The New York Giants season didn’t get off to a great start as they were defeated 21-6 by the Washington Commanders Sunday afternoon, but the Giants did receive some positive news in the form of a negative X-ray on linebacker Micah McFadden’s right ankle.
McFadden was carted off the field in the first quarter after his ankle got caught in a weird position while he was tackling Commanders’ running back Austin Ekeler. He did not return to the game, though he did reappear on the Giants sideline later in the game with a boot on his right foot.
NFL insider Mike Garafolo confirmed that X-rays were negative, so it seems like McFadden avoided anything serious that could sideline him long term.
The tackle McFadden made on Ekeler was his first of the game. His absence proved to be a big loss for the Giants whose defense, though it was solid, missed his presence.
Third Straight Season Opening Loss For NY
The Giants have now lost their last three season openers and they’ve won just one since 2017. There was plenty of optimism around the Giants heading into this season, but for the eighth time in the last nine years, New York will have to start it’s season behind the eight ball.
The Giants run defense was sorely lacking Sunday afternoon as they allowed 220 yards on the ground to five separate rushers for Washington. Bobby Okereke led the team in tackles with seven while Paulson Adebo had six. The rest of the defense only registered 28 tackles on the day however, meaning Okereke and Adebo really carried the load.
Though McFadden’s X-ray came back negative, his reaction on the field to the injury was dramatic enough to assume he will miss some time. If he is out moving forward, the Giants will need Brians Burns and Abdul Carter to step up to fill his void.
Carter, the highly-regarded rookie out of Penn State, had mixed reviews after his NFL debut Sunday. The Giants interestingly opted to have him play in more of a spy role, mitigating his effectiveness. He’ll probably be rushing significantly more moving forward even if McFadden doesn’t miss time.
Giants Offense Falls Completely Flat in Opener
Russell Wilson’s debut game as a New York Giant went about as poorly as it possibly could’ve. The Giants offense didn’t score a single touchdown, while Wilson was just 17/37 in the air. The Commanders completely negated New York’s run game holding running back Tyrone Tracy to just 24 yards on 10 attempts.
The only two members of the offense that had respectable days for New York were wide receivers Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson, who combined made up for 11 of Wilson’s 17 completions.
Wilson targeted Nabers 12 times, only completing five passes to him for 71 yards, while he targeted Robinson eight times and connected with him on six of them for 55 yards.
Wilson and the rest of the offense will have a week to prepare for their second NFC East game in a row against Dallas, who has a relatively weak defense that New York can hopefully fare a little bit better with.
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