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The New York Giant Week 3 game against the San Francisco 49ers didn’t go quite as poorly as Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys, but in the end, the result was nearly the same. The Giants lost handily, 30-12, to a good NFC team. That is the story of the Giants’ season so far, and it is already a major problem. The team just isn’t at the level of the top teams in its conference, which could make for a long season. Before we look ahead too far, though, let’s discuss the three Giants mot to blame for the blowout loss to the 49ers on Thursday night, including quarterback Daniel Jones and head coach Brian Daboll.
3. Daniel Jones
Quarterbacks must take the blame when their team loses, just like they get the credit when their team wins. In this case, though, Jones deserves plenty of the blame for the Giants’ Week 3 loss to the 49ers.
Jones was just 22-of-33 for 137 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. The interception wasn’t his fault, as it bounced off a receiver, and the 49ers defensive line absolutely dominated the Giants offensive line all night. The fact that Jones only took two sacks is actually kind of shocking.
The New York QB had plenty going against him on the road, across the country, on a Thursday night. In addition to the bad bounce and the lone play, Saquon Barkley was on the bench, and the recovers on this Giants squad leave a lot to be desired.
Still, here’s the thing. The Giants gave Daniel Jones $40 million a year this offseason, so those excuses don’t work anymore. When you’re paid like a top-10 quarterback, you have to play like a top-10 quarterback, and Jackson did not on Thursday.
On the field, Jones still looks like the confused youngster he did in his first three seasons. The confident, competent QB from last season just wasn’t there. There may be some other reasons for that (more below), but Jones needs to make plays beyond five yards and to someone other than Darren Waller while Barkley is out.
If he doesn’t, there will be more losses like this one coming up soon.
2. Adoree’ Jackson
This is a little unfair to cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. The veteran defensive back played well for most of the game, but some of the mistakes he made are symptomatic of the larger Giants issues, so he will be the scapegoat here in the Giants Week 3 loss.
Jackson got himself in position to make plays against the 49ers, and he just didn’t. He got his hands on balls and made some good hits but couldn’t get the Giants’ first turnover of the season.
New York desperately needed a big play on defense last night, and they never quite got it. Handing the ball over to the offense with a short field would have made a huge difference on the scoreboard and in the psyche of the Giants offense.
However, they just couldn’t get it done. In addition to Adoree’ Jackson getting his hands on balls and not turning them into turnovers. Rookie CB Deonte Banks had the same issue as well before going out with an injury.
The other issue with the Giants’ secondary, led by Jackson, is that the tackling in the second half got incredibly lazy and sloppy. Deebo Samuel and George Kittle got incredible yardage after the catch because defenders tried to shoulder bump or dive at the runner. That allowed the 49ers to run the clock out in Week 3 and keep the score a blowout.
1. Brian Daboll
Last season, Brian Daboll was a genius for taking a 4-13 Giants team, guiding them to a winning record, and making the playoffs. He did this by revamping the offense to feature a fully healthy Saquon Barkley and used all types of tricks — play-action, roll-outs, bootlegs, screens, RPOs — to get his quarterback, Daniel Jones, easy completions.
That worked when Barkley was healthy, and the opponents didn’t know what was coming. The NFC hadn’t seen a Giants offense like this since the Eli Manning Super Bowl days.
Now, it’s 2023, and other teams now have tape on Daboll and the Giants as well as a full offseason to prepare for them. Defenses know that Jones has to rely on sleight-of-hand to make the magic happen, and once they know that it’s easy to take away.
Brian Daboll is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. Barkley is once again hurt, the offensive line is banged-up, too (and not that great to begin with), and Jones can’t be the type of QB who drops back 40 times a game, reads defenses, and slings it to his WRs.
Speaking of WRs, rookie Jalin Hyatt was one of the biggest stars of the Giants’ Week 2 comeback win, and he played just 16 offensive snaps in the Week 3 loss to the 49ers. That makes no sense as a decision by Daboll unless he was afraid Jones would take a sack waiting for Hyatt to get downfield.
Either way, Daboll seems to have no answers right now, and that’s a problem.
