Good morning, New York Giants fans! Let’s look at some notable numbers from Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, as well as what others are saying after the Giants fell to 0-1. The Giants have now lost seven of their last eight season-opening games. The exception was a 20-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys to open the 2016 season. Eli Manning established several milestones on Sunday: — He set a franchise record by playing in his 217th regular-season game in a Giants uniform. Manning broke a tie with Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who played in 216 games from 1993-2007. — Manning became the fourth player in the 94-season history of the Giants to play 15 years with the team, joining Strahan, Hall of Famer Mel Hein (1931-45), and quarterback Phil Simms (1979-93). — Manning became the fifth quarterback in history to start at least 14 consecutive season openers with one team: Tom Brady (14 with New England from 2002-2015) Brett Favre (15 with Green Bay from 1993-2007) John Elway (16 with Denver from 1983-1998) Dan Marino (16 with Miami from 1984-1999) According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Saquon Barkley (106) is the first Giants back to run for at least 100 yards in his NFL debut. His 68-yard run was the longest by a Giants player in his first game. It was the longest run by a Giants rookie since Ahmad Bradshaw ’s 88-yard scamper in Buffalo on Dec. 23, 2007. (106) is the first Giants back to run for at least 100 yards in his NFL debut. His 68-yard run was the longest by a Giants player in his first game. It was the longest run by a Giants rookie since ’s 88-yard scamper in Buffalo on Dec. 23, 2007. Odell Beckham Jr. had 11 receptions for 111 yards. He now has eight games with at least 10 receptions, a franchise record. Jeremy Shockey is second with six. Beckham needs two more 100-yard receiving games to tie Amani Toomer for the franchise record of 22 such games. In case you missed it Around the Inter-Google Why Giants should be optimistic, concerned after 20-15 loss to Jaguars | Will offensive line sabotage big-play potential? | NJ.com The good news for the Giants is, they might not see as complete a defense for the rest of the season, than the Jacksonville Jaguars, who surrendered 324 yards of total offense on Sunday, September 9, 2018 (9/9/18) but did just enough to escape MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. with a 20-15 win. Giants' Eli Apple, Lorenzo Carter impress in loss to Jaguars | Random defensive observations | NJ.com Will cornerback Eli Apple join safety Landon Collins and Janoris Jenkins at a Pro Bowl level? James Bettcher's Giants defense offered some unusual looks in the 20-15 loss on Sunday, September 9, 2018 (9/9/198) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Will they stay or were they specific to Jaguars? NFL Week 1: From Adrian Peterson to Jimmy Garoppolo, things we'll overreact to | SI.com What is it about bad games in the Manning era that turn Giants fans into mopey, pre-World Series Red Sox fans? I was on hand for the loss to Jacksonville, and have a few thoughts. One, they will fix the offensive line. Ereck Flowers is not long for the NFL as a right tackle, left tackle, guard, or center. Two, Pat Shurmur’s offense is going to work against almost any other defense. They won’t play a cornerback tandem this good again until the end of October. And Saquon Barkley is good. Really good. Saquon Barkley’s debut left him wondering what could have been Saquon Barkley broke a pair of tackles and cut to his right and was Sa-Gone, now, a great MetLife roar accompanying him down the sidelines, 68 yards to pay dirt... This silver lining has Pat Shurmur believing wins will come soon Pat Shurmur was disappointed like everyone else in blue. Naturally, he wanted his first game as head coach of the Giants to be a victory. But he wasn’t going... Evan Engram’s biggest problem has not gone away Let the record show Evan Engram opened up his second NFL season with a quiet performance, catching two passes for 18 yards Sunday as the Giants offense labored... Treating Eli Manning like this would kill Giants’ season The kid had already done his part to rescue the gray, grisly afternoon. Saquon Barkley had rattled off a breathtaking 68-yard touchdown run that was equal parts... The Giants’ most frustrating player got exposed — again From the “you-can’t-make-this-up” department: On the Giants’ first offensive play of the season … Ereck Flowers was called for a tripping... Football Fans Thrilled To Legally Place Bets On Giants « CBS New York Meadowlands Racetrack was bustling for the first NFL Sunday of the season. And Giants fans wasted no time placing their bets on Big Blue.