MUNICH — It is never, or rarely, the fault of one player, but it is time.
It is not all on Daniel Jones. Of course it is not.
It was on the run defense, or lack thereof. It was on Tyrone Tracy, a rookie running back, who kept the Giants in the game and then took them out of it with a devastating fumble in overtime. It was on head coach Brian Daboll for calling a gadget play instead of a quarterback sneak for a first down. It was on Graham Gano, the veteran kicker, who missed a mid-range field goal in what turned out to be a tight one.
So many of them are complicit for transgressions big and small that conspired to doom a doomed team, once again. There are fingerprints galore smeared across the 20-17 loss to the Panthers, and that this game came in Germany, and not on U.S. soil, does not mitigate the damage done to a franchise that has specialized for more than a decade in losing games every which way, here, there, everywhere and, in a new twist, even in the capital of Bavaria.
Now that we are done sprinkling blame around, it is time to get to the point, which is the lack of them. Points, that is. Jones did far more to lose this game than to win it, and that has been his calling card for six years now. It is not all on him, but it is time.
The Giants are in their bye week. When they return to the field Nov. 24 to face the Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium, Jones has to be on the sideline and either Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito needs to be the starting quarterback.
This is not about giving some young first-round pick the keys to the offense. The Giants don’t have any of them waiting in the wings. This is not about saving the season, as the Giants are 2-8 and the only saving that can be done is if players want to stash some cash for a vacation that could commence immediately after the season, as this organization is headed toward missing the playoffs for the 10th time in the past 12 years and for the second straight season since Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen came aboard in 2022.
There are no illusions what Lock, a six-year veteran in his first season as the Giants backup, or DeVito, the second-year Jersey guy who surprised everyone by going 3-3 in 2023 as an undrafted rookie, will provide or add to an attack that through 10 games is averaging an NFL-low 15.6 points a game. This is not about “it can’t be worse,’’ because it can always be worse. This is about the end of the madness of doing the same thing every week and expecting different results.
Jones, 27, is in his sixth year and he is what he is. We know, for sure now, that he will not be with the team in 2025, and that his four-year, $160 million contract will end two years shy of expiration, with the Giants needing to eat $22.1 million in dead salary cap money to part ways with him. There is also that injury guarantee of $23 million in 2025 that makes keeping him on the field a risk no longer worth taking.
Perhaps the last seven games can clue us in if Lock, who is making $5 million, can serve as a bridge quarterback next season for whichever youngster the Giants try to target and select in April’s NFL draft. Maybe DeVito gets a hot hand and he can find a place on the roster alongside a bigger prospect.
Jones was 1-for-6 passing to start this game and at halftime he was 6-for-14 for 54 yards and one interception, on a tipped pass by Jadeveon Clowney. That meant the Giants trailed 10-0 at the break — zero points against a defense that came in allowing a league-worst 32.6 points a game.
Daboll said he did not consider making a quarterback switch for the second half.
“No,’’ he said. “I thought we could get something going, which we did. Started out slow, had some opportunities there, but did not.’’
Jones ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Giants were in business, trailing 17-14, when, on the very next play, they forced a turnover. The Giants were on the Panthers 8-yard line and looking to take their first lead of the game when Jones, under pressure, tried to fit a 1-yard pass to Tracy but the ball was yanked out of Tracy’s grasp by linebacker Josey Jewell for another interception.
“I mean, not good enough,’’ Jones said. “Anytime you turn the ball over twice in the red zone, yeah, not good enough.’’
Daboll would not bite on a question about making a change at quarterback or making significant changes, period. That was not the time, after yet another emotional and close loss. The time is upon us, though, to finally end this chapter.
