The first major decision the New York Giants made on their roster this offseason was not to invest in quarterback Daniel Jones. Back in April, the Giants had a chance to land Jones for the 2023 season for just $22 million. But the Giants’ new brain trust of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll decided they didn’t want to hook their car to Jones just yet. They declined Jones’ fifth-year option on his rookie contract. Refusing to renew a quarterback’s first contract is almost always the first step in parting with a team’s heavily drafted signal caller. But the Giants insisted they would not give up on him.
“We’ve done everything we can to screw this kid up since he got here,” Giants owner John Mara said of Jones last January when introducing Schoen as GM. “We keep changing coaches, keep changing offensive coordinators, keep changing offensive line coaches. I take a lot of responsibility for that. But let’s get the right group of coaches now and give him some continuity and try to rebuild the offensive line and then be able to make an intelligent assessment of whether or not he can be the franchise quarterback.
This review is closed. Jones delivered his best game on Sunday on the biggest stage of his career, leading the Giants to a 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings to advance to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Jones completed 24 of his 35 passes for 301 yards (8.6 yards per throw) with two touchdowns and no turnovers. He also ran the ball 17 times for 78 yards and a touchdown, and amassed a whopping seven first downs on the ground (Jones almost doubled Saquon Barkley’s carries). Jones is the first quarterback in NFL history with 300 or more passing yards, two or more passing touchdowns, and 70 or more rushing yards in a playoff game NFL Research.
Most importantly, Jones had essentially zero errors (his 11 incompletes were mostly drops or smart throwaways). The game marked New York’s first playoff win since winning the Super Bowl after the 2011 season more than a decade ago — which was appropriate given they wore the same away shirts as they did in that playoff run. At this point I should probably disclose that I grew up with the Giants and I promise you this is the funnest Giants team since that Super Bowl team. And even if the Giants don’t make it back to the Super Bowl, Jones had made big money negotiating this offseason and even more respect in the tri-state area.
The Giants moved the ball as well as they have all season Sunday. New York had 26 first downs in 68 games for 431 yards (6.3 yards per game) and walked 9 of 15 on third and fourth downs together. The Giants had four touchdown drives, all of which were at least 75 yards. New York’s inaugural drive was crowned by a Barkley run, weaving between the Viking defenders like a Ferrari overtaking Subarus on the freeway.
Barkley, who like Jones is in the final year of his rookie contract, proved he’s returned to his pre-ACL teardrop form this season with unearthly explosiveness and emotion. For the first time since his rookie year, Saquon had 1,300 rushing yards and double-digit rushing touchdowns. But just like Jones had a day-night switch from 2021 offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to Daboll and new play caller Mike Kafka, Saquon has become a better downhill runner. While Barkley only had nine carries against Minnesota, he also caught five passes and totaled 109 yards and two touchdowns. On New York’s second drive, it took them just four plays to rush for 81 yards, with receiver Isaiah Hodgins catching a 14-yard touchdown down the middle.
Hodgins scored that touchdown by picking up veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, a former No. 5 draft pick and three-time first-team All-Pro. With Peterson’s best days long behind him, Hodgins, defeating a player so decorated to give the Giants the lead, embodies the Giants season.
Hodgins was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft who had just four offensive snaps in his NFL career earlier this season. The Giants accepted him after he was dropped from Buffalo’s practice team in November, presumably because Schoen knew him from Buffalo. The Giants lost receivers Sterling Shepard, Collin Johnson and Wan’Dale Robinson to season-ending injuries, traded Kadarius Toney and benched Kenny Golladay, helping Hodgins finish third in yards that year with the Giants (351). On Sunday, he had eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown — plus four crucial first downs. Hodgins seems to be good at all the little things. In the second quarter, the Giants faced a third and seven and threw the ball 6 yards down to Hodgins. Hodgins, knowing the situation, made sure to fall backwards to ensure he caught the first fall.
It’s not a sexy game, but it is an accomplished one by a player who embodies the ethos Daboll promised the Giants: be smart, tough and dependable. This team is made up of so many incredibly unsexy players—punt returner turned starting wide receiver Richie James; right guard Mark Glowinski; safety Jason Pinnock, who was cut by the Jets just a year after being selected in the fifth round; Journeyman defenseman Fabian Moreau, who worked on the side as the Giants’ No. 1. 1 cornerback for months; and former Cowboys linebacker who was dislodged by the Packers, Jaylon Smith, who has become a starter in New York. The Giants entered that season spending essentially a third of their budget — about $60 million — on players who were either injured or didn’t play for the team (or, in Golladay’s case, were borderline banned from the team).
