The New York Giants suffered a tough 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 2, dropping them to 0-2 as the schedule gets tougher with a road game against the Cleveland Browns looming next weekend.
After a disappointing Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings by the score of 28-6, the Giants desperately needed a rebound against the Commanders this week. It like seemed at moments that they would come away with the win, or even pull away and make the lead they had more comfortable. Ultimately, some mishandled situations led to the Giants losing in the end on a field goal.
The Giants fanbase is rightfully frustrated with the performance. It was known that the Giants’ roster was not very good coming into the year, but the whole operation was expected to be better. Let’s get to the three Giants most to blame for the Week 2 loss to the Commanders.
Brian Burns, edge
After a quiet Week 1 against the Vikings, prized offseason acquisition Brian Burns did not make much of an impact in this game against the Commanders either. In prior years, the Giants’ defense, and specifically the defensive line with Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, controlled games against the Commanders. That did not happen, as Washington controlled the game with a 37:32 to 22:28 time of possession advantage.
Brian Burns was a very good player with the Carolina Panthers who did not quite become the great player that fans and NFL teams have expected, but the Giants gave up draft picks and gave him a five-year, $141 million extension to be great.
While Burns made some nice run stops at points and had a pivotal sack wiped out by a questionable defensive holding call, he was not as impactful as expected throughout the game.
Shane Bowen, defensive coordinator
Part of the reason that the Giants defense has been able to control games in recent years against the Commanders was due to former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s aggressive blitzes. Jayden Daniels is a promising quarterback, but that should have been the case once again for the Giants in Week 2. New defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is less aggressive, and it bit the Giants.
The Commanders were able to control time of possession with key third down conversions, whether it was Daniels’ legs in the first half making conversions because he was not accounted for, or receivers left open in the second half at key moments, it was not a good day. The red zone defense was good, but Shane Bowen’s unit simply did not get the ball back to the a Giants offense that was moving the ball throughout the day often enough. Even without giving up a touchdown, seven scoring drives is a bad look.
Hopefully the defensive unit gets better as the season goes along, because the red zone defense will likely not be that strong against better teams and more experienced quarterbacks.
Brian Daboll, head coach
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll stands on the sideline in the second half against the Washington Commanders at Commanders Field. Mandatory © Luke Johnson-Imagn Images
Head coach Brian Daboll did not do himself any favors in this game. It was not because of the offensive gameplan, which was solid. It was the fact that there was no backup kicker elevated, even though Graham Gano was on the injury report on Friday. New York has a kicker on the practice squad in Jude McAtamney.
Gano got hurt on the opening kickoff with a hamstring injury as opposed to the groin injury that landed him on the injury report on Friday. Still, not having a backup kicker active when the starting kicker was banged up is not excusable. The Giants then ended up in a situation which led to them not getting extra points on any of their three touchdowns.
This was a completely avoidable situation, and it is what most likely caused this loss in the end.
