Folks, it’s good to be a Giants fan right now. New York’s Week 18 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles technically doesn’t matter for them, but for the best of reasons. Big Blue is already locked into the NFC’s sixth seed for the playoffs. Quarterback Daniel Jones and his on-the-field growth have been a huge reason why.
Will the signal-caller play on Sunday to help New York break its decade-long losing streak at Lincoln Financial Field? That’s not looking likely, and it’s not surprising. He and running back Saquon Barkley are two of the Giants’ most important players on offense. They need to be rested, healthy, and ready for Wild Card weekend.
It’s been a banner year for Jones. Things got started with general manager Joe Schoen not exercising the fifth-year option in his rookie contract. And now? Well, New York is interested in bringing him back on a multi-year deal. The signal-caller has established new single-season career-high marks in many areas in 2022. He’s also on the verge of etching his name in Giants QB record books in the following areas:
In addition to establishing new career-highs in passing yards (3,205) & passer rating (92.5), Daniel Jones is on the verge of setting numerous Giants single-season QB records:
67.2 completion %
1.06 interception % (No. 1 in the NFL)
708 rushing yards
7 rushing TDs pic.twitter.com/Mj4adFHkb2— Matt Citak (@MattCitak) January 6, 2023
Even though the wording we’ve been using is “on the verge”, Jones can set records in each of these four categories without stepping on the field at all on Sunday.
Jones’ 67.2% completion rate is just ahead of Eli Manning’s 66.0% rate, which he accomplished in 2018. That NFL-leading 1.06% interception rate is also slightly ahead of Phil Simms’ 1.3% rate, which he did in 1993.
When it comes to the rushing numbers, he’s already first in Giants QB history. Those 708 rushing yards handily beat his own 423 yards in 2020. The closest signal-caller to the 25-year-old in rushing touchdowns is Charlie Conerly. He scored five times in 1948.
Many players enter the final week of play with single-season records within sight. But for Jones, he’s already done what’s necessary to be atop the franchise leaderboard in multiple categories. All that has to happen on Sunday is for the clock to run out. Then he gets an opportunity to do something nobody expected at the start of this year: play in the playoffs for the first time.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
