Minnesota Vikings Defense Felt Bad for Daniel Jones

The Minnesota Vikings made it look easy with a convincing 28-6 blowout win over Daniel Jones and the New York Giants in Week 1. No one knew what to expect from either team after an offseason full of changes. But after the Giants scored the third-fewest points in the NFL in 2023, New York’s fanbase hoped their franchise quarterback’s return from injury would lead to better results.

Brian Flores and the Vikings’ defense had other plans: to make life hell on their opponent. Let’s just say the mission was accomplished. The Giants were the only team to score fewer than 10 points. It reportedly got so bad, that some Vikings defenders started to feel bad for their opponent’s starting QB.

Related: PFF Absolutely Loves the Minnesota Vikings After Week 1

Minnesota Vikings defense actually started feeling sorry for Daniel Jones

This is the NFL. Players don’t typically feel much remorse for the pros on the opposing sidelines. Everyone earned their way to the big leagues, and many, like Daniel Jones, are making millions of dollars. But that doesn’t mean these freak athletes don’t have feelings and emotions too.

The Giants had a huge problem along the offensive line last season, allowing the most sacks in the NFL with 85. The next closest team allowed 20 sacks less than the Giants. So, the front office made overhauling the offensive line a priority and spent $46 million in free agency signing mid-tier players of re-signing their elite skill position player Saquon Barkley.

To no surprise, the Giants’ issues still aren’t fixed. The new-look protection scheme allowed 11 pressures. Four came from Greg Van Roten, three from Jermaine Eluemunor, and two more from Jon Runyan Jr. Keep in mind that these were the three players the Giants prioritized in free agency. The line allowed Jones to be sacked five times; only Deshaun Watson was sacked more in Week 1.

The Vikings were coming after Jones all day, which also led to two ill-advised passes that ended up in the hands of Andrew Van Ginkel and Harrison Smith. Later, when appearing on KFAN, Jonathan Greenard even admitted that Vikings defenders started feeling bad about pummeling the Giants’ QB while the Big Apple showered boos on Jones.

“We understand he deals with a lot (New York market). If we can add another aspect of pressure onto the guy, to make him speed up his reads a bit more, to make sure he’s not going to get confident and comfortable back in the pocket. It was a great feeling to see on the first couple of drives. When we heard the boos reigning in, we were like ok now we’re good on our side. But when it got really loud to where it as loud as a third down should be when they’re on defense. It was kind of bad. We kinda start to feel a little bit bad for him as we’re still just completely just taking away everything he wants to do. It’s good to be on the other side of it, it’s our job to not be on that side of it.”

Greenard (7:00 minute mark)

Greenard and the gang were excellent in their first test of the season, allowing just six points, but he believes the Vikings should have had a shutout.

“It was good cuz we got the dub, but everybody knows on the defensive side of the ball, they shouldn’t have had any points. It was a quick turnaround with CJ and the fumble, but obviously that was a perfect hit on the ball. It was like the best hit you could make for a guy to fumble like that. The other three points they got was because of a couple of miscues on our end. I feel like we definitely should have shut those guys out.”

Jonathan Greenard on New York Giants

As great as the Vikings’ debut was, the test gets much tougher on Sunday against a very good San Francisco 49ers team coming off their own blowout victory over Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets on Monday night.

Related: 4 Bold Predictions for Minnesota Vikings’ Week 2 Matchup vs 49ers