There was a time when the nickname ‘Danny Dimes’ was mocked. The endless fumbles were untenable. There was no way that Daniel Jones could lead this historic New York Giants franchise into a bright future.
You can kiss all that nonsense goodbye.
Jones cemented his status as a quarterback keeper for the Giants with a playoff debut for the ages Sunday in Minnesota, leading New York to an epic 31-24 win against the Vikings.
Just how elite was Jones in the NFC Wild Card Round? He became the first player ever to pass for at least 300 yards, throw for at least two touchdowns and rush for at least 70 yards in a postseason game.
That is incomprehensible.
“We knew what he was gonna be able to bring for us,” running back Saquon Barkley said on the field afterward. “We know what type of player he is. He’s a special player, he made plays and he came up big for us today.”
This was a player who had his fifth-year option declined because the Giants’ new coaching staff did not have enough evidence coming into the season to commit to Jones through 2023. His first three years were more bad than good, regardless of how much blame you placed on the players around Jones compared to the quarterback himself.
But whether it be a product of head coach Brian Daboll’s and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka’s teachings or Jones simply coming into his own — it’s really both — there is empirically no other way to view the situation: The Giants must pay what it takes to retain the former first-round pick from Duke when he hits free agency this offseason.
Jones has had a resurgent season across the board, but to elevate his play with a career performance in his first playoff game tells us he is clutch and has moxie.
Credit the Giants’ offensive line for providing sound protection, but there was no doubt who the sheriff was as the Giants’ exacted revenge from falling to Minnesota by three points in the same building on Christmas Eve.
The Giants scored touchdowns on their first two drives to reach double digits in the first quarter for the first time all season. All five of their scoring drives accumulated at least 75 yards. They punted only once.
It’s shocking how far this offense has come under Daboll and Kafka after the likes of Jason Garrett, Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo set the franchise back so far that you forgot what a forward pass was over the last six years.
Jones was so dynamic and elusive that the Vikings, despite featuring one of the NFL’s worst defenses, seemed more confused and out of ideas than anyone could have imagined.
During the Giants’ opening drive of the third quarter, Jones calmly felt the rush in the pocket and scrambled to his right, leading Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks to believe he was going to tuck the ball and run.
Jones instead fired a dart to Isaiah Hodgins for 32 yards, and two plays later he sold a play-action fake and connected with Daniel Bellinger for a touchdown that gave the Giants a 24-14 lead.
Excluding three kneel downs, Jones had a career-high 14 rushing attempts for 80 yards and picked up first downs with his legs six times, including two gutsy fourth-down sneaks up the middle in the fourth quarter.
For much of the night, the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins matched Jones drive for drive. There was a feeling that the first quarterback to blink with a turnover would be the one to fall. But a killer mistake never happened.
The Giants’ defense did rise in the fourth quarter with a lethal pass rush to force a punt and a turnover on downs in the waning moments, but for the most part, Jones was simply better than his four-time Pro Bowl counterpart — on Cousins’ home turf, against a team that had won an NFL-record 11 straight one-possession games.
The result was a beautiful coming-of-age story.
The Giants will head to Philadelphia next Saturday for the NFC Divisional Round after securing their first playoff win in 3,997 days spanning more than a decade since the Super Bowl in 2012.
They can thank their new quarterback of the future for sealing the deal.
Jones, the humble kid from North Carolina who once seemed like an afterthought in New York, ensured that the Giants’ stunning first season under Daboll will have at least one more chapter. But most important, this has the potential to be something special for years to come.
“I’ve said it all year: He’s been good for us, continues to be good for us, and he played a good game,” Daboll said. “I think there’s a lot of other people that played good games, too, to help him play a good game. He’ll be the first to admit it. But as the leader of our football team, I’m proud of him.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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