Welcome to The Big Apple. This column will focus on all teams in New York, from the Giants to the Yankees to the Liberty and everything in between.
Week 2 was a complete roller coaster for the Giants. After a disappointing Week 1 performance without netting a touchdown, the G-men put up 37 points in Dallas.
Yes, the Giants did lose. Yes, they were playing the Cowboys, who are known to have a pathetic passing defense.
Let’s break it down.
Nobody expected the Giants and Cowboys to have the game of the week and potentially the game of the year. The highlight of the game was the connection between Russell Wilson and Malik Nabers. Many were going at the Giants for their decision not to start rookie Jaxson Dart. 36-year-old Wilson knew he had to step up, and that he did. Throwing for a career-high 450 yards, the Giants quarterback looked like vintage Russ. Down by four points with under 30 seconds to go, Wilson launched a moonball to a double-covered Nabers. The LSU phenom hauled in his second touchdown of the day, putting the nail in the coffin for Dallas.
Now let’s add Brandon Aubery to the mix. Aubrey has consistently demonstrated that he is the best kicker in the NFL by a landslide. Burying long attempt after long attempt, he has shown that he has the clutch gene. However, it seems like the Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen thinks Aubrey does not have the leg that everyone else thinks he does. With all three of their timeouts, Dallas knew that they had plenty of time to get just past midfield to set up Aubrey for the tie. Bowen put all his corners a minimum of 15 yards from the line of scrimmage, allowing Dallas to get across midfield with ease. Aubrey sank the 64-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. Giants’ fans want Bowen out — maybe this is the last straw for the Dallas Cowboys.
Sunday’s contest started off slow, which was frustrating for the Giants to say the least. The offense looked promising on the opening drive, except for left tackle James Hudson. Hudson was the replacement for star tackle Andrew Thomas, who has been recovering from a foot injury suffered last season.
Hudson was called for unnecessary roughness for slapping Cowboys’ James Houston on the back of his head. A few players later, he false-started on an 11-yard completion to Wan’Dale Robinson. On the next play, Russell Wilson delivered a perfect throw to Robinson for a 50-yard pickup, setting up the Giants at the 1-yard line. However, Hudson decided to pick up a second unnecessary roughness penalty for shoving a defender’s head into the ground. Now, if you are head coach Brian Daboll, you would think to take Hudson out and let him clear his mind — nope!
Daboll left Hudson in the game, and he committed yet another false start. From what could have been an easy touchdown to having the Giants settle for a field goal due to Hudson’s four penalties. It was the first time this century that a player was called for four penalties in one drive.
Penalties were the story of the game for Big Blue. The Giants were called for 14 penalties for 160 yards, the franchise’s most since 1947.
Looking ahead for New York, the Kansas City Chiefs come to town for the Giants’ home opener on Sunday Night Football. The Chiefs fell to 0-2 in the Super Bowl rematch against Philadelphia. This is the first Sunday Night Football game since 2002 where both teams enter the game at 0-2. Week 3 is a must-win for both teams, as only 4 out of the last 162 teams to start 0-3 have made the playoffs.