This was supposed to be a long Sunday for the New York Giants. They traveled to London without a few key players and with others hobbled. They were facing Aaron Rodgers and the 3-1 Green Bay Packers. Not many people gave them a chance, but they dug in and rallied from a 14-point deficit to close out a 27-22 win.
While there are many Giants who can be credited for the team’s effort today, it’s hard to put the spotlight on anybody other than quarterback Daniel Jones.
He finished 21-of-27 for 217 yards passing while adding 37 yards on the ground, but his impact went far beyond his final statline, and he went a long way towards proving wrong any of his doubters.
It wasn’t even clear if Jones would even play in this game after suffering an ankle sprain last week. At one point, it looked like Davis Webb would be under center for the Giants, but Jones looked good enough in practice to convince Brian Daboll and the coaching staff to give him a chance.
His reward was having to lead an offense that again would have none of Kadarius Toney, Wan’Dale Robinson, or Kenny Golladay. It didn’t matter.
Jones quite literally put his bloody body on the line for his teammates. In the third quarter, he even orchestrated a game-tying drive with Saquon Barkley on the sideline with a shoulder injury. He scrambled for big gains and completed passes to the fearsome collection of Marcus Johnson, Daniel Bellinger, and Chris Myarick before Gary Brightwell punched it in for a two-yard touchdown.
None of the players were in the Giants’ plans when the season began.
For that, kudos has to go to first-year head coach Brian Daboll. This is not how a coach dreams of their first opportunity unfolding. The Giants have been without arguably their top four wide receivers for most of the season, and their two best defenders – Leonard Williams and Azeez Ojulari – have each missed the last two weeks. But Daboll and his coaching staff keep adjusting.
The effort from the defense was particularly noteworthy given the aforementioned injuries. They held Aaron Rodgers to 222 yards passing on 39 attempts and sacked him twice. They also held their ground on a crucial red zone stand late in the fourth quarter with the team up 27-20.
The Packers had a 2nd-and-3 from the Giants’ eight-yard-line. New York bottled up Aaron Jones on a second down run and then forced incompletions on both third and fourth down to seal the victory. It was a clear display of resolve and fortitude that comes from the top down in New York now.
It was exemplified by star running back Saquon Barkley as well.
The Penn State product remained the bell cow he has been for the Giants all season, churning out yards even with the Green Bay defense keying on him. He battled through injuries to lead the Giants with 70 yards on 13 carries, while also finishing as the team’s second-leading receiver with 36 yards on three catches.
With Barkley healthy and a coaching staff that knows how to properly scheme for Daniel Jones, this offense just looks night-and-day different. They play within themselves, they take what the defense gives them, and they don’t shoot themselves in the foot. If they can continue to do that when they get back explosive playmakers like Toney and Robinson, there still might be another gear for this team.
Until then, they will try to shake off the jet lag and prepare for a dangerous Ravens team. It will be yet another test, but with what this team has proven so far, it may be foolish to bet against them.
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