Articles

By Michael J Basile, @MdoublejB

The Giants fell to 2-7 with their 5th straight loss Monday night at MetLife as the Dallas Cowboys continued their recent dominance over Big Blue.  Daniel Jones still turns the ball over and takes too many hits.  The contact directly accounts for his turnovers.  On his fumble, the hit was so vicious I’m surprised he got up so quickly. 

His pocket awareness (and offensive line) must improve for this offense to reach it’s potential.  It’s frustrating since there are glimpses of what the offense COULD be with more consistent blocking, better schemes, and game planning, we can blame coaching for that.

The Digits:

 He was 26-41 for an ugly 210 yards (Which included a 65-yard screen to Saquon Barkley along with a TD and a pick.  Jones fumbled twice. He ran 9 times for 55 yards and showed the ability to make defenses adjust for his scrambling.  Slayton and Engram account for a handful of dropped catchable balls.

Areas to improve:

Hold onto the ball. At this rate, ball security has become a weekly topic. When do we say, enough is enough. Fumbling is not a rookie phenomenon. Ball security starts in middle school. Avoid taking big hits and slide. Is Shurmur teaching this kid anything? When he can improve awareness and avoid taking big hits, he won’t put the ball on the turf as much.

In the RedZone the Giants were allergic to scoring touchdowns; Coaching didn’t help, and Jones failed to put the team in the endzone. Engram, Barkley, and Tate are all dynamic, get them the ball.

Live to play another down:

The deep pass to Slayton that was intercepted on third down was a poor decision that resulted in a field goal for Dallas. Throw the ball away. Jones must develop here and protect the ball going into halftime.

Danny Dimes territory:

 The one-handed catch by Golden Tate was beautiful and Jones put the ball in a spot only his guy could make a play. Tate was the go-to wideout; Jones was 6-6 for 42 yards when targeting Tate. However, bigger players are needed for more yards.

Throwing into double coverage or when the receiver is not open is starting to rear its ugly head. He needs better timing and crossing routes to open the field. Overall, too many short passes. They didn’t stretch the field or give Dallas enough to think about. Jones has been average, showing some great promise; however, showing some bad habits. He’s not the reason their offense is limited right now, but he needs to clean up his game. Maybe the coaches could…coach?

He could help restore the faith by beating the Jets on Sunday.