LANDOVER — Russell Wilson is simply nearly as good at not scoring factors for the Giants as another quarterback who has performed for them the previous 4 years.
Joe Schoen’s and Brian Daboll’s grand plan to maneuver away from Daniel Jones and up within the NFC East’s standings got here crashing down Sunday afternoon at Northwest Stadium in a 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Rookie No. 3 total decide Abdul Carter supplied a spark on protection, forcing Jayden Daniels into an enormous mistake on the finish of the primary half to maintain the guests inside hanging distance.
However the Giants’ offensive line was overwhelmed by the Commanders’ defensive entrance, led by Dorance Armstrong’s 9 quarterback pressures. And Wilson had zero capacity to raise the offense round him.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka tried to assist each Wilson and the offensive line with fast screens. However Sunday was the sort of day that had Malik Nabers and Daboll jawing with one another on the sideline earlier than the primary half was even full.
Wilson completed 17 of 37 passing for 168 yards, added eight carries for 44 yards and had one fumble that he recovered himself.
Jones, in the meantime, racked up 298 complete yards and three touchdowns whereas main the Indianapolis Colts to a 33-8 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Again at Washington, the Giants’ anemic offense received so determined that Daboll went for a 4th and 1 on his personal 29-yard line late within the third quarter, trailing 14-3.
Wilson transformed the brief quarterback sneak, and a Graham Gano 55-yard subject aim minimize the deficit to 14-6 with 1:43 remaining within the third quarter.
However Deebo Samuel’s 19-yard landing run with 7:09 remaining iced the sport for Washington.
Wilson and the Giants’ offense drove again into the crimson zone for an opportunity to make the ultimate rating look higher, however the disappointing quarterback missed a large open Wan’Dale Robinson on fourth down to show it again over to the Commanders to run the clock out.
The Giants had a package deal within the sport plan for rookie Jaxson Dart, who was dressed as Wilson’s backup, in keeping with a leak reported by NFL Community. However Daboll by no means pressed the crimson button.
The Giants are 0-3 in opposition to the Commanders since they drafted Daniels.
Sunday marked the Giants’ third straight Week 1 loss below Schoen and Daboll. It dropped their NFC East skid to 0-7 after going winless within the division final season.
They haven’t gained an NFC East sport since Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season in opposition to the Eagles. They’ve misplaced 12 of their final 13 video games total as a franchise since final yr’s Week 5 street win in Seattle.
Their constant Achilles heel is their incapacity to attain factors.
Wilson was supposed to resolve that downside this season as Jones’ alternative, however Sunday was extra of the identical: dangerous execution and never sufficient factors. It didn’t assist that left deal with Andrew Thomas (proper foot) missed the sport attributable to a Lisfranc surgical procedure he underwent final October.
The 15-point loss means the Giants, below Schoen and Daboll, now have misplaced their final three season openers by a mixed rating of 89-12 to the Cowboys, Vikings and Commanders, respectively.
Poor begins have constantly undone them. Sunday’s 14-3 deficit at half meant the Giants have been outscored an astounding 67-6 within the first halves of Daboll’s 4 season openers as head coach.
The clock is ticking loudly, due to this fact, on how quickly Dart will exchange Wilson at quarterback.
Schoen and Daboll can’t let their fourth season slip away with out making an attempt to make use of Dart to reserve it. Their jobs are on the road.
They’ll fly to Dallas to face the Cowboys (0-1) in Week 2, a frightening activity since Dallas almost upset the reigning Tremendous Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on the street of their opener.
To not point out the Cowboys have crushed the Giants in eight straight video games and in 15 of their final 16 conferences — a shocking stretch of division dominance.
Then the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers are coming to MetLife Stadium in Weeks 3 and 4.
The Giants want to determine an answer shortly or they’ll be irrelevant earlier than Halloween once more. And that will possible spell curtains for Schoen and Daboll, who’re heading in direction of the fifth and ultimate years of their contracts.
They had been lucky to even be in Sunday’s sport at halftime. They trailed 14-3 and had been outgained 219 yards to 79.
The rating would have been 21-3 if not for an enormous deal with by Carter and an enormous mistake by Daniels with the clock winding down.
Washington took a 14-3 lead with 6:14 to play within the second quarter on a 6-yard landing run by rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Then the Commanders marched again into the crimson zone with 28 seconds to play within the half.
However Carter, the No. 3 total decide within the NFL Draft, tackled Daniels on the 4-yard line on a designed quarterback run to stop a primary down and possibly a landing.
Then as Washington scrambled again to the ball with no timeouts, Carter pressured Daniels into an intentional grounding throwaway. The penalty was a 10-second runoff, so the Giants escaped into the locker room trailing solely by 11 factors at half.
Notably, each of Washington’s landing drives within the first half got here with Dexter Lawrence off the sector to begin these possessions.
Lawrence, who was restricted many of the offseason attributable to a dislocated elbow final December, is seemingly being managed till he can ramp as much as his high soccer form.
The Giants fell behind, 7-0, 5 minutes in on a 7-yard Daniels landing cross to tight finish Zach Ertz. Daniels hit extensive receivers Chris Moore and Noah Brown for completions of 34 and 18 yards, respectively, to get inside hanging distance.
Then beginning Giants linebacker Micah McFadden received carted off with an damage to his proper leg and foot. And Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury remoted McFadden’s alternative, Darius Muasau, with Ertz on the subsequent play for the rating.
The Giants’ offense answered with a 16-play, 76-yard drive, with a number of Robinson touches, together with a 20-yard catch and run, and a 25-yard Wilson completion on Nabers’ first catch of the day.
However then the Giants did one thing disappointingly acquainted: they stalled within the crimson zone.
They ran seven performs contained in the Commanders’ 8-yard line due to a Washington penalty that gave them an additional first down, together with a 1-yard loss on a handoff to rookie Cam Skattebo. However they needed to accept a 21-yard Gano subject aim and a 7-3 deficit at 13:57 of the second.
