4 NY Giants to blame not named Daniel Jones for what happened vs. Commanders

Despite scoring three touchdowns to the Commanders zero on Sunday, the NY Giants still managed to find a way to lose the game, a historical feat. New York is now sitting at 0-2 on the campaign with a bleak outlook on the remainder of the year.

The offense was more productive than usual, and the defense was solid enough to not allow a touchdown. However, there are a few key members of the team who can be blamed for the loss, surprisingly, none of which are Daniel Jones.

Jones wasn't perfect, but compared to his Week 1 performance against the Vikings, he improved a good bit. He was hitting the mark on most of his throws, and thanks to the offensive line holding up, he was able to move around the pocket much more efficiently. Unfortunately, these four other Giants let the squad down big time:

4. WR Darius Slayton

With the lack of Jalin Hyatt snaps through two weeks, Darius Slayton's consistency is much needed moving forward. While Slayton played his role well for the majority of the Giants' Week 2 matchup, he dropped his most important target, that being a two-point conversion after a Wan'Dale Robinson score. The Giants went up 18-15, but they could have made things 20-15 if Slayton came down with the pass from Jones.

It wasn't the easiest pass to catch, don't get me wrong. However, it still hit Slayton dead in the hands, and a receiver of his experience and quality should have caught it. Had Slayton caught the pass, it would have changed the game plan for both teams down the stretch which could have led to a different outcome.

Slayton caught three passes for 33 yards and zero touchdowns. Overall, not a terrible game for the 27-year-old wideout, but he dropped the one he needed to bring down the most. Hopefully, we don't see many drops like this out of Slayton moving forward, as the offense is in desperate need of more consistency all around.

3. CB Cor'Dale Flott

Once again, Cor'Dale Flott was disappointing when the team needed him most. Despite all the hype and potential he showed to play on the outside over the summer, Flott has been far from ideal as the Giants' CB2. Not only has he been suspect as a tackler, mostly due to his size, but his abilities in coverage have been questionable, to say the least.

For the game, Flott allowed just one reception, but it was a 34-yarder in which he got cooked badly on a post route by Noah Brown which set the Commanders up to hit a game-winning field goal. Flott had a similar play last week against the Vikings in which he allowed an easy TD by making the wrong read in coverage. His brutal tackle attempt on Brian Robinson is still being talked about too.

The Giants secondary has been an absolute disaster through two weeks and Flott is partially to blame. He was given a coverage grade of 62.7, and a tackling grade of 29.6 from PFF. If his poor play continues, the Giants will need to give someone else a shot. Perhaps Adoree' Jackson will start Week 3?

2. EDGE Brian Burns

Another week, another quiet game from "star pass-rusher" Brian Burns, who notched just two pressures against a relatively weak Commanders offensive line. While he was good against the run, and even earned an overall PFF grade of 80.2, he was brought in to rush the passer, and has not really been doing so.

The Giants traded a second and fifth-round pick for Burns, and then gave him a hefty five-year, $141 million contract extension. Thus far, he has not been living up to that value. While he did rack up a sack that was called back by a ridiculous penalty, his lack of overall pass-rushing production through two weeks is massively concerning and a big part of the Giants' defensive woes. Kayvon Thibodeaux has been far from impressive too.

1. HC Brian Daboll

This one is pretty self explanatory, as Brian Daboll's woes have been one of the biggest stories since the game concluded. However, this is deserving, as Daboll's decision to not elevate practice squad kicker Jude McAtamney was the biggest reason for the team's loss.

Daboll knew Graham Gano was dealing with an injury, yet did nothing to alleviate the stress from it, and on the first play of the game, Gano went down and the Giants were without a kicker. Had the team had McAtamney, they likely would have at least been able to tie things up with the Commanders, let alone win the game.

Then, when pressed on both his decision, and his job security after another disappointing start to the season, Daboll became very defensive and argumentative with reporters, which is not a good look. Daboll has been in this league for a long time, and must be better about these things moving forward if he wishes to keep his job after 2024 comes to a close.