Vikings bring Jones, Giants’ offense back down to earth

Giants QB expected to suffer growing pains

The EAST RUTHERFORD >> honeymoon was fun while it lasted.

Daniel Jones is going to be good for the Giants. Make no mistake. But a playoff berth this season? That’s just not realistic.

The Vikings’ stellar defense administered a litmus test for the rookie quarterback Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and by the end of the Giants’ 2810 loss, the takeaway was clear: These next eight weeks are going to be bumpy.

New York (2-3) is staring at a brutal midseason schedule which will certainly entail plenty of learning and success for the 22-year-old Jones, but ultimately not too much winning. That’s OK, because the Giants are rebuilding and need to make several personnel upgrades on defense in the offseason to become a serious contender. That shouldn’t have gotten lost in the excitement of two victories in the first two games with their first-round draft pick under center.

“He made some good throws under duress at times. Then there were a couple he was just off on,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “There’s situations where I wish I could’ve given him better plays. But I thought he battled, and that’s why he’s going to be a good player for us for a long time.”

Jones, who completed 21-of-38 passes for merely 4.8 yards per attempt, has developed strong chemistry with wide receiver Sterling Shepard. But the two failed to connect on two surefire touchdowns against Minnesota.

Jones overthrew Shepard when he was streaking down the sideline on a busted coverage during the Giants’ first drive. Shepard was wide open again on thirdand-goal early in the second half, but Jones’ pass sailed too high and Shepard was unable to land with the ball in bounds.

“When you play a good defense like Minnesota you need to convert those,” Jones said. “I’ll certainly look at those, but I’ve got to be better in those situations and we’ve got to take advantage of those. I can’t afford to miss those against a team like that.”

Coming away with only three points on those drives was critical considering the margin for error against the Vikings’ top secondary. Minnesota’s corners rarely flinched in coverage, and strong safety Harrison Smith provided excellent support over the top.

Wide receiver Golden Tate was held to just three catches for 13 yards in his return from a fourgame suspension. In the second quarter, cornerback Mike Hughes broke up Jones’ sideline pass to Tate on third-and-7 from the Giants’ 44 to stall another drive.

The last hope for a comeback came with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter. Facing a fourth-and-12 from Minnesota’s 27 with the score 25-10, Jones lobbed an end zone pass to Shepard that Hughes swatted away. The Giants challenged for pass interference, but to no avail.

“It’s a game of inches, man,” Shepard said. “You saw that today. We’ve got to correct some little things, but I think it’s all things that are correctable. We’ll be alright.”

The biggest internal problem was that the offensive line had its worst performance of the season. The Vikings’ front seven dominated with seven-tackles-loss, four sacks and at least a few big hits as Jones was under constant duress in the pocket.

Minnesota stuffed the running game to the tune of 64 yards on 20 carries. Third-stringer Jon Hilliman became the primary ball carrier after Wayne Gallman left the game in the first quarter with a concussion, so the Vikings were essentially able to pin their ears back and blitz.

“If you don’t have the number one running back in the league (Saquon Barkley), obviously you miss some big-play opportunities that he can make,” Shepard said. “But we don’t have him, so that was the bottom line.”

Jones successfully navigated the traffic at times. After Corey Ballentine’s kickoff return set up the Giants’ second drive at midfield, Jones scrambled up the middle for an 8-yard gain as pressure caved in on thirdand-5. Two plays later, he stood tall and delivered a perfect 35-yard touchdown pass to rookie Darius Slayton.

Jones also took better care of the ball Sunday. His lone turnover was meaningless as it came with 3:26 remaining. Jones committed two fumbles against the Redskins and threw two interceptions versus the Bucs.

The problem was sustaining drives. The offense averaged a seasonlow 3.4 yards per play.

“They’re definitely a very good defense. There’s a reason they’ve been good for years on end,” right guard Kevin Zeitler said. “But I think as o-line we look at it as it’s our fault. What didn’t we do? What did we miss? How can we get better? And that’s the approach we have to take, because we have too many good competitions coming up.”

Minnesota’s ball-control offense set the tone early with bootlegs and screen plays. An 11-play, 98-yard drive made it 10-0 Vikings early in the second quarter as the Giants’ defense struggled to tackle with three starting linebackers injured.

The one time the defense stepped up — safety Jabrill Peppers forced a fumble in the red zone in the third quarter — led to an ironic situation. Backed up at the 1-yard line, the Giants tried to run through the teeth of Minnesota’s defense. The problem was that a heavy personnel formation made Shurmur’s play call predictable. The Vikings countered with a blitz and dropped Hilliman in the end zone for a safety.

“We didn’t execute it well enough, and we gave up a safety. So it’s two points, you move on,” Shurmur said. “What did we get beat by? 18. So that was a bad play on our part, we’ve got to clean that up and move on.”

It surely won’t be the last one in a season of learning.