2023 New York Giants season

2023 New York Giants season
Owner	John Mara Steve Tisch
General manager	Joe Schoen
Head coach	Brian Daboll
Home field	MetLife Stadium
Results
Record	6–11
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	DT Dexter Lawrence
AP All-Pros	DT Dexter Lawrence (2nd team)
Uniform
← 2022 Giants seasons 2024 →

The 2023 season was the New York Giants' 99th in the National Football League (NFL) and their second under the head coach/general manager tandem of Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. They failed to improve upon their 9–7–1 record from 2022 after a Week 10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.^[1] Following an overtime victory by the Philadelphia Eagles over the Buffalo Bills in Week 12,^[2] the Giants were eliminated from contention for the NFC East title.

They were eliminated from playoff contention following a Christmas Day loss to the Eagles.^[3] A historically poor offensive line and numerous injuries, particularly losing starting quarterback Daniel Jones to a torn ACL in a Week 9 loss against the Raiders, plagued the team throughout the year. Their offensive line allowed an abysmal 85 sacks (An average of 5 sacks per game), the second highest number of sacks allowed by a team in a single season. This was only behind the NFL record held by the 1986 Philadelphia Eagles, whose offensive line allowed 104 sacks.

Source:^[18][19][20]

Source:^[18][20]

Notes

• The Giants traded WR Kadarius Toney to Kansas City in exchange for a 2023 third-round compensatory pick and a 2023 sixth-round pick.^[33]
• The Giants traded sixth-round pick (#204) to Houston in exchange for cornerback Keion Crossen.^[34]
• Baltimore traded their 2023 seventh-round pick, a 2022 fifth-round pick (used to select Marcus McKethan), and guard Ben Bredeson to New York for a 2022 fourth-round pick (used to select Daniel Faalele).^[35]
• The Giants traded the 2023 third-round 2020 Resolution JC-2A pick (#100) received from Kansas City in the Toney trade to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for tight end Darren Waller.^[30]
• The Giants traded their 2023 first (#25), a 2023 sixth (#160) and the 2023 seventh round pick received from Baltimore (#240) to Jacksonville in exchange for their 2023 first round pick (#24).^[36]
• The Giants traded their 2023 third (#89) and 2023 fourth (#128) round picks to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for their 2023 third round pick (#73),^[37] obtained from Houston and originally held by Cleveland.

The Giants' preseason opponents and schedule was announced on May 25, 2023.^[39]

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Despite showing promise by being able to run the ball effectively, the Giants opening drive ended in disaster. First, Andrew Thomas was flagged for a false start, then rookie center John Michael Schmitz snapped the ball well behind Daniel Jones, causing a sack, and then Graham Gano's field goal attempt was blocked, with Dallas returning it for a touchdown. This set the tone for the rest of the night as the Giants were unable to get anything going in any of the three phases of the game. Jones was under duress the entire game and threw two interceptions with the first being returned for a touchdown by DaRon Bland, his first touchdown of a record-setting season.

The Giants were shut out for the first time since Week 15 of the 2018 season and this was their worst shutout loss since Week 1 of the 1995 season (also against Dallas) as well as their worst loss against Dallas since 1966.

In one of the worst losses in franchise history, the Giants became the first team in NFL history to lose a game by 40+ points, get out-sacked by seven or more, lose three or more turnovers more than forced, have a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, and throw a pick six in a single season. The Giants did all this in the same game.^[40]

After a historically bad loss, the Giants traveled out west to take on the Cardinals. The Giants started out flat, trailing 20–0 at the half. James Conner scored on a 4-yard scamper and Joshua Dobbs was 12/16 with 146 passing yards along with 41 rushing yards and a touchdown, while the Giants only had 81 total yards of offense. Through 6 quarters, the Giants were outscored 60–0, the worst start by an NFL team since the 1978 Baltimore Colts and was their first time not scoring through the first 6 quarters since 1934.

