3 Takeaways from Giants’ Week 6 Loss

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Adam Hunger/Associated Press

The New York Giants were shorthanded. They were hosting one of the top teams in the NFL. And they didn’t have much momentum. So what transpired Sunday afternoon wasn’t exactly a surprise.

The Giants lost 38-11 to the Los Angeles Rams at MetLife Stadium, falling for the second straight week and dropping to 1-5 this season. Although they led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, things took a sharp turn the other way from there.

Los Angeles scored four second-quarter touchdowns and 38 consecutive points to build a 35-point lead by early in the fourth quarter. The Giants didn’t get into the end zone until Elijhaa Penny scored on a four-yard touchdown run with six minutes, 21 seconds to go in the game.

Here are three takeaways from New York’s Week 6 loss.

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John Munson/Associated Press

Despite the Giants’ early struggles, Daniel Jones had been playing well for most of the first five weeks of the season. He got knocked out of the Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys with a concussion but was cleared to start against the Rams on Sunday.

However, several key players on New York’s offense did not feature, including running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) and wide receiver Darius Slayton (hamstring). Then, wide receiver Kadarius Toney (ankle) and tackle Andrew Thomas (ankle) both exited in the first half and didn’t return.

Meanwhile, Jones went 29-for-51 for 242 yards and three interceptions as the Giants were held to 261 total yards and committed four turnovers. Even though New York was shorthanded, it was still a disappointing showing for the quarterback, who had thrown only one interception this year prior to Sunday.

However, the 24-year-old’s head coach is confident he’ll bounce back.

“Daniel’s a guy that we’re gonna have success with,” Joe Judge said, per Steve Serby of the New York Post. “This is a guy who’s made a tremendous amount of improvement for us, and obviously he’s gonna help us have success going forward in the future.”

It will surely help once Jones gets some of his top offensive targets back. Until then, he may not put up numbers like he was earlier in the season.

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Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

For one quarter, the Giants’ defense looked impressive. It forced the Rams to punt on each of their first two possessions, which included a three-and-out on their second drive. It was an encouraging start for New York, which had allowed 44 points to Dallas the week before.

From there, Los Angeles had no trouble moving the ball. It ended up with 365 total yards as quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for 251 yards and four touchdowns. In the second quarter, the Giants gave up four touchdowns in a span of 9:55 as their offense struggled and their defense couldn’t get off the field.

“I’m extremely disappointed. It’s not acceptable,” New York safety Logan Ryan said, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic. “I mean, honestly, it’s not acceptable and that’s just it.”

The Giants are allowing 401.3 total yards per game, which is the sixth most in the NFL. That needs to improve if they hope to play competitive games. Otherwise, there could be more results like Sunday’s loss on the horizon.

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John Munson/Associated Press

At this point, the Giants have played enough games to know they’re not going to be competing for the NFC East title this season. They’re in last place at 1-5 behind Dallas (5-1), Washington (2-4) and Philadelphia (2-4), and they’re quickly falling out of the wild-card hunt, too.

New York’s next three games are all against teams that are .500 or better—the Carolina Panthers (3-3), Kansas City Chiefs (3-3) and Las Vegas Raiders (4-2)—before it has its bye in Week 10. It will return to action with a difficult road matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1) the following Monday.

Although the Giants weren’t expected by many to be a playoff contender this season, fans were likely hoping to see some improvement after they went 6-10 in Judge’s first year at the helm in 2020. New York hasn’t won more than six games in a season since 2016, and that may continue this year.

There could be some positives on the way, though, and the Giants may fare better later on, especially if they can get healthy. But it can be tough to bounce back after losing five of the first six games, so they could soon be in evaluation mode for 2022 and beyond.