At this time last year, the New York Giants had lost five of their first six games, were just coming off a 38-11 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams and didn’t know it at the time, but had another eight losses in store.
Oh, how the times have changed.
Things are looking much better for the Giants nowadays, and they’ll look to continue their newfound success on Sunday when they face the host Jacksonville Jaguars.
New York (5-1) has been firing on all cylinders and finds itself riding a three-game winning streak after roaring back in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday to escape with a 24-20 victory.
Daniel Jones threw an 8-yard touchdown strike to Daniel Bellinger and Saquon Barkley ran to the end zone from 1 yard out with 1:43 remaining to erase a 10-point deficit that stood just over 11 minutes earlier.
While it’s been an impressive start to the season, the last thing the Giants plan on doing is getting complacent.
“We are all on the same page of just taking it one week at a time and focusing on the opponent we have ahead of us, which obviously this week is Jacksonville,” New York wide receiver Darius Slayton said. “Just trying to go 1-0 every week.
“We have experience of ignoring our record — for bad reasons. That experience is probably going to pay off if we continue this trend.”
Meanwhile, continuing trends is the last thing the Jaguars (2-4) want to do considering they’ve now dropped three straight games. Jacksonville’s most recent setback saw it cough up leads of 14-3, 21-13 and 27-26 with 2:44 left to play in losing 34-27 to the Indianapolis Colts last weekend.
Perhaps the Jaguars can learn a thing or two from the Giants, though.
It wasn’t too long ago that New York found itself in a similar spot. The Giants were searching for their identity with a young quarterback in Jones, a highly-touted running back who had struggled with recent injuries in Barkley and a track record of losing seasons following them wherever they went.
But they turned it around.
And maybe Jacksonville is starting to do that, too.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has looked much more comfortable in his second season and has already tallied nine passing touchdowns after finishing with 12 last season, and running back Travis Etienne, who missed all of 2021 with a foot injury, has averaged over seven yards per carry in back-to-back games and is starting to take on a bigger role within the offense.
Now the Jaguars just need to start consistently finding the winning formula, and there’s no better time to start than on Sunday.
“Now it’s a different set of challenges this week,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson said. “I think this week is going to be one of the challenges that we have as an offense.”
The Jaguars could be without receiver Jamal Agnew, who missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury. Fellow receiver Marvin Jones Jr. (hamstring) was limited. Cornerback Shaquill Griffin (back) did not practice.
New York’s receiving corps is also banged up, as Kenny Golladay (knee) and Kadarius Toney (hamstring) were both non-participants in practice on Wednesday. Linebacker Oshane Ximines (quad) was also out, and Barkley was limited with a shoulder ailment.
–Field Level Media
