Daniel Jones and Giants had better shape up real fast

The Giants gave Daniel Jones the bank. He gave them the blank.

Now they need to quickly figure out a way to get the entire offense in sync or they are going to have a franchise-crippling $160 million quarterback problem on their hands for the next four years.

Jones’ debut after signing his mega-contract during the offseason clearly was a flop, and while there was plenty of blame for the humiliating 40-0 loss to Dallas to go around, there were very concerning elements of the quarterback’s play that brought back memories from early in his career that should be setting off alarms within the organization.

His stats gave fuel to those who were roasting the Giants for making the offseason decision to stick with him rather than explore other options in free agency, trade or the draft. He raggedly completed 15 of 28 passes for 104 yards and two interceptions and absorbed seven sacks. His passer rating of 32.4 was a career low.

“We’re certainly frustrated and extremely disappointed with how we performed tonight,” he said shortly after the pounding ended. “I know I certainly am with myself. A lot to work on and clean up.”

The Giants were hoping Jones might pick up where he left off a year ago, but they needed to be more specific when requesting that wish from the great football genie.

What they wanted when they made that wish was for the return of the guy who put together a strong three-game stretch to finish the regular season and helped the team win a playoff game. The one who seemed to finally prove to the world, and to the franchise, that he is the quarterback around whom they can build and contend. The fella who earned a new four-year contract, most of it off that stretch of stellar play.

That dude was nowhere to be found on Sunday night.

Instead, what they got was something eerily similar to the Jones who was pummeled into ineffectiveness by the Eagles in last year’s playoffs. That’s the outgunned quarterback who showed up for this season opener, unable to give himself a moment without duress to even think about what he should be doing, and, worse yet, on the few times he did receive such a gift, making the wrong decision.

Not all of this was Jones’ fault. The Giants were so dysfunctional that it’ll be hard for them to even break down Jones’ performance when they watch the film because most of the plays came to a screeching halt in the arms of Dallas defenders — or worse yet with the ball in their arms — shortly after the snap.

“No area was good enough,” Brian Daboll said.

Jones certainly didn’t have anything to do with the grotesque special teams play that led to a blocked field goal for Dallas’ opening touchdown, or the attempt late in the second half that Graham Gano yanked wide left.

Beyond Jones’ protection being porous, his targets weren’t helpful. Jalin Hyatt and Parris Campbell each had a drop before Jones completed his first pass to a wide receiver late in the third quarter.

One of his interceptions came on a pass that looked to be completed to Saquon Barkley but popped up after the running back was hit by Trevon Diggs. Call it statistical semantics that Jones was dinged for that one and it wasn’t scored a catch and fumble.

Even Jones’ best pass of the night — he hit Isaiah Hodgins in stride on a slant in the fourth quarter — ended badly when the receiver fumbled it after a 24-yard gain.

But there also were plays in which Jones looked absolutely shaken and reverted to the 2020 and 2021 versions of himself. You remember that player, right? That’s the one who was so awful and so reckless that when Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll arrived, they didn’t even bother to use a fifth-year option on the quarterback they inherited.

Jones’ second interception came early in the second quarter while he was being flushed from the pocket. Instead of hanging on to the ball — if he had, he might have picked up a late-hit penalty as Micah Parsons drove him into the sideline area — or throwing it far away into the stands, he tried to do a jump throw with Parsons wrapped around his waist. Stephon Gilmore stepped in front of that one and picked it off.

It took until about 6:45 left in the second quarter for Jones to complete his first pass for positive yardage. That was a 6-yard completion to Darren Waller. Four plays later, Jones threw a pass over the middle that should have been his third pick of the half, but it was dropped.

Daboll said he considered yanking Jones from the game once it became out of reach, but he wanted to keep him out there in an effort to “try to get something positive going.” They couldn’t even accomplish that, and Daboll sent backup Tyrod Taylor in to mop up the final possession.

Hardly any of the Giants’ offseason money seemed especially well-spent in the debut of what was supposed to be this new, improved, competitive roster (which, by the way, has now lost its last two games, to the NFC East rival Eagles and Cowboys, by a combined 78-7).

Andrew Thomas, locked up for the foreseeable future, struggled at left tackle and seemed to be dealing with a hamstring injury for the majority of the night. Bobby Okereke, their big inside linebacker who was supposed to add beef to their run defense, had a near-silent five tackles. Even Gano, who inked an extension this weekend for being close to automatic, couldn’t immediately justify his deal.

So far — and it’s an admittedly exceptionally short so far — all those titillating zeros in Jones’ new salary have managed to be dwarfed by the zero he and the Giants put on the scoreboard in their first game of this season.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.