Some NY Giants fans had to check their calendar on Sunday night to see if it said 1995 on it. The Week 1 game on Sunday Night Football between the Giants and Dallas Cowboys resembled the infamous blowout that happened 28 years ago to start the season.
Except it was even worse. Instead of 35-0 like the final score showed in 1995, it was a 40-0 destruction of the Giants this time around. It was a game where everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants did. Turnovers, miscues, sacks, and a violent rainstorm that didn’t let up on MetLife Stadium - yup, it was all there.
It was a game that had a lot of Giants fans doing a complete 180 on how they viewed the season, which was once a feeling of hope that quickly turned to disgust and anger. A 40-0 game will do that to a fanbase that saw a lot of losing from 2017-2021. Giants fans thought the losing was done, but after that game, the fans feel like the season is going back to what we all saw before the change of the regime.
Before the Giants fans decide to give up on the 2023 season, here is why everyone should still have hope for the year and not give up so soon:
5. RB Saquon Barkley
If the Giants have any hope of winning games in 2023, they’re going to remember that they have one of the best running backs in the NFL on their team. During the Giants 40-0 loss against the Cowboys, it felt like Saquon Barkley became an afterthought in the game.
Barkley had 12 total carries in the loss for 51 yards. In the second half, Barkley had just one carry, which went for 18 yards. After that, nothing. For a player who had over 1,300 yards a season ago on the ground, the Giants sure forgot to use him in a game where the weather was terrible, the passing game wasn’t working well and the pass blocking wasn’t helping Daniel Jones.
Fortunately for the Giants, Barkley remains healthy and he's ready to continue to show the entire league why he’s still one of the best. On top of that, Barkley is also playing for his next contract still.
Having a solid outing against the Cardinals would be a good way to get over the stink of losing the way the Giants did, and putting the ball in the hands of Barkley as often as possible is a sure way of making good things happen.
4. This team should take care of business vs. the Cardinals
It would be one thing if the Giants had to play a really tough team next after the demoralizing loss they had against the Cowboys, like, say, against the San Francisco 49ers. But that’s their Week 3 problem. This is Week 2, and the Giants have been afforded the chance to turn things around against the Arizona Cardinals.
This isn’t the Cardinals who have Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins and JJ Watt. Instead, the Cardinals have journeyman Joshua Dobbs starting for them. Dobbs isn’t the worst quarterback in the league, but he’s not exactly going to set the league on fire either, and he might be exactly what the Giants need to get back to feeling confident about themselves.
The Cardinals are viewed as one of the worst teams in the league currently. This should be a game where the Giants come into a building where they’ve not only won in the past, but have hoisted a Lombardi Trophy in it as well, and should walk away with a win.
Overall, they are the better team, at least on paper they are. Jones won’t have Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence barreling down his neck like he did last weekend. And the rain shouldn’t be following the Giants out to Arizona either, which can help with their offense if they do want to try and throw it. This is a game that the Giants should win and help them get on the win column to start 2023.
3. There are no major injuries facing the G-Men
After the Cowboys game, the Giants had some players banged up. It’s football and injuries are always going to happen.
Andrew Thomas is dealing with a hamstring issue, but it isn’t one where he’ll be out several weeks. Maybe he misses one of the two games in a week, but that’s better than if he were missing for a month. Darren Waller was also dealing with a hamstring issue as well, but he still played through his during the game against the Cowboys and made a few catches. Waller said this is more of a nerve thing, but if it's controllable, then Waller should be okay.
Graham Gano was dealing with an ankle issue following the blocked field goal that the Cowboys scored a touchdown on. He was limited during practice, but not to the point where the Giants had to go out and get another kicker onto the roster. Despite the rough game, losing Gano would have been a massive blow, but Gano is still around.
Nobody has suffered a crucial injury to this point, and that’s a good thing for the Giants. Health has always been a thing and in the past, several players haven’t made it through the season without being lost for the year. Last year, Sterling Shepard was lost by Week 3 and Wan’Dale Robinson didn’t get to make it to Thanksgiving. But that was last year. So far, players are for the most part healthy.
2. Brian Daboll still runs the show
Brian Daboll still remains the NFL’s Coach of the Year, and he didn’t win that award by accident last year. One rough game doesn’t simply discredit all of the work he put in last year to change the culture with the Giants.
In years past, the Giants might have rolled into Week 2 and let what happened in Week 1 affect them and then they’re suddenly 0-2. And then that’s where the season gets out of hand and spirals out of control. But this is where having Daboll here helps. He’s the one who makes sure the players don’t forget who they are and what they did.
He’s the one who reminds them that they aren’t the Giants from 2017-2021. Those teams aren’t around anymore. The minute the Giants became a playoff team last year and won a playoff game, this became Daboll’s team and everyone bought in. Again, one loss doesn’t change the course of what he’s trying to do.
This is still a rather young Giants team, but one with talent on it. Talent that Daboll is coaching to win. A bad loss to a team like Dallas can happen. But where a coach like Daboll comes in, he reminds them that they are better than a 40-0 loss. Getting past Sunday’s disaster start and getting back on a winning track is where a good coach like Daboll comes in handy, where as some of the other coaches prior to him wouldn’t be able to handle the task of righting the ship.
1. It’s too early to panic for Giants fans
While a lot of the “doom and gloom” brigade was out in full force after Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys, here’s the reality... it was only one game.
Whether the Giants lost 40-0 or 14-0, the one loss still counts as only one loss. Granted, it was on national television and it was rather embarrassing, but again, it’s only one loss and it’s still extremely early in the season. Several other teams have gone on to lose games like this in Week 1 and have tremendous seasons.
The Giants do have several primetime games early on, but their schedule isn’t a terrible one if they don’t let the season get out of hand. The first task at hand is beating the Cardinals. They have to win that game. Because after that is a game four days later with the 49ers and many aren’t expecting the Giants to win. But if they can compete and hold their own, that would be a moral victory heading into the Monday night game against the Seattle Seahawks, a game the Giants can win.
Then it’s two tough road battles with the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills. So if the Giants can keep their heads above water and get out of Week 6 with a record of 3-3, maybe even 4-2, then they could be in good shape going forward into the rest of the season.
Because after the Bills game, the Giants have three very winnable games that could get their season in the right direction: a home game against the Washington Commanders, followed by a game against the New York Jets that won’t feature Aaron Rodgers, then a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Again, three very winnable games.
The Giants season is far from over. They can control their own destiny early on by playing the kind of football everyone knows they are capable of.
READ MORE: 4 NY Giants to blame not named Daniel Jones for the Week 1 loss