MUST-WIN ALREADY? SURE FEELS LIKE IT!
Giants desperate to beat WFT and cursin’ QB Heinicke
The only way for the Giants to quiet their fans’ panic is to win a game. Fortunately, Thursday night serves up the Washington Football Team (0-1), the only opponent the Giants beat consistently, to clean off the stink of Sunday’s dud against Denver.
“I’ve been in this league long enough to know that good teams will look at this short turnaround as an opportunity to get that bad taste out of our mouth,” defensive end Leonard Williams said Tuesday, before the team boarded a train Wednesday and headed south.
But are the Giants (0-1) a good team? Or do they just want to be one?
GM Dave Gettleman memorably said in August on SiriusXM Radio that in the 2020 season, the Giants “were 4-2 in the NFC East” and “could have just as easily been 5-1 but we weren’t.”
There are no almosts or could-haves in the NFL, though. The final standings don’t count close losses as near-wins. And many of the wins often are near-losses.
The Giants are the only NFL team that hasn’t been above .500 at least once since the start of the 2017 season, per NFL.com.
It’s time to put up or shut up. It’s time for the Giants to ignore the noise and make their own Thursday in prime time at FedEx Field.
They can start by taking this personally:
Washington backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who will start on Thursday in place of the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick, appeared to fire up his team at the end of Tuesday’s walkthrough practice by trashing the Giants.
“F--- ’em!” was audible and echoing on a video posted by NBC4 Washington of the Football Team’s players breaking the huddle.
“Being the new starting guy, I felt like I needed to get in front of the team a little bit,” said Heinicke, 28, before his third career NFL start. “So I went in there, said a couple of words that I probably shouldn’t say right now about these Giants, and hopefully it got the guys fired up and ready to play Thursday.”
The Giants, if they return fire, can turn their 27-13 Week 1 loss to the Broncos into a distant memory. A Week 3 visit from the Atlanta Falcons is one of the easiest games on the schedule. If the Giants beat Washington, they could be 2-1 traveling to take on the New Orleans Saints in Week 4.
On the other hand, it’s impossible to project an automatic win over the Falcons, because right now the Giants and Atlanta (01) are in the same class.
Joe Judge’s team can begin to change that perception by beating Washington, a team that Daniel Jones is 4-0 against in his young career, despite a 4-19 record in his other 23 starts.
Washington’s defense gave up 14-of-18 third down conversions in a 20-16 opening loss to the L.A. Chargers, not including a late Justin Herbert kneel down.
If Saquon Barkley and a retooled offensive line can improve the running game, Jason Garrett’s offense should expect to move the ball.
Kenny Golladay’s late surge in the season opener hopefully foreshadowed a productive connection with Jones in big games like
Thursday’s.
Garrett’s play-calling can’t be predictable or put Jones at a disadvantage as it did against Denver, however. And Jones needs to stop turning it over.
His costly red zone fumble in Sunday’s third quarter gave him 30 career fumbles in 28 games. His 18 fumbles lost are the most by any player since the start of Jones’ 2019 rookie year.
“It’s certainly frustrating,” Jones said Tuesday. “Those are big plays and certainly changed the game, so I’ve got to do better.”
Not all of the heat belongs on Jones and the offense, though. Pat Graham’s defense has a lot to answer for after surrendering 420 yards to Denver and making Teddy Bridgewater look like an All-Pro.
The Giants gave up 165 rushing yards to the Broncos, the sixth straight game they’ve allowed 100+ rush yards, a streak that began in Week 13 of last season at Seattle.
Melvin Gordon III’s 70-yard TD run was the longest rushing TD allowed by a Giants defense in 10 years going back to Fred Jackson’s 80-yard TD for Buffalo on Oct. 16, 2011.
Denver was 3-of-3 on fourth downs, was 7-of-15 on third downs, won the time of possession battle 35:08 to 24:52., and had two scoring drives of 15 plays or more. The Giants defense allowed just three series of 15 or more plays all season in 2020.
It won’t be easy to become a dramatically different defense in one week, particularly due to personnel. The Giants’ secondary had no answer for the Broncos when they went three wide receivers, with no capable option at slot corner.
Graham might have to slide safety Logan Ryan over to cornerback to help. Washington ran three-wide 67% of the time against the Chargers, per Sharp Football Analysis. Terry McLaurin, Adam Humphries, rookie Dyami Brown and Cam Sims will be in the receiver rotation, with tight end Logan Thomas always a tough test.
Washington running back Antonio Gibson did have a costly fumble late in Sunday’s loss to the Chargers. The Giants’ early run defense against Denver was OK. And the mobile Heinicke could be prone to holding the ball, maybe allowing the Giants’ pass rush to get home.
But the Giants’ 11 missed tackles against Denver do not bode well, and their recent success in this division rivalry doesn’t guarantee victory.
They won both games over Washington last season by a combined four points. Former Giants captain Landon Collins, 0-3 against his former team since Gettleman let the All-Pro walk in free agency, has an axe to grind, too.
Washington also reeks of desperation with an upcoming schedule of Buffalo, Atlanta, New Orleans, Kansas City, Green Bay and Denver on deck. They pretty much have to win this game.
So it feels like a must-win in Week 2 for both sides in many ways. The Giants might as well step up and assert themselves, or it will be a long 10-day break before the Falcons fly in.