Despite a deceptively dismal record, the New York Giants have looked all right under the offensive leadership of quarterback Daniel Jones and runningback Saquon Barkley. These are two players who have made a formerly horrible New York team decent with their skill on the football field, giving Giants fans a little bit of hope. However, that all has changed as of Sunday.

Saquon Barkley sustained an ankle injury in the first quarter, and Daniel Jones suffered a hit to the head late in the second quarter. They both had to be carted off the field, and neither of them returned in Sunday’s 20-44 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Jones and Barkley were not the only two Giants injured in the first few weeks of this season, in fact, they were only two of seven offensive starters that the Giants are now forced to do without.

Record So Far

The Giants now have a record of 1-4, and they are currently last place in the NFC East. However, with the exception of their first game and Sunday’s game, all the games that the Giants have lost have been by less than a touchdown.

Offensively, they have looked far sharper than they have in a very long time, and that is mostly due to both Jones and Barkley. In this season, his third NFL season, Jones established himself as a double threat; he is a much-improved thrower and a highly effective runner as well. Barkley suffered a torn ACL last season, and he entered this game with 52 carries for 186 yards this season.

The Jones-Barkley combination gave the Giants a fighting chance this season, improving their passing game and their rushing game. As a Washington fan, I find it really hard to write this, but before they both got injured, the Giants actually looked…pretty good.

They didn’t have the wins to show for their efforts, but Jones was an impressively dominant quarterback, and Barkley was able to make something out of nothing when it came to the running game.

Close Games

I was honestly impressd watching the Giants play these first few weeks. Their record really should be 3-2, as Washington and Atlanta were barely able to squeak out wins against them in Weeks 2 and 3. The Giants were ultimately unlucky in these games.

Before Jones and Barkley were both injured this past week, I personally didn’t count them out of the NFC East race to the top. All it would have taken was a few bad losses for both Philadelphia and Washington and a few wins from the Giants, and they could easily take the second or third spot.

However, things are looking bleak for New York now. If both these players are out for multiple weeks, the Giants’ slim chances of doing well in their division will be significantly diminished, if not completely decimated. Jones and Barkley are, arguably, two of the best players on the New York Giants’ roster right now, and playing a couple of games without them will prove to be more than disastrous.

Giants fans and staff can only hope that their two best offensive players will recover quickly and hopefully (but doubtedly) in time for next week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.