On "Sunday Night Football" against the Chiefs, Daniel Jones isn't just trying to help the Colts avoid a 0-2 start in his second game back from tearing his Achilles; he's trying to reverse his own prime-time issues. And these aren't just any struggles. They're historic struggles.

Jones has a 1-15 career record in prime time, the worst mark of any starting quarterback (minimum 10 starts) since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. It's not particularly close, either.

Worst W-L as starting QB in prime time, since 1970

W-L

Daniel Jones

1-15

Geno Smith

4-15

Andy Dalton

6-21

Mark Brunell

3-10

Kerry Collins

5-16

And for the "wins aren't a quarterback stat" crowd, it doesn't get much better when we look at Jones' performance individually. Of the 78 quarterbacks who have started at least 10 prime-time games since 1970, Jones ranks ...

  • 78th -- dead last -- in touchdown-to-interception ratio (12-21)
  • 76th in yards per attempt (5.8)
  • 76th in passer rating (70.5)
  • 70th in sack rate (8.8%)

Jones hasn't thrown a touchdown in any of his last eight prime-time starts. It's the longest streak by any quarterback since 1970, and no one else has a streak longer than five games. He's also gone six straight games with zero touchdown passes and at least one interception, also the longest streak since 1970.

If there's good news here, it's that Sunday night's showdown will be Jones' first prime-time start with the Colts -- all 16 previous contests were with the Giants.

Jones' lone prime-time win came in 2022, when the Giants beat Washington 20-12. Jones only threw for 160 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per attempt, but a win's a win. He has lost his last six prime-time starts, including ...

Week 1, 2023: Cowboys 40, Giants 0

Coming off a surprise playoff berth in 2022, the Giants were under the bright lights of "Sunday Night Football" to open 2023. It was a disaster from the start. Cowboys cornerback Noah Igbinoghene returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown to open the scoring, and Dallas produced the largest shutout win in the long history between the two teams.

Jones went 15 for 28 for just 104 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-six by Daron Bland that, unfortunately for Jones, wasn't really his fault.

Jones was also sacked seven times. Jones posted a 32.4 passer rating on the dreadful evening; for comparison's sake, throwing every single pass incomplete is a 39.6 passer rating.

Week 3, 2023: 49ers 30, Giants 12

Under siege all night from the 49ers' pass rush, Jones threw for just 137 yards on 32 attempts, had no touchdown passes and threw an interception to Talanoa Hufanga. It was very much a "Thursday Night Football" performance to forget.

"We didn't create a rhythm," Jones said. "We didn't execute, didn't take advantage of our opportunities. That's a good defense, a good team and when you are playing good teams, you can't afford to do that. We didn't play well enough."

Week 4, 2023: Seahawks 24, Giants 3

In his third prime-time start in four weeks, Jones was once again awful: 27 for 34 (good) but for just 203 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, including this Devon Witherspoon pick-six.

Somehow that wasn't the worst of it. Jones took 10 sacks, the most in a prime-time game since Donovan McNabb took 12 in a 2007 contest.

Week 4, 2024: Cowboys 20, Giants 15

Jones once again threw no touchdown passes -- he has zero touchdown passes in eight of his 16 career prime-time starts -- in a loss to the Cowboys. Jones actually put up decent numbers in this game, going 29 for 40 for 281 yards, but it ended on a sour note, with Amani Oruwariye picking him off to end the game.

Week 6, 2024: Bengals 17, Giants 7

Jones went 22 for 41 for 205 yards and a particularly brutal interception in this loss.

Week 8, 2024: Steelers 26, Giants 18

Another prime-time game, another back-breaking interception from Jones. This one hurts.

Jones, who had been benched the week prior, went 24 for 38 for 264 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

"We hurt ourselves a lot tonight," Jones said. "That's the most frustrating part about it. We've got to be more detailed, starting with me. The good stuff that happened was negated by the mistakes."

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