Daniel Jones will enter his fourth season as the quarterback of the world-famous New York Giants this season, but the franchise is still unsure what they have in their quarterback. Jones has dealt with a plethora of obstacles over his time with the team, including horrible offensive line play, countless offensive injuries, three different head coaches and four different offensive coordinators.
He has also struggled with turnover problems and inefficiency of his own and has a less than stellar 12-25 record to start his career. With the upcoming season offering Jones the best offensive coaching staff, skill group and offensive line room of his career, there is no question that Year 4 is put up or shut up time for Jones.
It could be argued that Jones has the potential to be the second best quarterback in the NFC East, which is weak in quarterbacks, behind Dak Prescott and ahead of Jalen Hurts and Carson Wentz, but, to prove worthy of that position, Jones must silence the haters with on field performance. Let’s examine the four games where Jones needs to silence the haters.
4. Week 1 at Tennessee
There is no better way to show the world a new and improved Jones than by doing it in the first game of the season. Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka were brought over from Buffalo and Kansas City, the league’s two most explosive offenses, to lead the Giants offense out of the stone age which Joe Judge coached in.
Last season, Josh Allen threw deep ball passes 13 percent of the time, while, according to Giants beat reporter for NJ Advanced Media, Zack Rosenblatt, Jones only threw deep ball passes 6.6 percent of the time, the lowest in the league. His rookie season under Pat Shurmur, Jones was slinging the ball all over the field, so we know that he is more than capable of hitting the deep balls. With a young Tennessee secondary, Jones should have plenty of opportunities for deep shots.
Since Tennessee is not likely to be anywhere near as good as the No. 1 seeded AFC team they were a season ago, Jones has a real opportunity to lead the Giants to victory in Week 1, which would mark the first time the Giants were above the .500 mark since January 1, 2017. There’s no better impression than a first impression.
3. Week 3 vs Dallas
This is a tremendous early season showcase game. Under the New York primetime lights, in one of football’s biggest rivalry games, this offers a huge chance for Jones to show the quarterback he is. In his three-year career, Jones is 0-8 in primetime games. He would make quite the statement if he could end that streak in this game.
The Cowboys are still the favorites and considered as the class of the NFC East. Despite losing Randy Gregory, Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson this offseason, the Cowboys will still bring a team littered with stars to New York. This game will be a measuring stick as to how close the Giants are to competing and will be the first chance for the young Giants to feel what it is like to play on one of the biggest stages in football.
Jones is just 1-5 against the Cowboys in his career and has never beaten Dak Prescott. If you want to be the quarterback of the New York Football Giants, and win the division, you have to beat the Cowboys every year. Jones would send a strong message to the league if he can pull off this early season upset.
2. Week 12 at Dallas
The last time the Giants played on Thanksgiving Day was five years ago, and there’s no better showcase opportunity than turkey day, the football holiday. Last Thanksgiving, the Las Vegas Raiders traveled to Dallas to take on the Cowboys, and beat them 36-33 in a thrilling overtime game. CBS reported that 38.53 million viewers were tuned into the game.
Since New York is the No. 1 media market in the world, there is real potential for the NY Giants taking on the Cowboys, who are proclaimed “America’s Team,” to get at least as many viewers as last season’s turkey day Raiders game.
Most people outside of New York believe Jones was a major draft bust, and there’s no better way for Jones to debunk that narrative than have a great game in front of around 40 million viewers, around 12 percent of the entire population of the United States.
1. Week 18 at Philly
It would not be shocking if the Giants season was still alive going into Week 18’s showdown in Philadelphia. After being horrible a season ago, the Giants will play a weak schedule in 2022, giving them a legitimate path to contend for a playoff spot.
Daniel Jones has only played in one playoff-like game in his career, Week 17 of the 2020 season when the Giants beat the Cowboys in order to keep their playoff aspirations alive. If this game is a de facto playoff game, Jones will have a prime opportunity to endure himself to Giants fans by putting down the Eagles and leading the Giants to the playoffs.
If the Giants season goes horribly again in 2022, this will be the last game of Jones’ in blue. If Jones wants to stay an NFL starting quarterback beyond 2022, this will be his last chance to wow other teams (assuming he leaves NY), and he will need to make a stellar last impression. Who knows, this could be an interview to stay in East Rutherford.
Let’s also not forget the fact the Jones is playing against Hurts in this matchup. Jones is 1-0 vs. Hurts in his career, and the two quarterbacks both find themselves close to each other in quarterback power rankings, on the bottom 1\3 of the lists. If Jones truly wants to show he’s the second-best quarterback in the NFC East, there’s no better way to do it than by beating Hurts.