. They failed a pair of two-point conversions and on 4th-&-4 from the Commanders’ 22-yard line with 2:04 to go in the game while tied up at 18 apiece, Daboll opted to go for it instead of going for what would have been guaranteed points if a competent kicker was available.
A backup would have provided just that rather than New York squandering six potential points which would have won the game.
Instead, Daniel Jones’ pass bounced through the hands of Malik Nabers, the Giants turned it over on downs, and the Commanders boogied 65 yards downfield in the two-minute drill to set up Austin Seibert’s seventh field goal of the day — a 30-yard game-winner as time expired.
Connection building: Sunday did provide the first glimpse of how good a connection between Jones and Nabers could be, at least for this season.
Of Jones’ 16 completions, 10 of them went to Nabers for 127 yards and a touchdown — his first in the NFL.
An outing like that quickly dispels the concerns after Week 1 when Jones targeted Nabers just seven times. Against the Commanders, the No. 6 pick out of LSU was targeted 18 times — 67% of Jones’ attempts on the afternoon.
The deep ball is still a work in progress between the two as Jones overthrew his new receiver multiple times. However, Nabers’ route-running was on full display as he found the soft spots in Washington’s zone to provide a steady target for Jones in the short and mid-range game.
Unfortunately, his first big game will be remembered for that vital fourth-down drop late in the game that allowed Washington to drive down for the game-winner.
Defensive concerns: Shane Bowen’s start as Giants defensive coordinator is leaving plenty to be desired.
Not only was his defense picked apart by Sam Darnold in Week 1, but Bowen’s unit allowed Washington to boss possession and march up and down the field at will — though the Giants did dig deep in the red zone to keep the Commanders out of the end zone each of the six times they were inside the 20-yard line.
Still, Jayden Daniels was the second straight quarterback to have an efficient week against New York’s secondary, completing 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards.
It was the ground game, however, which the Giants could not stop. Brian Robinson Jr. went off for 133 yards while Daniels and Austin Ekeler combined for another 82 — a whopping 215 rushing yards in total.
Robinson averaged nearly eight yards per carry (7.8), allowing Washington to hold the ball for 15 minutes more than the Giants did.
