EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – SEPTEMBER 15: Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) and New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) after the National Football League game between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills on September 15, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Giants fans might hope that a loss to the Bills would lead to a quarterback change in New York, but Pat Shurmur isn’t ready to make that move.
Daniel Jones might not be the answer to all of the issues that plague the Giants at the moment, but he could give the team a much-needed shot in the arm. Unfortunately for New York fans starved for excitement, Eli Manning is still firmly entrenched as the team’s starting quarterback.
After the team’s disappointing 28-14 loss head coach Pat Shurmur told the press that making the switch from Manning to Jones wasn’t a conversation for “right now.” In other words, fans of Big Blue should expect to see Manning start at Tampa Bay next Sunday.
The great irony of the situation is that keeping Manning in the game will effectively allow the Giants to tank as the year goes along. Most teams that engage in that sort of tactic are doing so to position themselves to draft their franchise quarterback of the future. In theory, the Giants believe they already have that in Jones.
In fairness to Manning, he wasn’t atrocious against Buffalo. He managed to complete 26 of his 45 passes for 250 yards. That only comes down to just over 5.5 yards per attempt on the afternoon. That paltry total combined with his two interceptions make his final stat line look pretty ugly. Add it all up and it’s just the sort of performance Giants fans have been seeing from Manning for the last 12 months. He’s just not a quality starting quarterback at this stage in his career.
The only reasonable argument for leaving him as the team’s starter is that the organization believes Jones isn’t ready to be thrown into the deep end of NFL football. The lack of weapons at skill positions for New York will make life difficult for anyone the team employs under center. Things should improve when Golden Tate returns from suspension, but talent in the receiving corps was pretty poor against the Bills.
At some point this season, the Giants will need to pull the plug on the farce of propping Manning up as their starting quarterback. Until that happens, they will continue to lose a ton of games in a pretty boring fashion. The only upside for fans in New York is that they’re positioning themselves for another high draft pick next April. Then again, Dave Gettleman is almost certainly the guy who will make that pick. Perhaps there’s a fullback he likes in the top five.