Andrew Thomas is a standup guy all the way but the big man could not bring himself to get to his feet.
There he sat as Sunday night moved into early Monday morning, facing his locker, head down, fielding questions but offering no real answers.
Thomas could not explain how the Giants could lose a season opener 40-0, as he contemplated heading to an MRI tube later that day to get a determination how severe of a hamstring injury he suffered while chasing and failing to prevent the return of a blocked field goal that resulted in a Dallas touchdown, the first rumble of what teammate Darren Waller called “the avalanche that you see on the scoreboard.’’
Whoa. There is too much negative stuff to unpack there.
When insult and injury mix it is indeed a toxic combination.
The only way the football atrocity that was the Giants’ season opener could get worse is if they lost a key player while getting routed.
Thomas, after hurting his hamstring in the first quarter, gutted his way through the remainder of the game, playing 53 of the 70 offensive snaps before he took a seat. He did not sound optimistic about the way he felt after the game and it is likely he woke up quite sore the morning after. It was quite a downer for a player operating in his first game since signing a massive five-year, $117.5 contract extension.
Andrew Thomas suffered a hamstring injury in the 40-0 loss. Bill Kostroun/New York PostThomas not being able to make it for the Week 2 game against the Cardinals in Arizona would be a deadly loss, given the state of disrepair that is the offensive line.
And, lest we forget, the Giants are in the midst of playing three games in 12 days, with a Thursday night meeting with the 49ers in Santa Clara in Week 3. Such a short turnaround will not be advantageous for the time Thomas might need to recover from this injury.
It sure got late early for the Giants, didn’t it?
Here is a look at some of the carnage that, appropriately, took place with the newly crowned US Open champion, Coco Gauff, in the building the same evening the Giants were blasted 40-Love:
- Remember that sickly 29-3 loss to the Bears near the end of the sickly 2021 season? Yeah, the one when Joe Judge lost it, rambling on about former Giants players “begging me to come back’’ and insisting “this ain’t some clown show operation.’’ Mike Glennon, subbing for injured Daniel Jones, accumulated minus-10 net passing yards, the fewest by an NFL team in the 21st century. Well, what transpired Sunday night was not as bad but it was fairly close. The Giants’ 63 net passing yards was their lowest total since that debacle in Chicago.
- To start the 1995 season, Dan Reeves pointed to the season opener as an opportunity for the Giants to show how much they had closed the gap on the Cowboys. Well, the 35-0 “Monday Night Football’’ beatdown by the Cowboys at Giants Stadium, punctuated by Emmitt Smith turning and waving goodbye to a trailing defender on a 60-yard touchdown run, showed just how massive the gap was. The Giants went on to finish 5-11 and the Cowboys went on to win the Super Bowl. That was the worst opening day loss in Giants history – until this one.
- This was not the most points allowed by the Giants in a season opener. They also gave up 40 points to start the 1971 season – and they actually won the game, beating the Packers, 42-40, at Lambeau Field.
- The last time the Giants were shut out? Dec. 16, 2018 (17-0 to the Titans).
- Already, we can stamp 2022 as over and done with and not associate that team with this one. The Giants last season did not allow a single defensive touchdown. They could not get out of the first quarter of the 2023 season before giving up an interception return for a touchdown.
- Late in the fourth quarter, Daniel Jones was out there, down by 40 points, looking to get his team in the end zone. Why? It was raining and he was getting pelted and pummeled. He was sacked three times, he fumbled one time, on a painful 10-play, 19-yard “drive’’ that mercifully ended when his pass intended for Darius Slayton fell to the turf. With 1:10 remaining, Brian Daboll finally replaced Jones with Tyrod Taylor.
Risking the starting quarterback in a game already lost seemed living on the edge.
“I was gonna let him see it through there just until that last series,’’ Daboll said.
Again: Why?
The Cowboys manhandled Daniel Jones all night. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“Try to get something positive going there,’’ Daboll said. “We didn’t have much going, just wanted to try to get, you know, a positive drive and try to punch the ball into the end zone, but that didn’t happen.’’
No, it didn’t didn’t happen. It did not come close to happening.
We get it. Try to give Jones and the offense something – anything – to build upon going into the next week and the next game. Try to avoid the ignominy of getting shut out. The offensive line could not protect Jones, though, and it would have been prudent to make sure he exited in one piece.
- Here’s another Jones tidbit: He led the NFL in 2022 in fewest interceptions per pass attempt with an interception frequency of only 1.1 percent. He threw five interceptions in 472 pass attempts. Factoring in the two interceptions he threw in the 2023 opener, his quarterback rating was 32.4, the lowest of his 56 career starts.
- Did not anticipate Evan Neal channeling Teddy Roosevelt by dropping a “man in the arena’’ reference as he described his rough performance. Neal was abused last season in his first game against the Cowboys and was dominated for much of this one as well.
“Obviously as a competitor, being a man in the arena, going out there putting everything on the line, all the hard work it takes to be able to go out there and perform, and to have a result like that obviously it sucks, but what can you do?’’ Neal said. “What can you do other than come out and work harder, go back in the office, learn from it and work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’
Evan Neal did not show improvement in the first game of his second season. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostNeal’s footwork is too slow and his body bend is not where it needs to be. This continues to be alarming with a player taken with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
- Isaiah Simmons made his Giants debut with 15 low-key snaps on defense, registering one tackle, as the pure pass-rush opportunities were limited because the Cowboys were ahead early and Dak Prescott threw only 24 passes. Simmons also was on the field for 15 snaps on special teams.
- The Giants played it smart with Darren Waller, who late last week experienced tightness in his hamstring – the same one that ruined his 2022 season with the Raiders. Waller played only 38 snaps and said he came out of the game in good shape.
- Three players — safeties Xavier McKinney and Jason Pinnock and inside linebacker Bobby Okereke — played all 58 snaps on defense.
- Paging the edge rushers: Kayvon Thibodeaux in 42 snaps had four tackles and no quarterback pressures. Azeez Ojulari in 32 snaps had one assisted tackle. Much more is needed.
