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 pretenders than contenders, yet somehow still standing.
The cowboys who beat the Eagles 37-17 means that Jones, a 27-13 loser, somehow gets one last chance to try and turn a 5-10 ugly duckling into a gorgeous swan dressed in an NFC Least crown if he can win his showdown against Andy Dalton and the Cowboys next Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
And then wait for more last minute from the Eagles, from all the enemies, who have to beat the Washington Football Team.
The Joy of Six, anyone?
No 5-10 team deserves to be alive on the last Sunday of the season, but after the disturbing lack of execution of the Giants on either side of the ball, the football gods decided to allow them a stay of execution.
The Cowboys ‘defense, unlike the Ravens’ defense, will have to be what Dr. Jones orders. Jones blew an opportunity to finish the 37-34 Week 5 loss to the Cowboys, but failed, and a field goal from Greg Zuerlein at the last second lowered the Giants to 0-5.
He wasn’t 100 percent healthy against the Ravens with that healing hamstring, but no more excuses.
The Giants need him to meet this moment more than they ever needed him to meet.
Jones didn’t have his legs, but more than that, he didn’t have the kind of protectors and playmakers to overcome the maddening, annoying chaos and underachievement all around him, on both sides of the ball.
Judge has done his best to lay the foundation and build the culture, but you need more than a foundation and culture to beat a hungry team and class program accustomed to continued success.
Jones is a fighter, and his teammates are fighters, all well and good, but more often than not, being Sugar Ray Robinson is better than Jake LaMotta. The Giants are simply out of their weight class against the big boys of the NFL.
Because even if Judge faces the heavyweight opponent who punches his team in the nose for 60 minutes, Jones & Co. only strike back like lightweights.
Jones didn’t run to a lonely desperate attempt to escape the crowds at the last minute, and he couldn’t hide behind a line of attack that brought in six sacks, and let’s not forget that he threw at the likes of Austin Mack, CJ Board, and Dante Pettis. No wonder Raven’s defensive coordinator Wink Martindale challenged him to beat Gregg Williams’ zero blitz.
There was virtually no danger of Jones sustaining further hamstring injuries in the first half as he stood on the sidelines 10:38 and watched Jackson use his arm when Big Blue sold out to restrain his legs and legs (80 yards) when he felt like laughing off missed tackles and leading a bold 250 yards attack against a rattling, disoriented defense.
It was early in the fourth quarter when a series epitomized the sad state of the Big Blah attack. It unfolded like this:
Bag. Bag. Bag.
Three dropbacks, three pockets.
“I just have to do better with all that stuff – identify it and get the ball out quickly,” Jones said.
No foul, but the New York Football Giants have no foul. They have not managed to score 20 points in any of their past five games. Jones missed two games, but his garbage-time touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard was his first since the second quarter against the Washington Football Team on November 8.
It was 20-3 when the case against GM Dave Gettleman reared its ugly head as Jones, in his credit, completed passes to Board and Pettis, a pair of journeymen. Mack had dropped a pass for the third time in the first half.
It couldn’t have helped that OC Jason Garrett – just another game for him next week, right? – coordinated during the week on Zoom because he was on the COVID protocol, and every semblance of a vertical game plan turned out to be nothing more than a wing and a prayer. Jones’ completion of 20 meters to Pettis was his longest of the day.
Back-to-back false starts on the third down-sabotaged Jones’ first possession. The Giants knew 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 shot ourselves in the foot.”
It was 14-0 when Shepard zigzagged as Jones expected to go deep against Cover Zero and the ball dropped harmlessly to the ground.
“I have to go into that, so that’s my fault,” Shepard said.
Jones couldn’t or wouldn’t give a percentage on how healthy he felt.
“I feel good. I felt like I could move and get out of my pocket and do what I had to do. I felt good about that,” he said.
For a man, the players parrots the head coach every day.
“I feel like we are on the right track and heading in the right direction,” said Judge.
He needs someone to rush the passer by. Jackson tried 26 passes. He was not fired. And he needs better protectors and playmakers for his quarterback.
“There are no moral victories and it is disappointing not to get the desired result,” said Judge. “No one is ok with that, but there are positives we can take from today, positives we can take from where we have improved all season as a foul and as a team. … During this season, this team has improved from week to week. “
But not on the scoreboard. It’s great that Judge likes the toughness and dedication of his players. But there’s no point if your quarterback makes an effort to get his team into the end zone. D-Day now for Daniel Jones.