The Giants came out firing after halftime, scoring on every drive in the second half, and outscored the Cardinals 31–8 to win the game 31–28. On the first play from scrimmage, Daniel Jones found rookie Jalin Hyatt for a 58-yard catch, his first in the NFL. Jones scored on a QB option two plays later, then the Cardinals responded with a touchdown and 2-point conversion to take a 28–7 lead. Jones led the Giants on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to bring the game back to two scores and galvanized the defense by forcing the Cardinals to punt for the first time in the game. Jones then led the Giants on another methodical 13-play, 80-yard drive and cashed in on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley on 3rd & Goal. After forcing a 3-and-out, Jones and the Giants tied the game with a touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins. After forcing another 3-and-out, Jones and Barkley took the Giants into field goal range and Graham Gano scored the game-winning field goal with 19 seconds remaining. The Giants tied the franchise record for the largest comeback win of 21 points, their first since 1949.^[41]

With the win, the Giants picked up their first win of the season, improving to 1–1. Daniel Jones became the first player in NFL history to throw 250+ yards, run 50+ yards, have 2+ pass TDs, have 1+ rushing TD, and no turnovers in a single half.

The Giants headed into this game short-handed without Saquon Barkley and Andrew Thomas missing his 2nd straight game. The two teams traded field goals early on before the Niners started to pull away with two more touchdown drives before going into halftime.

In the second half, the Giants had their second drive start from the 37-yard line of the 49ers thanks to a 15-yard penalty due to Eric Gray being interfered with while calling for a fair catch on a punt. Three plays later after another lengthy pass interference penalty, Matt Breida ran the ball in from eight yards out, providing the only touchdown of the night for the Giants and only trailed 20–12 after the end of the third quarter, but the 49ers pulled away in the fourth and won 30–12.

Throughout the night, the offensive line again struggled to protect Daniel Jones and the Giants could not establish any running game. The defense constantly failed to get off the field on 3rd down and had 18 missed tackles.

Daniel Jones fell to 1–11 in primetime games as the Giants lost their 6th consecutive game on Thursday Night Football dating back to 2016. Additionally, they have lost two Thanksgiving games during this span.

The Giants returned home for their Monday Night Football matchup against the Seahawks. Daniel Jones was flustered and threw 2 interceptions while being sacked a career-high 11 times. The second was a dagger for the Giants, a red-zone pick-six to rookie Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon to make it a 3-score game.

With the loss, the Giants fell to 1–3. The Giants offensive line woes continued when rookie C John Michael Schmitz left the game with a shoulder injury.

The Giants scored on a Jason Pinnock 102-yard interception return in the second quarter of the game, the team's first first-half touchdown of the season, to close to within 7 points of the Dolphins at half-time. However, they only managed two field goals in the second half as they failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second game in a row, and third overall, as they lost 16–31 to fall to 1–4. The season's offensive line problems continued for the Giants, with Daniel Jones being ruled out of the game midway through the fourth quarter with a neck injury sustained while being sacked for the sixth time.

The overmatched Giants played a close game against the Bills on Sunday Night Football despite not having Daniel Jones, Andrew Thomas, and others. The Giants opened the scoring in the first quarter with a Graham Gano field goal after Bobby Okereke stripped Gabriel Davis of the football, which Micah McFadden recovered. The Bills tried to move down the field, but Tyler Bass missed a field goal wide right, which the Giants capitalized with another field goal of their own. Then, Okereke tipped a Josh Allen pass that McFadden intercepted before halftime. The Giants tried to move down the field and were on the Bills 1-yard line with 14 seconds to go and no timeouts, and starting QB Tyrod Taylor audibled out of two pass plays and opted to run with Saquon Barkley. The Bills stopped Barkley and the Giants went into the locker room with a 6–0 halftime lead, but failed to score on the goal line.

The Bills first drive of the second half was long and methodical, and capped it off with a Deonte Harty touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a 7–6 lead. The Giants responded with a field goal of their own to retake the lead after Barkley took them down the field, and the Bills responded with their second consecutive touchdown to take a 14–9 lead. The Giants turned the ball over on downs, then the Bills failed to put the game away when Tyler Bass missed his second field goal of the game wide right. The Giants had one timeout and drove down the field, only to find themselves on the 1-yard line again to end the game. With 2 seconds left, the referees called pass interference on the Bills for grabbing Darren Waller, giving the Giants an untimed down. On the down, Waller appeared to be held again, but no penalty was called, and the Bills won 14–9, and the Giants fell to 1–5.

