Uh oh. Giants look like the bad team everyone expected in listless loss to the Lions | Politi
Giants #Giants
Well, Giants fans, you can look at this Dud vs. Detroit two ways:
1. That it was the ultimate trap game with a Thanksgiving trip to Dallas on deck, that it was an inevitable course correction that happens to every team in the NFL eventually, that it was the first bad loss under head coach Brian Daboll, and most of all, that you would have signed for a 7-3 record in late November because you might have signed for 7-10 the entire season.
Or …
2. That it was the first time these Giants looked like those Giants, that all of the problems over the past few seasons were evident again, that quarterback Daniel Jones threw a killer interception and the running game vanished and the offensive line got pushed around and the team raised the white flag midway through the third quarter.
So which will it be?
The answer is likely a combination of both. Because, if you’ve followed this team, you know that one loss can’t erase all the positive strides it has made under Daboll through 10 games this season. But you also couldn’t have watched this lackluster performance in a 31-18 loss to the Lions and not feel like your worst fears about this team were being confirmed.
This was a beatdown that could linger, too. Daboll was playing with fire with his decision to use cornerback Adoree Jackson — one of this team’s few truly indispensable players — as a punt returner. Sure enough, Jackson hurt his knee fielding a punt in the first half, and early reports indicate he could miss three to five weeks with an MCL sprain.
At the very least, it is hard to imagine that he’ll be on the field for the Giants trip to Dallas in four days, which takes much of a luster off that much-anticipated Turkey Day matchup. The Giants figured to have enough problems dealing with the high-powered Cowboys at full strength. Now, they’ll have to do it without their shutdown corner.
Not optimal.
It was just that kind of day. Graham Gano, the normally reliable kicker, missed a pair of extra points. Saquon Barkley, the workhorse running back, had 22 yards on 15 carries through three quarters behind a suddenly leaky offensive line. Jones, who hadn’t thrown an interception in an NFL-best 153 attempts, tried to sneak a pass over 6-foot-7 Aidan Hutchinson and failed, a turnover that led directly to a Lions touchdown.
This offense was already down several key players when rookie Wan’Dale Robinson limped off the field in the fourth quarter with a knee injury after catching nine passes for 100 yards in his best game. Forget signing the real Odell Beckham. Daboll might need to enlist the first fan in a No. 13 jersey that he sees in the Meadowlands parking lot just to have enough players to face the Cowboys.
Again: Bad days happen in the NFL. The Giants were due for one of these, perhaps overdue, and it doesn’t change anything about the season. They play their next four games against NFC East rivals — at Dallas, vs. Washington, vs. Philadelphia, at Washington — and that stretch will determine if they can convert their great start into a playoff berth.
And they still can, of course. It is likely that the Giants that we’ve seen for most of this season — the well-coached, opportunistic team that became one of the best stories in the NFL — will return for those important late-season matchups. That this trap game against Detroit, on a windy day in East Rutherford, will be long forgotten.
If you’re a Giants fan, that’s what you have to tell yourself. Because the alternative? It’s not something anyone wants to consider.
MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:
The untold story of how Rutgers crashed the Big Ten
How an ex-Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana
I was a bird-flipping Little League menace — and it’s time to come clean
The search for Luther Wright, once N.J.’s greatest hoops talent
I played Augusta National and had my own Masters meltdown
Ranking the 99 greatest athletes in New Jersey history
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.
©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) drops back to pass during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022 in East Rutherford, N.J.
© Andrew Mills/nj.com/TNS