What’s giving Daniel Jones more chances to prove worth to Giants

Long road trips are rarely desirable and the flight back can be brutal after a loss. So much time cooped up, thinking about the plays that were not made. 

Dexter Lawrence was singing a different tune Sunday after the Giants defeated the Seahawks 29-20 at Lumen Field in Seattle. He was actually looking forward to the charter flight back to New Jersey.

“I mean, we can enjoy it a little longer,’’ Lawrence said.

Indeed, winning begets enjoyment, even if it is fleeting. The Giants engaged in an eventful afternoon, starting off with a crazy 14-point swing on a fumble return of 101 yards against them late in the first quarter and sealed the deal with a wild blocked field goal by Isaiah Simmons that was returned 60 yards for a clinching touchdown in the final minute by Bryce Ford-Wheaton. 

There is a great deal to take in as the Giants improved to 2-3. Here are a few areas to explore:

— Five games into the season, the offensive line has been intact.  All five starters have played every snap.  This makes a world of difference.  Three of the five starters were new to the team and the learning curve has been fast-forwarded and has never strayed off course, as everyone is on the field all the time. The pass blocking has been solid all season. The run blocking has not been as consistent. It was poor in Week 4 in a loss to the Cowboys but it was much better against the Seahawks, as the Giants rushed for a season-high 175 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per attempt. As long as Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan Jr. John Michael Schmitz, Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eluemunor stay healthy, this will be the best offensive line that Daniel Jones has ever played behind for the entirety of a season.

— It did not figure to be this way.  The Giants were without their leading receiver (Malik Nabers) and leading runner (Devin Singletary) and yet piled up 420 total yards, their most yards on offense in more than one calendar year. Veteran Darius Slayton ran the routes usually assigned to Nabers and caught eight passes for 122 yards and one touchdown. Rookie Tyrone Tracy made his first NFL start and opened up plenty of eyes by rushing 18 times for 129 yards. Eric Gray, a second-year running back, had a brutal fumble on the Seattle 1-yard line but Gray was effective as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, with three receptions for 50 yards. It will be interesting to see how much Tracy cuts into Singletary’s carries moving forward.

— Now that Aaron Donald is retired, an interior defensive lineman is not supposed to be among the league leaders in sacks. Dexter Lawence is up there, though, as he is off to a flying start to his season. Lawrence had three sacks of Geno Smith to give him a team-high six in five games. That puts Lawrence in a tie for second in the league in sacks, joining Kyle Van Noy and Will McDonald.  That group is on the heels of Aidan Hutchinson, who leads the NFL with 6.5 sacks.

— It only seemed as if the Seahawks did absolutely nothing on the ground in the first half. In fact, they came close to that. The Seahawks ran it only twice in the opening 30 minutes and Kenneth Walker gained only two yards on those two attempts. It was the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Giants in a first half since Oct. 2, 2005, when the Rams ran for zero yards in a 44-24 Giants victory.

— Daniel Jones’ passer rating of 109.4 was his highest of the season. In three of his five games, Jones had a rating of at least 100.0 along with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. With 38 rushing yards, Jones became the first quarterback in Giants’ history to run for at least 2,000 yards.  He now has 2,022 rushing yards.

— Rookie safety Tyler Nubin for the first time took a seat. He played every snap on defense through the first four games, an impressive showing of durability from a first-year player. That streak has come to an end, as Nubin was on the field for 56 of the 58 snaps on defense for the Seahawks. He led the Giants with nine tackles and came up with his first NFL fumble recovery when he pounced on a loose ball forced by Deonte Banks on a hit on DK Metcalf.  

— With Nabers left back in New Jersey, still in concussion protocol, it figured that Jalin Hyatt would benefit from increased opportunities. That was true, sort of. Hyatt was on the field for a season-high 48 snaps (out of 72) and he was assigned to run routes 26 times. He was not targeted once and that is somewhat alarming. Hyatt’s speed did allow him to force two holding penalties on Seattle defenders. But not having the ball come his way at least once, with Nabers not in the game, means Hyatt is not getting open on a regular basis.  

— This was the sixth time in Slayton’s career – he is a product of the 2019 NFL Draft – that he reached 100 receiving yards in a game. The Giants were previously 0-5 in such games when Slayton came up big in defeat.

— Slayton and Tracy accomplished something together that the Giants have not experienced in nearly six years. This was the first time the Giants had a 100-yard runner and receiver in the same game since Dec. 15, 2019, when Saquon Barkley (112 yards) and Sterling Shepard (111 yards) teamed up for that feat.

— How rare was Simmons’ blocked kick that resulted in a touchdown for the Giants? The last time they blocked a field goal for a touchdown was Sept. 18, 2016 when Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins recovered a Jonathan Hankins blocked field goal against the Saints’ Will Lutz. The 101-yard return by Rayshawn Jenkins of the Seahawks was the longest against the Giants in their 100-year franchise history.

— Do not say you anticipated this because you would be fibbing. Did anyone foresee that the Giants in their Week 6 matchup with the Bengals would own the better record? The Bengals, despite Joe Burrow’s excellence, are 1-4.  Burrow leads the league with 12 touchdown passes and his passer rating of 113.6 also leads the league, among quarterbacks with five starts.