Do you believe in miracles? YES! Holy smokes, the New York Giants just did the unthinkable, stealing a win over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. For the first time in six years, the G-Men are 1-0 and it sure feels amazing. New head coach Brian Daboll is emotional right now and rightfully so.
This was a wild ride for the Giants, as it looked like they were going to be dominated early on. Instead, the visiting team was able to showcase some incredible fight late in this one to really make things intriguing and they posted their 21-20 win. Here’s our takeaways from the action.
5. Kadarius Toney wasn’t happy with his lack of playing time
To start, the lack of playing time for Kadarius Toney didn’t make a ton of sense from our chair. Were the coaches being careful with the second-year wideout, who has been dealing with an injury this summer? Perhaps that was the case.
However, Toney didn’t look happy on the sidelines in the first half and you could tell he just wanted to be out there making plays. Toney is a competitive guy. He wants to make plays for this team on a consistent level and showcase to people that he was fully deserving of being a first-round pick by the NFC East side.
Instead, Toney only saw a handful of snaps in Week 1. The fact that he was barely out on the field for the Giants was tough to see and fans were blasting the coaching staff on Twitter for not using the speester.
4. Saquon Barkley must be a focal point for the offense
Saquon Barkley really looked like his old self, didn’t he? Barkley was able to get the Giants on the board for the first time this season thanks to his short touchdown run, which was set up by his amazing long run. That kind of burst was something Giants supporters were hoping to see against the Titans.
The hope was that Barkley would be able to surpass 100 total yards in this one, but the fact that he was able to do that on the ground alone (164 yards and a TD) and blow by that number was awesome. Moving forward, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka needs to keep getting Barkley the ball early and often. We saw just how dangerous he can be.
If anything, though, we’d like to see Barkley play more of a role in the aerial attack. The former No. 2 overall pick has sensational hands and he’ll need to be a reliable option for Danny Dimes the rest of the season. If those two can develop some strong chemistry, it’s going to be massive for this team.
3. Daniel Jones has to be better under pressure
There were definitely some positives, but also some negatives for Daniel Jones during his season-opening performance against the Titans. Let’s start with the negatives for Jones. To start, the fumble in the first half was disappointing to see, as Jones has always struggled with turnovers with the G-Men.
Jones hung on to the ball for too long on certain occasions, which led to the fumble, and numerous sacks for the Tennessee defense. That’s on the offensive line to protect Jones, but it’s also on the signal-caller to try and get the ball out in a timely fashion. This is something Jones is going to have to clean up moving forward.
On top of that, his interception in the red zone in the fourth quarter was awful. He tried finding Barkley in the end zone to tie the game up, but instead he tossed a costly pick. That simply can’t happen and Jones has to make smarter decision. Come on, man.
It wasn’t all bad, though, for Jones. He made some big throws on the day, none better than his 55-yard touchdown to Sterling Shepard. Jones put the ball on the money and Shepard was able to showcase some sweet moves to break a tackle and make his way to the end zone. Those two need to keep connecting for big hookups like that. Still, Jones must look better next week against Carolina.
2. Brian Daboll isn’t going to take it easy on Daniel Jones
That fourth-quarter interception from Jones is going to be talked about for a while. That was an awful decision from the signal-caller and fans aren’t too pleased with him. The same can be said for his head coach.
Brian Daboll was spotted giving it to Jones for that terrible throw and honestly, it’s great to see. Daboll can’t put up with this kind of nonsense and he’s got to let Jones know that he has to perform at a higher level. That’s not the kind of throw a fourth-year quarterback can make, especially one who’s playing for his future.
Jones knows that his year will decide whether or not the Giants decide to bring him back next season with a new contract or not. If Jones is out there throwing those kinds of interceptions, do we really think he’ll be presented with a new deal? No chance. Daboll will always push his quarterback to step his game up and he’ll also call him out when he makes a foolish decision.
1. Giants never stopped fighting and we loved seeing it
When was the last time we saw this kind of passion and fight from Big Blue? Despite being behind for the majority of this game, the Giants truly never stopped fighting and they continued to chip away at things. The players were fired up on the sidelines and you could tell they never stopped believing in themselves.
Giants supporters everywhere lost their minds when Jones delivered with the game-tying touchdown and the cheers only got louder when Daboll decided to go for two and Barkley was able to convert. From that moment, people felt like it was written in the stars for this team to record a win.
Randy Bullock had a chance to win this one as time expired, but the Football Gods answered so many prayers, pushing his kick wide left. Big Blue nation as a whole erupted after that miss and it feels so good. Hey, it wasn’t pretty, but the Giants are 1-0.
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