Daniel Jones has more in common with Patrick Mahomes than you might think

The biggest difference in Patrick Mahomes this season has little to do with Patrick Mahomes.

He’s still an elite player and on track to become a Hall of Fame player. He’s still dangerous enough for Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to refer to him as "the best player in the league" multiple times. And he’s still capable of blowing up the scoreboard as he has throughout his career.

The thing that has made him vulnerable in recent weeks and led to Kansas City’s 3-4 record stems more from his environment than his play.

His offensive line has been porous, allowing pressures on four-man rushes. Defenses have been loading zones to avoid matchup nightmares with Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Kansas City has not been running the ball enough, nor effectively enough.

"It’s beginning to impact his fundamentals," former NFL quarterback Brian Griese said of the former MVP’s play. "When there are two or three factors telling you ‘I don’t know if I should do this,’ that’s probably telling you you should check it down and live to fight another day and stay on schedule.

"That’s not a world that Patrick Mahomes has had to live in, but he does now."

To which Daniel Jones might say: Welcome to my world!

Because that’s almost the exact same environment in which the Giants quarterback has spent the majority of his three-year career. And because of that, at this point in time, he may be the better suited of the two quarterbacks who will face off on Monday night to handle the crumbling infrastructure around them.

Mahomes merely adopted the dark. Jones was born in it, molded by it.

"There are a lot of similarities between them, to be honest with you," said Greise, who will call Monday night’s game on ESPN and played quarterback for 11 seasons in the NFL.

That’s not to say Jones is the better quarterback. He’s not at Mahomes’ level, the type of player who has been to the past two Super Bowls and was an offside penalty away from having it be three in a row.

Rather, Mahomes is creeping closer to Jones’ level. Or at least closer to his shortcomings, both as a player and in terms of their surroundings.

It’s why Greise said he is going to "reserve judgment" on Jones.

"He has not had the complement around him offensively to truly evaluate him," Greise said. "And I don’t mean receivers, I mean up front on the offensive line . . . I think he has persevered through this season."

He has, in fact, become comfortable and confident in his circumstance.

"When Daniel Jones is able to drop back, take a hitch, go through his reads, and throw the football, he is excellent," Greise said. "I think he’s a smart kid. He has unbelievable athleticism. And he can throw the ball well from the pocket. He can see the field. Those are all really, really, really good signs. But you start to hit a quarterback and you start to move him off his spot, you start to have injuries at receiver and lack of consistency there, that affects somebody."

Might Jones one day rise to the heights that Mahomes has already achieved in his career?

"I think he is a bright young star in this league," Greise said. "He has some things you can’t coach and he has a mind that you can coach. I think he can be an excellent starting quarterback for a long time in the league. There is not a tool that you need in your tool belt as an NFL quarterback that he doesn’t have — outside of an offensive line."

On Monday, that will put him on an even playing field with his opponent.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.