LANDOVER — Russell Wilson is just as good at not scoring points for the Giants as any other quarterback who has played for them the past four years.
Joe Schoen’s and Brian Daboll’s grand plan to move away from Daniel Jones and up in the NFC East’s standings came crashing down Sunday afternoon at Northwest Stadium in a 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Rookie No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter provided a spark on defense, forcing Jayden Daniels into a huge mistake at the end of the first half to keep the visitors within striking distance.
But the Giants’ offensive line was overwhelmed by the Commanders’ defensive front, led by Dorance Armstrong’s nine quarterback pressures. And Wilson had zero ability to elevate the offense around him.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka tried to help both Wilson and the offensive line with quick screens. But Sunday was the kind of day that had Malik Nabers and Daboll jawing with each other on the sideline before the first half was even complete.
Wilson finished 17 of 37 passing for 168 yards, added eight carries for 44 yards and had one fumble that he recovered himself.
Jones, meanwhile, racked up 298 total yards and three touchdowns while leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 33-8 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Back at Washington, the Giants’ anemic offense got so desperate that Daboll went for a 4th and 1 on his own 29-yard line late in the third quarter, trailing 14-3.
Wilson converted the short quarterback sneak, and a Graham Gano 55-yard field goal cut the deficit to 14-6 with 1:43 remaining in the third quarter.
But Deebo Samuel’s 19-yard touchdown run with 7:09 remaining iced the game for Washington.
Wilson and the Giants’ offense drove back into the red zone for a chance to make the final score look better, but the disappointing quarterback missed a wide open Wan’Dale Robinson on fourth down to turn it back over to the Commanders to run the clock out.
The Giants had a package in the game plan for rookie Jaxson Dart, who was dressed as Wilson’s backup, according to a leak reported by NFL Network. But Daboll never pressed the red button.
The Giants are 0-3 against the Commanders since they drafted Daniels.
Sunday marked the Giants’ third straight Week 1 loss under Schoen and Daboll. It dropped their NFC East skid to 0-7 after going winless in the division last season.
They haven’t won an NFC East game since Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season against the Eagles. They have lost 12 of their last 13 games overall as a franchise since last year’s Week 5 road win in Seattle.
Their consistent Achilles heel is their inability to score points.
Wilson was supposed to solve that problem this season as Jones’ replacement, but Sunday was more of the same: bad execution and not enough points. It didn’t help that left tackle Andrew Thomas (right foot) missed the game due to a Lisfranc surgery he underwent last October.
The 15-point loss means the Giants, under Schoen and Daboll, now have lost their last three season openers by a combined score of 89-12 to the Cowboys, Vikings and Commanders, respectively.
Poor starts have consistently undone them. Sunday’s 14-3 deficit at half meant the Giants have been outscored an astounding 67-6 in the first halves of Daboll’s four season openers as head coach.
The clock is ticking loudly, therefore, on how soon Dart will replace Wilson at quarterback.
Schoen and Daboll can’t let their fourth season slip away without trying to use Dart to save it. Their jobs are on the line.
They’ll fly to Dallas to face the Cowboys (0-1) in Week 2, a daunting task since Dallas nearly upset the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on the road in their opener.
Not to mention the Cowboys have beaten the Giants in eight straight games and in 15 of their last 16 meetings — a stunning stretch of division dominance.
Then the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers are coming to MetLife Stadium in Weeks 3 and 4.
The Giants need to figure out a solution quickly or they’ll be irrelevant before Halloween again. And that would likely spell curtains for Schoen and Daboll, who are heading towards the fifth and final years of their contracts.
They were fortunate to even be in Sunday’s game at halftime. They trailed 14-3 and were outgained 219 yards to 79.
The score would have been 21-3 if not for a huge tackle by Carter and a big mistake by Daniels with the clock winding down.
Washington took a 14-3 lead with 6:14 to play in the second quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Then the Commanders marched back into the red zone with 28 seconds to play in the half.
But Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, tackled Daniels at the 4-yard line on a designed quarterback run to prevent a first down and maybe a touchdown.
Then as Washington scrambled back to the ball with no timeouts, Carter pressured Daniels into an intentional grounding throwaway. The penalty was a 10-second runoff, so the Giants escaped into the locker room trailing only by 11 points at half.
Notably, both of Washington’s touchdown drives in the first half came with Dexter Lawrence off the field to start those possessions.
Lawrence, who was limited most of the offseason due to a dislocated elbow last December, is seemingly being managed until he can ramp up to his top football shape.
The Giants fell behind, 7-0, five minutes in on a 7-yard Daniels touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz. Daniels hit wide receivers Chris Moore and Noah Brown for completions of 34 and 18 yards, respectively, to get within striking distance.
Then starting Giants linebacker Micah McFadden got carted off with an injury to his right leg and foot. And Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury isolated McFadden’s replacement, Darius Muasau, with Ertz on the next play for the score.
The Giants’ offense answered with a 16-play, 76-yard drive, with several Robinson touches, including a 20-yard catch and run, and a 25-yard Wilson completion on Nabers’ first catch of the day.
But then the Giants did something disappointingly familiar: they stalled in the red zone.
They ran seven plays inside the Commanders’ 8-yard line thanks to a Washington penalty that gave them an extra first down, including a 1-yard loss on a handoff to rookie Cam Skattebo. But they had to settle for a 21-yard Gano field goal and a 7-3 deficit at 13:57 of the second.
