Longtime basketball coach Rick Pitino knows something about winning basketball championships. But recently, the one-time New York Knicks head coach weighed in on what it might take for the New York Giants to start winning some championships.
Pitino recently expressed a sentiment shared by scores of Giants fans who have been begging for the team to fix its offensive line, which last year racked up 85 sacks, the second most in league history since sacks became a trackable stat.
There’s no question that the Giants offensive line hasn’t done Jones or any of its quarterback’s many favors of late. While their line’s subpar play negatively impacted every aspect of the offense, it impacted the quarterback position the most.
Arguably, no one suffered more because of the Giants’ offensive line in the short term and possibly the long term than Jones, who, after getting knocked around behind an inconsistent offensive line, would go on to miss 11 games this season with a neck injury and then a torn ACL.
Fixing the offensive line is one step in the right direction, but whether Jones, who just finished Year 1 of the four-year deal he signed last off-season, is the long-term answer is another. Pitino thinks fixing the protection will go a long way toward solving the problem, and it just might.
But so too will Jones fixing the flaws in his game that have contributed to some rocky showings, such as improving his post-snap processing time, not staring down receivers, and holding onto the ball too long at times.
Leave a Reply