Daniel Jones makes (embarrassing) history in first half as Giants fall to Commanders again

Here’s a handful of stats that just about sum up the Giants’ latest loss to the Commanders: At halftime, quarterback Daniel Jones was four-of-six passing with a touchdown (his first passing touchdown at home in 672 days), a 109.7 quarterback rating and… zero yards.
Zero.
Zilch.
Per ESPN, he’s the first player to have a passing touchdown and 0 passing yards in a half since at least 2000. Granted, he accounted for 50 of the Giants’ 142 rushing yards at the half, too, but that did not matter on a macro scale given their 21-7 deficit.
Things got a little better from there, but the final result was all too familiar.
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The Giants (2-7) dropped their second game to the division rival Commanders (7-2) this season, 27-22. As the clock ticked down on the first half, an angry MetLife Stadium crowd booed their team off the field.
Yes, Jones strung together some plus plays here and there, but they were rendered mostly meaningless due to his team’s inability to execute.
The first such instance came on the second drive of the game, when Jones’ excellent 24-yard quarterback keeper at the beginning of the series was canceled out by a terrible fumble — sparked by terrible pass protection from left tackle Chris Hubbard and a terrible throw attempt by Jones — by the end of it.
The Giants’ battered offensive line deserves its share of the blame no doubt, but a sixth-year quarterback with a contract that large must be able to sense — and react to — pressure better than that.
Jones’ flashes were far more frequent in the second half — where he capped off his final statline of 174 passing yards, 54 rushing yards and two total touchdowns, punched in a gutsy rushing touchdown and nearly led a comeback attempt — but they just weren’t enough to secure the win.
This has been the story of Jones’ underwhelming career, 2022 outlier aside.
The time to move on from Jones is now. The 27-year-old is putting up numbers this season — 1,880 yards with a mediocre 7-5 touchdown-interception ratio — but the longer the Giants (whose playoff chances are basically toast) trot him out, the more they risk hampering their future cap situation.
Jones has a $23 million injury guarantee in his contract — which means that. if he suffers a serious injury that prevents him from passing a physical on March 12, he gets $12 million guaranteed. If he can’t pass a physical by Week 1 next season, he gets another $11 million. This would make his inevitable cutting much more difficult.
Backup Drew Lock is by no means a long-term answer, nor is he even the better option to Jones. But with another lost season swirling — and other teams vying for a quarterback ahead of them — the Giants must save their future and make the switch.
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Ryan Novozinsky may be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @ryannovo62.