The fault of Daniel Jones being ineffective for the first six seasons of his career does not lie with the New York Giants. Sure, Jones is off to a better start with the Indianapolis Colts than he ever had with the Giants, but the problem wasn't Jones' former team. The issue, clearly, was the city of New York.
Some players simply aren't meant to fit with teams in the Big Apple. What is odd, though, is that so many quarterbacks, specifically, have left New York and turned into good players elsewhere. It doesn't matter if the QB played for the Giants or Jets; the curse remained the same.
Geno Smith and Sam Darnold both played for the Jets and failed. They are still in the league and are QB1s with new teams. Smith has had a pretty good three-plus-year run, though he still needs to clean up his interceptions with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts are rescuing each other
Darnold was quite good with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and signed with the Seattle Seahawks this past offseason. Through three games, he has been efficient, if not consistently explosive, but is playing winning football.
New York even got to the greats. Aaron Rodgers is obviously a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he was atrocious for the Jets in the last two seasons, at least when he was healthy enough to play. He was elite with the Green Bay Packers. Three games with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025, and he looks back to his old self.
The narrative is clear: Once quarterbacks free themselves, one way or another, from the most populated city in the United States, they might finally have a chance to play good football. This has nothing to do with the quality of the people in New York, of course, but something about the sports atmosphere New York QBs play.
Eli Manning was able to do a pretty good job, but he stopped being the Giants' full-time quarterback in 2018, and his career quarterback rating was only 84.1. Had he played elsewhere, he might not have won two Super Bowls, but he probably would have been a far more productive quarterback.
Ultimately, Indianapolis Colts fans should feel fortunate they were able to get one of the New York football refugees. Indy is better with Daniel Jones. As for the success of the Jets and Giants, who cares?