A Big Blue Upset in Minnesota by Hank Indictor
How does it feel to wake up in the morning, knowing there is another week of football to play for our beloved New York Football Giants? Imagine someone turned back time, hopped into the Wayback Machine, and transported to the day of the infamous QB Sneak on 3rd-and-9 to tell me that things would be different at this time next year.
And when you put it all together (by this I mean the litany of embarrassing moments over the previous decade) it is crazy to fathom the quick turnaround of the New York Giants and that’s what makes this playoff win feel special. No matter what happens in Philadelphia on Saturday, that will probably still be the case, but first, let's digest this big win!
Coming into this game, I was more relaxed than usual. Now, why is that you might ask? Well, let’s remember the level of expectations the Giants had, which were very low compared to that of the Minnesota Vikings, who had already experienced their fair share of playoff disappointments and the narratives about Kirk Cousins. Somehow Minnesota’s opening drive touchdown did little to shake me. After all, we knew going into this game that Minnesota’s defense was flawed.
But from the minute the Giants' offense stepped onto the field was when Daniel Jones put on his superman suit. It was here that Daniel Jones had a big first-down pass to Darius Slayton sandwiched in between some big runs that put Saquon Barkley in position to run for a 28-yard touchdown that evened the score.
But it was on the Vikings' ensuing drive that the game truly changed. In one of the few moments where the Giants' defense was able to force a 3-and-out, the Vikings faced a 3rd-and-1 at their 34-yard line. Rather than simply run the ball, Minnesota attempted a sweep to Justin Jefferson that the Giants stopped with ease. Who knows what happens if the Vikings hadn’t tried to get too fancy? Chances are it leads to them scoring. Certainly, the defense would’ve been stuck on the field for an extended time, but what we do know is that the Giants did what good teams do and took advantage of their golden opportunity.
Daniel Jones would throw a dart to Darius Slayton, the second big play for the latter, who proceeded to run about 40 yards deep into Vikings territory, setting up Daniel Jones to give the Giants the lead with a touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins, one of the unsung heroes of the Giants since Joe Schoen picked him up from his Buffalo Bills well. It should be noted that Andrew Thomas might’ve gotten away with a false start penalty, but considering the bad calls that have happened over the years, I ain’t apologizing!
The Giants' next drive after forcing a punt was also huge all things considered. Sure they weren’t able to score a TD (a subsequent score by Daniel Jones was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty), but Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka called a lot of good plays that caught the Vikings' defense off guard while utilizing the weapon of Daniel Jones’s running ability (though I would’ve also liked to see more runs from Saquon Barkley). And even if they could only settle for a field goal, the Giants chewed up nearly 11 minutes off the clock on this drive! And although Minnesota would inch closer with a touchdown to make it a three-point game, the Giants still entered the second half in solid shape knowing they’d get the ball at the start.
Sure enough, Daniel Jones continued to be a surgeon at the start of the second half, creating big plays where Jones, throwing short passes to Saquon Barkley and Isaiah Hodgins, got them into the red zone. There, a wide-open Daniel Bellinger caught the Giants' third TD of the game to put the Giants up 24-14.
But as any Giants fan knows, these games are rarely easy. After all, not only would the Vikings tie the game on their next two drives, with a touchdown and a field goal respectively, but the Giants' defense struggled to contain tight end T.J. Hockenson. In one of the countless instances where the Giants struggled to cover TEs, Hockenson had 10 catches for 129 yards on the day, and all of his biggest plays seemed to come on the Vikings' scoring drives.
With 12:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Giants would get the ball back, and once again, Daniel Jones would lead a big drive down the field. But the key decision came when they faced fourth-and-1 at the Vikings 7. There was never a doubt Daboll was going to go for it at this critical juncture of the game. In all likelihood, field goals won’t win you playoff games, so Jones QB sneaked his way to a first down, which led to Saquon Barkley punching it in the end zone to give the Giants a big 7-point lead!
Of course, this wasn’t the end, not by a long shot. The defense forced a 3-and-out, but when the Giants attempted to sustain a clock-killing drive, disaster struck. With 3:07 remaining and facing a 3rd-and-15 in Vikings territory, Jones threw a pass that Slayton dropped, resulting in just the Giants' second punt of the game.
Even with the drop though, this was another moment where Daboll did some of his best coachings. During this drive, the Giants continued to execute runs that milked some clock and got the Vikings to burn all their timeouts. In addition, when Slayton came back to the sideline expecting to be ripped, all Daboll did was console him and give him words of encouragement. This may have inspired the team to follow the coach's lead and not let a bad moment deter the team. After all, let's not forget that Slayton took a pay cut when it seemed like he would be cut before the season, and not to mention we should be very thankful to now have a coach who understands the human element of the game just as much as the Xs and Os. And of course, if we look at the big picture, Slayton’s four catches on the day resulted in 88 yards -- the 47-yarder being a game-changer.
Doomsday seemed more eminent when Dexter Lawrence got called for a roughing-the-passer penalty -- if by roughing-the-passer, you mean a defensive tackle doing what he’s getting paid to do by putting pressure on the QB. Hockenson had one more first-down reception, but that was as close as the Vikings would come. The Giants put the Vikings in a 4th-and-8 situation, where, inexplicably, Kirk Cousins attempted a short check down and that was all she wrote! The Giants win 31-24!!!!
Up next: A trip to Philadelphia to face a hated division rival. This place has been symbolic of pain over the years. The Eagles have had a great season going 14-3, yet they’ve stumbled a bit later on. Both of our regular season matchups with them didn’t end well, with yours truly sitting in some unpleasant weather to watch a blowout loss. But that was then and this is now!
It’s not very easy to beat the same opponent three times; a Giants upset isn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility. The Eagles, however, are also the No. 1 seed for a reason, so it will be a much more difficult task to beat them. But let's not forget the situation of 2008, where it was the Giants who had a great regular season but were one-and-done by Philly (a Wild Card team) that almost reached the Super Bowl. Oh, how sweet revenge would be.
Regardless this season has been a hell of a ride, Let’s Go Big Blue!!!!