Let’s start by saying that the New York Giants Week 8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks does nothing to negate the fact that the G-Men are having an excellent season. In fact, this type of late loss at the end of a tight game was just about the best most Giants fans hoped for before the season started. That said, the Giants lost a big game that would have kept them in second place in the NFC East, and because of that, you have to assign some blame. So, with that, let’s talk about why Richie James, Daniel Jones, and Brian Daboll need to take responsibility for this loss.
3. Richie James
We can start assessing blame with the biggest single play of the game. Down seven and getting the ball back with over six minutes to play, punt returner/wide receiver Richie James fumbled to give the Seahawks the ball back.
This fumble by Richie James might have just cost the Giants the game. Terrible. pic.twitter.com/KDGSnRoBja
— Doug Rush (@TheDougRush) October 30, 2022
Two plays later, Kenneth Walker III was in the end zone, and the game was over.
The return man also fumbled in the second quarter when the game was tied 7-7. After that mishap, the Seahawks took the ball down and scored a field goal to make it a 10-7 game at that point. These two turnovers were a huge reason the Giants lost to the Seahawks.
James stepped in early in the season to pick up the slack as a receiver, and that was huge for the Giants. However, after playing 20 or more snaps in offense during the first six games, he’s only played 11 in the last two. After the game, Brian Daboll wouldn't say whether he thought James was “trying to do too much” (h/t @TalkinGiants), but did say James has to “take care of it,”
Whether James got a little rusty not playing as much, or he’s trying to win back his spot at WR while returning punts, it’s not good, and James has to get some blame for this loss.
2. Daniel Jones
After the Kenneth Walker touchdown, the Giants still had time to go and win the game vs. the Seahawks. However, Daniel Jones’ final nine plays were one completion, five incompletions, and three sacks.
That’s just not good enough for a starting QB.
Jones has been a revelation this season, completing high-percentage passes and scrambling to keep the chains moving. And in the first three quarters, he did this to keep the Giants in the game. His final stat line in this game, though, was 17-fo-31 (54%) with no interceptions but five sacks.
The Giants have way out-performed expectations this season, and Jones is a big reason why. This game showed his limitations, though.
If New York wants to be a playoff team and even make noise in the postseason, Daniel Jones will have to step up at some point and make big plays in the clutch. He had the opportunity to in this game and simply didn’t come through.
If Giants fans are looking for a silver lining here, it may be that this truly illustrates that Jones cannot be the QB of the future, despite winning games early in the season. Brian Daboll has absolutely gotten the most out of Jones, but the Giants Week 8 loss to the Seahawks shows that Jones’ best just isn’t good enough for a true contender.
1. Brian Daboll
Speaking of new head coach Brian Daboll, he’s gotten a tremendous amount of credit for the Giants’ wins this season. That does mean he needs to take some of the blame for the losses, too.
The Seahawks defense held the Giants’ best player, Saquon Barkley, to just 53 yards on 20 carries and three catches for nine yards. It’s incredibly difficult to get your best player going when everyone in the stadium knows what you are trying to do. Still, that’s what Daboll needs to do to continue the Giants’ winning ways.
You can say that Pete Carroll just out-schemed Brian Daboll with the Seahawks defense, and that’s fine. It happens in a long season. The Giants' only hope, though, moving forward is for Daboll to be the best coach on the field, and Sunday he wasn’t it.
Daboll needs to take the biggest share of the blame for this loss because he lost the X’s and O’s matchup with Carroll. Going forward, he needs to shake this off and continue to get creative with how Daniel Jones manages the game and how he gets Saquon Barkley the ball in space.
This isn’t a long-term indictment of Daboll in any way. However, he is the one who set the bar this high, and when he fails to clear it in a loss, he has to take the blame for that.
The Giants’ future is bright with Brian Daboll on the headset, but the next nine games could be dicey if other coaches follow Carroll’s blueprint and shut down what’s been working so well for the G-Men to this point.
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