Was Giants’ Daniel Jones’ performance against the Vikings that bad? Stats say yes | Sporting News

Any shred of hope that New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones could find his 2022 form was dashed in Sunday’s brutal loss against the Minnesota Vikings.

Jones has always been an easy target for social media to hound. Sometimes it’s deserving. Other times, it’s not.

His performance in the 28-6 blowout loss against the Vikings in Week 1 was extremely poor. But was it as bad as it seems?

Daniel Jones stats are worse than they looked

The standard box score scout could get a pretty good idea of just how poorly Jones played in the opener. Jones completed 22-of-44 pass attempts (52.4%) for 186 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a 44.3 passer rating.

The sixth-year quarterback was clearly uncomfortable in the pocket in his first regular season game since tearing his ACL.

This isn’t a new development either. Since Jones signed his four-year, $160 million deal during the 2023 offseason, he’s thrown more pick-sixes (three) than passing touchdowns (two) to his teammates.

Daniel Jones advanced stats paint ugly picture

If we continue to dive deeper, the advanced metrics paint an even uglier picture for the No. 6 overall pick in his season debut.

According to Next Gen Stats, Jones recorded a -17.3% CPOE (completion percentage over expectation) on 49 dropbacks. That was the worst mark among NFL quarterbacks in Week 1. His -22.5 EPA (expected points added) was the second-worst mark while his -0.46 EPA per dropback was third worst.

Maybe it was pressure from the offensive line and he didn’t have time to throw? Next Gen Stats showed Jones was pressured on 36.8% of his dropbacks, which ranked the 11th-most in Week 1. The other quarterback in the same game, Sam Darnold, was pressured on 42.3% of his dropbacks.

Daniel Jones deep ball was non-existent

A common theme throughout training camp and the preseason was that is seemed the Giants were going to push the ball down the field more. That couldn’t have been further from the truth in Week 1.

Jones was one of only two quarterbacks who didn’t attempt a deep pass (at least 20 air yards downfield) at all in Week 1. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was the other.

The Giants were hoping that reinforcements on the offensive line and the addition of Malik Nabers might help Jones bounce back.

From the Week 1 results, that ship may have sailed.

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