The Giants were booed early and criticized frequently in their Sunday night home opener last September. Brian Daboll said this after a brutal 40-0 loss to the Cowboys early in his second season:
“There's a lot of criticism going around, but I intend to be at the forefront of it.”
And Sterling Sheppard said, “One loss doesn't define the season for us.”
In the end, it was a result that symbolized a season with 6 wins and 11 losses.
That can’t and shouldn’t happen on Sunday when the Giants, donning red jerseys and new-century red helmets, take on a team in their class: Sam Darnold’s Vikings.
The mission: to celebrate the start of the franchise's 100th anniversary season with a mood-defining win like the one that opened the 2022 season in Tennessee, bringing Daboll a Manager of the Year award and the Giants' first playoff win in 11 years.
“We have high expectations,” Daniel Jones said, “high expectations of what we can do as a team offensively. With the work we've put in and the progress we've made, I expect we can be a good team, score a lot of goals and attack defenses in a variety of ways.”
I asked Jones if this is a playoff team.
“Yeah, I'm confident in our team and the guys and the work we've done this camp and the work we're going to do this week, so we're just going to focus on this first week and go from there, but I'm very confident in our team,” he said.
Daboll is a new, creative play-caller and he and the quarterback are on the same page. The offensive line is loaded with experienced guys who know how to play their positions. Saquon Barkley is in Philadelphia, but Daboll has faith in Devin Singletary and rising rookie Malik Neighbors is the No. 1 star Jones has never acquired before.
This is make-or-break season for Jones, and he's not afraid to use the “P” word.
“I think our focus right now is on playing Minnesota and making sure we're ready to get off to a good start and do well in this first game,” he said. “We have high expectations for this team and we certainly plan on playing in the playoffs, we certainly plan on playing in the postseason and we're going to get there by focusing on what we're doing right now.”
There is a recognition in the 32 NFL locker rooms that this is just one game, but it is also one that can reaffirm and strengthen the belief that was rebuilt over the summer.
I asked Andrew Thomas if this is a playoff team.
“I think we can,” he said. “I think we have enough talent to get it done, but I think it's just a matter of how well we mesh together, because we have a lot of moving parts and we're one of the youngest teams in the NFL. So I think once we figure out how we respond to adversity, we'll have the real answer as to whether we can get there. But the only way we're going to get there is by taking it one day at a time, and that's what we're going to do.”
Because no one has ever won anything over two days at a time.
“It's important to get off to a fast start,” Jones said. “We've stressed that and everybody is aware of that.”
Cowboys 40, Giants 0 was Bobby Okereke's Giants debut and I asked him how shocking it was.
“I think shocking is definitely the right word,” he said. “We've learned our lessons from it, and there's certainly a new enthusiasm and energy in the building that we're excited about.”
I asked Okereke if this was a playoff team.
“For sure,” he said. “We've been working towards it and of course we're going to take it game by game.”
Because nobody wins by taking two games at once.
The Cowboys sacked Jones seven times that night, and I asked him how tough it was for him, both physically and mentally, to be down 40-0.
“It's very tough,” he said. “We put in a lot of work and effort to get this result. It's definitely a tough result for all of us.”
Darius Slayton almost winced when asked about the score: Cowboys 40, Giants 0.
“I don't remember. I deleted it. … I obviously don't know what I'm talking about,” he said jokingly.
Want to make the playoffs? Try playing in the home opener of the 100th season.
