Giants news, 9/9: What they’re saying about Giants’ victory over Tennessee Titans

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants beat Titans in Week 1; new era off to a good start | Sports Illustrated

This is what professional football will now look like in East Rutherford. Gone are Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. Gone are Jason Garrett and Dave Gettleman. Gone is a sequence of coaches and executives who were better at telling us how it should look than actually showing us on Sundays. The Giants are now the team going for two to win the game, instead of the team running a QB sneak on third-and-long.

It’s important to be measured after one week of football, but how can Giants fans not watch some of the drives on Sunday and feel a weight dropping off their shoulders? How incredible was it to see the Giants stopping a poorly blocked tight end sweep play instead of watching Garrett call it, pinning poor Evan Engram yards in the backfield? How refreshing was it to see talent arranged in an orderly manner?

4 downs: Instant reaction as Giants stun Titans | Big Blue View

BBV's Chris Pflum goes into how RB Saquon Barkley, the offensive line, the play calling by offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and the aggressive of the coaching staff played key roles into the Giants victory yesterday

The first touchdown of season was scored by RB Saquon Barkley

Giants-Titans ‘things I think’: Was this the start of something good? | Big Blue View?

It has been a loooong time since the New York Giants earned a victory like the one they got Sunday over the Tennessee Titans.

For starters, this was the Giants’ first season-opening victory since 2016 and only their second in the last 12 years.

It was a come-from-behind victory on the road against a quality opponent, the No. 1 seed in the 2021 AFC playoffs and the two-time defending AFC South champions. Maybe the 17-12 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13 of the 2020 season is comparable, but this one has the potential to be far more meaningful.

This one comes in the first game of Brian Daboll’s tenure as head coach. Could it be more than just a nice moment? Could it perhaps be an indication that maybe, just maybe, the Giants are on the road back after a decade spent largely in darkness?

Inside the numbers of Giants’ stunning season-opening win over Titans | Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, more | nj.com

Yes, this was an unusual victory for the Giants.

Former Giants stars celebrate stunning win over Titans: ‘I lost my damn voice screaming at this TV’ - nj.com

How former players reacted to Sunday’s victory.

Giants’ defense made the best running back in the NFL look ordinary during their win over the Titans - nj.com

Derrick Henry had 82 yards on 21 carries.

Giants lose Max Garcia to Cardinals, elevate Quincy Roche and Tony Jefferson | Big Blue View

The New York Giants are elevating edge defender Quincy Roche and safety Tony Jefferson to their game day roster for Sunday’s season opener against the Tennessee Titans. The Giants have also lost veteran offensive lineman Max Garcia from their practice squad, as he has been signed to the Arizona Cardinals’ active roster.

Giants' Daniel Bellinger getting chance to make impact | New York Post

Bellinger was not a focal point of the passing attack at San Diego State, for which he had 68 receptions in 43 career games. At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, he has the size to contribute as a blocker in the running game, and he showed soft hands in training camp. He will get the opportunity to do both in his NFL debut.

“To me it means the world,’’ Bellinger said. “It’s just going to mean a childhood dream coming true. I’ve been watching it for Sundays for the last 21 years of my life and know getting to actually play means the world.’’

For Giants, with playoffs unlikely, what does a successful season look like? | The Athletic

The Bills offer an ideal blueprint for another New York team to try and emulate. It took a few years for Allen and the Bills to be built into Super Bowl contenders. No one knows that better than Daboll and Schoen, the Bills assistant general manager from 2017 to 2021.

“The finished product of what we saw from Buffalo dismantling the world champs (Thursday night) is what you hope he can bring over a period of three years or four years to the Giants,” NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger said. “I don’t think you need to get crazy with statistics and measurements and analytics. I just think the eye test is this team has to look better in December than it does in September.”

Joe Schoen takeaways from Giants 'All In with Art Stapleton' podcast | The Record

Schoen was in attendance for four college games in three days on Labor Day weekend. He'll be traveling to a doubleheader on Saturday before flying into Nashville late Saturday night for Sunday's Giants opener against the Titans. He was a scout for two decades, and although the duties have changed in his new gig, the process remains the same.

Schoen watches game film of every team he scouts in person, making his lists of players to watch with grades and notes from his own scouting department. Being on site allows for confirmation (or lack there of) of what all parties have seen on tape.

New York Giants sent scouts to Florida-Kentucky, Alabama-Texas | USA Today

The highlight of the night was, of course, a matchup between Florida and Kentucky which pitted two top quarterback prospects, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis, against one another. In attendance for the Giants were general manager Joe Schoen, director of player personnel Tim McDonnell and assistant director of player personnel Dennis Hickey.

In addition to Florida and Kentucky, Schoen also spent the early part of his Saturday in Austin watching Texas and Alabama.

