The New York Giants are already in trouble. They are so close to having the season collapse by Week 2. It's a terrible place to be. Russell Wilson was supposed to be an upgrade over Daniel Jones, but he struggled from snap 1 and is clearly not the answer going forward.
What made things worse about the offensive ineptitude displayed by the G-Men was that head coach Brian Daboll didn’t even give himself the option to make a change. Big Blue entered the game with three quarterbacks on the roster, but only two dressed for the season opener. That’s because, for some strange reason, Dabs opted to list Jameis Winston as inactive and unable to play.
GIANTS INACTIVES
— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) September 7, 2025
▪️OT Andrew Thomas
▪️S Beau Brade
▪️OL Evan Neal
▪️TE Thomas Fidone II
▪️DL Darius Alexander
▪️QB Jameis Winston (3rd QB) pic.twitter.com/WzCQeBgdka
It turned into an immediate nightmare for the coaching staff. They boxed themselves in with the Winston inactive nonsense and couldn’t find a way out. With the offensive line looking more like Swiss cheese and Wilson offering the team absolutely nothing, there was no contingency plan. Jaxson Dart was dressed as the QB room’s new No. 2, but it would’ve been reckless to put him in the game. Hmm... if only there were another veteran QB on the roster who could have switched things up.
Brian Daboll gave himself no real backup plan by sitting Jameis Winston
There was a very obvious out built into this mess, and Big Blue ignored it. Winston isn't going to save the season, but he could’ve at least tried to salvage the game, even if that just meant moving the ball down the field more consistently.
Related: 2 winners (and 5 clear losers) from Giants' Week 1 dumpster fire vs Commanders
Throw him in at halftime, shake things up, give the Commanders something different to look at. Instead, Daboll was stuck with a 36-year-old quarterback getting bundled every other dropback and a rookie he couldn’t put behind this disaster of a line.
Let’s not forget — the Giants kept Winston over Tommy DeVito on the 53-man roster for a reason. He was supposed to be the veteran fallback. But if the plan was to burn a roster spot and make him unavailable Week 1 while the offense crumbled, then this coaching staff is out of ideas before October. Really, why is Winston on the team then? If he isn't going to play, why is he still here?
The whole thing was avoidable. That’s what stings most. Winston could’ve given them a spark, or at least a chance to shift any sort of momentum. Instead, he was holding a clipboard on the bench while the offense put up six points and wasted a solid defensive effort.
It’s only Week 1, but the Giants are already running out of answers. Something's gotta change.