Folks, it’s no secret that the hottest topic around the Giants lately has been the play of Daniel Jones. Every throw he has made in camp has been dissected by fans with a fine tooth comb.
With that being said, one thing fans haven’t talked about as much is which quarterbacks the Giants are set to face in the 2022 season and how they compare to Daniel Jones. To me, this exercise is the true mark of how the Giants season will go because the team with the stronger quarterback generally wins the game in a head to head matchup.
So I’ve decided to break the Giants schedule into four categories this year for comparing quarterbacks: Major Disadvantage, Likely Disadvantage, Neutral, and Advantage. Obviously this can change with injuries but I’m judging this based off the starting quarterbacks right now
Let’s get to the sorting!
Major Disadvantage: 6 Games
The Giants have a major disadvantage at quarterback this season in six games: Week 1 vs Tennessee, Weeks 3 and 12 vs Dallas, Week 5 vs Green Bay, Week 6 vs Baltimore, and Week 16 vs Minnesota.
Some fans may give me pushback on the Week 1 pick and the Week 16 pick but it’s not really up for discussion. Ryan Tannehill has made the playoffs all three seasons he’s started for the Titans. He has a 30-13 record as the Titans starting quarterback.
Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins has thrown for at least 25 touchdowns and 3600 yards in every season he’s started. Daniel Jones hasn’t even thrown 25 touchdowns over the course of the last two seasons. I don’t want to hear it.
Likely Disadvantage: 8 Games
The Giants have a likely disadvantage at quarterback in eight games this season: Week 2 vs Carolina, Week 7 vs Jacksonville, Week 11 vs Detroit, Weeks 13 and 15 vs Washington, Weeks 14 and 18 vs Philadelphia, and Week 17 vs Indianapolis.
Once again, Daniel Jones hasn’t come close to any of the quarterbacks projected to be starting for these teams. Baker Mayfield had a better season than Jones did last year with a severely injured shoulder. Trevor Lawrence is no longer hampered by Urban Meyer and looks incredible heading into year two. Jared Goff went to a Super Bowl.
Carson Wentz threw for 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions last season and was still cut. Jones hasn’t come close to that in his career. Jalen Hurts had 26 total touchdowns last season and nearly 4000 total yards. Matt Ryan is a former MVP winner that had one of the worst seasons of his career last year and still doubled Daniel Jones’s passing touchdown total.
It’s clear to me that the Giants have a disadvantage at quarterback in these games.
Neutral: 1 Game
The Giants have one neutral game this season and that’s week 2 against Chicago. It’s not that Justin Fields isn’t more talented than Daniel Jones, because he is significantly more talented than Daniel Jones, it’s just that the situation in Chicago is brutal. With this game being so early on in the season, the Giants may not be at a disadvantage in this one.
Advantage: 2 Games
The Giants have an advantage at quarterback in two games this season: Week 8 vs Seattle and Week 10 vs Houston.
Daniel Jones is absolutely better than a Geno Smith/Drew Lock combo. He also should be better than Davis Mills in Houston but the jury is still out.
So there you have it, the Giants have a clear advantage at quarterback in just two games this season. This right there is proof that it’s going to be a really difficult season for this team. Daniel Jones holds this team back significantly and until the Giants move on from him, they can expect to lose.