National Football League

Daniel Jones plays like franchise QB in Giants' upset of Vikings

Updated Jan. 16, 2023 1:07 a.m. ET

The New York Giants always believed Daniel Jones was "good." What they didn’t know — what they couldn’t know — was whether he was good enough.

On Sunday, after four years of uncertainty, they needed their franchise quarterback to be good enough to win in the playoffs, to carry them when necessary. Not every QB can.

Consider that just the latest in a string of questions Jones has answered late in this season — a season that was all about determining if he really was New York's quarterback of the future. Yes, he was good enough to win in his postseason debut, even carrying the Giants to their first playoff victory in 11 years.

In fact, Jones was more than good against the Vikings. He was great.

"I would say I’m impressed, but I’m not shocked," Giants running back Saquon Barkley said after Jones led the Giants to a 31-24 victory at Minnesota in the wild-card round. "He’s been doing it all year, man. He’s a special player."

"Daniel Jones played the game of his life"

Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen talk about the amazing game the Giants got from their big players, including Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.

Actually, the 24-year-old Jones had never done it quite like this at any point during his up-and-down career. He completed 24 of 35 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings, and he kept the defense off balance by running a career-high 17 times for 78 yards, too (though the last three runs were victory formation kneels).

Jones showed a remarkable knack for knowing when to go and when to throw. He never missed when one of his unheralded receivers got open. And when they didn’t, Jones hit them with bullets, giving them a chance to make catches even when defenders were on their backs.

Most importantly, he did what franchise quarterbacks are supposed to do — he led the Giants and their usually anemic offense to four touchdowns and a field goal on seven drives. And he should have had more than that. Jones ran for a touchdown on the field-goal drive, only to see it wiped out by an illegal shift penalty on rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger.

On the Giants’ penultimate drive — the one before they got into victory formation —they punted only because of Darius Slayton’s terrible third-down drop.

"He played good," Giants coach Brian Daboll said of Jones in his typically understated way. "Yeah, he played good. Winning football."

Told that maybe he was underselling his quarterback’s performance just a bit, Daboll said, "Isn’t ‘good’ a good adjective to use?"

"I’m not a writer. I’m just a coach," he added. "I’ve said it all year, Daniel’s been good for us. He continues to be good for us. He played a good game. I‘m proud of him."

Much as Daboll wanted to paint this as business as usual for Jones, it really was anything but. He has definitely played better than normal over his past few games — most notably his 334-yard passing performance at Minnesota on Christmas Eve. But he has never quite been this dangerous and productive as a two-way threat. He ran for 91 yards in a win over the Colts two weeks ago, but only passed for 177. In fact, since Thanksgiving, he only has topped 200 passing yards once and 70 rushing yards twice.

Yet in the biggest game of Jones' career, Daboll decided to put the ball in the hands of his franchise quarterback — the one whom the Giants are expected to sign to an enormous contract sometime in the next few months. Barkley, who probably figured to be New York's go-to player this weekend, had a heck of a game, too, with 109 total yards. But he was only asked to run nine times and was only targeted on six passes.

Barkley was only a supporting player Sunday. Jones was the lead. This game, both by design and by his performance, belonged to him. And he did what great quarterbacks do. He even led the Giants to a fourth-quarter touchdown, putting them in the lead for good, completing four big passes of 10 yards or more on the drive and picking up a first down on a gutsy, fourth-and-1 sneak from the Minnesota 7.

He did it all.

"Oh, man, he was awesome," receiver Isaiah Hodgins said. "He led us. He’s the field general. I’m just happy to be a part of this club."

"He played great," edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux added. "He never flinched."

The truth, as Daboll tried to point out, is Jones isn’t the only one who didn’t flinch. The Giants offensive line was terrific, giving Jones all the time and holes he needed to run the offense. Hodgins, the most unheralded of the Giants’ unheralded receivers, had eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

The Giants defense turned All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson into a bystander, with seven catches for just 47 yards, and stopped the Vikings on two key drives in the final six-and-a-half minutes to put the game away.

This whole team of overachievers came together and gave their best performance of the season, setting up a rematch in the divisional round next Saturday in Philadelphia, against an Eagles team that has already beaten New York twice. All the Giants deserve plenty of credit for even getting to this point, and they all helped with Sunday's victory.

But this is still a quarterback-driven league. And Jones showed what the Giants are capable of when they get a special performance from their signal-caller.

"I think we’ve had some of our better games recently," Jones said. "We’ve found some stuff that works for us. We’ll keep doing it."

Or at least they’ll try. It won’t be easy against an Eagles defense that ranked third overall, leading the league with an absurd 70 sacks. Jones faced them once this season, a 48-22 loss on Dec. 11. He threw for 169 yards and ran for 26.

So, who knows if this game against the Vikings was the start of something big for Jones? Maybe it’ll kick off a magical, unexpected run through the playoffs. Or maybe it’s just a sign that he has the poise and ability to do it again later in his career.

But at least now the Giants know he can do it, that they can lean on him in a big moment, that he can carry them on a big stage. A team can’t become a real Super Bowl contender without a quarterback who can do that.

And knowing they have it isn’t just a good feeling for the Giants. It’s the best feeling a franchise can have.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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