The Giants have never been 0-2 under Brian Daboll, until now. They were 2-0 and flying high in 2022 and 1-1 after a rousing comeback in Arizona in 2023. So, this represents a low point as far as early-season difficulties for Daboll and the Giants. They had no business beating the Vikings in the opener and no business losing to the Commanders in Week 2. But here they are.
It is a rare twist to the narrative that the Giants are coming off a loss — 21-18 to the Commanders at Northwest Stadium — and there is no noise about how horrid Daniel Jones played. He put in a winning performance — not spectacular, but good enough — and was let down by a defense that allowed seven field goals on seven series and by a kicking game that absurdly was removed from the equation after Graham Gano went down with a hamstring injury on the opening kickoff.
There are no good losses but there are particularly bad ones. This was one of the bad ones. Here we go:
— Let’s get this out of the way right away. Most teams, if they lose their kicker on the first play, will not be able to function normally, as far as attempting field goals or extra points. But most teams should be able to function better than how the Giants turned Gano’s misadventure into a fiasco. It is true that most punters in the league are not adept at hitting long-range field goals but most of them should be able to do a credible job on extra points and maybe on very short field goals. Punter Jamie Gillan hit a 40-yard field goal last season, for goodness sakes. Yes, he looked bad hooking his first and only extra-point try wide right, but that shouldn’t have dissuaded Daboll from ever going back to him again.
Also, this was all almost too easy to envision. Gano came into the game with an issue with his groin and it seemed as if having a backup plan for a 37-year-old kicker in that condition was needed. Activate Jude McAtamney from the practice squad or sign a veteran kicker for the game. At least have the strong-legged Gillan handle kickoffs to relieve the stress on Gano’s ailing groin. It seemed as if Daboll’s ego got in the way here a bit with the way he boldly decided his two-point conversion plays gave his team a better chance for success than sending Gillan out for extra-point attempts. Of course, a team can make these decisions look good by executing and completing the task, but the Giants came up short on both of their two-point conversion attempts.
— Fair is fair. The offensive line was a bright spot in this game. All five starters played all 56 snaps and there is nothing to nit-pick with this group. When is the last time we could say that? The Giants rushed for 129 yards, averaging a robust 5.9 yards per attempt. The pocket was kept clean for Daniel Jones, who was sacked once. Sure, there was plenty of max-protect and blocking help from the tight ends. There were no penalties by any of the five offensive linemen, which is not easy to pull off on the road.
The main reason for the good-but-not-great production was that Jones was barely on the field because the Giants’ defense could not get Washington off the field. It is true that the Commanders do not have an especially formidable group up front and that their edge rushers do not scare anyone. The key here was moving defensive tackles Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen off their spots and the Giants more often than not were able to do that. And so, Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan Jr., John Michael Schmitz, Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eluemunor get mentioned here and there are no hard feelings.
— Micah McFadden made his season debut and was thrown directly into the fire, playing 57 of the 72 snaps on defense. The third-year inside linebacker matched rookie corner Dru Phillips for the team lead with 12 tackles and also added a sack and a quarterback hit. McFadden is an active guy and is clearly the best option to start alongside Bobby Okereke.
— Here is the deal with Jalin Hyatt. For those who want to see the speedy second-year wide receiver on the field more than he has been in the first two games, the question is this: Who do you want to take off the field? Malik Nabers must be out there. Wan’Dale Robinson runs routes out of the slot, which Hyatt does not, so that is not a like-for-like comparison. It comes down to this: Is Hyatt a better option in the passing game than Darius Slayton? At this point, the coaching staff still says no.
Slayton spent most of last week in concussion protocol, was cleared to play and was out there for 49 of the 56 snaps on offense. He was targeted four times and came away with three receptions for 33 yards. He was thrown to twice on failed two-point conversion attempts and could have held onto a Jones fastball on one of them. Hyatt for now is very much a spot player. He got in for 12 snaps and was not targeted once. In the season-opening loss to the Vikings, Hyatt was used for 16 of the 71 snaps and was targeted only one time. Daboll is not going with many four-wide sets and that is preventing Hyatt from getting off the sideline.
— While we’re on the subject of player usage, what gives with Daniel Bellinger? He is the forgotten man. The erstwhile starting tight end got in for only four snaps. He played only 16 snaps in the opener. Rookie Theo Johnson has supplanted him in the lineup and Chris Manhertz, pretty much strictly a blocker, is getting more playing time than Bellinger. We knew going into the season this was going to be a wide receiver-centric passing attack and that the tight ends were going to be complementary pieces.
It was disappointing to see Johnson on the field for 44 snaps against the Commanders and not have the ball thrown his way even one time. He is a big man and he is supposed to be an inviting target in the red zone. It did not look as if there was much run for him at all. Nabers is already a must-see player but more diversity in this passing attack is needed.
— After not getting any snaps on defense in Week 2, Isaiah Simmons was called on for 16 snaps against the Commanders. It did not go great. On one play in the first quarter, the Commanders were in a third-and-10 hole when rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels took off, setting his sights on the first-down marker. He should have been stopped short but Daniels cut inside Simmons and dove to complete what was first ruled a 10-yard gain and then changed to a 9-yard gain after the Giants challenged the ruling (no matter, running back Brian Robinson gained 6 yards on fourth down to pick up the first down). Simmons, with all that athletic versatility, remains a tweener and finding places to put him to augment his strengths and hide his weaknesses figures to be an ongoing process.