Russell Wilson 'showed he's resilient' in 450yard outing that should silence calls for his benching for at least one week Jori EpsteinSeptember 14, 2025 at 9:29 PM 2 In fairness to the often overreactionprone football world, the New York Giants' quarterback debate entering Week 2 was not wholly manu...
- - Russell Wilson 'showed he's resilient' in 450-yard outing that should silence calls for his benching for at least one week
Jori EpsteinSeptember 14, 2025 at 9:29 PM
2
In fairness to the often overreaction-prone football world, the New York Giants' quarterback debate entering Week 2 was not wholly manufactured. Quantitative and qualitative evidence both gave reason to question: How much longer should Russell Wilson start for the Giants?
Rookie Jaxson Dart's strong preseason and first-round draft selection began the conversation, Wilson's 45.9% completion rate in a Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders continuing it.
Head coach Brian Daboll followed up Wilson's 168-yard, no-touchdown loss to the Commanders planting further seeds of doubt when he did not dismiss a question about Dart starting Week 2.
"We're going to get home, we're going to look at our game," Daboll said in his Week 1 postgame media conference. "Collectively, we all have to do better."
By the time Daboll named Wilson the starter for Week 2 the following afternoon, the need to name him the starter at all was an undeniable storyline. Speculation had traveled.
Wilson and the Giants changed that narrative Sunday as Wilson completed 73.2% of his 41 pass attempts for 450 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The Giants still lost, 40-37, in overtime. But they learned two key lessons in the loss.
Russ up to 16 of 19, 221 yards, TD in 25 minutes vs. Cowboys. This acrobatic Nabers TD Russ' first with Giants:pic.twitter.com/wBjEvFwf3R
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 14, 2025
The first: At 0-2 for the seventh time in nine years and second consecutive season, the Giants must fix multiple areas to reliably beat opponents.
The second: Debating whether Wilson or Dart should start at quarterback is not currently one of them.
"I think somebody once told me: 'The greater you're great, the more they're gonna hate,'" Wilson said after throwing for two yards shy of his single-game career mark. "I know how talented I am. I know what I'm capable of. I don't need somebody to convince me of that.
"So, for me, I embraced the noise. I don't run from it. And we have to keep answering the call."
As Wilson unleashed, Giants kept hurting themselves
The Giants' first quarter encapsulated their final result well.
Wilson completed 11 of 14 passes for 153 yards, including a 50-yard sail to Wan'Dale Robinson. But the Giants committed seven penalties for a loss of 65 yards, including an unnecessary roughness flag that snipped 15 yards off the Robinson catch. So throwing for the most first-quarter yards by a Giants quarterback since 1978 proved only so helpful.
The trend slowed only slightly as the afternoon elapsed, New York incurring 14 penalties for 160 yards in addition to a series of declining and offsetting penalties. As of Sunday night, both marks were the worst of the NFL season per TruMedia Sports.
Only one game in the 2024 NFL season season featured more than 14 penalties by a single team, when the New York Jets incurred 16 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. The last time a team was penalized 160 or more yards: Nov. 25, 2021, per TruMedia data.
"It's a lot of penalties," Daboll said in a media conference that included a fitting 14 mentions of penalties across questions and answers. "We certainly don't want to have that many penalties."
Giants on the board first vs. Cowboys but six penalties by first drive's end a rough start en route to field goal. 4 of 6 penalties on LT James Hudson, including penalty for hitting Cowboys DE James Houston in the head. Can't do that 🤷🏽♀️pic.twitter.com/KdbxKeWWwY
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 14, 2025
While quarterbacks can help reduce flags with their alignment and operational efficiency, Wilson did not draw any of them. The laundry-happy day proved the top reason the Giants lost. And Wilson did not contribute.
Nail in the coffin No. 2: the Giants' inability to maintain the defensive edge that forced the Cowboys into three-and-outs on their first two drives as well as caused Dallas' lone turnover.
Yes, 2025 third overall draft pick Abdul Carter hit Dak Prescott on the throw that Dru Phillips ultimately intercepted it. But neither was celebrating a day allowing the Cowboys 40 points and 478 total yards of offense.
