EAST RUTHERFORD – On a day where much of the attention focused on the illustrious past of the Giants organization, the current team gave their fans little hope for the future.
The top 100 players in Big Blue history were honored at halftime on Sunday as part of the 100th season celebration, but that didn’t prevent a year-opening dud against the Minnesota Vikings, who blew them out, 28-6, at MetLife Stadium.
“Obviously not the way we wanted to start,” said Giants head coach Brian Daboll. “Disappointing game. Lot to clean up, and that’s what we’ll do…I thought we prepared well, I thought they gave good effort and I thought the defense played hard…there’s a lot of things to clean up. I’ve got to do a better job all the way around, and that’s what I’ll do.”
Led by Daniel Jones, the offense couldn’t generate much all day, while Sam Darnold, returning to the Meadowlands for only the second time, completed his first 12 passes for the Vikings en route to the easy victory.
“Quarterbacks in our league don’t get to control a lot of (their) journey, and they’re expected to perform, in some cases immediately,” said Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. “I really like the way Sam carries himself; he’s a talented player who can make big-time throws, and every throw we’re going to ask him to make, he’s more than capable of doing that.”
Big Blue started off slow and did little to change that all day long; kicker Graham Gano actually opened the scoring with a 23-yard field goal with 7:19 left in the first quarter – which only came after Vikings fullback C.J. Ham’s untimely third down fumble gave them great field position – but was the only Giants player to get on the board, connecting with a 50-yarder midway through the third quarter accounting for the only other points on the day.
As for the Vikings, scoring proved to be little issue, as Darnold more often than not had plenty of time in the pocket. The one-time Jets “quarterback of the future” went 19-for-24 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on a tipped ball – he connected with Justin Jefferson and Jalen Nailor on scoring strikes after a first quarter Aaron Jones run gave Minnesota a lead they wouldn’t relinquish – and won for the first time at MetLife Stadium since leading Gang Green to a Week 16 victory over the Cleveland Browns on December 27, 2020.
“Obviously, it’s great to be back,” Darnold said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played here, I played in my first year in Carolina coming back (against the Giants), but that was the last time. It’s always good to get back in MetLife…(getting in an early rhythm) was huge, to play efficient football, to play on time. That’s always going to be a recipe for success.”
This was arguably one of his best games in East Rutherford – he didn’t throw his first incompletion until there were 69 seconds left in the first half – and the-now-27-year-old showed significant development from when the Jets took him with the third overall pick back in 2018.
The same could not be said, at least on Sunday, for Jones, who went at No. 6 overall back in 2019 and has led the Giants to just one winning season since. Clad in the “Century Red” 100th season uniforms with tan pants that Big Blue will wear no more than twice this season, Jones’ threw an extremely ill-advised pick-six to Vikings outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, which gave Minnesota a 28-6 lead with 4:26 left in the third quarter, sending a sea of fans headed to the exits.
He finished with 186 yards on 22 completions over 41 attempts, but also two interceptions compared to no touchdowns in a performance that largely raised doubts over not just the offense as a whole, but the future of Jones as well, although he received little help from an offensive line that saw him sacked five times.
“We’ll get in, watch the film, see what we can do better, see how I need to play better and go from there,” Jones said. “I think we’re focused on that…(my confidence is) good, I think I’ve got to continue to get into a rhythm, get going, complete some balls and get things moving. We’ve all got to do that, and that’ll help us build confidence and keep going.”
First-round pick Malik Nabers was the lone bright spot on the day, catching five passes for a team-high 66 yards in the loss.
Source: Berkshire mont
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