...and a cool half-a-coffee bet ($2) won from FanDuel here with the Giants taking down the Bills. NYG is one of the better preseason teams out there because they go two established QBs deep then have two not totally awful QBs behind that.
The Giants really do have something, but it’s so discombobulated by Brian Daboll decisions combined with a horrific schedule...Daboll they can overcome, but the schedule...probably not. I think they’ll get their wings clipped by the early schedule and kinda slow motion crumble from there. It’s a shame, because if they were in the AFC or NFC South, they might be wild card contenders. In the NFC East with a punitive/unlucky schedule...they are likely to implode. The Giants will be by far the best team with 6 or less wins this season, is my gut feel.
But, if they can sneak up on and upset Washington Week 1...maybe they can get some momentum and luck and fight for a 7-8-9-win season.
The Giants took the lead early in this game, playing a lot of 1st-team guys for a series+, extending the lead out with Jaxson Dart, but then in the 4th-quarter Buffalo suddenly took the lead, but Jameis Winston led a comeback and then a late game botched shotgun snap by the Bills killed off any chance for them, which led to an easy NYG field goal sealing the win for NYG.
Buffalo played some 1st-team guys for a series or two but were really working the backups more...and NYG’s backups were a hint better than Buffalo’s, but their backup QBs were way better, and thus the G-Men escaped with a win.
And, of course, Giants fans being the rational football fans they are -- many are proclaiming a sleeper season with this ‘huge’ win (preseason) over the powerful Bills, and now the NYG Cinderella SZN is underway. Let them enjoy their moment...the same way Browns fans are hailing Shedeur as Tom Brady-esque after throwing 2 TDs in a preseason game. It’s gonna be a long season for them...let them enjoy this for a minute.
Player Notes...
-- We’ll talk NYG QBs to start, and more so about Jaxson Dart’s debut...but I first want to say: Watching Russell Wilson (6-7 for 28 yards, 0 TD/0 INTs) work in this game...he still has enough ‘it’ to win teams games/to manage a team. He’s not the Russ of old, but he’s still pretty good...good zip on his passes and keeps himself in great shape. You could do worse than Russell Wilson as your team’s starting QB.
And Jameis Winston (7-11 for 62 yards, 1 TD/0 INT) as a backup is a quasi-starter talent sitting in reserve. Why he signed with NYG, I have no idea. They brought him in third among the QBs in this game...a total insult by Daboll who should know better, but it’s Brian Daboll. They could’ve started Russ a series then Jameis a series or two AND THEN bring in the golden child...then hang Tommy DeVito out to dry to finish it out. Nope. One series for Russ, then right to Dart the rest of the half. Winston put in the game in the 2nd-half. Bad personnel management by Daboll, with a team leader and veteran like Winston...but there’s a reason why Daboll’s on the hot seat...
Daboll’s got the ‘hots’ for Jaxson Dart, and it will be his undoing...and it should be. Daboll has earned this fate to come...he chose to align with Daniel Jones too long, and now Daniel Jones 2.0 in Dart.
-- OK, the Jaxson Dart (12-19 for 154 yards, 1 TD/1 INT) debut...
Not as bad as I thought it would be. I expected to see a D/F grade player...but I saw a more C/D grade talent...for a rookie debut game.
A lot of screen passes that went for yards. A nice timing deep ball pass right in the bucket for a 28-yard TD...just a preplanned drop back and heave, and it struck gold. A lot of preplanned throws for Dart in this debut...a lot of safe stuff, but that’s OK for a debut. He moved very well...he has a little more get up/runner skill than I thought. All-in-all, not awful.
What struck me watching this was two things...
1) How Daniel Jones-like he really is...a more modern-day Daniel Jones.
2) How unafraid these rookie QBs are in their NFL debuts. Used to be, a rookie QB debut would look mostly atrocious, but the new era guys are so well schooled, so raised on ‘7 on 7’...that when you let them just sit back in the shotgun and throw it quickly, mostly short stuff...they have been in that environment so much for years and years...it’s second nature.
So, it should be no surprise when Riley Leonard looks better than Dan Dimes or Anthony Richardson. It should be no surprise Shedeur has a couple TD passes out of the gates. It should be no surprise that Jaxson Dart looks totally comfortable in his debut.
When they are uncomfortable right away, these days, then it’s a real red flag...like whatever that was with Kyle McCord for the Eagles...wow, he’s not good.
Dart was fine here. Shedeur and Leonard were fine. What we haven’t seen yet is -- a real game plan against these rookie QBs with 1st-team defensive units. But for this low-level opposition moment, these competent rookies looked decent in their debuts.
And sadly...part of this new era is: The rookie QBs come out and look confident, a little swashbuckling in the preseason or regular season start...but then the stodgy NFL head coaches and coordinators tries/wants to beat that out them and make them safe passers and game managers, like they crave...so afraid to make a mistake they do nothing positive. They tried to do that to Baker...beat the ‘Baker’ out of him, but he dug a tunnel behind a poster in his prison cell and escaped their clutches and went off to the beach in Florida somewhere. He’ll meet up with Red again someday, don’t you worry. It’s a Shawshank Redemption analogy, people.
Where was I?
Oh, yeah...Dart was OK in his debut.
-- The most impactful player in this game, the one that helped ‘pump’ Dart’s numbers was our old friend NYG RB Dante Miller (10-22-0, 7-80-0/7). He was taking simple screens and turning them into ‘events’...he had nearly 25% of the Giants passing yards. He’s the Darren Sproles Sean Payton is looking for, but Payton isn’t looking...he thinks he’s got it locked with R.J. Harvey, and maybe he does.
Miller was running around and by defenders like they were standing still. If Daboll doesn’t make him a special 3rd-down/2-minute drill pass game weapon, then I don’t know what we’re doing...
...so, that means Miller will get cut and put on the practice squad...again...as the rest of the league doesn’t even notice.
Miller looked not just ‘good’, he was REALLY good here (at the screen pass and go game)...eye-opening...but the NFL typically has permanent blinders on, so...yeah.
Read my Dante Miller scouting report from 2024...this was who we wondered might exist. Played for NYG some last season, as a UDFA rookie...but he looks way more confident now.
***SPECIAL NOTE ALERT***
Some time after this report posts, I am doing a special note release on something critical from this game scouting. It’s concerning two players. One is Abdul Carter...the second is...you’ll want to read about him. It’s the main note player for that special note.
-- Bills rookie TE Jackson Hawes (0-0-0/1) dropped a pass officially, but I think he dropped another but it must have been negated for penalty...but needless to say -- not a good debut.
-- Buffalo has a decent UDFA WR that popped up out of nowhere (for me), from Virginia...Stephen Gosnell (4-30-0/4).
6’2”/198, 4.56 40-time, 6.96 three-cone. Good hands. Scrappy. Probably needs a few years of development...probably is just a journeyman for a while, but he had some decent moments here and I didn’t know he existed and now I do.
-- Two quick IDP notes...
Our old favorite ILB from UDFA 2024, Bills Joe Andreesen (5 tackles, 1 TFL) is moving up that depth chart. He’s running 2nd-team. Looked good here. A future starter someday...and will be an iconic Bills player because of a great back story. The Mafia up there is gonna love him/they already do.
I was watching the first series with Bills on defense...and I saw this tall, swift guy dart off the EDGE...and I’m like -- Who the heck was that? It’s new Bills DL Michael Hoecht (1 tackle, 1 TFL). We love Hoecht! The Bills will too...after he serves his 6-game suspension for PEDs.
