The New York Giants are looking to rebound in Week 2 as they take on their NFC East rivals, the Washington Commanders. Ahead of this Giants-Commanders tilt, let’s go ahead and make some bold Giants Week 2 predictions.
As far as the Big Blue fanbase is concerned, this is as close to a must-win game as a team can have in September. Following an embarrassing 28-6 Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings — which featured boos from the Giants faithful just minutes into the game — this team needs to show some signs of life. If they can’t do that against a rebuilding Commanders team with a rookie quarterback in his second game, the Giants’ 2024 season will be essentially over.
The Commanders also lost in Week 1, falling to the Tama Bay Buccaneers 37-20. However, the Bucs are presumably a better team than the Vikings and the young Commanders had some moments that will give their fans a sense of optimism that Giants fans simply didn’t get in Week 1.
As the Giants travel to the nation’s capital to play the Commanders, let’s make some bold Giants Week 2 predictions about how this matchup will play out.
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Daniel Jones plays… better
Look, Daniel Jones is who he is. He’s a talented athlete who doesn’t make great decisions and that is aggravated by the fact that he’s been sacked 184 times in 61 games. He’s not a $40 million-a-year quarterback, but that’s what Joe Schoen and the Giants front office decided to pay him (while losing Saquon Barkley to a division rival).
Jones was 22-of-42 for 186 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. He was also sacked five times. There’s no sugar-coating this. It’s not good.
That said, maybe the silver lining is that there is nowhere to go but up?
The Vikings have a good defense led by a blitz-happy Brian Flores. Washington has a good defensive-minded head coach in Dan Quinn, but the talent on the unit lags behind what they have in Minnesota.
Daboll has done well coaching his team up and getting them to rebound after a loss. If he can put in some new wrinkles for the Commanders game that simplifies what Jones has to do and allows him to throw on rollouts, play-action, RPO, and other gimmicky plays, Jones will have a better game than he did in Week 1.
The Giants D makes life tough for Jayden Daniels
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Jayden Daniels, looked good at times in his team's Week 1 loss. He was 17-of-24 for 184 yards and added 88 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
While Daniels looks like he has all the tools to be the next Jalen Hurt-style QB, he’s still young, and the Giants defense will get after him on Sunday. With Hurts in their division, the Big Blue D knows how to (at least try and) contain a signal-caller like Daniels.
The second of the bold Giants Week 2 predictions here is that Daniels is limited to under 50 yards on the ground and again stays under 200 yards passing, this time throwing an INT.
Giants 14, Commanders 13
Let’s be honest. This isn’t the most exciting game on the Week 2 slate. But it will be one that Giants fans can feel good about. The Week 1 panic meter is turned all the way up to 11, but it was just one week. It’s a long season and the team will have some good moments along the way.
Week 2 will be one of those moments.
The Giants have their issues, but the core of the team is a veteran unit that knows how to give a young QB and young defense problems. Jones will look better this week and the Giants will come away with the win.