Jets and Giants Flat in Opening Losses

 

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

If Sunday was any indication of the kind of year the New York Jets and New York Giants will have, both teams will be in the position to the pick very high in the 2022 draft. Players, coaches and General Manager’s will be updating their resumes.

 

Gang Green traveled to Carolina to face the Panthers and Sam Darnold their ex-quarterback they drafted with the #3 pick in 2018. The Jets shipped him off after 3 uneventul year as he was marred by injuries and uncomplementing players. The organization (after going 2-14 last year) decided to draft BYU quarteback Zack Wilson who was getting rave reviews for his pre-season performance. Wilson learned quickly that there is a big difference between the college game regular season games.  

 

Carolina had Wilson running for his like practically the entire game. By games end, Wilson was sacked 6 times. “It’s tough, but it’s part of the job,” Wilson said afterward. “I feel like I’m getting better experiencing having stuff in your face. You’ve got to be able to play. It’s part of the quarterback position. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, there’s pressure, I can’t do my job.’ That’s why quarterback is a tough position to come by.”

 

The Panthers scored the first 16 points as Darnold connected with his ex-Jets wide reciever Robby Anderson for a 57-yard score in the first half. Darnold ran in from 5-yards out as well. Darnold went 24-for-35 passing for 279 yards. Said Darnold of playing his ex-team, “I’m not going to lie, seeing them on the other side that was a little different for me. But you throw that away and you look at the scheme — our offense versus their defense and you kind of forget about it in the middle of the game while you’re playing.”

 

Down 16-0 in the third quarter, Wilson got them into the end zone when he connected with wide reciever Corey Davis for the 22-yard touchdown pass. They converted the 2-point play to cut the lead to 16-8. Carolina kicked a field goal (29 yards by Ryan Santos) extending the lead to 19-8. Undaunted, Wilson moves the team 98 yards in 10 plays resluting in a 8 yard touchdown pass to Davis. The attempted on-sides kick failed as they lost 19-14.

 

Said first year head coach Robert Saleh, “I knew this was going to go to the fourth quarter. I think we all knew this was going to be a one-possession game. We’re going to get these opportunities all season. This is a team that’s got grit. It’s a team that’s got fight. It’s a team that’s got resolve. It’s a team that’s going to show up in the fourth quarter in one-score games. Whether or not we can close the door and make the plays that win these football games is going to be the difference between whether we win or lose.”

 

It doesn’t get any easier for the Jets as they come home Sunday to MetLife Stadium to face their arch rival New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick. New England cut veteran Cam Newton and named rookie Mac Jones their starter. The Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins last Sunday at home 17-16 with Jones completing 29-39 passes, 281 yards and 1 touchdown.

Things weren’t any better for the New York Giants when they hosted the Denver Broncos. Big Blue came into the game with question marks on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Saquan Barkley was coming off season major knee surgery. Third year quarteback Daniel Jones had been turnover prone. The Giants defnse was solid most of last year. Unfortunately, all of those aspects reared it’s ugly head in the 27-13 loss. It was the Giants fifth straight regular season opening loss.

 

Barkley was ineffective rushing for only 26 yards on 10 carries. On his performance he said, “I have to go back and watch the film before I can make a fair judgment on myself.” Jones threw 37 connecting 22 times for 267 yards, a touchdown pass and a touchdown run on the final play of the game that was already out of reach. Late in the third quarter, with the Giants needing points, Jones takes off getting inside the 10-yard line. Instead of sliding, Jones fumbles. Denver recovers and the Giants never got closer. Something Big Blue fans have become all to familiar with. Said Jones of the fumble, “turnovers are always going to hurt you at any point in the game and they’re big plays. We’ve got to do a good job of taking care of the ball. You certainly try to protect the ball better. You try to get two hands on it, but didn’t secure it tight enough. But we’ll keep moving forward and keep improving.” 

 

Newly acquired Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgwater had the Giants defense on their heels all afternoon. He finished completing 28 passes in 36 attempts for 264 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nine diferent receivers caught passes. “It’s extremely backbreaking. I think we had a lot of chances, but it came down to us just executing the play call, and we didn’t do that. Obviously, they made us pay for it,” said linebacker Blake Martinez. At the end of the day, we’re a team. We have to play better and keep it a game going through. It’s just one of the things and you just have to keep fighting through.”

 

Second year head coach Joe Judge who saw his team start 1-7 last year, talked about the fan support. “I’d like to go ahead and thank the fans for coming out and obviously this was an atmosphere that we’ve been waiting for for some time,” he said. “They were great today. We have to earn their cheers, they were very supportive, they were great, it was great energy in the stadium.”

 

It will be a very short week for the New York Football Giants as they head down to play the Washington Football team Thursday night. Washington will be looking for their first win as well as they lost at home 20-16 at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers.