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Dallas Cowboys’ Osa Odighizuwa, left, celebrates a sack during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ start to life working under his new four-year, $160 million contract could have started any more inauspiciously, completing just 15-of-28 passes for 104 yards with two interceptions in a 40-0 beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.
Yet it wouldn’t have mattered if it was Jones, Phil Simms, or even Tom Brady under center because the quarterback unfortunate enough to be behind the Giants’ offensive line was never going to have a chance.
New York’s protection unit was “skunked,” as head coach Brian Daboll described it, by the Cowboys’ talented defense, allowing seven sacks of Jones while yielding 23 pressures on 37 dropbacks. The 62.2% pressure rate was the fourth-highest in a regular-season game since 2019, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Daboll said. “No area was good enough tonight, from protection to coaching, to running, to tackling. Whatever it may be, you name it, it wasn’t good enough.”
For a line that already had an abundance of question marks surrounding it heading into the 2023 season, Sunday night only exacerbated those concerns.
The right side of the line in guard Mark Glowinski and tackle Evan Neal were exposed — an especially alarming fact considering Neal has to take a step forward in 2023 after being selected seventh overall last year.
He’s just a singular part of the group in which the Giants had invested significant capital. Glowinski was brought in on a three-year, $20 million deal to shore up the line this offseason. Center John-Michael Schmitz was a highly-touted second-round pick that…
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