Was this the start of a new season or simply a continuation of the old one?
Judging by the jeers, boos and general sense of disgust and gloomy inevitability inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday, this looked like Game 18 of a disappointing 2023 season for the Giants, and it didn't signal any sort of freshness or improvement. In fact, it looked and felt even worse for Daniel Jones, especially for a team that was supposed to have a more explosive offense that failed from start to finish.
With Jones facing a make-or-break season, it's no wonder rookie wide receiver Malik Neighbors wondered, “What on earth am I getting myself into?”
Neighbors had five catches for 66 yards.
The Giants had Sam Darnold in the building after being released by the Jets, Panthers and 49ers and they crushed him. He completed his first 12 passes and looked very comfortable in the pocket. It was all Vikings offense during the Giants' 28-6 loss to open the season. It was a picture-perfect afternoon, a sign of fall and a long, hard winter ahead for the Giants.
The venue was packed with franchise legends and greats, a celebration of the 100th season, and a variety of awful football from the current team. It was a disastrous performance for head coach Brian Daboll's debut as the offensive play-caller, and a disastrous performance overall for a group that came into the season hearing that the roster they had assembled was one of the worst in the NFL. No Giants fan, even the most bright-eyed, would have much faith after this.
Things got so bad that early in the fourth quarter, the lower section of the stadium was filled with mostly Vikings fans, who gleefully clapped along to the chants usually reserved for their hometown of Minneapolis.
Jones has heard all offseason that the Giants want to trade up in the NFL Draft to replace him, and he knows the Giants will part ways with him if he doesn't live up to expectations. He had a terrible first game, completing 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards and two interceptions. Darnold, by comparison, was 19 of 24 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Giants actually led 3-0, but they never won this game. Trailing 14-3 at halftime, Darnold passed to Jalen Naylor, who easily ran off Cordale Flotte for a 21-yard scoring strike to make it 21-3. Late in the third quarter, after a first down at their own 17-yard line, Jones looked to his right for Robinson, but couldn't get the ball. Instead, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel gifted him an interception, running in from 10 yards for an interception-6 to make it 28-6 and raise the decibel level of mayhem to earsplitting volume.
The first offensive series of the season brought the usual dull ache. Jones' first pass was thrown behind Devin Singletary for a six-yard loss, drawing a delay-of-game penalty. On third down and 19, rookie tight end Theo Johnson dropped the ball. There were practically boos swirling around the building less than two minutes into the season. It was awful.
Things didn't get much better in the first quarter. On the first defensive series, rookie cornerback Jrue Phillips hit CJ Ham on his first NFL snap, inducing a fumble and a turnover that was recovered by Bobby Okereke at the Vikings' 21-yard line. The excellent field position didn't help matters much either, and the Vikings eventually took a 3-0 lead on a Graham Gano field goal.
The Vikings scored touchdowns on their next two attempts. Adre Jackson, who had signed last week and was apparently off his game, got a 36-yard pass interference penalty after colliding with Jordan Addison, which led to Aaron Jones' 3-yard score. The Vikings then went 99 yards on 11 attempts, including a 44-yard deep pass from Justin Jefferson to Deonte Banks for a 14-3 lead. On the fourth attempt, Darnold threaded a pass through Jefferson's midsection, and Banks fell over him but couldn't stop the touchdown.
Meanwhile, Jones and the offense were a nightmarish mess. There were boos when Jones was brought down for a one-yard loss on third down, boos when Jones threw behind Johnson, boos when Jones threw a bouncer pass to Wan'Dale Robinson, and really, really loud boos when the Giants ran off the field at halftime.
