All it took to completely demolish any sort of optimism surrounding the New York Giants 2024 season was for the team to actually hit the field and play a few competitive snaps.
Overreactions be damned, but it certainly feels like this season is already over after Big Blue was beaten down in a big way, 28-6, by a Minnesota Vikings team that should find itself in the middle of the NFL pack.
Daniel Jones, general manager Joe Schoen, and head coach Brian Daboll could not have conjured up a worse start for the starting quarterback in their worst nightmares.
In what is supposed to be his final season to prove to management that he can be the franchise quarterback of the future — the Giants control an opt-out in his four-year deal after this season — Jones looked worthy of benching against the Vikings.
He completed just 22-of-42 passes for 186 yards, zero touchdowns, and two dreadful interceptions to suck all of the air out of MetLife Stadium.
Down 21-3 in the third quarter and desperate for any sort of momentum, the Giants’ defense came up with a rare stop of Sam Darnold, only for Jones to throw a pick-six to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel on the very next play.
The play call was a bubble screen to Wan’Dale Robinson, but Jones did not see the unevaded Viking streaking directly into his passing lane. Van Ginkel made an impressive snag from close range and ran it back 17 yards for the score.
Following a Giants interception in the fourth quarter, Jones drove his team down to the 11-yard line but, on a 4th-&-8, threw into triple coverage. As predictable as ever, it was picked off by Vikings defensive back Harrison Smith.
That was one of his worst throws on an afternoon littered with bad ones. Jones often missed simple completions where he overthrew running backs on screen passes or underthrew receivers in the middle of the field. He looked slow to recognize initial reads — most of his dropbacks devolved into him scrambling out of the pocket.
Increased time with the ball put more pressure on New York’s rebuilt offensive line, who looked considerably better than last season but were still saddled with five sacks due to Jones’ inability to get rid of it. Per Next Gen Stats, Jones’ 2.82 seconds of time to throw ranked 12th-most out of 30 quarterbacks.
What this is quickly boiling down to is that Jones cannot spark this offense. He has not thrown a touchdown in each of his last five games dating back to last season. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Giants have been held to 20 points or fewer in six of the seven games he started under center.
Even with an uncertain supporting cast, franchise quarterbacks do better than that.
