SEATTLE — Not quite there.
Those three words can stand as a succinct and apt description of what the Giants are all about in 2024.
Not great, of course. Not uncompetitive.
Certainly not special, but also not dysfunctional.
Not a winning team.
Not a team that looks as if it has no chance to win.
The Giants through four games are … not quite there.
This is evident in so many ways.
The discussion the other day was about the failure to connect on the deep ball.
This had been one of the strengths Daniel Jones displayed in his early years as the starting quarterback. “He is not great at this or that, but he can throw the long ball” — that was a frequent talking point.
This season, Jones is not doing anything particularly special, and what he is doing less than that is connecting on his throws of 20 or more yards.
This is something Jones does not deny when analyzing what has gone awry, as far as pushing the ball down the field.
“I think each one’s different,” he said. “I think through the first few weeks, I’d overthrown a few in situations. It felt like giving a guy the chance was the way to go and then I left some short. So, I feel like I’m in a good spot now.”
Jones actually chuckled after hearing himself say that. He was too strong on his longer throws in the first few weeks, so he made an adjustment — too much so — resulting in his deep passes falling short by a yard or two.
“I think it’s about just trusting it and throwing it,” Jones said. “I feel like I’ve thrown the deep ball well through my career. I’ve always felt good about that part of my game. So, I’m confident I’ll be able to do that well.”
Coming up just short, missing by just a bit is not going to cut it for the 1-3 Giants.
They need to be on their game in virtually every way in order to overcome talent, experience and playmaking disadvantages most weeks.
That figures to again be the case Sunday, facing the Seahawks (3-1) at Lumen Field — with an extra challenge mixed in, as rookie sensation Malik Nabers did not make the cross-country trip, as he is will miss his first game while dealing with a concussion.
Thus far, the Giants, even with all sorts of Nabers exploits, are lacking on offense.
It is almost inconceivable to think of their passing attack without him — considering he is the team leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches, and through four games he led the entire NFL in targets.
With Nabers, coming up short was served up on the menu.
The Giants lost by three points to the Commanders in Week 2 and fell to the Cowboys by five in Week 4.
One-score games become close encounters of the losing kind.
What happens one week at times has no bearing on the next, but it sure seems as if the Giants are going to need to go up, up and away in this game, as far as blowing by their meager scoring average of 15 points.
The Seahawks are 10th in the NFL in scoring at 25.5 points a game and are coming off a 42-29 shootout loss in Detroit.
Matching points without Nabers and also without running back Devin Singletary (dealing with a groin injury and listed as doubtful) is going to be exceedingly difficult, unless the Giants suddenly find a remedy and are able to connect on a few deep balls.
Perhaps Darius Slayton or Jalin Hyatt — who will be forced onto the field in place of Nabers — can run under a few of them.
If they do, will Jones deliver the ball where it needs to go?
“There were several really good examples, even in practice, just putting it to a spot and letting a guy kind of go run underneath it to go get it,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. “We’ll keep on repping it. We practice it for a reason. That way you can feel confident to do it in the game. D.J. has been doing that. We’re going to give him those opportunities in practice.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a lack of confidence or anything like that. I would just say sometimes the defense doesn’t give you exactly the look you might see, so you have to reset and check it down, get the ball out of your hands, and that’s part of being a quarterback.”
Jones completed 29 passes his last time out — tied for the second-highest total of his six-year career.
But once again, points were at too much of a premium.
Finding those points without their electric rookie receiver is a daunting challenge that awaits the Giants.
