Was this the beginning of a new season or simply the continuation of a lousy old season?
Judging by the boos and the general sense of disgust and grim inevitability that pervaded MetLife Stadium on Sunday, this felt like Game 18 of the dismal 2023 season for the Giants, rather than the start of anything new or in any way improved. It actually looked and felt worse, especially for Daniel Jones and a supposedly more explosive offense that was a bust from start to finish.
Jones, entering a crucial season, looked lost. Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers could be forgiven for thinking, “What am I getting myself into?”
Nabers finished with five catches for 66 yards.
The Giants let Sam Darnold, who was dumped by the Jets/Panthers/49ers, come in and tear them apart. He completed his first 12 passes and looked far too comfortable in the pocket. It was all the Vikings the whole time as the Giants lost badly in their season opener, 28-6, on a picture-perfect afternoon that foreshadowed fall and foretold a long, brutal winter for the Giants.
There were all sorts of franchise legends and greats in the building, continuing the 100th season celebration and showcasing all sorts of crappy football the current team is putting on display. This was a dismal showing in head coach Brian Daboll’s debut as a playmaker on offense and a dismal showing overall for a group that had heard at the start of the season that the roster they had assembled was one of the worst in the NFL. After something like that, even the most wide-awake Giants fans can’t have much faith.
It got so bad that by the start of the fourth quarter, the lower section of the stadium was mostly occupied by Vikings fans, who were clapping their hands with joy in the Skol chant that is usually common in their native Minneapolis.
Jones heard all offseason that the Giants wanted to replace him in the NFL Draft, and he knows the Giants will cut ties with him if he doesn’t deliver. He was awful in his first game after being drafted, completing just 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards and two interceptions. By comparison, Darnold completed 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Giants actually led 3-0, but they were never really in the game in this one. A 14-3 halftime deficit became a 21-3 one when Darnold found Jalen Nailor, who easily eluded Cor’Dale Flott for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Late in the third quarter, the score was 21-6 when Jones looked right to Robinson on first down at his own 17-yard line, but never got the ball near him. Instead, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel made a gifted interception and ran the ball 10 yards out for a pick-six to make it 28-6, raising the decibel level of the commotion to deafening levels.
The first offensive series of the season sent that familiar dull ache through the senses. Jones’ first pass fell behind Devin Singletary for a loss of six yards, followed by a delay of game penalty. On third-and-19, rookie tight end Theo Johnson dropped the ball. There were actually more than a few boos in the building, and that was despite the fact that the season had only started two minutes into the series. Yuck.
Things didn’t get much better in the first quarter. The first series on defense resulted in a turnover when rookie cornerback Dru Phillips hit CJ Ham on his first NFL snap, causing a fumble that Bobby Okereke recovered at the Vikings’ 21-yard line. That wonderful field position didn’t yield much, and the end result was a Graham Gano field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The Vikings scored touchdowns on their next two possessions. A 36-yard pass interference penalty on Adoree’ Jackson — who was signed last week and appears to be rusty — for running into Jordan Addison led to Aaron Jones’ 3-yard touchdown run. The Vikes then marched 99 yards in 11 plays to take a 14-3 lead, with Justin Jefferson beating Deonte Banks on a 44-yard deep ball. On the fourth attempt, Darnold slammed a pass into Jefferson’s gut with Banks on top of him but couldn’t prevent the touchdown.
Meanwhile, Jones and the offense were a nightmarish mess. There were boos when Jones was tackled on third down and lost a yard. There were boos when Jones threw behind Johnson, boos when Jones threw a bouncer to Wan’Dale Robinson, and really, really loud boos when the Giants jogged off the field at halftime.
