After starting the 2019 NFL season a dismal 0-2, the New York Giants made the highly anticipated transition from their two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Eli Manning to their rookie quarterback Daniel Jones and have never looked back. Daniel Jones, who was selected by the Giants with the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, wasted no time making a name for himself as he led the Giants to an electric victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first career start. Finishing the game with 336 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns, Jones created a tremendous amount of buzz around the league as Giants fans were confident that they had found their next franchise quarterback. 

Following his exceptional week 3 performance against Tampa Bay, Jones led the Giants to their second win of the season against a weak Washington Redskins team. Jones did not have nearly as much success in his second start as he threw for 225 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Regardless of his subpar play against Washington, the Giants fan base praised Jones for winning back-to-back games in his first two NFL appearances. However, the excitement and optimism surrounding the Giants and the success of their rookie quarterback was short lived, as the team has gone on to lose their past six games. 

When evaluating what exactly led to the collapse of the Giants this season it becomes clear that the blame cannot be solely placed on the shoulders of Daniel Jones, but rather, the organization as a whole. In his first eight games as the Giants starting quarterback Jones threw for 15 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, while being sacked a whopping 32 times. Heading into the 2019 season the Giants attempted to strengthen their offensive line with the additions of Kevin Zeitler at right guard and Mike Remmers at tackle.

Yet, the Giants have still managed to give up 4 sacks a game as their new O-Lineman have failed to make the direct impact the team was hoping for. Even though the Giants offensive line has provided their rookie quarterback with minimal protection in the pocket, Jones has been able to use his mobility to make the most of his opportunities. 

Additionally, the Giants have faced a tremendous amount of adversity this season with injuries to many of their key skill players making it extremely difficult for Jones and the offense to develop any kind of rhythm. Specifically, star running back Saquon Barkley suffered a high ankle sprain in week 3 causing him to be sidelined for a total of three games. Considering Barkley is the Giants top offensive rushing weapon as well as a security blanket for Jones to dump the ball off to when under pressure, the offense struggled to be productive without their number one running back. 

Also, the Giants top wide receiver Sterling Shepard has missed a total of six games this season with a concussion and his status moving forward remains in question. Without the Giants top two offensive playmakers on the field for the majority of this year, it is difficult to pin the team’s downfall on Jones as his true potential remains unknown. 

On top of the various injuries and the poor offensive line, the Giants defense has been atrocious this year giving up nearly 29 points and 381 total yards per game this season. In last year’s draft the Giants made a push to improve their defensive unit by selecting interior lineman Dexter Lawrence in the first round and cornerback Deandre Baker in the second. Both of the rookies have shown sparks of talent, but the Giants will need much more assistance to reach the level of dominance that their defense was once known for. 

As a result of the Giants poor defensive play, Jones has encountered many situations where he has to use his arm to keep the game even competitive. In last week’s matchup against the Jets, Jones threw for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, but it was not enough as the defense let up 34 points. When you consider the Giants various flaws between their weak offensive line and horrific defense, it becomes apparent that Daniel Jones has performed extremely well for a team that has fallen far below average. 

Written by Scott MacPherson

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This past season, NYCFC made it to the MLS Cup playoffs for the fourth time in the club’s history. How exactly has the team grown since its inaugural season in 2015?

New York City F.C. finished the 2015 season in eighth place under head coach Jason Kreis, who used to coach Real Salt Lake. The team earned 37 points in their 34 games, putting them two slots away from the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The team’s home stats were 6-7-4 and 4-10-3 away. They scored 48 goals and received 58 giving them a goal difference of -9. David Villa scored 18 of those goals, making him the fourth top scorer for the 2015 season. He also made 138 shots and 64 shots on goal, putting him in the #2 spot for those categories.

The club’s 2016 season under coach Patrick Vieira went much better. NYCFC finished that season in the #2 spot, right under New York Red Bulls. They earned 54 points in their 34 games, winning 14, losing 9 and tying 11 of them.

David Villa continued to be the standout player, scoring 23 goals, making 166 shots and 68 shots on goal. The team’s 51 goals in favor gave them a difference of 12, which helped them make the playoffs. However, they lost both of their playoff games against Toronto F.C. The away game at BMO Field ended in a 2-0 loss, and the team could not recover and received another 5 goals at Yankee Stadium.

The club finished their 2017 season in second place again, but this time they earned 57 points in their 34 games. They won 16 games, lost 9 and tied 9. Their goal difference improved as well. They scored 56 and received 43, giving them a difference of 13.

David Villa continued to top the charts for goals, shots and shots on goal. However, his contract ended at the end of that season and he did not renew it. The team also lost both of their playoff games again, this time to Columbus Crew. The score was 4-1 in favor of Columbus at the end of their game at Mapfre Stadium and 2-0 at Yankee Stadium.

Dome Torrent was NYCFC’s head coach from June 2018 until earlier this month when he and the team mutually parted ways. Under his command, the team finished in third place in the Eastern Conference and won their first playoff game in 2018. Like their 2017 season, the team earned 56 points in their 34 games. Their record was 16-10-8. Their goal difference was 14 by the end of the season after they scored 59 goals and received 45.

Maximiliano Moralez, who was transferred to NYCFC from Liga MX’s Club León on the 15th of February, 2017, became the key player that the team needed after Villa’s departure and he finished the 2018 season as the player with the fourth most assists.

NYCFC made it to the playoffs again in 2018 and beat Philadelphia Union 3-1, but they lost both games against Atlanta United and the global score at the end was 4-1.

The 2019 season has been the best in the club’s short history. Coach Torrent helped the team finish the season as the Eastern Conference leaders. This time, the team earned 64 points in 34 games and had a record of 18-6-10. They scored 63 goals and received 42 for a difference of 21.