<doc-sep>Fans waited nine months for New York Giants football to return to MetLife Stadium. Unfortunately for the fans who were in East Rutherford, they have to wait at least another week for the first win. The Giants suffered their first defeat of the 2018 season at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars by the score of 20-15. Next week, they will head to Arlington to play the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in their first prime time game of the season. There was a lot of good to go with the bad in the opening contest for the Giants. What did we learn from the Giants’ loss to the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon? Odell Beckham Jr. looks fully healthy It had been 11 months since anyone last saw Beckham on the field, but on Sunday, the superstar receiver looked like the same player the Giants had seen dominate the NFL since his rookie season. Beckham logged 11 receptions for 111 yards. He didn’t find the end zone, but looked healthy and gave a lot of people around the team a sense of relief that he is back to being one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. After all, the Giants just paid Beckham a lot of money and invested in him being that dominant receiver. On Sunday, Beckham showed everyone that he is that guy again.<doc-sep>What did we learn about the New York Giants on Sunday? We learned that the thing that seemed most worrisome heading into the season, the offensive line, is still a major problem for the Giants. In a 20-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, GM Dave Gettleman’s rebuilt hog mollies were the Giants’ Achilles Heel. Jacksonville has a great defense with a number of dynamic players in its front seven. The Giants were never going to dominate this group, but what we saw Sunday is just not going to cut it. “We battled,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “You’re looking at a top 10 defense and we battled ‘em. I thought they fought throughout the game. We could probably point to individual bad plays by everyone, me included. “I feel like they battled. We’ve just gotta go back and correct the mistakes.” Ereck Flowers is still Ereck Flowers A switch from left tackle to right tackle can’t hide the simple reality that Ereck Flowers is the weakest of the weak links on the Giants’ offensive line. Flowers was penalized for tripping on the Giants’ first offensive play, negating a 5-yard completion. He was then penalized for holding, negating a 34-yard pass to Evan Engram and putting the Giants in a second-and-20 mess at their own 4-yard line. Flowers got the Giants off to an atrocious start, and he made the MetLife Stadium crowd restless right from the beginning. It didn’t get better. Flowers gave up one of the two sacks of Eli Manning, helplessly watching Lerentee McCray beat him to the inside. On the game-altering pick 6 by Myles Jack it was pressure allowed by Flowers that forced Manning to step up and into a path where Jacksonville defensive tackle Abry Jones could tip the pass. Eli is in serious danger Manning was sacked twice. The official NFL stats have him being hit six times. He was under pressure constantly. The Giants went from taking a number of deep shots early in the game to throwing more short, quick routes as the game wore on. Take out the spectacular 68-yard run by Saquon Barkley, most of which he did on his own by breaking three tackles, the Giants rushed for 46 yards on their other 22 attempts, 2.09 yards per attempt. There were 6 runs for no gain or negative yardage. Without watching film it is difficult, other than Flowers, to point fingers at specific players. Left tackle Nate Solder had a holding penalty. Rookie left guard Will Hernandez surrendered a sack. Right guard Patrick Omameh was the blocker when Abry Jones got his hands up to deflect the pass that turned into a tipped Pick 6. “It was a tough battle,” Solder said. “If we would’ve kept it in manageable down and distances, we prevented ourselves from a lot of plays because we were getting the penalties and stupid things that we control — like I had that holding. That was totally in my control and I need to clean that up.” In the post-game, Manning tried to take some of the heat off his linemen. “This might be the most talented defense and front four we go against all season. They’re good,” Manning said. “Those guys coming out the first game, I thought things settled down in the second half and they did a good job. Picked up some of the blitzes and hit some nice plays, big plays. I