New York Giants New Starting Quarterback Holds his Own Against the Buccaneers

By: Danny Cacace

Here is Daniel Jones as he just ran down the field for a touchdown. Credit: nytimes.com

 Former starting New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has officially passed the reins over to quarterback Daniel Jones.

  The New York Giants were 0-2 to start the regular season where Eli Manning was at the helm starting for them running the offense. The defense wasn’t up to par, and the Giants couldn’t get the job done against the Dallas Cowboys or the Buffalo Bills. Then, in comes Daniel Jones where coach Pat Shurmer has decided to make Jones the new starting quarterback for the Big Blue. 

 In week three, the New York Giants faced off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers whom were 1-1 prior to playing against the Giants. The Giants got off to a really terrible start to the game where the offense and defense wasn’t showing up, and they were down 28-10 by the end of the first half. They even lost their star sophomore running back Saquon Barkley towards the end of the second quarter with a sprained right ankle. 

  Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, the third quarter started and the Giants had the ball; Jones finds Wide Receiver Evan Engram in the opening drive of the quarter for him to follow up with a touchdown. Jones made a short pass to Engram and he broke a tackle, and he ran down the field for a 75 yard touchdown to start the quarter. The Giants were then only down 28-17 after the Giants kicker hit the field goal for the extra point.

 Towards the end of the third quarter right after Jones breaks the defensive coverage, he finds wide receiver Darius Slayton to catch a 46 yard pass which leads them to the goal line. At the goal line, Jones finds wide receiver Sterling Shepard for a seven yard touchdown after Shepard had to beat double coverage and catch the tough pass made to him. The Giants then successfully scored on a two point conversion after the touchdown to Shepard which brought them down 28-25. 

  The Giants shut out the Buccaneers in the third quarter.

 The end of the fourth quarter was where Jones was able to strike once more against the Buccaneers. Jones was able to find Slayton for a great catch, and then Shepard was able to break the coverage and catch the ball and run down the field for 36 yards to lead the Giants down to the goal line. 

 It was 4th down and the Giants were back six yards, and the Buccaneers were playing man coverage and double teaming receivers Shepard and Slayton whom were Jones’ main targets all game. Jones was eventually able to find an open space down the field, and ran down the field utilizing his speed running in for a touchdown. This put the Giants up 32-31, the Buccaneers had 31 points because of the field goal they hit early on in the 4th quarter. 

 However, Buccaneers starting quarterback Jamies Winston and his offensive line were able to put themselves in position to score on a field goal in the final seconds of the game for the win. Buccaneers Kicker Matt Gay hit four field goals prior to the potential game winning field goal. It all seemed once again it was over for the New York Giants, but then Gay went and slighlty missed the field goal for the win. 

  The Giants claimed victorious and won the game 32-31. 

 The Giants then went on to be 1-2 in the regular season. Jones also went on to be the first Giants rookie quarterback to win his first career start since 1980, and the last time the Giants were trailing by 18 or more points at halftime was back on Nov. 15th, 1970 which was something Eli Manning has never accomplished in his career but Jones certainly has.

 The question at hand here is, will Jones be able to keep this level of play up after his first start for the Giants or was it just a one game fluke? 

 Only time will tell what the future has in store for New York Giants new starting quarterback Daniel Jones.