But nobody represented that ethos better than Jones. He’s curbed his dire turnover problem by playing smart. As a rookie, Jones led the NFL with 18 fumbles. His 2.3 interceptions plus fumbles per game was the second-highest of any quarterback in any season since 1995. Looking back to 2022, Jones had just six fumbles and threw an interception on just 1.1 percent of his passes, the lowest rate among any qualifying quarterbacks . That decision-making combined with Jones’ rushing ability — and a willingness to drop his shoulder for yardage and run to exhaustion four games in a row — has made the Giants offense justifiably strong. The mere threat of Jones running opened up more passing paths against Minnesota on Sunday, and the Giants were able to do whatever they wanted on offense for most of the game.
Initially, it looked like the Vikings’ offense would be able to compete with a higher-paid quarterback and players with far more well-known skill positions. Minnesota’s opening touchdown looked effortless. But then the Vikings began to fight themselves. An odd touchline from Justin Jefferson to Kirk Cousins losing two yards on third-and-1, a penalty nullifying a fourth-and-1 conversion, and finally a Cousins checkdown on fourth-and-8 in Minnesotas last offensive game came just before the sticks.
Many will point out how that epitomizes the literal flaws of both cousins and Vikings. But to be fair to Cousins, he played well for the most part. He completed 31 of his 39 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns (plus rushing for a third) and committed no turnover. He is heavily criticized for giving Jefferson only seven catches for 47 yards, including only two catches for 10 yards after the first quarter.
But the Giants turned on Jefferson after the first drive, and the Vikings used that to their advantage. The Giants, double-covering Jefferson, opened things up for Minnesota’s second touchdown, and then the Giants, triple-covering Jefferson, helped set up the Vikings’ third touchdown. Another Jefferson double cover opened by TJ Hockenson to take a crucial fourth deficit. Jefferson’s boxing score was weak, but his presence was a major reason the Vikings were able to move the ball. It’s not fair to credit this game or this season to cousins for not getting the ball to Jefferson.
We’ve known the truth about this Vikings team for months. They were literally the happiest team in NFL history — at least in terms of how they played against their record. Minnesota went 13-4 despite being outclassed by its opponents this year. They became the first team in NFL history to finish 11-0 in one-score games. #Nerdmath suggests the Vikings were roughly an eight or nine win team that fell back into a 13 win season. The Vikings were a guy at a roulette table who had bet his money on red and won 11 times in a row and the casino offered to compensate their room so they could stay longer.
The blame is laid at Cousins’ feet, but defense is this team’s problem, and Jones and the Giants were ready to take advantage. The Giants had five explosive plays for 20 yards, which was the most the Giants have had in a game all season (matching their Christmas Eve performance against…the Vikings). Minnesota allowed the second most passing yards and most passing first downs this season, and their defensively weighted DVOA (which ranks newer games heavier) ranked 28th in the NFL. Batting above their weight, the Vikings won the NFC North weeks in advance, but this was never a championship contenders team. Ironically, these Vikings still need what they always needed: a third wide receiver and better cornerbacks.
Meanwhile, the Giants travel to Philadelphia for the divisional round where they take on the Eagles. For all the parallels to the Giants’ 2011 Super Bowl season, this run actually has more in common with 2007: That year, the Giants lost to Dallas twice and then beat the NFC East champion Cowboys in the divisional round when Dallas lost a bye. The Giants get the same chance next week in Philadelphia.
But no matter how this season ends, Jones will get paid. A four-year, $120 million deal with about a $70 million guarantee is probably the absolute bottom line. His real deal will likely be much bigger. But those details can wait. The Giants didn’t invest in Jones last year, but they won’t hesitate to do so now.
After the win, Jones spoke to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Jones took the time to deliver his typical milquetoast replies: He praised the defense and his offensive linemen but said there was more work to be done — blah blah blah. Then Jaylon Smith stopped the interview, threw an arm around Jones and looked straight into the camera.
“That’s my quarterback!” Smith yelled, turning to look Jones straight in the eye as a huge smile spread across his face. “That’s my quarterback!”
The Giants weren’t sure last year, but now they are.
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