3 Key Takeaways from Giants’ Week 3 Win vs. Cleveland Browns

3- Daniel Jones Was Flawless Again

Say what you want about Daniel Jones and the circumstances of his future with the Giants organization, but there is no denying that the starting gunslinger has looked very good in his last two outings. 

After fumbling all over himself in the Giants’ home opener, Jones has since put together two straight flawless games in Weeks 2 and 3. He went 16 of 28 for 178 yards and two touchdowns last Sunday against a Washington defense he has owned over eight meetings in his six-year career. 

The former No. 6 pick then followed that up with an even better performance against the Browns' elite defense this weekend. Staying composed in the pocket for most of the afternoon, he completed a season-high 70.6 percent of his throws for 236 yards and two more scores in the air, finishing off with a 72.8 QBR and his second day of no-turnover football. 

The game almost got off to a bad start for Jones when he nearly threw an interception on the Giants' first real possession of the game after they muffed the opening kickoff. His pass was intended for Theo Johnson and momentarily picked off by Browns’ safety Ronnie Hickman, but it was preserved by a roughing the passer penalty that advanced the drive and gave Jones another chance to redeem himself for a daunting trend of silly mistakes.

Rescue the performance he did, as Jones responded to the Browns' gift by executing a 13-play, 81-yard drive spanning 7:44 of clock time that connected with multiple receivers and ended with a handoff to Devin Singletary for the score. He would command two more drives of that nature in the second quarter to give the Giants a 21-7 lead and never let his decision-making affect the team on the other side of the break. 

What has been a sight for sore eyes is that Jones has looked a lot more confident behind the improved protection on the offensive line. After giving up a league-high 85 sacks last season, the New York front hasn’t allowed more than 10 sacks in the first three games and kept Jones upright all but two times during the win over the Browns' top-level pass rush headlined by Myles Garrett. 

With the Giants’ line boasting two excellent bookend tackles and the sixth-ranked pass block win rate in the NFL, Jones was not afraid to let it rip into the second and third levels of the defense. There were a couple of misconceptions that could have led to big plays upstairs, but it was mostly a solid showing that featured balls placed perfectly for the wide receivers to come down with them. None were better than the darts to Nabers that created highlight reels and points on the scoreboard. 

All that said, it is still early in the campaign and there is much more football left to play before the franchise makes a decision on their future at the quarterback position. It’s likely they still move on from Jones at the end of the year, and some fans are in favor of that, but for now, they need to appreciate the quality football they’ve seen from their starter in the last two outings. 

Perhaps it’s the pieces coming together for Jones to finally make the case for his tenure in the Big Apple to continue or it’s just another fluke stint like we saw in 2022. The Giants and their fans must wait it out to see how Jones performs down the stretch of the gauntlet schedule, and if he mirrors his games from Weeks 2 and 3, maybe the search for a quarterback won’t have to be as prudent. 

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