"[The offense] can do it," Phillips said in the postgame locker room. "They showed and we've known they could do it. It's up to us to be better on defense."
The defense wanted to do better for a quarterback who punished Dallas with the deep ball to the tune of seven 20-plus-yard completions including all three of his touchdowns. And defenders wanted to do better for a quarterback whom the Giants hoped had sealed the game when Wilson found second-year star Malik Nabers on a 48-yard moon ball to reclaim the lead with 25 seconds left in regulation.
Instead, the Cowboys moved the ball just enough for Brandon Aubrey to use what Giants receiver Darius Slayton called his "bionic leg" to drill a 64-yard field goal and force overtime.
And instead, after each team traded scoreless possessions, the Cowboys had the final say.
Wilson struggled on a second-and-3 that Daboll said "slipped out of his hand" and then threw inside by the numbers when Nabers ran an out route with 2:09 to play in overtime on what Daboll called a "communication" issue.
The Cowboys turned safety Donovan Wilson's interception into a game-winning field goal drive as New York's defense failed to stop a 27-yard George Pickens catch and 14-yard Prescott scramble.
Players and coaches continued to echo the words "tough" and "hurt" as they processed losing a road game in which they scored 37 points. But they also praised Wilson and his performance.
[Get more Giants news: New York team feed]
"I think he showed he's resilient," said Nabers, whom Wilson hit on 9 of 13 targets for 167 yards and two touchdowns. "To me, after that first game, he didn't look back. He stayed with that same mindset. Stayed putting everybody up, stayed in high hopes.
"I know that's what he's capable of. He's capable of more."
Performance vs. Giants should protect Wilson's job security — for now
With a 2025 win-now mandate from team ownership, Daboll and Giants general manager Joe Schoen entered the season in a complicated spot.
They want to position the franchise to succeed this season as well as build a perennial contender for the future. But they essentially must both win and keep future hope alive to ensure their employment after this season.
Enter their quarterback decisions, which will correlate more with the Giants' success than any other roster moves the club makes. New York reflected this need to answer a position that has struggled when loading up with Wilson, 2015 first overall pick Jameis Winston and this year's 25th overall pick in Dart.
Even with Wilson's overtime interception, it's tough to believe Dart would have outperformed a 450-yard, three-touchdown day. Preseason success routinely sows overconfidence in teams, particularly at quarterback when players face vanilla defenses from teams looking to save their best concepts until the regular season.
Wilson described last week how his 14 pro years benefit his teammates.
How does he block out noise when a first-round pick is waiting down the row of lockers from him?
"My confidence never blinks," Wilson responded. "I've been through everything. I've been through all of the biggest highs there could be. I've been through a few lows. But at the same time, I also know that my confidence never wavers.
"And I think that confidence, one, comes from experience [and] two just from the work."
Wilson has more in each bucket than Dart.
The test will be taller next week as the Giants host the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on "Sunday Night Football." The Chiefs enter the match 0-2 for the first time in quarterback Patrick Mahomes' career, Kansas City also on a three-game losing streak for the first time in his career for those who count streaks dating back to the prior season.
Two losses might say more about the caliber of competition Kansas City has faced through two weeks with a Brazil-staged game against the Los Angeles Chargers and a rematch with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, both one-score losses.
Regardless of strength of schedule, the Giants will face an opponent sounder and more experienced with one another than a Cowboys team with a first-year head coach and a hole left in the wake of a late-August trade of star pass rusher Micah Parsons.
Could a flop on prime-time television reignite the quarterback debate? Perhaps.
But even on New York airwaves, Wilson should be safe this week. And if decision-makers are honest, it should guide them for weeks longer.
The Giants may have numerous problems. But committing to a quarterback in Week 3 shouldn't be one.
"I thought he played well," Daboll said. "Made some plays. Attacked certain things we want to attack. …
"Again, this one's tough. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The guys battled. Dallas battled. And it came down to the end."
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: VoXi MAG
Read More >> Full Article on Source: VoXi MAG
#US #ShowBiz #Sports #Politics #Celebs