There certainly have been better opening weekends for both the New York Giants and New York Jets.
Both New York City-area teams went down in Week 1. The Jets hung tough with the Bills in a 21-12 loss while the Giants offense was putrid in Dallas during a 19-3 decision.
While the negatives obviously outweighed the positives for both teams, we tried to take a look at those trending upward and those heading in the other direction after opening day:
Who’s Hot
Jermaine Kearse (Jets), WR
Jermaine Kearse hasn’t had much time to acclimate to life on the Jets. Coming over from the Seattle Seahawks in the Sheldon Richardson trade, the wide receiver is currently experiencing a dramatic change in culture going from a Super Bowl contender to one of the worst teams in the league.
But Kearse had a solid debut for the Jets on Sunday, catching seven of nine targets on the afternoon for 59 yards.
For a team in need of a No. 1 receiver, Kearse looks like he can be exactly that, though he will be working out of the slot or underneath.
B.J. Goodson (Giants), LB
If there were any concerns that B.J. Goodson didn’t possess starting qualities in the NFL, the second-year linebacker disproved that in Dallas.
The Clemson product, who appeared in 15 games last year and had just two total tackles, was everywhere on the field during Week 1, racking up 18 combined tackles to lead all defensive players.
Even more impressively, he 73 of 74 snaps on a defense that was left out to dry for most of the night.
Who’s Not
The Jets’ offensive game plan
Within an offense that lacks any sort of tangible threat, the Jets’ ground game of Matt Forte and Bilal Powell were expected to see plenty of the ball and at times, carry the unit.
Instead, veteran quarterback Josh McCown threw the ball 39 times, a majority of those attempts coming in short-yardage form as he only amassed 187 yards.
Powell and Forte though were total non-factors as they combined for just 13 rushing attempts. Powell had 22 yards while Forte put up 16.
The Giants’ offensive line
You could have Jerry Rice and Lance Alworth as your starting wide receivers and it won’t matter much if the quarterback doesn’t have time to get the ball out of his hands.
For Eli Manning, a deep receiving group that was diminished due to Odell Beckham Jr. being a late scratch could not be taken advantage of as the Giants quarterback was constantly disturbed by the Cowboys pass rush.
Manning was sacked three times on the night and hurried countless others while the running game of Paul Perkins and Orleans Darkwa compiled just 30 total yards on the ground.
