Daniel Jones had no chance against the Ravens, no chance against Lamar Jackson on a day when the Joe Judge Giants were exposed more as suitors than as contenders, and are still somehow standing up anyway.
The Cowboys defeating the Eagles 37-17 means Jones, a 27-13 loser, somehow has one last chance to try to turn an ugly duckling 5-10 into a beautiful swan dressed in an NFC Least crown if he succeeds. win the clash against Andy Dalton and the Cowboys next Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
And then wait for more punches after the Eagles, all the enemies, who must defeat the Washington Football Team.
The joy of the six, anyone?
No 5-10 team deserves to be alive on the last Sunday of the season, but after the Giants’ disturbing lack of execution on both sides of the ball, the football gods decided to grant them a suspension of execution.
The defense of the Cowboys, unlike the defense of the Ravens, will have to be what Dr. Jones commands. Jones missed the chance to end the 37-34 loss in Week 5 to the Cowboys, but failed, and a field goal by Greg Zuerlein in the last second knocked the Giants down to 0-5.
He was not 100 percent healthy against the Ravens with that tendon healed, but no excuses now.
The giants need him to find this moment more than they ever needed him to know it at any time.
Jones had no legs, but more than that, he didn’t have the kind of protectors and game makers to overcome the maddening and exasperating chaos and failure on all sides around him, on both sides of the ball.
Judge has done a lot of hard work laying the groundwork and building the culture, but you need more than ground and culture to beat a voracious team and a class program accustomed to sustained success.
Jones is a fighter, and his teammates are fighters, very well, but most of the time it is better to be Sugar Ray Robinson than Jake LaMotta. The Giants are simply out of their weight class against the big boys in the NFL.
Because even when Judge has to endure his heavyweight opponent by punching his team in the nose for 60 minutes, Jones & Co. can only fight back like lightweights.
Jones didn’t run until a desperate and lonely attempt to escape the rush in the final minute, and he couldn’t hide behind an offensive line that yielded six bags, and let’s not forget that he was playing for names like Austin Mack, CJ Board and Dante Pettis. It is no wonder that Ravens ‘defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale, challenged him to win Gregg Williams’ zero attack.
There was practically no danger of Jones suffering further hamstring injuries in the first half, as he stayed on the sideline for 22:38 watching Jackson use his arm when Big Blue ran out to limit his legs and legs (80 yards) when he felt like laughing at the lost tackles and leading a hasty 249-yard attack against a confused and disoriented defense.
It was at the beginning of the fourth period when a series summed up the sad state of the Big Blah attack. It unfolded thus:
Bag. Bag. Bag.
Three dropbacks, three bags.
“I just have to do a better job with all of this – identifying him and getting the ball out quickly,” said Jones.
No offense, but the New York Football Giants have no offense. They have failed to reach 20 points in any of the last five games. Jones lost two games, but his trash touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard was the first since the second quarter against the Washington Football Team on November 8.
It was 20-3 when the case against GM Dave Gettleman showed his frown when Jones, to his credit, completed passes for Board and Pettis, a pair of newsboys. Mack missed a third down pass in the first half.
It couldn’t have helped that OC Jason Garrett – just another game for him next week, huh? – coordinated during the week on Zoom because it was in the COVID protocol, and any appearance of a vertical game plan turned out to be nothing more than a wing and a prayer. Jones’ 20-yard run to Pettis was the longest of the day.
Consecutive false starts on the third run sabotaged Jones’ first ball possession. The Giants knew that their best chance, perhaps their only chance, was to force Jackson to play from behind.
“We didn’t start the game as we needed to,” said Jones. “We shoot ourselves in the foot.”
It was 14-0 when Shepard zigzagged when Jones expected him to sweep deeply against Cover Zero and the ball fell harmlessly to the ground.
“I have to go deep into it, so it’s my fault,” said Shepard.
Jones could not or did not want to give a percentage of how healthy he felt.
“I feel good. I felt like I could move out of my pocket and do what I needed to do. I felt good about it,” he said.
For a man, players parrot the head coach every day.
“I feel like we’re on the right track and in the right direction,” said Judge.
He needs someone to rush the passer. Jackson tried 26 passes. He was not fired. And he needs better protectors and game makers for his quarterback.
“There are no moral victories and not getting the result we wanted is disappointing,” said Judge. “In no way is anyone okay with that, but there are positive points that we can draw from today, positive points that we can draw from where we have improved throughout the season as an offensive and as a team. … Throughout this season, this team has improved from week to week. “
But not on the scoreboard. It’s great that Judge likes his players’ toughness and commitment. But it doesn’t make sense if your defender tries hard to put his team in the finishing zone. D-day now for Daniel Jones.