Quarterback Daniel Jones’s play has been a lightning rod throughout his time with the Giants and Sunday was no exception.
Jones was 4-of-6 for zero yards in the first half of the team’s game against the Commanders and he also took a sack and lost a fumble on two other pass plays. The Giants ran the ball 21 times and picked up 142 yards in the process, but they only scored seven points while the Commanders found the end zone three times.
The Giants flipped things around in the second half and had some success through the air, but they still lost 27-22 and head coach Brian Daboll was asked at his postgame press conference if the early game plan was due to a lack of confidence in the quarterback.
“We were averaging seven yards running the ball,” Daboll said, via a transcript from the team. “We felt comfortable. That was the plan coming into the game. We wanted to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage. It has nothing to do with Daniel throwing it or not throwing it.”
Wide receiver Malik Nabers did not have a catch in the first half of the game and that would seem to be a clear sign that the Giants’ approach lacked the kind of balance that was called for on Sunday. Whatever the reason for that, it’s something that Daboll, who is now 8-18 since the start of last season, needs to figure out.
