Giants need a kicker (and a win) in the worst way
Graham Gano of the Giants reacts after missing a field goal late during the fourth quarter against the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
There is a question of how long the kicker issue will resonate with the Giants.
Coach Brian Daboll said Monday that Graham Gano’s hamstring and groin injuries will sideline him for “a few weeks.”
It seems likely to be longer than that.
Gano, who already was dealing with a right groin injury heading into Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders, injured his right hamstring while trying to give chase on the opening kickoff. Both injuries were to Gano’s kicking leg and left the Giants without a kicker, a situation that had a profound impact on the game.
The Giants have a decision to make on who will kick Sunday at Cleveland. After working out kickers, including rookie Jude McAtamney, who is on their practice squad after playing for Rutgers, they will decide who will replace Gano.
The Giants already have dug themselves a significant, but not impossible, hole.
Historically, teams that open 0-2 rarely make the playoffs. In 2023, nine teams started the season 0-2 and the Texans were the only one of them to play a postseason game.
“For now, I think you just have to focus on the week at hand,” Daboll said. “I thought we made some improvements in a lot of areas. Need to continue to improve on the things that we’re not doing well at this time and focus on the Cleveland Browns.”
Daboll noted that he was part of a coaching staff that did turn around an 0-2 season — with the Patriots in 2001, in Bill Belichick’s second season. That was a long time ago. And Tom Brady isn’t going to lead these Giants to a Super Bowl title.
As it is, the Giants didn’t win in the home opener against the Vikings or in their first test on the road against the Commanders. In Sunday’s loss, they became the first team in NFL history to lose a game in regulation despite scoring three touchdowns and holding its opponent without a touchdown. That had happened only one other time, in a game that went into overtime.
Finding a healthy kicker might be the easiest fix the Giants can make.
On Monday’s Zoom call, one of the first questions to Daboll was about the issues with the run defense.
A week after allowing the Vikings to rush for 111 yards, the Giants were gashed for 215 by the Commanders. Brian Robinson Jr. ran for 133 yards on 17 carries for an average of 7.8 yards. That included a 40-yarder.
Daboll pointed to two issues with the run defense — tackling and run fits (mapping who is responsible for each gap).
“Those are two things that we stress to them every week,” he said, “but put an added emphasis on them this week.”
Perhaps there will be even more of an emphasis this week, as the Giants’ defense still seems to be warming to coordinator Shane Bowen’s scheme.
The Giants gave up seven scoring drives to the Commanders, all field goals. In a game that was close throughout, one defensive stop might have made the difference.
The Giants also did not make rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels uncomfortable enough. He was 23-for-29 for 226 yards. Even being sacked five times did not seem to unnerve him.
On Washington’s final drive, the Giants couldn’t get a stop.
“You know, it’s on us,” inside linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “I feel like the offense did a great job and had a great game.”
Meanwhile, Daboll already is preaching that the NFL season is long.
“Again, we had a good week of preparation,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of good things in the game. I thought there was improvements again from Week 1 to Week 2, and that’s where our focus needs to be.”
Pass protection was one area in which the Giants showed improvement. For the first time in a long time, the offensive line is not close to being a concern. Jones was sacked only once and Devin Singletary had 95 of the team’s 129 rushing yards.
“We didn’t have very many negative plays, which helps offensively when you’re moving the ball,” Daboll said. “There was a lot of good things that came out of that and a lot of improvements on that side of the ball.”
When Daboll was asked if there was anything different after the game in his interactions with ownership, he said, “No, consistent.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
