LANDOVER, Md. – After an eight-month layoff, the Giants played their 18th game of the 2024 Season That Everyone Wants To Forget, and it went just as poorly as most of the others.
Wait a second.
Sunday was supposed to mark the start of a new season – and new era – with positive vibes and more talented players? You could have fooled the fans watching the Giants lose 21-6 to the Commanders.
The offense still made scoring touchdowns look impossible and relied on bailouts from kicker Graham Gano. The blocking still caved in around the quarterback. And the defense still never got to display its pass-rushing identity because it was gashed by the run.
All the same old problems.
Russell Wilson did not look like the advertised cure-all to an offense that finished No. 31 in scoring last season, but still brought back 10 of 11 starters while replacing one below-average quarterback – at least until Daniel Jones blew up Sunday with the Colts – with another at this late stage of his great career.
What Wilson looked like in going 17-for-37 for 168 yards is a tentative quarterback that three Hall of Fame-caliber coaches have moved on from over the last four years.
The Giants are 0-1 for the eighth time in nine years – and none of those Week 1 losses gave way to a playoff berth. One year ago, it led to the misery of a 3-14 finish.