The Giants ran three plays from the 1-yard line to end both halves and came away with zero points. For the third consecutive game and fourth overall, the Giants failed to score an offensive touchdown. This was also the third game overall that the Giants failed to score a single touchdown. Bobby Okereke had his best game as a Giant to date, with 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 pass deflections, and 1 forced fumble.

The Giants defense set the tone early with 5 first half sacks of Commanders QB Sam Howell. After missing a field goal on their second drive, the Giants offense started to click. Darren Waller scored his first touchdown as a Giant (also the Giants first offensive first half touchdown of the season) to open the scoring 7–0. This was the first offensive touchdown the Giants scored since Week 3 as well. After first round pick Deonte Banks had his first career interception, Tyrod Taylor threw a second touchdown pass, this time to Saquon Barkley to give the Giants a 14–0 lead they took with them in the locker room.

The Giants let the Commanders back in the game in the second half. Being forced to rely on WR Sterling Shepard to return punts, Shepard fumbled a punt which the Commanders recovered and took advantage of with a Brian Robinson touchdown to make the score 14–7 Giants. Later in the third quarter, Howell was hit as he threw and Kayvon Thibodeaux had a walk-in interception touchdown, but he dropped the pass to save Washington. On the Commanders next drive, Howell connected with Terry McLaurin for 58 yards over 2 receptions and settled for a field goal attempt which was blocked by Leonard Williams to preserve the 7-point lead. The Giants responded by moving down the field, but Barkley fumbled in the red zone to give the ball back to Washington. On the Commanders final drive, they marched 85 yards down the field over 17 plays only to turn it over on downs. The Giants kneeled the ball knowing they would have to punt back to Washington with less than 10 seconds to play, but on the third down, Daron Payne went down with an injury, and because Washington didn't have any timeouts left, his injury reset the play clock and therefore ended the game. The Giants won 14–7 and improved to 2–5.

The Jets won 13–10 in overtime to defeat the Giants for the third time in succession.

Kayvon Thibodeaux strip-sacked Jets QB Zach Wilson on the opening drive of the game, but the Giants had to settle for a field goal after going three-and-out. Offensive production then became elusive for both teams, with the teams combining for 15 punts, 8 first downs, and 204 total yards of offense, with 50 of those yards coming via a Breece Hall screen pass taken to the end zone for a Jets touchdown. Both teams suffered numerous injuries, the most consequential of which being to Giants QB Tyrod Taylor, who was knocked out of the game with a rib injury and taken to a hospital for further evaluation. The Jets led 7–3 at halftime.

Local and undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito took over for Taylor as the Giants quarterback in the second quarter, after which the Giants offense resorted almost exclusively to running the ball. Saquon Barkley sparked the Giants offense on the opening drive of the third quarter with a 34-yard run that DeVito capped off with a 6-yard touchdown run, his first in the NFL. Over the next 9 drives, the teams combined for 8 punts, 7 first downs, and 114 yards of total offense. On that 9th drive, the Giants maintained a 10–7 lead, but the Jets had the ball with less than 2:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. On 4th down, Thibodeaux sacked Wilson to give the Giants the ball in prime scoring territory. After going three-and-out, Graham Gano missed a 35-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining. It was Gano's second miss of the game. It was later revealed that Gano was suffering from a knee injury to his standing (left) leg that would require offseason surgery.

On the first play of the Jets drive, Wilson connected with WR Garrett Wilson for 29 yards with 17 seconds remaining. On the next play, Wilson connected with WR Allen Lazard over the middle for another 29 yard gain over. With no timeouts, the Jets sprinted to the line and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 1 second left. Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein made the 35-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

The Giants won the coin toss but couldn't move the ball with DeVito being forced to pass and punted to the Jets. On the Jets drive, Adoree Jackson committed a defensive pass interference foul on 3rd down to put the Jets in field goal range. On the next play, Zuerlein made a 33-yard field goal and won the game for the Jets, who at one point had just a 0.1% chance to win.^[42]

The Giants finished the game with -9 passing yards, which was the worst finish by an NFL team since 2021 (coincidentally by the Giants). Saquon Barkley had 128 rushing yards for the Giants and Garrett Wilson had 7 receptions for 100 receiving yards for the Jets. Kayvon Thibodeaux had 9 tackles and 3 sacks for the Giants, and brought his sack total to 8.5 on the season in a tie for third in the NFL. C.J. Mosley, Quincy Williams, and Tony Adams all had 10+ tackles for the Jets.

