EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If there’s one thing you can’t do with the New York Giants this season, it’s counting them out.
They proved that yet again on Sunday in a come-from-behind 24-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium to improve — improbably — to 5-1 in 2022. The Giants had to battle back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit that dwindled to three late in the quarter.
It was a bizarre series of errors by Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson that led to the Giants’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Jackson fumbled the snap on a 3rd-&- 5 on the Baltimore 40 and after recovering the ball, tried to force a pass, but it was picked off by Julian Love who powered his way 27 yards before being taken down.
On the doorstep to take the lead, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones tried to find Darius Slayton in the end zone and was picked off, but the officials called a defensive pass interference penalty to bring the Giants down to the 1-yard-line. Saquon Barkley dove into the end zone for the touchdown run and put the Giants ahead 24-20 after the extra point.
The Giants’ defense smothered the Ravens as they tried one final time to get back in the end zone as Kayvon Thibodeaux forced a fumble that was recovered by New York to secure the win.
“Those plays are really dangerous because you have the most dynamic quarterback back there,” Love said about the game-changing sequence. “I wasn’t covering who he was trying to throw to. … And I was just kind of waiting, I saw him wide open. I saw Lamar kind of lock in and waited the throw a little bit and thankfully make the play.”
The victory pulled New York to four games over .500 through the first six weeks of the season. Jones finished the game with two touchdowns on 19-of-27 passing for 127 yards.
Daniel Bellinger led the Giants in receptions with five for 38 yards and one touchdown while Wan’Dale Robinson had three receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown in his first game back since suffering a knee injury.
“I’m just proud of the way they compete,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “Talk about trying to play fast. Trying to play physical and resilient and finish them. Throughout the game they really showed up. Obviously not perfect there’s certainly a lot of things we can fix. … Just proud of the ways the guys competed.”
The Giants’ defense did its job containing Jackson and the Ravens’ offense during the game’s first quarter, which included two drives that were halted resulting in Baltimore having to punt and Justin Tucker hitting the left upright on a 56-yard field goal attempt. The 0-0 score at the end of the first quarter marked the first time this season that the Ravens had been held without points in the opening period of a game this season.
But the third time was the charm for the Ravens, who finally broke through and got on the board with 9:26 left in the second quarter. The Giants got caught with just 10 players on the field and Kenyon Drake found the open hole to run free for the 30-yard rushing touchdown to put the Ravens in front.
It was the second time this season that it had occurred to the Giants’ defense this season. The first came on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys when Ezekiel Elliott scored a rushing touchdown.
New York answered back with a touchdown drive of their own that spanned 58 yards and 5:55 of the second quarter. Jones found Slayton, Matt Brieda, and Robinson for big plays, which included a five-yard touchdown reception for the rookie wideout to score his first career touchdown.
A field goal within the final two minutes of the first half and another in the opening minutes of the third gave the Ravens a 13-7 edge. Credit the Giants’ defense for holding them out of the endzone once they reached the New York zone, but Tucker was able to hit the 34-yarder with 1:46 left in the half followed by a 23-yarder in the third.
After starting on their own 31-yard line on the ensuing drive, Jones marched the Giants down to Baltimore’s 5-yard line, but couldn’t find a way to get into the endzone. Jones threw an incomplete pass under pressure on the next play and then got sacked for a loss of 11 after that to force New York to kick the field goal.
For more New York Giants news, turn to AMNY.com
Jackson showed off what made him so dangerous this season and answered right back for Baltimore. The Ravens QB scrambled for 36 yards on the drive and capped off the 10-play sequence with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews.
But the no quit Giants kept that moniker relevant for another week after they cut the Ravens’ lead to just three with six minutes left in the game. Jones found Bellinger for an 8-yard TD reception to make it a 20-17 game.
