Giants lose to the Vikings 28-6

"It was exciting for the fans to be back in the stadium today. It seemed like a long off season, and I was hoping there would be a lot to celebrate, besides the Giants playing football for 100 years. The Giants started off poorly on offense, but the defense made up for that right away. Cornerback Dru Phillips was in there for a sack fumble that was recovered by linebacker Bobby Okereke. With the ball at the Vikings 20 yard line, tight end Daniel Bellinger had a 3-yard catch and Jones ran for seven and a first down. A sack on Jones three plays later had them settling for a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The defense wasn't as good this next time out, and two penalties, including an unfair 36-yard pass interference call on Adoree' Jackson, set the Vikings up to score a touchdown. On their next drive things were looking good, especially when Jones completed a 25-yard pass to Malik Nabers which got them to the Vikings 35-yard line. Then three penalties, (12 men in the huddle, false start, holding), over the course of the next few plays led to losing yardage, and they had to punt.
Special teams did an excellent job, and Minnesota had to start from their own 1-yard line. Unfortunately, a few plays later, quarterback Sam Darnold got off a deep pass to his top receiver Justin Jefferson for 44-yards. Darnold was having a good day against the Giants, and the drive continued until they had a 4th-and 2 at the Giants 3-yard line. They went for it, and Jefferson caught that one as well in the endzone for a touchdown, and the Vikings took a 14-3 lead. Not much happened after that besides Jones taking his second sack as time wore down to end the half.
The crowd got a boost when some of the Giants top 100 players were introduced. It's too bad they couldn't take the field, because things didn't get much better in the second half. The Vikings started things off by adding another touchdown. Graham Gano kicked a 50-yard field goal, and the score was now 21-6 in favor of the Vikings. After an encouraging 3-and-out, Jones took the field for his turn and threw a short pass towards Wan'Dale Robinson that was intercepted, and run back for a touchdown.
The Giants went three-and-out, and some of the fans started to leave, and missed Dexter Lawrence tipping one of Darnold's passes which linebacker Darius Muasau grabbed for an interception. The game went into the fourth quarter and Jones got them down to the Vikings 11-yard line. It was fourth-and-8 and Jones pass into the endzone was intercepted. That about did it and there was no more scoring after that with the Giants taking a 28-6 loss. It was a very discouraging game, and hopefully the Giants can do much better next week against Washington."

"Daniel Jones first pass of the season was to running back Devin Singletary for a 6 yard loss. That wasn't a good sign for Jones, who ended up completing only 8 of his 16 passes for 55 yards, and was sacked twice. Jones 14 rushing yards had him second to Singletary who had 20, averaging 4 yards a carry. Overall the Giants came up with a total of 95 yards on offensive plays, and scored just 3 points, thanks to the defense having them start at the Vikings 20 yard-line once during this half. First downs were rare. The Giants had only five, and one was from a Vikings penalty.
Meanwhile, the defense was supposed to be more effective up front. They came up with just 1 sack, allowing Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to complete 13 of his 14 passes for 151 yards and 1 touchdown. Darnold threw the ball to seven different players and they all had catches. It should be mentioned that rookie Dru Phillips forced a fumble that was recovered by Bobby Okereke.
The Giants didn't come up with any big fixes for the second half. The players, especially on offense, looked lost and lackluster with some of their actions on the field. Jones was hesitant and off with his throws, and there were what looked to be five drops by his receivers. He finished up the day completing 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards and 2 interceptions. One of them was a pick-6 , and the other was intercepted in the end zone, which ruined their scoring opportunity.
The defense deserves a second look. They would have ended the Vikings scoring drive at the very start of the second half, except for Kayvon Thibodeaux's facemask penalty. Darnold's group scored no more points for the rest of the game. The Vikings following drive was 3-and-out, and Darnold was intercepted on the third play of the next one. They had 6 plays for 22 yards, and 7 plays for 31 yards after that.
The team was hit with 9 penalties for 95 yards, and as we said the players looked lost at times. You have to look at the coaching for some of that, and for any adjustments Brian Daboll could have made during the game. As the play caller this season, he will have more time on his hands to prepare for the next game. Why? Daboll won't have to argue with his offensive coordinator as to what plays were called at certain times. It's all on him now to figure out what he could do better."

[Back to Team Giants] Click on the Team Giants logo to be informed of all Giants game previews, reviews and off season football news. Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet" at  MikesKeys.com