The Jets won their third game in a row and improved to 4–3, while the Giants fell to 2–6.

Daniel Jones returned to action for the first time since Week 5, but tore his ACL on a non-contact play to begin the second quarter and was replaced by Tommy DeVito. In their first game after firing Josh McDaniels, the Raiders were dominant and played with new life under interim coach Antonio Pierce, a former Giant and Super Bowl XLII champion.

DeVito threw his first career touchdown pass to Wan'Dale Robinson early in the fourth quarter and was named the starter the next week against the Cowboys. Jones was ruled out for the rest of the season.

In Tommy DeVito's first start, the Giants trailed 28–0 at halftime and lost 49–17. They were outscored 89–17 against the Cowboys in two games, and suffered two of their worst three losses to the Cowboys in franchise history in 2023.

The Giants' defense forced six turnovers, which included three fumbles, and three interceptions by Sam Howell, with the last turnover sealing the victory with a pick-six by Isaiah Simmons. The Giants swept Washington for the first time since 2020, and moved to 3–8.

This was Tommy DeVito's first win in the NFL and despite getting sacked 9 times in the game, he was named the Rookie of the Week for his performance throwing 246 yards, 3 touchdown passes, and no turnovers.

Kayvon Thibodeaux's dominance against the Commanders continued, finishing with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass breakup and 3 quarterback hits. He became the first player under a Wink Martindale led defense to have 10+ sacks in a single season, and accomplished the feat in 11 games.

With the Patriots driving in the second quarter, Mac Jones threw his second interception to Bobby Okereke, who returned it 55 yards and set up an Isaiah Hodgins touchdown before halftime to give the Giants a 7–0 lead. Bill Belichick benched Jones with Bailey Zappe for the second time in as many games, and the Patriots began the third quarter with an opening drive touchdown by Rhamondre Stevenson to tie the game. In the fourth quarter, Zappe threw an interception to Xavier McKinney to set up a Randy Bullock field goal to give the Giants a 10–7 lead. The Patriots started their final drive at midfield and moved the ball in the red zone to set up a game-tying field goal attempt by Chad Ryland, but Ryland pulled the 35-yarder wide left. The Giants improved to 4–8 and had their first winning streak of the 2023 season heading into the bye week.

Jalin Hyatt had 5 receptions for 109 yards, including the only three plays of 20+ yards by either team in the game. He was named the Rookie of the Week for his performance, the second Giant to win the award in as many weeks.

Late in the first quarter, Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks appeared to be short of the line to gain on a 4th and 1, but the referees overturned their initial call and awarded the Packers a first down. Jayden Reed scored a touchdown two plays later for Green Bay, but a long gain on a Wan'Dale Robinson end-around set up a Saquon Barkley touchdown to tie the game 7–7. The Giants defense forced two turnovers of Packers QB Jordan Love, but failed to capitalize on them and the Packers had a 10–7 halftime lead.

The Giants recovered a muffed punt and Barkley capitalized with his second touchdown run of the day to give the Giants a 14–10 third quarter lead. The Packers recovered a Giants fumble on a punt later in the quarter but had to settle for field goal. Tommy DeVito led the Giants on another touchdown drive to take a 21–13 lead at the end of the third quarter, this time with a pass to Isaiah Hodgins.

The Giants defense held the Packers in the red zone for a third time and the Packers again had to settle for another field goal to make the score 21–16 midway through the fourth quarter. The Giants sought an opportunity to run out the clock, and Barkley broke a run deep into Packers territory and broke out of a tackle, but tripped up and lost the ball after falling to the ground. Because he reestablished his footing, wasn't giving himself up when he fell, and was never touched down, the play was ruled a fumble and the Packers returned it 50 yards amidst the confusion deep into Giants territory. The Packers regained the lead after a 9-play drive when Love found Malik Heath for his first career touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but the Packers had a 22–21 lead with 1:33 to play. On the fourth play of the ensuing drive, DeVito found Robinson for a 32-yard gain to put the Giants in field goal range, and kicker Randy Bullock scored the game-winning field goal as time expired. The Giants won their third game in a row 24–22 and improved to 5–8.

