Daniel Jones doesn't ease Giants fans concerns with preseason debut

It was up and down, and everything in between during Daniel Jones' first preseason game of the year. The veteran starting quarterback for the New York Giants looked kind of like he always does, which is a lot of stuff happening all the time, from good, to bad, to downright ugly. Jones started out vs. the Houston Texans looking like a lost puppy before showing us all why he was a top-10 pick previously.

Keep in mind that Houston looks to be one of the very best teams in the NFL. Conversely, New York is on the other end of the spectrum. We are talking about a top-eight team in the league hosting a bottom-eight one in a meaningless preseason game. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everybody and their brother in New York could get fired into the sun, expediting yet another painful rebuild.

The good news is that when Jones is healthy, he has played some great football at times in Brian Daboll's offense. The problem is that was really only one season two years ago. In the meantime, the Giants opted to bring in the sloppiest executor of a collegiate Air Raid offense I have ever seen in former Missouri star Drew Lock to push Jones for the starting job. I don't think either are a solution.

Jones looked absolutely pitiful throwing a pick-six to Jalen Pitre buried deep inside of Giants territory.

He then threw the ball where only Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. could get in. Too bad he plays for the other team.

And then, you have plays like this one in the second quarter where he rifles it downfield to Darius Slayton for a big gain, just short of a touchdown!

With Jones, you have to take the good with the bad, but we have to wonder if the bad is still worth it.

Daniel Jones was good, bad and ugly in his first game back with Giants

Unfortunately, this current era of Giants football hinges entirely on how well Jones can play in Daboll's offense. While I have seen Daboll be one of the best offensive minds in the game, he and general manager Joe Schoen's decision to stick with Jones after the regime change could come back to haunt them. What is the other option here? Lock becomes a star? So why let them draft another guy?

There are a few things working in the Giants' favor to potentially get back into the win column more often than not. Jones is healthy, he has succeeded in this offense before, the Giants play in a middling division in the weaker NFC, and they won a playoff game on the road only two seasons ago. They can play the nobody believes in us card all year long if they choose to. There is a path forward.

In all honesty, while it is a possible set of circumstances, the Giants are going to need more than a couple of lucky breaks to win the NFC East. I still have not figured out who I have hosting a home playoff game, but the first team I am crossing off is the Giants. I think Washington is a year away. While Dallas is fading fast, I cannot say for certain that Philadelphia is firing on all cylinders either.

For now, the Giants are going to live and die by Jones, unless they want to see what Lock is all about.