New York Giants: Winners and losers from Preseason Week 1 vs. Jets

The New York Giants captured a victory in the preseason opener against the Jets but who joined Daniel Jones as a winner and who was a less fortunate loser?

Most experts would agree that the New York Giants aren’t in line to win many regular season games in the 2019 NFL season. However, to kick off their preseason schedule, they picked up a victory and are among the 1-0 teams around the league. The G-Men picked up a dominant 31-22 win over the in-city rival New York Jets on Thursday night.

Without question, the story of the night was rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. Fans throughout the NFL have lambasted the Giants for taking Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. In his first taste of preseason action, though, the Duke product was near-perfect. He played just one possession but methodically threw all over the Jets and drove Big Blue down the field for a touchdown.

There was no Saquon Barkley sighting for the Giants in the matchup as the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year was no doubt being protected from injury. Given his importance to this offense that traded away their other big weapon, Odell Beckham Jr., this offseason, that probably seems like the right decision.

As for the defense of Big Blue, it was a bit of a rollercoaster affair. While there were several big plays that were exciting, there were also a handful of bad mistakes that proved costly. Furthermore, fans would’ve certainly liked to see rookies Deandre Baker and Oshane Ximines make a little more noise and positive impact than they did.

Like with any preseason game as there are a ton of players seeing time and while everyone is getting their feet wet, there was plenty of good and just as much bad for the Giants in the win over the Jets. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Big Blue’s first preseason contest of 2019.