New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones entered the NFL Playoffs viewed as a weak link for his team. Despite improving leaps and bounds in his fourth season with the Giants, no one really considered Jones a difference-maker.
After all, the former first-round pick threw for a mere 3,205 yards with 15 touchdowns in 16 regular-season starts. He led an offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in scoring and bottom seven in passing.
Heading into Sunday’s NFL Wild Card Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, it was all about running back Saquon Barkley and the Giants’ defense. Jones found himself as an afterthought.
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About that? A struggling Vikings defense found out first hand that Jones was out there to quiet critics. The young signal caller, making his first NFL Playoff start on the road, dominated the Vikings’ defense in the first half.
Jones completed 12-of-16 passes for 143 yards. That included a touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins.
Jones added a team-high 71 rushing yards on 10 attempts, including scrambling for a huge first down.
When all was said and done after the first 30 minutes, Jones had accounted for 214 total yards. That’s more than he had in seven regular-season games.
Daniel Jones and Co. took a 17-14 lead into halftime as the team looks to pull off a pretty big road upset inside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
A win here would set the stage for New York to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Divisional Playoffs.