The New York Giants fell to 0-2 on the season after suffering a brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills, who will leave MetLife Stadium with back-to-back East Rutherford wins.
It was an ugly all-around game for the Giants — their second in as many weeks — and the argument could be made that there were even fewer difference-makers than in Week 1.
Let’s take a look at Sunday’s winners and losers:
Winners
Saquon Barkley – Barkley started the game on fire, but then faded as the Bills began to focus on him exclusively and the Giants, once again, got away from him a bit. Still, he recorded yet another 100-yard game and was arguably the team’s sole offensive star.
Markus Golden – The Giants were in desperate need of some pass rush, so Golden answered those calls on Sunday. While he wasn’t consistent, he did manage to reach Josh Allen a handful of times, recording one sack (you could argue that it should have been 1.5) and two QB hits.
TJ Jones – Days after being re-signed by the Giants, Jones had one of the few positive impacts of the game. He had a huge 60-yard punt return that was squandered and later caught a touchdown to bring the game within one score. He did get caught running a few incorrect routes, but what can you expect from him with so little time to prepare?
Riley Dixon – Dixon averaged nearly 50 yards per punt on Sunday, pinning the Bills inside the 20 twice and generally helping to change field position throughout.
Others: B.J. Hill, Oshane Ximines
Losers
Deandre Baker – It would be difficult to breakdown everything that went wrong for Baker on Sunday. “Everything” would be the most appropriate summation, in fact. He left receivers with too much cushion, couldn’t tackle, took bad routes to the ball carries, killer penalties and so on and so forth.
Janoris Jenkins – The entire secondary is a mess and that includes Jenkins, who had a few “checkout” moments on Sunday — a poor trait he’s become somewhat known for. One that stands out fresh in the mind is a comeback pass to Zay Jones where Jenkins simply appeared to be guarding against a hail mary as opposed to protecting the first-down marker.
Secondary – During the first half, the secondary was in absolute disarray. While they played better in the second half, it was too little too late — the damage had been done. We did single a few players out here, but it was a collective failure yet again. This will be a talking point all week.
Pat Shurmur/James Bettcher – The Giants have some serious scheme, play-calling and personnel issues. There’s no two ways about that, and the repeated defensive confusion speaks more to the coaches than it does the players.
Third down offense/defense – What even needs to be said here?
Others: Aldrick Rosas, Nate Solder, Dexter Lawrence
Mixed reviews
Eli Manning – Manning will be crucified far more than he should be following his Week 2 performance, but he did little to help prevent that. Working with very little, Manning tried to be too conservative early and too liberal late. His two interceptions (one on a tipped ball and the second on an essentially hail mary) will be the highlight for his detractors, but really, neither of those passes should factor heavily into the evaluations. There were plenty of others than would be criticized and others that could be praised.
Bennie Fowler – Fowler had a real up-and-down day. He flashed a few times, even coming up with some big-time plays, but he also quit on a fourth quarter route that would have resulted in a huge play. Additionally, he dropped a pass following a big hit, potentially costing the team some additional points.
Others: Cody Latimer
