New York Giants And Russell Wilson, In Week 3, Regress In Most Areas

After Week 1, at least, the New York Giants could tout the strength of their kicking game. But in Week 3’s 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, most of the green shoots visible in each of the first two weeks disappeared like a Russell Wilson throw into the MetLife Stadium tunnel, and the Giants are once again 0-3 to start a season.

“Yeah, that’s not the goal, certainly,” New York head coach Brian Daboll told reporters Sunday night. “So again, we got to put a complete game together, all three phases, offense, defense, special teams, coaching. We got to do all that.”

An offense that looked entirely too much like the unit that scored just six points against the Washington Commanders in Week 1 stirred the dissatisfaction of the home opener crowd all night. Russell Wilson was held to just 151 yards passing, with Kansas City completely shutting down his long-range attack from last week against Dallas.

It is one thing to note that the Chiefs held Malik Nabers to just 2 catches and 13 yards receiving, which isn’t nearly enough production from the Giants’ top receiver. It is another when that defensive emphasis didn’t lead to more opportunities for anyone else in the receiving corps. Wan’Dale Robinson followed up his breakout game against Dallas with just one catch for 26 yards, even that coming late in the fourth quarter after the game was largely decided.

Nor did the Giants manage to maximize their best opportunities. New York now holds a red zone conversion percentage of 20% this season, 31st in the NFL. That’s a problem by itself, but combined with an injury to kicker Graham Gano just before kickoff Sunday night, the Giants were squeezed into a decision-making vise.

“Yeah, I think that’s tricky, especially in a tight game,” Wilson said after the game to reporters. “Score is 9-6, you lose your field goal kicker early in the game, that was tough just in the sense of you knew we were going to have to go for it a lot on fourth downs and stuff like that. Those circumstances aren’t favorable, but you know, you got to be able to respond and we still had a chance to win it.”

The lone bright spots on the offensive side of the ball were running back Cam Skattebo, who tallied 121 yards from scrimmage and the team’s lone touchdown, a 13-yard run. (The extra point was missed.)

And Andrew Thomas returned to the field at left tackle, played his pre-planned 25 snaps, and looked every bit like the difference-maker he’s been. The pressure on Wilson once Marcus Mbow took his place increased significantly

Now the Giants will need more of that from both Skattebo, with Tyrone Tracy suffering a shoulder injury, and Thomas, who will look to increase his snap count, in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Still, at 0-3 already, and with most of the offensive gains from Week 2 against Dallas ephemeral, exactly how long the Giants wait to give Jaxson Dart an opportunity to do more than just hand off the ball in a few specialized packages remains to be seen. Daboll declined to name his Week 4 starter at quarterback, noting he didn’t do so after Week 1, either. Of course, that only led to an entire news cycle of speculation, so if he wanted to learn from Week 1, he probably would have named Wilson postgame.

Unless, of course, he didn’t want to make that commitment. After the team’s performance Sunday night, it is understandable Daboll wants to consider all of his options.

“Yeah, look, Jaxson is progressing well,” Daboll said of his backup, for now, quarterback. “We’ll continue to work with him. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, his development that he’s had. That’s what we’ll continue to do. Look, I would be booing, too, to be honest with you, in terms of not being good enough, not scoring, not finishing. I understand that. That’s the nature of it. We’ve got to do better.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardmegdal/2025/09/22/new-york-giants-and-russell-wilson-in-week-3-regress-in-most-areas/