am proud of the way those guys competed and played. We had a chance to win the game. Let’s look now at some of the other things we learned on Sunday. Saquon is pretty good Sunday is probably how it’s going to be with Saquon Barkley. He didn’t do much for a loooong time. At halftime he had 6 carries for 12 yards, 1.5 yards per rush, and hadn’t caught a pass. In the third, quarter, runs of 8 and 5 yards, but nothing extraordinary. Then, in the fourth quarter, this: Saquon Barkley 68 yards to the HOUSE. pic.twitter.com/NuY3s7MJ0H — NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) September 9, 2018 Barkley electrified the MetLife Stadium crowd by breaking two tackles at the line of scrimmage, somehow staying in bounds while avoiding a third, and going 68 yards for a score to give the Giants a chance. The young man is special. No doubt about that. Pass rush problems To their credit, the Giants kept Jacksonville’s offense off the scoreboard in the second half. As expected, though, with Olivier Vernon sidelined the Giants had difficulty putting any pressure on Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles. The Giants ended up with a sack and four hits on the Jacksonville quarterback. While he didn’t throw down the field often, when he did he generally had plenty of time to do so. Return issue hasn’t been solved The Giants churned through Kalif Raymond and Hunter Sharp in the preseason, finding both wanting as kickoff and punt returners. They were awarded Kaelin Clay off waivers. At least Sunday that didn’t work out very well. Clay had 3 punt returns for just 4 yards. He also gave away the Giants’ final chance to win the game, muffing a punt that was recovered by Jacksonville at the Giants’ 21-yard line with just :45 seconds left. Cody Latimer returned one kickoff for just 15 yards. Odell is “pretty healthy” That is how Shurmur assessed him after watching Odell Beckham Jr. in his first game since fracturing his ankle in Week 5 of last season. Beckham caught 11 passes for 111 yards, along the way smashing Anquan Boldin’s record for receptions in the first 50 games of an NFL career. Boldin had 314. In 48 games, Beckham now has 324. For the most part Jacksonville kept Beckham in front of them, not allowing him much yardage after catches. The one time Beckham did get behind the Jacksonville defense Manning overshot him on a play that had the potential to be a 33-yard touchdown. “I feel like every day at practice Eli and I have been getting open and finding ways to separate.<doc-sep>Here at Giants Wire, we love the fans and our readers, but sometimes they go a little overboard on social media. The New York Giants lost their season opener to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-15, on Sunday and naturally, emotions were running high after the game… Note: One of the below tweets contains not safe for work (NSFW) language. Eli is the a problem. He’s not going to move after his drop. I watched 10 QBs today make time in the pocket by moving or scrambling. 🤷🏾‍♂️. Eli doesn’t fit today’s game. Sorry folks — NY Giants Daily!!!! (@Yaboycj2013) September 10, 2018 Not sure where this person wants Eli Manning to move to — Paterson Plank Road? This is like telling a guy on the wrong end of a firing squad to turn sideways to avoid being shot in the heart. The truth is, the Giants were unveiling a new alignment at offensive line against the best defensive front in the game. Manning had very little time to throw as each one of his lineman took turns getting overrun by Jacksonville defenders. Manning hit on seven of his first eight passing attempts and it should have been nine of 10 as two completions were wiped out by Ereck Flowers penalties. During the course of the game he did his best to make the best out of a bad situation. Suggesting that he could have salvaged the game through mobility is just incorrect. Any other quarterback behind that shoddy protection would likely have gotten themselves injured trying to scramble around. According to our count, Manning had six passes dropped on him. Granted, it was a wet day, but he delivered all catchable passes. He missed Odell Beckham Jr. deep in the end zone and made some errant passes, but so did Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and a few others this week. The truth is, the offensive line is still a work in progress and many just want to point out that Eli — who is the same player he’s always been — is now the problem. Get real. Sure, he needs to be better to cover up other ills, but fans are asking him to be literally perfect. The Eli hate is ridiculous and it’s getting worse. We can’t wait for this