In the latest chapter of the 2023 New York Giants’ football season, they suffered a heartbreaking 14-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, for the Giants, it is an all too familiar story in 2023.
Just how bad has it been? The Giants have not scored an offensive touchdown in over 13 quarters. More specifically, it has been 205 minutes of playing time.
Why has this happened? What has gone wrong? Let’s take a closer look.
Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones is arguably the biggest name that Giants fans want to point to for this disappointing season. It does not help that he signed an extension in the offseason that awarded him more than $40 million per year for the next four years.
However, it is safe to say that Jones has regressed this season. The biggest concern is the dramatic decrease in ball security.
Jones already has more interceptions (6) than he had in all of 2022 (5). Plus, he has fumbled the ball four times in five games. Last year, he had six total fumbles.
There is also the fact that he has produced very few touchdowns. Through five games, he has two passing touchdowns. If the Giants want to win more games, Jones has to have a bigger impact on this offense.
Offensive Line
While Jones’ numbers have regressed, the offensive line is not getting a pass from this writer. It is arguably one of the worst offensive lines in all of football.
They have allowed 33 sacks through six games. The Giants even allowed 11 sacks in one game during their 24-3 Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Things have gotten so bad that New York called Justin Pugh, who came “straight off the couch” to play in last week’s game against Buffalo.
However, this offensive line also has injured players piling up. Star left tackle Andrew Thomas has been out with a hamstring injury he suffered back in Week 1. On top of this, the Giants are also missing rookie center John Michael Schmitz and now left tackle Joshua Ezeudu.
Still, the performance of this offensive line is having an impact. The Giants have allowed the second-most sacks in the league and they score the fewest points per game in the NFL.
Tyrod Taylor
While some Giants fans want to pick on Daniel Jones and praise Tyrod Taylor, he is not exempt from the offensive issues they have had. He got sacked three times and had a fumble during his start against the Bills.
His decision-making in the loss against the Bills also has to come into question.
The Giants had the ball on Buffalo’s 1-yard line with 14 seconds to go in the first half. Taylor had a run-action pass play that he alerted to a run. Unfortunately, that run meant that the Giants could not get another play off before the end of the half. As a result, they walked into the locker room with no additional points at halftime.
Taylor even admitted that this was not the right call after the game:
“That falls on me. As a quarterback, as a leader, as the one that is communicating everything to everyone, got to be better in that situation.”
Saquon Barkley
Unfortunately, Saquon Barkley has not been as healthy this year as he was in 2022. He missed three games with an ankle injury he suffered at the end of the Week 2 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The Giants only average 98.8 rushing yards per game this season. Last year, they averaged 148.2 rushing yards per game.
An even bigger issue is that Barkley barely has a presence on the field this year when he does play. He has just 207 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown this season.
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