One of the biggest jobs for the offensive line is to protect the quarterback. And the New York Giants O-line had a hard time doing that on Sunday. That hard time came during a game when protecting the quarterback was more important than ever thanks to Daniel Jones’ less than healthy status going into the game. And while it’s easy to simply say that Jones shouldn’t have started, that doesn’t touch on the big issue of how the line didn’t protect him enough when he did start.
That poor protection saw Jones hit by former Giant Markus Golden, forcing a fumble which put Arizona in a good position deep in Giants territory. It also saw him sacked six times in total, which is more than any other game the Giants have played this season.
It’s possible to blame both the players and the coaching for this poor performance, but offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has been one of the first ones to step up and take some responsibility.
“Good teams can pass block when everybody knows you have to throw the ball. Good offensive lines can do that. We were not a good offensive line the other day. Yeah, I feel terrible about it. I feel terrible for the guy who is taking the hits, that’s who I feel terrible about it for,” DeGuglielmo said on Tuesday.
He also stated that the offensive line made double teams a point of interest. But they failed to come through on game day, playing into the result.
Jones had no touchdowns and one turnover, the fumble that was forced by Golden. Had the offensive line been playing better, we may have seen Jones escape from this bad game without turning the ball over. But the offense wasn’t good all day, and even without that turnover, it doesn’t seem the Giants would have won the game.
DeGuglielmo still has some work to go with reshaping the offensive line, after taking over in the middle of the season. He’s widely regarded as Joe Judge’s personal pick, after being appointed by Judge over fired offensive line coach Marc Colombo following a dispute.