The New York Giants’ 1–3 start has everyone playing the blame game, with much of the ire directed at an offensive line that gave up a whopping 11 sacks in Monday night’s 24–3 loss to the Seahawks. But when breaking down the film, ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky believes QB Daniel Jones’ decision-making is the biggest culprit of the Giants’ offensive woes.
During a segment on ESPN’s NFL Live Tuesday, Orlovsky analyzed several key plays from Monday’s game and came away with the conclusion that the Giants’ offensive line was only to blame for four of the 11 sacks the team conceded.
“It’s okay for us to expect more out of the performance from Daniel Jones,” Orlovsky said. “I understand he’s playing with backup offensive linemen, and they did not play great. But out of those 11 sacks that we talked about, one is Parris Campbell on a trick play… four of them on the offensive line, six of them are on Daniel Jones either holding the ball too long, trying to escape and maybe run for one or two yards… It’s okay for us to sit there and say, ‘I expect our sixth-year, 40+ million dollar quarterback to figure them out.”
It’s ok for us to expect more. OL wasn’t perfect—but we can’t put these plays on them.
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) October 3, 2023
The @Giants gotta get Daniel Jones the “problem solvers back.#nfllive pic.twitter.com/kSwDckK7lK
Among the plays Orlovsky broke down are the catastrophic strip-sack that set up Seattle in the red zone and the 97-yard pick six by Devon Witherspoon. In both cases, he assigned the blame more to Jones than the offensive line. In the first instance, Jones did a poor job of recognizing where pressure was likely coming from and changing the play. And in the second, Jones forced a throw to his first read into double coverage rather than hitting open men on his second and third check.
In all, the easy-to-understand breakdown helps the disastrous play of the Giants offense, and seems likely to only add to the criticism of Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract this offseason.
Daniel Jones did not play well on Monday night. It’s OK to say it. Even he admitted it afterwards. https://t.co/Zl0aKqNAuc
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 4, 2023
GREAT analysis from @danorlovsky7
— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) October 4, 2023
I thought he made a great point about the DJ fumble. If he sees the overhang defender unblocked presnap, it's time to check out of that play. Why run play action to the unblocked side? And if you do, snap your head around &b get the ball out! https://t.co/faPL8qCZc7
Giants fans please watch this
— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) October 4, 2023
Great break down by Orlovsky https://t.co/Wap7pUxILU
This was good. $40m QB can't just be excused for a performance like last night's just because the OL is beat up. https://t.co/02sboZtBqY
— ShwinnyPooh (@shwinnypooh) October 3, 2023
This is a great breakdown. Great in a depressing/infuriating way, but great nonetheless. https://t.co/1vQ6o3GNBo
— Derek Nelson (@_derekn) October 3, 2023