This was the first Giants primetime win at MetLife Stadium since 2016, as well as the first Giants win on Monday Night Football since 2018. Tommy DeVito was named the NFC Player of the Week for his performance.^[43]

Tommy DeVito was sacked 7 times and the Giants offense failed to muster any momentum in a game they sorely needed to win. The Saints scored on their first 3 possessions of the second half to put the game out of reach.

Kicker Randy Bullock was injured in the loss, and punter Jamie Gillan made his first NFL field goal on the last play of the second quarter.

Christmas Day games

The Giants played their first-ever game on Christmas Day in their 99-year history and became the 25th NFL team to do so. The Eagles dominated every facet of the first half and coasted to a 17–3 lead. Late in the second quarter and needing a touchdown, Saquon Barkley was stopped in Philadelphia territory on a 4th & 1, then the Eagles tried to extend their lead before halftime. Jalen Hurts scrambled for a gain and failed to get out of bounds with no timeouts left, but Bobby Okereke was controversially flagged for a defensive delay of game penalty which stopped the clock for the Eagles. Jake Elliott kicked a chip shot field goal to give the Eagles a 20–3 halftime lead.

The Giants benched Tommy DeVito at halftime for Tyrod Taylor, who immediately led the Giants on a quick touchdown drive after Boston Scott fumbled the opening kickoff when he collided into Olamide Zaccheaus. Trailing 20–10 with the football on a 4th & 4, the Giants thought the Eagles jumped offsides, but Center John Michael Schmitz was flagged for a false start by bobbing his head, another controversial call that benefitted the Eagles and gave them the ball back instead of an automatic first down for the Giants. On the next drive, Hurts threw an interception to Adoree Jackson, who returned it for a touchdown. Saquon Barkley scored the 2-point conversion to trim the deficit to 20–18 after three quarters.

On the next Eagles drive, Hurts converted a 3rd & 20 to A. J. Brown, sparking the Eagles on another touchdown drive. On the Giants next drive, Taylor failed to complete a pass to a wide open Darren Waller which would have likely given the Giants a touchdown, and then failed to convert on 4th down. After the Eagles tacked on another field goal, Taylor hit Darius Slayton on a 69-yard touchdown pass to make the score 30–25 and give the Giants life on their next possession, but the Eagles kicked another field goal on their next drive to make it 33–25 with 1:10 to play. The Giants got the ball last without any timeouts and failed to score and extend the game, following an interception in the end zone. The Eagles won 33–25 and took over 1st place in the NFC East. The Giants fell to 5–10, were eliminated from playoff contention, and lost in Philadelphia for the 10th year in a row.

The Giants ended the 2023 calendar year with another loss on the final play of the game, their fourth of the season.

The game was even throughout. Both defenses started the game trading stops before the offenses traded touchdowns on the next two possessions, then both teams committed turnovers and scored once more before halftime, with the Rams leading 14–10.

The Rams appeared to take control early in the third quarter when Puka Nacua took a pass play for 80 yards down to the Giants 2-yard line to set up a touchdown, but Darius Slayton took an 80-yard pass play of his own to the house for a Giants touchdown. Both kickers missed their respective extra points and the Rams led 20–16 after three quarters. The Giants settled for field goal to make the score 20–19, but the Rams struck back quickly with a 28-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams, his third of the game.

Late in the fourth with the Rams leading 26–19, Gunner Olszewski returned a punt 94 yards for a Giants touchdown. Brian Daboll opted to go for the lead with the two-point conversion, and called a play-action pass to Saquon Barkley rolling right. The play was executed perfectly and Barkley was wide open in point blank range, but Tyrod Taylor inexplicably missed the pass, so the Giants had to kick it back to the Rams trailing 26–25. After the defense made a stop, Taylor drove the Giants into field goal range without any timeouts, but Mason Crosby missed the 54-yard game-winning kick and the Rams survived.

Slayton and Nacua each eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the Giants and Rams, with 106 and 118 respectively, and Williams finished with three touchdowns on 87 yards rushing for the Rams. Dane Belton had his best game as a pro and finished with three takeaways (two interceptions and one fumble recovery) for the Giants. Gunner Olszewski was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Giants scored 21 points in the second quarter, with Saquon Barkley scoring 2 touchdowns and Darius Slayton tacking on one more. The Giants defeated the Eagles 27–10 to end the season. They finished 6–11 and secured the #6 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

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