Eli Manning’s 2018 debut was not what he and his teammates were hoping for. Photo by Andy Lewis / contrastphotography.com

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants let a game they could have won, maybe should have won slip through their fingers as Big Blue dropped a tough 20-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium Sunday afternoon under an overcast sky and in a steady drizzle.

Both teams played terrific defense but the Jaguars unit put the deciding points on the board early in the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Abry Jones tipped an Eli Manning pass at the line of scrimmage, the play starting on the Giants 30-yard line.

The ball went to linebacker Miles Jack, who did a Mummers strut 32 yards for a touchdown and a Jacksonville 20-9 lead with 11:35 left in the fourth quarter.

But the Giants answered right back two plays later when rookie running back Sequon Barkley took a hand off from Manning, cut to his right, then dodged several would be tacklers to streak 68 yards into the end zone to bring Big Blue to within five points, but another stalled followed by a muffed punt sealed the loss for the Giants (0-1).

Giants safety Landon Collins was asked if it at all frustrating that in the second half you’re getting stop after stop and offense just couldn’t get it.

“Nah. We know they’re going to get it together,” Collins said at his locker after the game. “It’s our job to get them back the ball as many tries as they can. They’re going to get it together- they’ve got too many weapons over there. Once they figure it out, once they figure out what plays work, what keys work, they’re going to move the ball down the field.

Collins was asked hat did you think of the defense overall and was his unit happy they held the Jaguars offense to just 13 points.

“Yeah. A few communications things that we can go over that we’ve got to fix, that’s about it.,” said Collins, who finished with five tackles overall plus a defended pass. “Other than that, we played really tough on defense.”

The Giants want you to think that in Pat Shurmur’s debut as head coach, they gave a Jacksonville Jaguars team that was nine minutes from the Super Bowl last season all it could handle, and they could point to any number of missed opportunities they fully expect to capitalize on in future games.

“There is always little things that are always almost there,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “Almost is not good enough. You have to make the plays and be perfect.”

Manning twice overthrew Odell Beckham, Jr. in the end zone, and couldn’t connect with Sterling Shepard on fourth down on the Giants’ final possession. Barkley scored the Giants’ only touchdown on that electrifying 68-yard run, but they averaged 2.1 yards on their other 22 rushing attempts. Five of their six penalties were costly. Newcomer Kaelin Clay fumbled a Jaguars’ punt with 45 seconds remaining. The Giants even had a communication malfunction, as the sound in Manning’s helmet receiver disappeared at the start of the third quarter, forcing them to burn a timeout they could have used late in the game.

Despite it all, Shurmur was upbeat after the game.

“I told the players that the important part of this game that we can work with is they hung together, they played hard from the first snap to the last,” Shurmur said. “We just didn’t make enough plays in the end to win this game, especially a one-score game throughout. We’ll get that fixed and again, this is a new team, we’ve got new systems. I’m certainly hugely disappointed that we lost for our fans, and our ownership, and for those players in the locker room. I’m disappointed we lost, but there’s a lot of good in that locker room and they’re going to hang together, I really believe they will and will come out … against Dallas (next week). It’s fun to go out there and compete and it’s fun to watch guys fight their tail off, and it’s not fun to feel the disappointment of losing.”

His players were in full agreement that plenty of good could be taken from this game.
“We competed all the way up until the end, we had a lot of energy on the sideline,” said Odell Beckham, Jr, who caught 11 passes 111 yards but did not get into the end zone. “There are a lot of positives we can take from it, you just want to come out with the W.”

“We’re making strides, as a defense, as a team, as special teams,” cornerback Janoris Jenkins said. “We’re making strides, but we’ve got to come back tomorrow and just work and critique ourselves and make sure everybody stays up and just keep pushing.”

Jaguars All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey pushed back on the individual numbers and match-ups.

“Like I said on Thursday when I was talking to the media, that’s not what it was about,” said Ramsey, who finished with five total tackles including a tackle for loss. “I was shocked when you make it just about me and Odell. It was 11 vs. 11. I knew I would be on him a fair amount, but I wasn’t on him 100 percent of the time and I knew it was going to take all 11 guys on the defense to get the job done so that’s what we did out here and we got a good win.”

Ramsey was asked what he thought of Barkley’s rookie debut.

“Good player,” Ramsey said. “Had a really good run. Runs tough, I like him.”

There were a number of missed plays everyone dwelled on after the game.

“There were some good things and some big plays,” Manning said. “Obviously, they got some interferences on some plays. We just didn’t make a few plays that could’ve been there. We have to come back and do what we have been doing. It is not a lack of preparation. Me putting it in a better spot, guys making a tough catch, having everything work out. It is a combination, not one person or one thing. It is just everyone doing their job a little bit better. That is part of football. It is a game of inches. Couple times we had a third or fourth down and we were just inches away and didn’t get the first. Unfortunately, we were not on that side of the inches today.”

Barkley finished with 106 yards on 18 carries and the score. Thy rushing yards total was a franchise record for a rookie in his first game.

“It was fun to get out there and play in my first NFL game, it was a dream of mine,” Barkley said. “But I feel like that we left it out there. We could’ve done a little bit more as a team to finish the game and win the game, but you have to give credit to Jacksonville and that team over there. They’re a heck of a defense and a heck of a team and we have to continue to grow from this game and get better.”

The Jaguars scored on Bortles’ one-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Yeldon, Mack’s return touchdown, and a pair of 39-yard field goals by Josh Lambo.

The Giants also failed to take advantage of Jaguars loss of Leonard Fournette, who left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. He did not return.

Manning finished 23 of 37 for 224 yards. He was sacked twice and threw the pick-six.

“There are obviously a few plays you wish you had back,” Manning said. “Almost had Odell on the post route that just hit the tip of his hands. I could’ve put that in a better spot and gave him more of a shot. The last play, the route to Shep. I have to get that out there and have him run under that. There is always little things that are always almost there. Almost is not good enough. You have to make the plays and be perfect.”

The Giants didn’t need to be perfect against the Jags, Sunday, just better. *

Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii

Michael Eisen contributed to this story.

Sequon Barkley