EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The fact of the matter is this: The New York Giants lost. Again. To the Dallas Cowboys. Again.
Sure, the final score was closer Thursday night, 20-15, than it was either of the times these two teams matched up last year, but as Giants coach Brian Daboll preached progress after the game — he’s now 0-5 against the Cowboys, while the Giants have lost 14 of 15 to Dallas — it was hard to put a lot of stock in that message.
Except …
The team, and Daniel Jones especially, did play better. It’s inarguable the Giants quarterback has been better lately. Thursday night against the Cowboys, Jones completed 72.5% of his passes (29-of-40) for 281 yards. He took just one sack, and while he did throw an interception, it came on a Hail Mary heave as the Giants looked for a last-second miracle.
So, was Daboll warranted in talking about improvement after the game? Maybe it just depends on what kind of mood you’re in.
The way a QB plays often dictates the direction of the game. To me, Jones’ performance Thursday night sort of feels spot on: good, but not good enough.
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But let’s try to make Daboll’s case. First, throw out the Week 1 game against Minnesota, the one where Jones was making his return from an ACL injury against the defensive coordinator who’s been making life hell for every QB he’s faced. Over Jones’ past three games, there’s enough statistical evidence to say the Giants quarterback has been very good. Jones has completed 67.6% of his passes with 695 passing yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He’s got a 0.18 EPA/dropback, which is equivalent to Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s EPA/dropback last season when he finished second in the MVP voting.
Still, if you’re understandably hesitant to say the QB whose team is scoring just 18 points per game in that stretch is playing well, you might simply concede that he’s been efficient. He’s protected the football (just the one interception and no fumbles) and avoided taking sacks (four). In many ways, he’s playing what should add up to winning football. And yet the Giants aren’t winning. They’re 1-2 during this span and, after Thursday night, 1-3 for the season.
And that’s what is frustrating for Giants fans and Jones himself, who had to stand at the postgame podium Thursday night to try and explain what went wrong in another loss, despite his solid play. Of course, what went wrong Thursday is pretty obvious. The Giants couldn’t score touchdowns. Jones led the Giants on five scoring drives, but none of them ended in the end zone. That’s unacceptable for any quarterback and for any offense.
Good, but not good enough.
“We’re expected to score touchdowns and put points on the board,” Jones said. “And in a game that I felt like we were able to do a lot and move the ball well and execute a lot of stuff well, we didn’t execute the red-zone stuff and didn’t punch it in, so that’s frustrating.”
Failing to capitalize on those opportunities was the prime culprit in the Giants’ loss. But there were others. Averaging just 1.1 yards per carry (26 yards on 24 attempts) against what had been the worst rushing defense in the league is also unacceptable. And while Jones racked up nearly 300 yards passing, he left a lot of yards on the field Thursday night as he repeatedly underthrew his receivers on downfield passes.
There are multiple examples, but the biggest was on the free play the Giants had early in the second quarter after Cowboys defensive end Carl Lawson jumped offsides. Slayton easily slipped behind the Dallas secondary and was open deep, but Jones underthrew him and was intercepted by Trevon Diggs. Of course, the INT didn’t count because of the penalty, but a good throw probably gets the Giants into the end zone.
Jones underthrew Slayton again in the fourth quarter after the receiver had gained a step on Cowboys depth cornerback Amani Oruwariye. A second-quarter shot to Nabers was nearly picked off.
“I think (I) just got to hit them and give the guy a chance to make a play,” Jones said. “I’ll look at it and see where we can improve. I thought, for the most part, we moved the ball well in the passing game, and maybe we didn’t hit a 30-yarder, but we hit 15-, 20-yarders and moved it well, so I’ll look at where I can improve on those down the field opportunities.”
Jones needs to hit those shots. This isn’t the type of offense than can afford to miss opportunities. And yet, when you zoom back out and look at his overall performance Thursday and over the past few weeks, it’s still been pretty good. Good enough? No. Not if the team isn’t winning, but Jones also hasn’t been detrimental. Daboll would take it a step further, even.
“For three games he’s been locked in,” the coach said Thursday night. “He’s played well. He’s seeing the field. He’s delivered the ball where he needs to. Again, we had some opportunities to continue drives today, as well. I’m proud of how he’s performed, how he’s prepared. He’s done a nice job for us.”
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Jones certainly is taking advantage of playing behind and improved an offensive line and having a star-in-the-making in Malik Nabers to throw to. But it’s not translating to wins. That’s a patten that can’t continue over these next 13 games.
If good isn’t good enough, Jones needs to find a way to be better.
(Photo of Daniel Jones: Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)
