File this under "Pinch me, I must be dreaming." The New York Giants went into Nashville yesterday to play the Tennessee Titans as five and a half point underdogs, and not only covered, but won.
In what had to be the most improbable ending to a Giants' game in years, Daniel Jones, with his team trailing 20-13 late in the fourth quarter, not only led his offense downfield, but when he connected with Chris Myarick for a touchdown with 1:06 left in regulation, his coach Brian Daboll, rather than kick the extra point for the tie, elected to go for two for the lead. And when Jones shoveled a pass to Saquon Barkley, who sidestepped a tackle to take it into the end zone, the Jints went ahead 21-20, and yours truly damn near pissed his pants, along with, dare I say, several million other stunned fans.
I'll be honest with you, I did not have this game as a win on the schedule. In fact, truth be told, I didn't have the Giants winning a single game this season against an opponent with a winning record. So much for my future as a prognosticator. I keep telling people to take what I say with a grain of salt. Who knew there'd be this much salt?
After a brutal first half in which Jones got sacked four times and, in customary fashion, fumbled the ball, the Titans led 13-0 going into the third quarter. That was when Barkley provided a blast from the past. He took a handoff from Jones at the Giants 10 yard line and after one deke, scampered down the sidelines to the Titan 22. Three plays later, Barkley ran it into the end zone from the four yard line. The extra point failed. 13-6 Tennessee.
After the Titans were forced to punt on their next possession, Jones, on second and 11 from his own 35, found Sterling Shepard all alone down field and threw a strike. The extra point was good and the score was tied at 13.
Even when Tennessee went ahead 20-13, the Giants would not give up. They recovered a muffed punt and had the ball deep in Titans territory. This was when history began to rear its ugly head. Jones badly misread the coverage on Barkley and his pass was picked off in the end zone.
End of story, end of game. Same old Giants; another valiant effort down the drain. Oh, well, maybe they'll regroup and beat the Panthers at MetLife next week. What ya gonna do, right?
Except Daboll wasn't having any of it. Visibly upset, he went over to his quarterback on the bench and gave him a piece of his mind. From what viewers could make out it was pretty much a one-way conversation. Daboll did the talking, Jones did the listening.
And it seemed to work. On the Titans next possession they were forced to punt when, for some strange reason on third and one from their 41, head coach Mike Vrabel elected not to go with Derrick Henry for what certainly would've been a first down, but instead went with tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo on a sweep around left tackle that resulted in a four-yard loss.
This time Jones did not look the gift horse in the mouth. This time he came through. With Barkley doing most of the heavy lifting, the Giants snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Daboll, when given a choice between settling for a potential tie or a potential win, chose the latter.
It was the ballsiest move I've seen from a Giants head coach since the heyday of the Tom Coughlin era. But even with all that, it still came down to a missed 47 yard field goal attempt by Randy Bullock with four seconds left to preserve the win.
I'm not being pollyanna here when I say this might be the most important win this franchise has had in a very long time. In fact, this is the first time since 2016 - six years! - they've opened the season with a win. That year, the Giants started 2-0 on their way to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth.
We shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves here. That team had the number two rated defense in the NFL and two-time Super Bowl winner Eli Manning; this team was forced to make cuts to the defense just to get under the salary cap and, let's face it, the jury's still out on Danny Dimes. Based on how efficient Ryan Tannehill was throwing against this secondary (20-33, 266 yards and 2 TD), and how mistake prone Jones still is, I wouldn't go pre-ordering those postseason tickets just yet.
But the lift these players got from their head coach will do wonders for their confidence. After four years of Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge collectively shitting the bed, Daboll's gutsy move was the perfect tonic for what ailed this team.
And for a fanbase that's been desperately searching for something, anything it can hang its cap on, it was a signal that perhaps those dark days of the past might soon be over.
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