The Daboll Express Keeps on Rolling
Welcome to Daniel Jones Appreciation Hour
Coming into yesterday’s matchup, I found myself a bit on edge, essentially waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sure, the 5–1 start had been amazing, and it’s clear Brian Daboll and his staff are working wonders with the roster they have. But at some point the “keep it close and win late” method has to backfire, right? At some point the Giants have to come down to earth and lose a close game…right?
Not so fast, my friend.
Yet again — quite literally for the seventh time out of seven this season — the Giants found themselves in a one-score game. And, for the sixth time in seven tries, the Giants found themselves on the winning end, holding off the Jaguars by a single yard to win 23–17. An ending like this was fitting for a Giants defense that has made “bend, don’t break” its all-encompassing mantra, holding WR Christian Kirk out of the end zone on the one yard line.
We can certainly mention how the referees in Jacksonville seemed intent on the Jags getting as many opportunities to make the comeback. But I’d rather focus on this Giants team — one that lost multiple starters to injury — and how they rallied to win yet another close game.
Just think of how these games went in years past for the Giants. They’d manage to pull within a score late, or take a late lead against a better opponent. Then, we’d all hope and pray they wouldn’t blow the lead on a last-second field goal that we all knew was coming. It was always a matter of delaying the inevitable.
Now, “the inevitable” takes on an entirely different meaning. Now, the Giants are the ones who take the game by the horns, pulling through late to take the lead and then not relinquishing it back to their opponents. These Giants are stone-cold late in the game, not the same guys who capitulated under Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, and Joe Judge time and time again.
Most notably, these Giants are led by QB Daniel Jones, who is easily playing the best football of his career.
As the tweet above states, Daniel Jones is currently FIFTH in the entire league in carries of 10+ yards this season. Fifth! He’s always been relatively efficient on the ground, but this season he’s taken another step as a dual threat QB. This culminated in yesterday’s 100+ yard performance on the ground, the first of Jones’ career. This year, he’s not only picking great times to tuck the ball and run, but Jones is also protecting the rock, a key focus of his ever since his fumble-ridden rookie season.
Speaking of protecting the rock, Jones continues to play mistake-free football. His only slip-up of the day was an interception that was ruled off because of a roughing the passer penalty. Otherwise, he’s been a perfect game manager for this team, leading them on key drives when needed and protecting the football overall.
Coming into the season, I was as down as anyone could be on Jones, already focused on keeping an eye on the 2023 QB class. Daniel Jones, however, had other ideas. This is a QB playing the best ball of his career in a contract year, a QB with arguably the worst WR corps in the entire league, who just continues to produce and win. I counted at least five drops yesterday, including one at the goal line by former practice squad member Marcus Johnson.
I never thought we’d be here, but now I find myself asking aloud, “…imagine we gave Daniel Jones some weapons?” I wrote last week that coaching matters, and that’s readily apparent watching the Giants every single week. But the improvement from Jones — who’s undoubtedly earning himself more money with each passing week — is so stark. He’s not only protecting the ball better than he ever has, but he’s also making the big throws presented to him in Mike Kafka’s offense.
Look at his TD throw to Darius Slayton 34 seconds into the above clip. That is a perfect deep throw for an easy TD early in the game yesterday. I’ve watched that replay countless times because it really is a perfect toss.
Is the offense perfect though? Far from it. But given their lack of weapons, the Giants are playing well above expectation, with Jones a huge piece of the puzzle. Yes, Saquon Barkley is arguably the centerpiece of the offense. But Mike Kafka leans on Jones to make plays in crunchtime every single week, and Jones has delivered every single time.
Like I mentioned above, Jones is certainly playing his way into remaining the QB of the Giants for at least the next few seasons (if the team doesn’t franchise tag him). Given the state of QB play around the league, it’s tough to argue against that, especially considering how well Daboll and Kafka have molded Jones this season. If he’s playing this well in his first season in this system with next to no weapons, imagine what he could do in year two when GM Joe Schoen has a chance to upgrade the roster.
The Giants do have some injuries to keep track of, including a fractured eye socket for TE Daniel Bellinger (as bad as it sounds), a MCL injury for RT Evan Neal, and LG Ben Bredeson who also left the game early. The defense, luckily, avoided any serious injury as Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux continued their solid play. Add in Julian Love and Xavier McKinney, and the Giants have the making of a solid young core on that side of the ball.
This week, the 6–1 New York Giants travel next to face the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks, just like everyone expected when the schedules came out during the preseason. Then the Giants have their bye week following their game against Seattle, with a chance to go into the break at 7–1. Let’s see if Jones and Co. can keep it up yet again.
