Signs of growing Giants tension between Daniel Jones and Brian Daboll

They came, they saw, they lost.

Come up with another one for the Giants, who deliver weekly doses of frustration to fans who have become accustomed to anticipating failure and expecting what can go wrong, will go wrong.

This one was close and contentious, but ultimately more of the same. The Giants never took the lead on Monday night, trading field goals in the first half and then doing everything they could to avoid causing an upset against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. They allowed a 73-yard punt return and turned the ball over twice in the final three minutes. There is no margin for error with this team and this result lost 26:18 this drops the Giants to 2-6 for the second straight season.

Here’s a closer look at what happened:

— Are you noticing increasing friction between Daboll and Daniel Jones? There is no doubt that frustration is growing. Jones has never reacted as violently on the field as he did after a failed two-point conversion attempt and the Giants led 23-15 early in the fourth quarter. This time, Jones was in it and his teammates weren’t, and the game was blown up before it even had a chance. There’s certainly a sense that Jones realizes that his days as the starting quarterback are coming to an end and that he may be reading the writing on the wall that he’ll be somewhere else in 2025. Daboll goes out of his way to defend Jones and not put all the blame on him, and I feel like he almost overreacts.

— The term “inflection point” seems overused, but it’s hard to avoid that sentiment when considering Deonte Banks. The sophomore cornerback was on the bench in the second quarter for what head coach Brian Daboll described as a lack of required effort – “I thought we needed him a little bit more in that series,” as Daboll put it – and that was it for Banks for the evening. This was not the first offense, and Banks had allegedly already been notified by the coaching staff and teammates of two previous incidents in which he showed questionable effort. Two things come into play: Banks isn’t playing at the level a first-round draft pick would be, and there are no reassuring signs for the Giants that he’s developing into a defensive back. There is also Banks’s apparent attitude towards all this: “What worries me?” He keeps his head down and doesn’t promise that things will get better. He’s not saying he’s letting his teammates down. He just shrugs and wonders what all the fuss is about. Banks is 23 years old and has plenty of room to mature.

— First-round picks aren’t leading, are they? Two 2022 players are out: Kayvon Thibodeaux is on injured reserve after wrist surgery, and Evan Neal is so low in the depth chart that he’s neither the next up nor the second-best player when injuries hit the offensive line . Banks, a 2023 first-round draft pick, was moved to the bench. That’s not exactly a qualitative return on the massive investment in the NFL Draft.

— “Extremely high” is how Dexter Lawrence described the level of frustration he felt. The Giants have lost three straight games to drop to 2-6, and their best player, one of the team captains, is doing everything in his power to stop the bleeding. Lawrence is not naturally the type of guy who stands in front of a room and wants to hear himself speak all the time. Will pass on a message if needed. He pounced on his teammates on defense, especially the defensive backs, after the secondary allowed a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to George Pickens. Yes, the touchdown call was overturned because it was determined that Pickens did not get both feet into the end zone, but Lawrence struck out before the points were off the board. Did he think his words had a positive effect?

“I thought we started playing better towards the end of the second half and we played better in the second half, so it was probably well received,” Lawrence said.

He said he had done this before, but perhaps it wasn’t as noticeable.

“This is probably the first time you’ve all seen this,” he said. “I’m a passionate guy, I’ve put a lot into this game and I expect to get a lot back from it.”

— After one game, Josh Ezeudu was removed from the starting lineup and rookie Chris Hubbard was selected at left tackle. Hubbard’s fight with Alex Hightower didn’t go well. Throughout the spring and summer, the coaching staff in training camps and practices positioned Ezeudu on the left wing and insisted that he could serve as a backup to Andrew Thomas – even though he performed poorly in that role last season. Thomas is out for the entire season, and after Ezeudu got the call following last week’s loss to the Eagles, he was simply pulled. Ezeudu is a former third-round draft pick and should be able to get on the field and play at an acceptable level. His inability to do so is a failure for scouting, coaching and the development of the entire operation.

— The thought process works to some extent. The Giants believed they could develop a credible running game even if they didn’t re-sign Saquon Barkley. They selected Devin Singletary in free agency and then selected Tyrone Tracy in the fifth round of the NFL draft. Singletary did less than expected and Tracy did more. The rookie rushed for 129 yards in the win at Seattle and amassed 145 yards in the loss at Pittsburgh. Tracy looks like a goalie if the Giants can keep him on the field. He was forced to leave the game against the Steelers and is currently in concussion.