The New York Giants are bouncing back from their shaky start to the season with a 2-3 record and a chance to get back to .500 on Sunday night football against the 1-4 Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. Leading the charge in the Giants’ recent success has been controversial sixth-year quarterback Daniel Jones.
Daniel Jones is in a make-or-break season
Entering this season, Jones’s future under center was in question. He was coming off a torn ACL suffered in Week 9 of the 2023-24 campaign, one which ended poorly for the G-Men and saw a string of awful performances from Jones prior to his season-ending injury. This season was make-or-break for Jones who could be released in the 2025 offseason for a minimal financial penalty.
The season got off to an awful start, though, with Jones playing poorly in the preseason — a trend that carried into the season opener. He went 22-of-42 passing for 186 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions in the Giants’ 28–6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. However, since then, Jones has bounced back and strung together a few weeks of solid performances.
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Jones and the Giants have bounced back from their shaky start
Despite the team’s 0-2, then eventual 1-3 start, the Giants are still in the race with a chance to regain control of their season this weekend. A win and improvement to a 3-3 record would have the Giants back in the NFC East divisional race with a matchup against the rival Philadelphia Eagles on the docket next weekend.
Jones has helped get the Giants back in that race. He is one of four quarterbacks in the NFL with 2+ touchdown passes and a 100+ passer rating in 3+ games this season (h/t Matt Citak of Giants.com). Removing his Week 1 implosion from the equation and just looking at Jones’s past four-game stretch, he has totaled 952 yards and a 6-1 TD-INT ratio in that span, which, spread across a 17-game sample size, would be good for about 4,046 passing yards and a 26-4 TD-INT ratio.
Despite being maligned in the media and by fans, Jones has done an excellent job of blocking out the noise, focusing on football, and improving his play in recent weeks. If he can continue to play at an efficient level and lead the Giants to more wins, they could make something of this season and be a sneaky team to watch come playoff time. Jones could also play his way into a seventh season as Big Blue’s starter if he maintains this pace.
However, the NFL is a week-to-week league — most of what happens one week is subject to being thrown away the next. Maintaining a high level of play and being a consistent player and team is the most challenging factor. Jones has struggled to be consistent throughout this career. Will he turn the corner during the final stretch of this sixth season? Or will this be another season of disappointment for Jones and the Giants?
