The Giants were viewed as underdogs as they traveled to face the Minnesota Vikings during the NFL’s Wild Card weekend. They didn’t look like underdogs one bit throughout the duration of this game, though. A lot of that had to do with how quarterback Daniel Jones played.
The fourth-year signal-caller was partaking in his first career playoff game, but he made it look like this is an environment he plays in annually. Jones led the Giants to their first postseason victory in more than a decade, and his play was just about immaculate.
Jones completed 24-of-35 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. He was also New York’s leading rusher with 78 yards on the ground. His quarterback rating checked in at 114.1. This was his best overall performance of the year, and it’s one we never saw from a quarterback in the NFL Playoffs…until Sunday.
The first QB in NFL history with 300+ pass yards, 2+ pass TD & 70+ rush yards in a single playoff game.@Daniel_Jones10 is that dude. pic.twitter.com/3d8OxTV86n
— NFL (@NFL) January 16, 2023
Whether it’s the Giants or another team, Jones’ breakout year has all but solidified the fact that he’s going to get paid handsomely this offseason. Each solid performance from here just raises the bar a little more. Especially when it includes making some history. The debate involving Jones has evolved from wondering if he’s worthy of being a starting NFL quarterback at all to discussing whether or not he’s elite. Boy, oh boy, how things change.
Running back Saquon Barkley has seen enough, though. First, it was he who revealed the “Vanilla Vick” nickname, and now he’s proclaiming that his quarterback is indeed elite:
Saquon Barkley on Daniel Jones: "I know we have an elite quarterback. He’s shown that multiple times. We’ve also got amazing players around him, too. So we got his back no matter what."
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 16, 2023
Is this going to drag on like the “Is Joe Flacco elite?” debate? Who the heck knows at this point. Either way, he’s proven himself worthy of leading the Giants’ offense into the near future. He also just cemented himself in the NFL’s record books with what he did on Sunday.
If he can secure another upset in Philadelphia against the Eagles this weekend, it’ll just add fuel to the fire for this discussion. That’ll be OK with Giants fans, I think.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
