Mistake-riddled game ends in a blowout
The New York Giants’ first game without Saquon Barkley was an embarrassment, led by one of Daniel Jones’ worst games as a young pro.
Jones turned the ball over twice for a third straight game, threw erratically and inaccurately, and failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second straight week as the 49ers smoked the Giants 36-9 at empty MetLife Stadium.
Barkley, the former Whitehall High and Penn State star, tore his right ACLlast week and is out for the season.
San Francisco (2-1) was clearly the more talented team even down 10 of its 22 starters due to injuries, and Kyle Shanahan’s offense opened up on the Giants’ failing defense in the second half to bury them.
The Giants, in Joe Judge’s first season as head coach, fell to a 0-3 start for just the third time since 1996. The other two were Tom Coughlin’s 2013 team that started 0-6 and finished 7-9, and Ben McAdoo’s 2017 team that opened 0-5 and went to 3-13.
The Niners, led by backup Qquarterback Nick Mullens, controlled the ball for almost 40 minutes.
The Giant defense held the Niners to two field goals after both of Jones’ first-half turnovers, a bad pitch backwards for a fumble and poorly thrown interception to linebacker Fred Warner. But the defense got no help from Jason Garrett’s pathetic offense, and then it broke too.
The game was tied 6-6 with 7:25 to play in the second quar
ter, but for the third straight week Patrick Graham’s defense allowed a touchdown drive of 75 or more yards just before the half.
Not only that, but Jones’ interception with less than a minute left gave the 49ers an extra field goal and a 16-6 lead at the break,
canceling out anything positive about the first half.
Bad penalties by rookie corner Darnay Holmes, wideout Darius Slayton and edge rusher Lorenzo Carter killed the Giants at key times. And Slayton fumbled in the final minutes of the game
for the Giants’ third turnover to appropriately end the day on a low note.
TheGiants also sustained more injuries: strong safety Jabrill Peppers hurt his right ankle on a first half field goal block attempt and did not return. And rookie
left tackle Andrew Thomas got shaken up on a late sack and was replaced for a couple plays by fellow rookie Matt Peart.
The Giants now face back-toback road games at the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys, so it could get a lot worse.