This week’s opponent

Late comeback falls short as Panthers drop season opener to Browns | Cat Scratch Reader

The Panthers made it exciting at the end, but couldn’t complete the comeback against the Browns. After a few plays to drain time off the clock, Matt Rhule sent Eddy Pineiro out for a 34-yard field goal attempt. The kick was good and it gave the Panthers a 24-23 lead with 1:13 left in regulation. The Browns drove down the field and took advantage of a (very weak) Brian Burns roughing the passer penalty to make a 58-yard field goal to take a 26-24 lead with 0:08 left in regulation.

The Panthers ran one more desperation play at the end of the game and couldn’t come up with the game-winning score, and the Browns — who outplayed the Panthers for the majority of the afternoon — end up with a 26-24 win. The Panthers will try to regroup from this loss next week when they take on the Giants, and will hope to play better than they did today to avoid an 0-2 start on the season.

Baker Mayfield: Would have loved bragging rights, but we didn't finish | ProFootballTalk

After the game, Mayfield reflected on how it felt playing against the team that made him the first overall pick in 2018.

“It’s always good to see familiar faces,” Mayfield said. “Emotional? I wouldn’t get too much into that. It was good to see some people. Obviously, disappointed with the way things finished. Would’ve loved to have the bragging rights against those guys. But we didn’t finish.”

Matt Rhule: Browns should have been penalized on spike before winning field goal | ProFootballTalk

With the clock running and seconds ticking off, Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett spiked the ball to stop the clock. But Brissett appeared to be briefly considering a fake spike, and he briefly looked up to see if he had a receiver open before stepping back and spiking the ball.

“I started screaming, ‘Intentional grounding, 10-second runoff, game’s about to be over.’ They obviously called it and then changed it, and it was told to me that — I’m going to get in trouble here, but — it was told to me he just pump-faked it,” Rhule said.

Referee Brad Rogers explained after the game, “After discussion, we determined that stepping back does not disqualify the quarterback from spiking the ball and we allowed him to do that by rule.”

Around the league

Deshaun Watson must undergo treatment and have clinicians say 'he's on right path' for suspension to be lifted | CBSSports.com

For as long as he's an NFL player, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson must have team-approved massage sessions with approved therapists. That's according to the settlement he reached with the NFL over the summer, per three sources familiar with the matter.

Within about 10 days after the settlement was reached, Watson had to undergo a professional evaluation by behavioral experts that would then determine and map out a treatment plan. Though we don't know the details of that plan due to privacy laws, but it was stressed to me by one league source that this is treatment and not counseling.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson turned down contract larger than Russell Wilson's in key areas | NFL.com

Sources say Jackson was offered a deal that eclipsed that of Broncos QB Russell Wilson in key areas, with Baltimore's attempted extension being more than the $49 million per year in average new money that Wilson received on Sept. 1. The belief is that it also approached or beat Wilson in terms of guaranteed money, with Wilson receiving 68% of his deal guaranteed.

It was nearly that of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will earn $50 million per year over the next three years in a highly guaranteed deal struck in March. With regards to guaranteed money, it fell short of the $230 million, fully guaranteed deal that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson received after Cleveland traded for Watson in March.

Chase Young on "slightly slower timeline" to return than Brian Robinson | ProFootballTalk

Robinson suffered injuries to his knee and glute, but is off crutches and is expected to work out on grass for the first time since the shooting this week. Those developments have created a realistic chance that Robinson will be back against the Titans in Week Five. It looks like Young will need a little more time, however.

Young is on a “slightly slower timeline” than the rookie running back as he works to return from last season’s torn ACL. He is set to have his knee evaluated by Dr. James Andrews soon and the team is optimistic that he’ll be able to play before the midway point o

Los Angeles Rams eyed Jimmy Garoppolo if San Francisco 49ers released QB, sources say | ESPN

Had the San Francisco 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo been unable to agree to a restructured contract this summer, the rival Los Angeles Rams were lurking as a possible destination for the veteran quarterback, league sources told ESPN.

Garoppolo and the Rams had the makings of a deal if he was released by the Niners, who were unaware that the defending Super Bowl champions were looking into signing him, according to sources. The 49ers didn't learn about the Rams' interest until after they agreed with Garoppolo on a one-year deal worth up to $16 million.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady heading into what’s expected to be his final season in NFL | NFL.com

The 45-year-old is heading into what is expected to be his final season in the NFL, according to sources with knowledge of his thinking. He has never said it publicly, but multiple parties involved acknowledge that after last year's retirement then unretirement, the end is coming.

As for his 11-day hiatus, sources say Brady spent the bulk of it in the Bahamas at a private resort with his family, making good on a mid-retirement promise he made to his wife, Gisele, that he would vacation with them in August for the first time in two decades. During his time off, the Bucs left him alone to be with his family, fully respectful—no football conversations, no playbooks mailed to the Bahamas. It was his personal situation, and they allowed him to live.

In case you missed it

• NFC East notebook: Howie Roseman opens up about Jalen Reagor pick
• Big Blue View mailbag: Saquon Barkley scenarios, 2022 expectations, more
• How likely is it for NFL rookies to play well? Part II

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