Once again the New York Giants showed their resiliency in overcoming a 10-point 4th quarter deficit and rallying to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 24-20 in front of a packed house at MetLife Stadium. It was the third time this season New York overcame a double-digit deficit and found a way to win.
Following a Lamar Jackson 12-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews to put the Ravens ahead 20-10 with just 12:54 remaining in the game, the situation looked bleak for Big Blue. But as Brian Daboll’s team has done all year, they made plays when it mattered most.
On the drive following Andrews’ touchdown, the Giants went on a 12-play 75-yard drive that culminated in a Daniel Jones eight-yard touchdown to Daniel Bellinger to make the score 20-17 with 6:01 left in the game. This set up the stage for New York’s defense to make a stand and get the ball back to their offense.
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New York Giants’ defense played its best when it mattered most
The Giants’ defense struggled for most of the afternoon as they surrendered 406 yards of offense, including 211 yards on the ground. But in playing inspired by their defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who spent the previous 10 seasons with the Ravens, New York’s defense made its biggest play of the year.
Facing a third and 5 from their own 40-yard line, with 3:04 remaining in the game, Jackson was unable to field a shotgun snap and had to run back to retrieve the ball at the 27-yard line. As he was being pursued by Xavier McKinney, Jackson frantically threw a pass in the direction of Patrick Richard, but the pass was intercepted by Julian Love at the 40-yard line and he weaved his way down all the way to the Ravens’ 13-yard line.
It was New York’s first interception of the season and couldn’t have come at a better time.
Then three plays later, following a pass interference penalty in the end zone on Marcus Peters, Saquon Barkley scored on a 1-yard plunge to give New York its first lead of the game with just 1:43 remaining. Anytime you’re facing a Lamar Jackson-led offense, a minute and 43 seconds seem like an eternity, especially with Baltimore having all three of their timeouts remaining.
But Kayvon Thibodeaux would make the biggest play of his career as he stripped-sacked Jackson on second down, and the ball was recovered by Leonard Williams at the Baltimore 17-yard line. It was the first sack of the fifth-overall pick’s career. Now, all New York had to do to seal the win was pick up one more first down. They would achieve this thanks to their superstar running back.
After gaining five yards on first down, Barkley broke free down the right sideline and could have scored but did the smart football play and slid down in bounds at the two-yard line to secure the Giants’ fifth win of the season.
Daboll has his team prepared for every situation
Following the game, Brian Daboll was asked if Barkley sliding down was something that they prepare for, or if he did it on his own.
“No. We prepare for it. We communicated it after the turnover, one first down. We didn’t need any more points. We just ended by kneeling on it, so (offensive coordinator Mike) Kafka and (Director of Football Data & Innovation) Ty (Siam) and (Offensive Assistant/Game Manager) Cade (Knox) do a good job with that.”
-Brian Daboll after Week 6 win
If you just looked at the box score, this was a game the Giants had no business winning. They were outgained 406 to 238, and they gave up 211 rushing yards. But as we know, there’s more to winning than statistics, and Daboll has his team believing in themselves which is a big reason why New York is 5-1 for the first time since 2009.
Earlier in the year, people were knocking the Giants because they lacked a “quality win”. But after beating the Packers and Ravens in consecutive weeks, there’s no denying that this team is legit.
Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells once said “You are what your record says you are.” Well, the Giants are 5-1 which speaks volumes for how far this team has come under their rookie head coach.