After starting off 0-2 for the sixth time in seven seasons, the New York Giants head into Tampa Bay with a new starting quarterback for the first time since Eli Manning’s infamous one-game benching in 2017.
In the wake of their latest loss on Sunday, head coach Pat Shurmur told reporters that he would not commit to Manning as his starting quarterback this week. Low-and-behold, less than 24-hours later, Shurmur announced that he was going with rookie first-round pick Daniel Jones over Manning on Tuesday morning.
Let’s take a look at the five reasons Daniel Jones will pickup a victory in his first career start!
A successful debut from Jones
While it is less than ideal for the rookie quarterback to get his first start on the road, Shurmur felt “in his gut” that now was the time to make the move to insert Jones under center.
Although the offensive struggles through the first two-games (15.5 ppg) were certainly not all on Eli, this decision makes sense for several reasons, including Jones ability to move around in the pocket and extend plays with his legs.
This is something that Manning cannot do, which doesn’t exactly mesh well with Shurmur’s scheme. Now with Jones in the lineup, you can expect to see a lot of play action passes, roll outs, and read options given his mobility.
It will also be interesting to see how the tandem of Jones and star running back Saquon Barkley is utilized in the red zone and short yardage situations. Teams will now have to account for basically two-running threats in these scenarios, which should amount to more points.
Dynamic tight end Evan Engram, along with the return of WR1, Sterling Shepard (concussion), should benefit Jones in his debut, as well.
Jones is looking to build off of a stellar preseason, where he led all signal callers in completion percentage (85%). The sixth overall pick’s overall stat line in exhibition play was 29-for-34, 416 yards, and two touchdowns. He also went 3-of-4 for 17 yards, and a fumble during garbage time in the Giants Week 1 loss at Dallas.
A big day from Saquon Barkley
This aspect goes without saying, the Giants offense without a doubt runs through Saquon Barkley. The reigning rookie of the year has rushed for over 100 yards in each of his first two-games this season.
Despite this impressive mark, he has only gotten 29 carries in these two-contests. This number needs to increase. Barkley is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, but has failed to exceed 20 carries in either game.
It is up to Pat Shurmur to start utilizing his stud tailback in a multitude of ways by centering the offense around him. This means Barkley needs to be touching the ball 20-25 times a game.
Barkley also needs to be used more in the passing game. In his first season, Barkley broke Reggie Bush’s receptions record (91) for rookie running backs. So far, he has seven catches through two games, but only for 47 yards. The hope is that Shurmur will start sending his half back out for more screens, seams, and wheel routes.
Now with Jones at quarterback, Shurmur should be able to start running the read option with both Daniel and Saquon. This could prove to be deadly given both player’s ability to run the football.
As previously mentioned, the tandem of Jones and Barkley will be tough to stop in short yardage situations and the red zone. Not only will it be difficult to contain the run, but it should open up the play action game, as well.
Production out of the receiving corps
The wide receiver position has been the most banged up group for the Giants since the start of training camp. Unfortunately, this area has not improved since the regular season began.
With offseason acquisition Golden Tate serving a four-game suspension for a banned substance, this left Sterling Shepard, Cody Latimer, and Bennie Fowler as the offense’s top three receiving options.
Shepard suffered a concussion in Week 1, which caused him to miss last week’s loss to the Bills. Luckily, he is now officially cleared from the concussion protocol and will play in Tampa this Sunday.
Latimer on the other hand, suffered a concussion of his own late in the second half against the Bills as he took a nasty helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Jordan Poyer. While it was clear that the hit was illegal, the officials did not throw a flag. Latimer’s status is in doubt this week.
As for Fowler, he had a couple big drops in Week 2 including a huge third-and-long situation that would have given the Giants first and goal. To add insult to injury, Fowler tweaked his hamstring on Wednesday and practice, so his health is also uncertain for this week’s matchup.
Rookie Darius Slayton has yet to make his debut this season and was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday. There is some optimism that he will be able to play, but again this already thin group is severely banged up.
TJ Jones also had a big week in his Big Blue debut hauling in three passes for 38 yards, including an impressive toe tapping touchdown in the back of the end zone. Jones contributed in the punt return game nicely, as well taking three-punts back for 75 yards.
Newly signed wideout Cody Core had a solid week catching three passes for 28 yards and veteran Russell Shepard will need to step up, as he has done in the past (two touchdowns last year).
Putting up points
It’s no secret that the Giants offense has not gotten the job done in the first two-games (15.5 ppg). Their defense has been even worse (31.5 ppg allowed).
The Giants rank among the league worst with a -32 point differential in this young season. Big Blue has allowed 63 points, while only scoring 31 of their own. That’s not gonna cut it.
The defense has been abysmal so far, and it is clear that it will take time for the new and young personnel to adjust to James Bettcher’s defense. If the Giants want a legit shot at winning, they must eclipse the 20-point mark for the first time this season.
Their defense was able to get stops in the second-half last week only allowing seven points in the final 30 minutes. The problem was, once the defense settled in, the offense was no where to be found.
The hope is that the quarterback change will spark this struggling offense into an effective unit. The pressure is on Pat Shurmur to call the right plays, which is something he has struggled with following the scripted scenarios of the opening drive.
Now he (Shurmur) has a new signal caller with an entirely different skill set with Jones ability to move around in the pocket and extend plays with his legs. It was Shurmur’s decision to start Jones, it is time for the head coach to step up and show us why this was the right decision.
Defense
The defense has been historically bad and everyone knows it. Their improvement week-to-week is arguably the most critical factor in winning games.
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arian, spoke on a conference call to reporters on his former assistant and current Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher. On this call, Arians noted how difficult it is for new and young players to adjust in Bettcher’s scheme, which as a result created several glaring liabilities on the defensive side of the ball for Big Blue.
After surrendering 21 points in the first half last week, the defense only gave up seven points. They also were able to get off the field on the third downs at a more consistent rate, as opposed to Week 1 in Dallas.
Unfortunately, the lone touchdown the Giants defense gave up in the second half came in the fourth quarter after their offense got them within a touchdown.
Rookie corner Deandre Baker struggled mightily once again and it was obvious he is not comfortable in this system. Oddly enough, fellow rookie corner Corey Ballentine did not see the field (0 snaps) to relieve him of his duties. This needs to change if Baker cannot turn it around. The team is 0-2, and Baker has shown that he is clearly not ready.
Why not see what you have in Ballentine? The Washburn college native showed flashes of potential in the preseason and certainly looked more comfortable in Bettcher’s defense.
The rush defense also needs to improve, as guys looked out of place all game against the Bills. Josh Allen, Frank Gore and Devin Singletary ran wild for 146 yards. On the way to hitting this number, guy’s like Alec Ogletree, Jabrill Peppers and Antoine Bethea looked lost.
Rookie linebacker Ryan Connelly also struggled against the run in his first career start. First round pick Dexter Lawrence was practically invisible on the defensive line, as the rest of this group failed to plug any holes to neutralize the ground game.
To put things in perspective, this entire group needs to be better this week and the hope is they will only improve as they become more familiar with this scheme.
On a brighter note, the pass rush woke up a bit, as they sacked Allen three times and were able to get to him on a semi-regular basis. Still, the pressure needs to increase in the consistency department to take the pressure off of its struggling secondary.
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