For the first time since December 29th, 2019, the New York Football Giants got to rush out of the tunnels to a jam-packed MetLife Stadium eager to watch them play. With a renewed sense of togetherness and competitive passion, they were able to once again show their abilities and represent their city in front of a sea of blue jerseys instead of empty, gray seats accompanied by pumped in crowd noise.
It truly was a pleasant sight to see as the Giants ran out to a raucous crowd in East Rutherford, a real sign that football in its best-known form had returned from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. What was not so joyous however, was the trampling that ensued after the opponent came stampeding from their respective tunnel.
On Sunday afternoon, in front of 74,119 people and on a day marked by the celebratory return of running back Saquon Barkley from ACL injury rehabilitation, the Giants were handily upended by the Denver Broncos, 27-13. It was another disappointing week 1 loss for the Giants, who’ve now lost their fifth straight season opener and their 10th opener in the last 11 seasons.
Saquon Return
In fact, the loss was so frustrating and the trend felt too commonplace that it had the fans waving their own white flags before the game was totally under wraps. During the broadcast, cameras caught troves of Giants fans departing their seats for the parking lots with about six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The team, and head coach Joe Judge, know that this sight was understood and unacceptable.
“We have to earn the fans’ respect,” said Judge at the post game podium. “They sit in the seats, they cheer for us, they give us energy within the stadium. We need to give them something to stay and cheer for, and that’s on us as a team.”
“These people pay their hard-earned money to come see winning football,” said Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard, who notched New York’s first score of the game on a 37-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. “That’s what this franchise is all about, is winning. It’s been frustrating the past few years and I understand their frustration.”
While the hometown fans took to their vehicles with dejected looks on their faces, the only people in the stadium preparing to head home giddy were the Denver Broncos offense and former head coach-in-blue turned Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Despite them revamping the defense further, Shurmur and new Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had all the answers to carve up the Giants defensive front.
Teddy Bridgewater
Coming over from Carolina and becoming the Broncos 11th quarterback experiment since Peyton Manning retired following the team’s Super Bowl 50 victory, Bridgewater gave a performance that Denver has been missing for the past few years. In his first start with his fourth team, Bridgewater threw touchdowns and completed 28 of 36 passes for 264 yards, nearly eclipsing the Giants passing yards total of 267.
At the end of the second quarter, Bridgwater capped off a 7 play, 57-yard drive where the Giants defense crumbled with a 2-year touchdown pass to wide receiver Tim Patrick to give Denver a 10-7 lead at halftime. Patrick, a 4th year player out of Utah, was a thorn in the Giants’ side at critical moments of the game, securing four catches for 39 yards with an average of 9.8 yards per catch. He was one of nine receivers targeted by Bridgewater in the contest.
Then in the third quarter, Bridgewater widened the gap with a 4-yard touchdown completion to tight end Albert Okwuegbunam on 4th down, where the Broncos were 3 for 3 on the day, to extend the lead to 17-7.
Kicker Brandon McManus also added a couple field goals in the first and fourth quarters, respectively, his latter to make the score 20-7.
For Daniel Jones and the Giants offense, Sunday’s season opener felt like deja vu to the previous two year’s struggles. Jones finished the game with 22 completion on 37 passing attempts for 267 yards and a rushing touchdown on the play of the game, however it was his past demons that came back and tainted his entire performance. With the ball in the redzone down 20-7 and the opportunity to give his team some life in the third quarter, Jones took off on a QB sneak and fumbled the ball upon receiving contact from a Broncos defender.
Daniel Jones
It was the Giants’ lone turnover on the day, but there is no doubt it was the most costly one possible.
Saquon Barkley saw his first live touches since Week 2 of the 2020 season in Chicago when he tore his ACL, however even with limited reps he couldn’t go anywhere either. Barkley finished with just 10 carries for 26 yards, and his offensive line afforded no sprint longer than five yards.
The only time the Giants took a lead came when Daniel Jones found wide receiver Sterling Shepard on a beautiful throw down the sideline which Shepard turned into a 37-yard touchdown reception to give New York a 7-3 advantage in the second quarter.
What truly put the Giants to bed was running back Melvin Gordon III, known for his previous tenure with the Chargers, finding a gaping hole down the left side of the field and turning it into a 70-yard touchdown run that put the Broncos up 27-7. Gordon has dealt with injury woes that have kept him off the field heading back to last season, yet on Sunday he torched the entire Giants defense and showed he could still be flashy for his new team with an 11 carry, 101-yard performance.
Gordon and the Broncos certainly left the New York fanbase feeling like 2021 is going to be another year, except a longer one, of the same issues they’ve faced since their previous winning season in 2016. Thus, now it is time for the Giants to rebound for the next game and give them reason to believe things will be different.
“The fans showed up and brought a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, and we’ve got to do a better job performing and playing well,” Daniel Jones said after the game. “We appreciate that and we are determined to get it right.”
Looking Ahead To Week 2
Any semblance of a rebound will need to come fast, as the Giants travel to Washington on Thursday night to face their division rival, the Washington Football Team. Both teams are looking to avoid an 0-2 start, but it is Washington entering the game already banged up from their previous matchup.
Starting quarterback Ryan Fitzatrick suffered a hip injury in the team’s week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and has been ruled out for Thursday night. In his absence, Taylor Heineke is expected to get the start, his first since leading the Redskins in the NFC Wild Card game last season. In that game, Heineke threw for 306 yards and scored a rushing touchdown to nearly lead his team past the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losing by the score of 31-23.
Washington still has their other weapons on both sides of the ball to work with as well. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin is coming off a poor performance in week 1, however his ability to thrive in the open field has been noted. The entire league knows Washington’s defense is nothing to shake a stick at either, especially with the prowess of players like Chase Young and Landon Collins, the former Giants safety.
Thus, the Giants will need to get all of their offensive and defensive weapons going at a higher rate to counteract Washington’s talent. Joe Judge has said that the Giants expect to have Saquon Barkley take more touches on Thursday night, upping his role in his continued comeback from ACL rehab. Kenny Golladay and Darius Slayton must up their numbers as well, as the latter did have a huge 40-yard catch early on Sunday but the former didn’t catch a pass until the fourth quarter. Golladay is a $72 million piece, and in his first game with New York only collected 64 yards receiving on 4 catches.
Most importantly, the division games in the NFC East will carry double the weight in a section of the NFL that has been the weakest for the last several seasons. The Giants’ schedule gets very challenging in the middle of the season, with multiple contests against high caliber playoff contenders.
Thus, let the new week renovations begin at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. When the ball kicks off, there could be more on the line than just an 0-2 record.
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