Heber Araujo dos Santos was the fifth highest scoring player in MLS with 15 goals. Maximiliano Moralez became the player with the most assists in the league, helping his teammates score 20 goals while scoring 7 himself.

The team’s trend of not getting far in the playoffs continued and they lost 2-1 to Toronto F.C., who made it to the final. However, they lost 3-1 to Seattle Sounders who became champion for the second time in four years.

Now that coach Torrent has left the team, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is rumoured to be the team’s coach for the 2020 MLS season, according to The Mirror. Whether he takes the job or not, it will be interesting to see if and how the team will continue their trend of improvement in the coming season and beyond.

Written by Tania Pérez

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This past Sunday, the New York Jets took on cross town rivals the New York Giants. The Jets coming out with a 34-27 surprising victory at MetLife Stadium. Now, just because the Jets (2-7) beat a team equally as bad as them, the Giants (2-8) does not mean things are looking up. Although, the team did start off with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and ultimately ended up rallying from a 27-21 deficit. 

This was a big game for Adam Gase. It was a season high 34-points, the Jets showed offense throughout the entire game, and Sam Darnold finally did not throw an interception for the first time since week 1. After the game Darnold said, “Sticking with the process and understanding that we’ve got a good squad and we’ve got a really good head coach, really good offensive and really good defensive staffs, as well. It’s just about putting it together and making sure, like I keep saying, that we stay within ourselves and stay patient.”

It seems that the Jets have ignited a fire, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. If it’s anything like the past seasons, this little glimpse of hope won’t last too long. 

Looking back at last week’s game against the Miami Dolphins (the second worst team in the NFL), we saw what is known as the “Same Old Jets” quite honestly it might have been even worse. The Jets fell to the previously 0-7 Miami Dolphins with a final score of 26-18. The first win for Miami head coach Brian Flores. Adam Gase has really embarrassed himself and ran every aspect of this team into the ground. According to Gase,”It’s the NFL. You can’t be embarrassed by this s—.” Gase continued,”We’ve got to get things fixed. That’s what they know. That’s what I told them.”

The defense was left in the dust by the Dolphins offense which is ranked amongst the worst in the NFL. Darnold was only 27 for 39 for 260 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Adding to his year of nine interceptions and six touchdowns. This game really gave us a look at how important the cornerbacks are and that they are the biggest concern with the Jets defense. 

The problem isn’t only with the players, the Jets have suffered poor calling and inconsistent game plans which ultimately falls on the head coach. They also have a general manager that didn’t hire the head coach, which has caused more internal/front office problems.  Ultimately for the Jets, the roster is poorly constructed, injuries have limited the poor roster even more, and Gase just doesn’t know what to do with himself or this team. 

The Jets, now 2-7 are set to play the Washington Redskins (1-8) this Sunday (Nov.17 2019). As always who knows how the game is going to go. All we can say is pray for the Jets, but even more so pray for the Jets Fans. 

Written by Brielle Cerchio

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The circus that is the New York Knicks seem to always grab the headlines of New York newspapers for the wrong reasons. Whether it was for trading star player Kristaps Porzingis last February, or James Dolan and former player Charles Oakley getting into an altercation in the stands during a game a few years ago, there always appears to be off the court drama with this reeling franchise. This week, it is head coach David Fizdale’s turn to be in the spotlight after the team was embarrassed at home on Sunday evening to the Cleveland Cavaliers to fall to a league worst 2-8 on the season. 

The Knicks came out flat Sunday against the Cavs despite riding high off a huge road victory against the Dallas Mavericks just two nights before. Lack of effort on both ends of the floor, poor handling of personnel, and the teams inability to look prepared at the beginning of the game are all worrisome signs for this head coach. In fact, the situation escalated so quickly that the Knick fans were booing the team off the court as the 1st half came to an end. While the expectations for this team were not relatively high coming into this season, the goal was to see progress and hope for a brighter future, which has not been the case. 

After the game, Knicks President of Basketball Operations Steve Mills as well as General Manager Scott Perry addressed the media before Fizdale’s scheduled post game press conference, which was a surprisingly bold move. Mill’s explained, “we’re not happy with where we are” and that “this is not where we expected to be at this point — 10 games in.” When asked if any major changes could be coming within the organization Mills responded, “we have patience, and we believe in Coach. And we believe in the group that we put together, but we also know that, as Scott and I both have said a number of times, we need to find a way to have a consistent level of effort and execution.” While Fizdale’s job may be safe for now, it is very clear that the front office and more importantly, owner James Dolan, will not stand for this losing for much longer. 

While the Knicks had a disappointing offseason, the team expected to be much more competitive than what has been on display so far this season. Yes, the Knicks missed out on marquee free agents like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard, but the roster was also improved as they brought in a bunch of mid-tier players such as Julius Randle and Marcus Morris, who are expected to lead this team. Not to mention, 3rd overall pick RJ Barrett is also now here, who has shown flashes of stardom in his young career. Needless to say, management clearly expects this team to be fighting for a playoff position this year and if they end up near the bottom of the standings again, Fizdale will be let go.

Adrian Wojnarowksi reported Monday morning that Steve Mills has already “started to lay the internal groundwork” for the eventual dismissal of David Fizdale. If this is confirmed to be true, than Fizdale will have an even shorter leash than perhaps initially anticipated. The bottom line is that the Knicks better right the ship quickly or they will be looking for a new head coach before the calendar turns to 2020. Yes the team is bad and does not have enough talent to win a championship in this league, but head coaches are always ultimately judged based on wins and Fizdale better hope that they start doing just that or he will be unemployed. 

Written by Zach Brenner