By Michael J Basile, @MdoublejB
This was an ugly game – the Gmen fell to 2-5 after losing at home to the Arizona Cardinals. Big Blue Nation has to handle the fact that any chance they had to make things interesting in the NFC East this season are most likely gone. Daniel Jones yielded his third straight loss and was the most frustrating game to watch thus far in the DJ era.
The Digits:
– Jones outplayed Arizona rookie QB Kyler Murray, but Murray apparently had Barry Sanders in his backfield. (Or at least that’s what Big Blues defense made him look like) Murray was 14-21 for only 104 yards but his offense had 156 yards rushing (Barry, I mean Chase Edmonds carried 27 times for 126 yards and 3 TDs).
– DJ was 22-35 for 223, a TD and an INT; The main problem is he was sacked 8 times, has shown poor pocket awareness, and he lost another 2 fumbles.
Areas to improve:
– As seen in this piece – Jones looks like a rookie he is definitely showing how green he is. The coaches should have him carry the football around with him everywhere he goes. The fumbling is a problem.
Danny Dimes territory:
– The touchdown toss to Rhett Ellison was a gutsy throw in between the linebacker and the safety; Jones casually dropped it right in Ellison’s arms for the Giants first score and it was a highlight reel.
– He targeted Golden Tate 11 times and connected on 6 of them for 80 yards; A lot of those plays were on third downs where Jones made accurate throws in the middle of traffic to keep the offense on the field.
Looking ahead:
– In a pivotal game for the season and coming off 2 straight losses, this team spotted the rookie quarterback/rookie head coach lead Arizona Cardinals team a 17-0 lead. The Giants were sleepwalking in the first quarter.
The Cardinals weren’t doing anything outrageous either – just basic football plays that the defense couldn’t handle; Simply put: The Gmen were not prepared to play a football game. I’ve defended Pat Shurmur thus far and it’s true that he inherited a franchise in transition, but he hasn’t done anything to help himself out at all.
I hate to change coaches every 2 years but GM Dave Gettleman has what seems to be back to back strong drafts and the franchise QB is in place; Now John Mara may need to own the fact that since his father Wellington has been gone the only real decisions John has had to make have proven to be disasters: Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur.