Even without Barkley, G-Men have no excuse to lose to decimated Niners
COVID-19 has medical professions preoccupied, but the San Francisco 49ers might need their own triage unit for the team they’ll be sending back to MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Niners ruled out five more injured starters for their game against the Giants, most notably quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle. That list doesn’t even include the starters they have on injured reserve: edge rusher Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, cornerback Richard Sherman and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
In other words, if the Jets were facing San Francisco’s B-team last weekend, the Giants are facing the defending NFC champion’s C- or D-team.
After two competitive losses to open the season, it’s time for the Giants to get a win. Because if they can’t do so this week, when is it going to happen? With the Rams and Cowboys on deck, they’d be staring at the very real likelihood of 0-5.
And with the franchise being on its third head coach in four years, plus having 38 losses in the last 50 games, are the Giants really prepared to deal with that ensuing dumpster fire?
“I’m pleased with the improvement I’m seeing from our team,” Joe Judge said. “We just need to string it together on the field and let these guys go ahead and get some tangible results for the work they’re putting in.”
Judge isn’t being fired after one season barring an utter catastrophe, but general manager Dave Gettleman’s job should very much be in jeopardy. Team president John Mara said at the end of last season that the Giants “need to be able to put a better product on the field” regarding Gettleman’s security.
It’s unclear how Mara is factoring Saquon Barkley’s torn ACL into that equation, but that can’t be used as an excuse if this season goes off the rails. If the offensive line improves as expected, the Giants should generate sufficient rushing production out of Devonta Freeman, Dion Lewis and Wayne Gallman.
And let’s be honest: That wouldn’t be good news either for Gettleman, who never should’ve drafted a running back No. 2 overall in 2018. Not when the Giants had so many bigger holes, not when the sheer talent level at that position has never been paramount to building a winner. So what will it say if this team goes on to win more games than last year (four) without Barkley?
Gettleman’s biggest success has been the selection of Daniel Jones, who has actually been better during his sophomore season than it appears on the surface.
Yes, he’s got four turnovers, which is one of the biggest keys to his development. And yes, the Giants are the lowest-scoring offense in the league so far (14.5 points per game).
But Jones currently grades as the 10th-best
quarterback on Pro Football Focus when factoring in that he faced pressure on 41 percent of dropbacks against Pittsburgh and Chicago — the second-highest rate in the NFL. He’s committed a “turnover-worthy play” on only 2 percent of his pass attempts this season, also 10th-best in the league. And his receivers have dropped five passes, tied for second-most in the league.
There remain so many flashes of brilliance from the 2019 first-round pick, like when he flipped the ball to Lewis while scrambling from pressure on third down to move the chains during the Giants’ 95-yard touchdown drive in Chicago.
“I don’t think you can force those plays,” Jones said. “Letting them come naturally and taking advantage of what the defense gives you, whether it’s getting flushed from the pocket or things breaking down, down the field. Getting a sense for that and making plays. I’m not sure it’s something that I’m necessarily being told to do. It’s expected of me to sense
and have a feel for.”
The reality is that Jones simply can’t — and nor can anyone else — carry a rebuilding team on his back, yet if the Giants have another disastrous season and Gettleman is fired, who knows if another GM wants to come in and push the reset button by drafting Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence?
That scenario is unlikely, but it underscores just how critical even a Week 3 game is for setting a tone moving forward.
The Giants are relatively healthy aside from missing injured wide receiver Sterling Shepard for at least three weeks and having Barkley and rookie safety Xavier McKinney on IR.
They’re facing a backup quarterback without his top two running backs, along with a hampered pass rush and banged up secondary. Meanwhile, the Giants’ defense is coming off a second half in Chicago in which it pitched a shutout and forced two turnovers.
“The last two quarters, I want to continue