5 things we learned from the NY Giants deflating loss to Dallas

The New York Giants looked ready to improve to 3-0, but the Dallas Cowboys had other ideas in their Monday Night Football tilt. Despite the Giants taking a 13-6 lead thanks to a monster score from Saquon Barkley, Dallas, led by Cooper Rush, was able to make the plays late and leave MetLife Stadium with a 23-16 win.

Following the Monday Night Football showdown, the Giants will now shift their focus to the Chicago Bears for another showdown at MetLife Stadium before hitting the road for the London game with the Packers. Here’s five things we learned from the action, with plenty of negatives on the list:

5. Kenny Golladay has no future with this team

On Monday, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Giants could be open to trading Kenny Golladay if his situation with the team doesn’t improve soon. The hope was that the $72 million man would be able to quiet down any trade specuation with a big game against the Cowboys in Week 3. That wasn’t the case.

Golladay wasn’t targeted heavily in the aerial attack and it was disappointing to see. Time and time again, No. 19 just isn’t producing for NY, but right now it just feels like Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka don’t have much faith in him to get the job done. We’re seeing more of Richie James and David Sills than one of the most expensive wideouts in the game for 2022.

Instead, Golladay was on the sideline for far too much on Monday night. With Rapoport stating that the Giants could look to move on from Kenny G, the trade speculation is only going to keep growing the rest of the week. Things only got worse for Golladay with his drop late in the fourth quarter on third down. Fans want him out of town. This experiment must end.

4. The offensive line simply has to play better

What in the heck was that from the guys up front for the G-Men? It indeed was a night to forget for the Giants offensive line, as they simply had no answer for the Cowboys defense. We all knew Micah Parsons was going to be a problem, but goodness, he was on fire all night and could not be slowed down.

Demarcus Lawrence, going up against Evan Neal, also had a strong showing, which no one wanted to see. Leading up to the contest, Lawrence trolled both Daniel Jones and Eli Manning.

Everyone at MetLife Stadium was hoping that the NY offensive line would be able to make Lawrence eat his words, but that simply wasn’t the case, as he posted three sacks. Neal was tough to watch. The No. 7 overall pick showed rookie jitters in this one. He just couldn’t get the job done.

With Parsons, Lawrence and others battling their way through the NY offensive line, Jones wasn’t given enough time to scan the field and throw the rock on too many occassions. This has been an issue all year for the Giants. There was hope that a new-look OL would turn things around, but the guys up front, outside of Andrew Thomas, have been far too inconsistent.

3. Getting Azeez Ojulari back was a gift from the Football Gods

Through the first two weeks, it was made obvious that the NY Giants were missing pass-rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari. While Thibodeaux made some strong plays during his regular-season debut, Ojulari made an impact and really reminded people of how good he was during his rookie season in 2021.

Ojulari was disruptive, especially in the first half. It was amazing to see for everyone who packed the house in East Rutherford. A lot of the attention this offseason has gone to Thibodeaux and rightfully so. He was the No. 5 overall pick in the NFL Draft and people think he’s the future of this defense.

Having said that, Ojulari really was a treat to watch and his performance was needed with Leonard Williams missing this one due to his knee injury. Williams is a force and he’s going to be missed. Having Ojulari back is going to calm plenty of nerves, though. The second-year pass-rusher is a special player, no doubt about that.

2. Saquon Barkley is ready to step up when needed

Despite the loss, oh how good it feels to see Saquon Barkley look like his old self and ball out against the Dallas Cowboys. Due to the poor play from the offensive line for most of the game, Barkley really couldn’t get the run game going. Things changed in the third quarter. With the game tied at 6-6, Barkley stole the show.

He took a handoff from Jones and sprinted his way to the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown run. Barkley topped 20 miles per hour on that run, blazing his way past the Dallas defense. MetLife was rockin’ from start to finish on that run, making the big score all the more memorable for the Giants star.

With NY in need of a big moment, Barkley was ready to get the pigskin and do whatever was necessary to get the people off their seats. He took things to a different gear, though, and would not be denied of a touchdown. The Giants need this kind of Saquon to keep showing up. We can only hope these kinds of runs can come in wins, though.

1. Daniel Jones can’t be blamed for this loss

Yes, Daniel Jones tossed an interception late in this contest to seal the win for the Dallas Cowboys. However, Sills slipped on his route in rough fashion, opening the door for Trevon Diggs to make a play on the ball and record the turnover. Jones has been frustrating to watch, but that INT was not on him.

Overall, this loss wasn’t on him either. He played a strong game and not only made some big throws, but he also impressed with some strong runs as well. It was fun to see Danny Dimes escape the heavy pressure at times and use his wheels to break free for a big gain. That’s what this offense needs.

If you’re looking to blame something for NY being 2-1 and not 3-0, you can go with the offensive line or the poor play of the secondary at times, but don’t try and bring down Jones. His 196 passing yards isn’t going to impress anyone, but his 75 rushing yards will. He fought with everything he had to try and stay undefeated. The same can’t be said for several of his teammates.

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