offense to gel — and it will — to shut most of these detractors up. Uh, what? You want Justin Pugh back for three draft picks? I can see shipping Patrick Omameh out and maybe a seventh rounder, but even that’s a stretch. Pugh would actually be an upgrade over Omameh — and maybe even Flowers — at this point, but the team chose to let him test the free agent waters this spring for a reason. The Cardinals inked Pugh to a five-year, $45 million deal. No way the Giants — or any other team for that matter — would take him on for that money. Now you want to give up a second rounder and two there picks for him? I miss @PrinceAmukamara on the Giants — Princess (@NYYwyldcat) September 10, 2018 This is odd as much as it is unique. She might be the only Giant fans who even has Prince Amukamara buried anywhere in the recesses of their brain.<doc-sep>
What were the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars saying after Sunday’s 20-15 loss by the Giants in the season-opening game for both teams? Let’s find out. Saquon Barkley on his touchdown ... “It was amazing; it was a great feeling, but it was a feeling that came and went. One touchdown is not going to win the game, and that touchdown didn’t win the game this week, but to get in there, it was a dream come true to find the end zone. I did keep the ball, but it was just like ‘Move on, next play’, and find a way to get in there again.” Barkley on the fourth-down run where he came up short ... “Fourth-and-one is always tough to get, especially when you have a defense like that. Fourth-and-one mentality is you have to get it no matter what by any-means-necessary. I jumped and I thought I had it, I thought I did enough to keep the sticks moving, but I didn’t and that is something where there’s no excuses that I’m a young player, and I have to realize how important that is.” Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone on Barkley ... “We knew he was a really good player coming in. It’s one of those games where you feel like you’re doing a good job, you’ve got a lot of population to the football, you got a lot of people trying to bring him down. Then all of a sudden, bam! He breaks that, whatever it was, 68-yard run ... he’s a heck of a player.” Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell on Barkley ... “I knew right away. The first run and the first couple of times I tackled him, I said, “this kid has something.” Obviously, you see it on tape, but we didn’t get to watch a lot of tape on him. It’s his college tape. Coming into the NFL against a team like ours, and making some of the plays he made, that kid’s going to be special. I traded jerseys with him after the game because I was like, “Okay, if he can stay healthy, he might one day be a Hall of Famer. So now, I’ll get his jersey when he’s young.” Landon Collins on the play of the defense ... “... we were playing a good offense and their run game is very hard to protect and we were playing good against it so we can definitely build on top of that and just make sure we get the communication right and on the same page as always. Odell Beckham Jr. on his matchup with Jalen Ramsey ... “He’s like a brother to me, we kicked it over the offseason, we talked back and forth. He’s a competitor, I’m a competitor, I love the way he plays, I love everything about his game. It was fun to go out there and compete against, if not the, one of the best in the league, hands down.” Ramsey on facing Beckham ... “Like I said on Thursday when I was talking to the media, that’s not what it was about. I was shocked when you make it just about me and Odell. It was 11 vs. 11. I knew I would be on him a fair amount, but I wasn’t on him 100% of the time and I knew it was going to take all 11 guys on the defense to get the job done so that’s what we did out here and we got a good win. Janoris Jenkins on building off the loss ... “I think we all can build off of it—defense, offense and special teams. Once we get in the film room, we’ll see what critiques we have to make and we’re just going to come out and keep hustling every day.” Pat Shurmur on the struggles of the offensive line ... “We battled a really good defense. You’re looking at a top-10 defense and we battled them and I thought they fought throughout the game. We can probably all point to individual bad plays by everyone, me included, so I feel like they battled and we’ve just got to go back and correct the mistakes that maybe showed up and get ready to play Dallas.” Shurmur on Beckham’s return ... “I thought he competed throughout, put him in a lot of different situations and I think it’s a good idea to throw him the ball.