Four Things We Learned About The Giants In Week 4

The days of veteran quarterback Eli Manning seem to be all but over for the New York Giants, who’re suddenly 2-2 after starting out 0-2 and pulling the plug on Manning, replacing him with first-round rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. The Giants are suddenly a team that is once again in contention, and even though the wins wont lead anyone to believe the Giants are suddenly a Super Bowl contender, they’re managing to build confidence in their young quarterback. Here are the four things we learned about the Giants this week.

Daniel Jones has the offense producing better results

The Giants are a far more productive and enjoyable offense when they’re led by Daniel Jones as opposed to Eli Manning. Through the first two games with Manning operating under center, the Giants averaged 15.5 points per game, and that included having the game’s best running back healthy and in the backfield in Saquon Barkley. Since Jones took over, the Giants have averaged 28 points per game with an undefeated 2-0 record to boot. Jones is a rookie who’ll ride the rollercoaster of good and bad play as all rookies do, though it has to be incredibly encouraging to see a young guy step into a team that lacks the talent necessary to steadily win football games, yet not look completely and utterly lost. Jones didn’t have the day he wanted throwing the ball, though he showed his resilience on multiple 3rd-and-long situations by scrambling for first downs and extending drives.

Giants have to clean up the mistakes

The Giants handedly won the game with a score of 24-3, though it could’ve been a much larger margin of victory, and though they didn’t need it against a terrible Washington Redskins football team, the Giants might need it in a more competitive contest moving forward. Daniel Jones threw two interceptions to receivers that were completely covered and the Giants fumbled a whopping four times, one of which was inside the opponents 5-yard line, ultimately losing two of those fumbles. It wasn’t exactly a clean game, even after a large win over the divisional rival Redskins.

Defense showed signs of life

The 2019 Giants are not known for their talent or ability on the defensive side of the ball, yet they really took a major step forward on Sunday, allowing a measly three points to the Redskins and getting starting quarterback Case Keenum benched in the process. The Giants intercepted four passes – one of which went for a touchdown return by safety Jabrill Peppers – added three sacks, a tackle-for-loss, allowed only three points, and allowed a total of 176 yards to the Redskins’ offense. This was a fantastic performance by a defense that really needed one, especially after nearly losing the week three contest to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The offense overcomes the loss of RB Saquon Barkley

You can never truly replace the games best running back in Saquon Barkley, yet the Giants are doing their best – and succeeding – at keeping the offense on the field, moving the chains, and most importantly, scoring enough points to win games. Backup running back Wayne Gallman earned the start in week four, managing 63 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, chipping in another 55 yards receiving and one receiving touchdown. The Giants had a combined 164 yards rushing, 33 of which came from the legs of Daniel Jones.

After starting out 0-2, the Giants have managed to flip the script and get back on track with back-to-back wins, entering them into the race for the NFC East and placing them only one game back from the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants are not likely to threaten for the ultimate goal this year, yet, they continue to refuse to bow out.

By Sosa Kremenjas