Jones misses his shot to shine
One step forward, two turnovers back.
With one more 10-yard completion, Daniel Jones awakes Monday a hero to Giants fans. With a game-ending touchdown pass and a 17-point comeback, the second-year quarterback would have looked like Eli Manning’s rightful heir.
Instead, Jones’ final pass fell incomplete at the goal line, cementing a 17-13 loss to the Bears on Sunday. Again, the turnover-prone, 23-year-old’s Achilles’ heel was exposed, with Jones losing a fumble on an early strip-sack and then adding an interception.
Jones, who led the NFL with 18 fumbles last season — the fifth-highest mark in league history — and had 23 turnovers in 12 starts as a rookie, now has four turnovers through the first two games this season. Sunday also was his first time in 14 career starts without throwing a touchdown pass.
“We just gotta keep this guy playing aggressive,” head coach Joe Judge said. “We’ll watch the tape, talk and address some things with him specifically internally, but I like the way he’s playing aggressive, gives us opportunities in some tough situations. As a team, we have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Already trailing 7-0, Jones — who lost 11 fumbles last season — gave the ball back to the Bears on his third snap, when he was stripped on a Robert Quinn sack at the Giants’ 20-yard line, allowing the
Bears to take a 10-point lead.
Following a devastating injury to Saquon Barkley early in the second quarter, Jones drove the Giants to the Bears’ 29-yard line but was then intercepted by Deon Bush. Jones had 73 yards passing in a scoreless first half.
“Tough first half for us. I’d like to go back and look at the turnovers, and certainly gotta do a better job with that,” said Jones, who finished 25 of 40 for 241 yards passing. “We gotta play a better first half. We all know that, and come out from the opening kick and not hurt ourselves or put us in a hole.”
With the Giants down 17-3 and without top receiver Sterling Shepard, Jones showed the potential that made him the sixth-overall pick. During an 11-play, 95-yard drive, Jones completed 7 of 8 passes for 61 yards — including a backhanded flip to Dion Lewis while falling down to convert a third down — and ran for 11 yards, setting up Lewis’ 1-yard touchdown run with 14:17 left in the game.
With 2:02 remaining and no timeouts left, Jones needed to take the Giants 60 yards for victory. But after connecting with Evan Engram on a 22-yard pass, Jones’ final six completions totaled just 28 yards.
Following Jones’ game-ending incompletion to Golden Tate from the 10-yard line — offensive pass interference would have negated a reception — Judge said he took no issue with Jones’ execution of the two-minute drill.
“I thought Daniel and the offense did a good job . ... We got the passes out. We did a good job overall as far as moving the ball systematically down the field, and look, you’re standing on the 10-yard line with one play to go. That’s really what you’re working for in the two-minute drills, just give yourself an opportunity,” Judge said. “I thought the way it was called was the right way. I thought the way our players executed we converted some third downs, a fourth down in there. We gave ourselves a chance . ... Obviously, not good enough because we didn’t win the game.”