New York Giants Begin Season with 26-16 Loss to Pittsburgh
The New York Giants kicked their season off in front of an empty MetLife Stadium on Monday night, and it started like each of the last three, with a loss.
The New York Giants entered Monday night’s game against the Steelers with a much different team than they had the last time we saw them. They had an entirely new coaching staff, a new offensive line, an updated defense, a new kicker, and several other new pieces as well.
Not only that, but this was the first time since 2004 that a quarterback not named Eli Manning got the start for the Giants in week one. All that being said, 2020 is the beginning of a new era in Foxborough, but unfortunately for the G-Men, it began the same way the previous era ended, with a loss.
The Giants certainly didn’t play their cleanest game on offense as Daniel Jones threw two interceptions, one of them being off a terrible decision to throw the ball in the red zone.
Besides that, they only put 16 points on the board as they failed to put the ball in the end zone on multiple occasions while they were across the 50, the most glaring of which coming off a Steelers’ muffed punt that gave the Giants the ball on the three-yard line in the first quarter.
Besides this, Saquon Barkley amassed only six rushing yards on 15 touches, and Daniel Jones was actually the Giants’ leading rusher with 22 yards off of four rushes. In addition to this, Evan Engram was targeted seven total times but had only two receptions for nine yards.
Aside from all the negatives, Daniel Jones actually had a pretty solid game when you don’t get distracted from his two interceptions. Jones threw for 279 yards with two touchdowns while rushing for 22 yards on four attempts as mentioned earlier.
Not only that, but despite the fact that the Steelers boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, the Giants’ new-look offensive line actually did a pretty decent job. In 2019 the Steelers sacked the opposing quarterback an average of 3.4 times per game, and against the Giants in week one, they put Daniel Jones into the turf three times.
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While three sacks are still pretty dang impressive, it’s a huge improvement for the Giants. The Giants have previously been known to have one of the worst, if not THE worst offensive line in football, and in 2020 it appears they might take a slight step up.
If the Giants’ offensive line can keep the defense away from Jones, that would be great considering the fact that Jones’ biggest problem during his rookie season was fumbling the football. While it has been reported that he has been working on his fumbling problems, the better solution would be to just not put him in that situation, and that might be the case in 2020.
Overall, despite the fact that they lost by double-digits, this could’ve been a much worse performance for the Giants.
Next. New York Giants: Week Two Matchup & Prediction. dark
A loss was sort of expected in week one, but in week two the Giants will face off against the Chicago Bears with the opportunity to potentially get into the win column for the first time since they won an overtime game against Washington in week 16 last season.