EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With the Giants facing what was then their largest deficit of the season (18 points) as they entered the fourth quarter, quarterback Daniel Jones drove the offense 67 yards down the field for a touchdown. It looked something like hope for a Giants team that struggled to right itself all day. It looked like the beginnings of another Giants comeback in a season full of them.
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Running back Matt Breida had capped the drive with a rushing score, which narrowed the gap to 12 points after a missed PAT. The defense then forced a Lions punt on the ensuing possession, offering another opportunity to chip away at the deficit. On the first set of downs, Jones hit wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins for 20 yards on third-and-15. But on the next play, Hodgins fumbled away a short completion — New York’s third turnover the day — all but closing the door on any comeback chances.
Four plays later, Lions running back D’Andre Swift punched in a Lions touchdown, padding Detroit’s lead and helping set up what would be a 31-18 defeat for the Giants.
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Before Hodgins’ fumble, it was looking for a moment like Sunday might serve as a crucial day in the evaluation of Jones’ chances of returning to New York next season. So far, there’s been no clear answer about what direction the franchise will head at the quarterback position, as Giants coaches and front-office members have praised Jones throughout the year but always insist no decision has been made.
“It’s going to be an ongoing evaluation,” general manager Joe Schoen said a few weeks ago. “We’ve had Daniel for eight games.”
Now they’ve seen him for 10, and a defining comeback victory in which the team had to rely on Jones’ passing would certainly have aided his cause. That didn’t happen Sunday, yet it’s fair to suggest that too much around Jones went wrong to truly learn much more than was already established before the game.
Jones did make a couple of critical mistakes that resulted in back-breaking turnovers — and we’ll get to those — but let’s also remember what he was up against.
There were injuries. A lot of injuries. Six players were ruled out of Sunday’s game, including center Jon Feliciano (neck), guard Tyre Phillips (neck) and receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (knee). Phillips was already the second-string right tackle with starter Evan Neal still recovering from a knee injury. Meanwhile, Shane Lemieux started at left guard after missing the first nine games with a toe injury but was benched in the third quarter for Josh Ezeudu. Ezeudu, it’s worth noting, was playing hurt (neck) and is a backup, having replaced Ben Bredeson (knee) the past two games.
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That meant Jones was playing behind Andrew Thomas at left tackle, an injured second-string left guard, a second-string center, Mark Glowinski and a third-string right tackle. It’s also worth mentioning, that after Robinson’s exit, Jones was throwing to Darius Slayton and a handful of journeymen (Hodgins, Richie James), practice squad elevations (Lawrence Cager) and under-performers (Kenny Golladay). While the Giants have been banged up badly all season, Sunday felt like a little too much to overcome.
There also were key drops, including one by Slayton on the first play of the drive that ended in Hodgins’ fumble. Cager also dropped a two-point conversion after the Giants scored late in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Jones’ 50 rushing yards weren’t enough to offset a derailed rushing attack. Saquon Barkley, who has been a consistent offensive force, was limited to 22 rushing yards on 15 carries. Even the usually reliable Graham Gano missed two PATS as he battled an illness and windy conditions. It was the first time in his 184-game career that Gano missed more than one PAT.
Nothing was going right Sunday. So even though a comeback was set up for the quarterback, it was tough to completely evaluate him as pieces dwindled and mistakes piled up.
He finished with an impressive passing line — 27-of-44 for 341 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Though 75 of those yards and the touchdown came in the final drive with the game well out of reach, it was still Jones’ first 300-yard game since he threw for 402 yards in New Orleans last season.
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But the quarterback still made game-defining mistakes. In the second quarter, Jones attempted to land a crossing route to Slayton. Instead, it ended up in the hands of the Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson.
“Didn’t see him there,” Jones said. “Got to see it, bad decision there. Good play by him, can’t afford to do that.”
.@aidanhutch97 showing off the 👐#DETvsNYG | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/O8KnGmY4Sb
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 20, 2022
Slayton said he was also caught by surprise by Hutchinson. The Lions turned the pick into their first touchdown of the game and a lead (10-6) they would never relinquish.
Then, coming out of halftime, the Giants found themselves down 24-6, in a fourth-and-5 situation, on the Lions’ 40-yard-line. They elected to go for it, but Jones’ pass intended for Cager sailed high, and Detroit safety Kerby Joseph picked it off.
“Next one was (an) overthrow,” coach Brian Daboll said. “They made the play.”
Kerby's adventure continues‼️#DETvsNYG | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/DUb3Q0VGd3
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 20, 2022
Jones has enjoyed exceptional ball security this season, especially considering his track record as a Giant. In his previous three seasons, Jones had tossed 29 interceptions. Entering Sunday, Jones had only thrown two interceptions this year, and he hadn’t tossed one since Week 3.
“I think that’s one thing we’ve done great, actually, is not turn the ball over and not have these penalties that back us up, and that’s how you play productive offense,” Slayton said. “But, you know, obviously today we weren’t as sharp on that.”
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“Daniel threw for a lot of yards, but that doesn’t really matter relative to (the fact that) we had two interceptions there,” Daboll added. “What was it, 17 points off of turnovers? If you have three turnovers (a season high) and the other team has zero, you’re probably going to lose every game.”
With a 7-3 record and seven remaining games, including five critical division matchups, there’s plenty of time to continue analyzing Jones’ work. Fans won’t even have to wait a week for the next opportunity: The Giants have a Thanksgiving showdown with the 7-3 Dallas Cowboys.
“I think we’re all pretty disappointed with our effort today and how we played — not up to our standard, not up to what we’re capable of doing,” Jones said. “I think that’s the disappointing part of it, and we’ve got to evaluate that, study it and make sure we can’t let those things happen again.”
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
