By Jeff Knapp
Thursday night, the New York Giants (0-1) traveled to Landover, Maryland, to take on the Washington Football Team (0-1). There were many questions going into this game. How was Saguon Barkley going to perform? How many touches was he going to get? How would the offensive line hold up against two premier defensive linemen in Montez Sweat and Chase Young? Was the Giants’ defensive front going to get pressure on Taylor Heinicke? All of those burning questions were no bigger than this one: How was Daniel Jones going to perform?
The game started out like a ball of fire for the Giants. They got Washington to punt the ball on their first two possessions and were able to go 79 yards on 11 plays on their first drive topped off by a Daniel Jones 6-yard TD run.
During this amazing back and forth game, the Giants were up by six with just over four minutes left. New York gave up the lead when Washington scored a touchdown in 17 seconds with about four minutes to go. With Big Blue down by one and just over two minutes left, James Bradberry came up with a fantastic interception at the Washington 25. Even with WFT using two of their timeouts, the Giants only chewed up 16 seconds on the clock and walked away with a field goal.
Washington was down by two with nine seconds left and went for a 48-yard field goal. The field goal was missed…WIDE RIGHT! Not so fast, Dexter Lawrence, who had just one tackle the entire game, was called for offsides. Now Washington tries for a 43-yard attempt, and the kick is successful. WFT won the game by one point, and that was truly heartbreaking for the G-Men.
New York had every opportunity to win the game. A holding penalty cost Daniel Jones a second rushing touchdown, and Darius Slayton dropped another beautiful pass in the end zone late in the game. Not saying it was easy, but that’s a catch an NFL receiver needs to make in that situation.
Good Notes from Thursday’s Matchup:
1) This was the best game Daniel Jones has played. 22/32 for 249 yards, one passing, and a rushing touchdown. He also ran for 95 yards.
2) Sterling Shepard was brilliant once again, catching 9 of his 10 targets and 95 yards.
3) Although the offensive line gave up four sacks, this was the best I’ve seen them play of late.
4) Graham Gano is Mr. Automatic
5) NO FUMBLES!
6) On defense, Blake Martinez is a tackling machine, and given the pressure they brought early in the game, this is very satisfying.
Bad Notes from Thursday’s Matchup:
1) Saquon Barkley, outside of his 41-yard run, only had another 16 yards in him and was only targeted three times out of the backfield. Hopefully, this doesn’t last, and he’s warming up to be what he can be. Troy Aikman pointed out during the broadcast that players coming off major surgery don’t feel back until the following season.
2) The defense had early pressure and then lost all of it after the first quarter. It seemed like Heinicke threw the ball to Terry McLaurin 175 times, although he caught 11 or his 14 targets for 107 yards and one touchdown. They also gave up big crucial plays throughout the night to Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic. Who combined for 162 total yards and a touchdown.
3) Penalties killed the Giants. Big Blue had a total of 11 penalties for 81 yards. There was a holding penalty that cost them an incredible touchdown run, two back-to-back false starts that possibly cost a chance at a 7-point lead, and the killer offsides call that allowed Dustin Hopkins to retry a game-winning field goal that he just missed.
New York needs to clean up its act and build on Daniel Jones’ confidence before next week’s home game against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Sports Insanity Network 