On Sunday, the New York Giants(1-1) went into halftime trailing the Arizona Cardinals(0-2) 20-0. At that point, it appeared that the Giants were on their way to falling to 0-2.
The Giants, who were routed by the Cowboys 40-0 in Week 1, were the first team to surrender at least 60 points in a season before scoring since 1978.
However, the second half was a much different story for the Giants. New York trailed 28-7 in the third quarter, but they would score 24 straight points and take the lead on a Graham Gano 34-yard field goal as they defeated Arizona 31-28 at State Farm Stadium.
The last time New York came back from a 21-point deficit was in 1949.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and the offense struggled mightily in the first half. The team had zero points and had only 81 yards of total yards.
However, n the second half, Jones woke up. He completed 17/21 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, he scored a touchdown on the ground. Jones ended the night completing 26/37 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception(first half). He also added 59 yards on the ground.
The Giants finished the game with 439 total yards, the second-highest total of the 21-game Brian Daboll era and the most they’ve had in a victory.
Daboll was happy with how Jones finished the game.
“Yeah, I thought he finished strong,” Daboll said. “Played a really good second half. We had a couple of things that we could have improved on in the first half, (we) talked about those. But he is a resilient young man who went out there and played well along with, I’d say, a number of people.”
Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard was also impressed by Jones’ resiliency.
“It’s resiliency,” Shepard said. “It’s something that we talk about all the time too. Those are two guys that are very competitive and want to win, and they play with a lot of heart and passion. That’s exactly what was just played.”
Jones, who improved to 8-1-1 in his last ten games following a loss (since Week 7, 2021), felt the team needed to execute better in the second half, which they did.
“I think it’s about execution, and you can’t really afford to think about any of that or get emotional or think about anything outside of what your job is, and that’s to execute and focus on one play at a time and being right there in that play and making sure you’re taking advantage of it and making good decisions, giving guys chances to make plays. That was my focus, and I thought we did that well as a team.”
New York avoided disaster on Sunday. This would have been a terrible loss but credit to Jones and the rest of this team for getting things right in the second half.
Saquon Barkley:
Barkley led the Giants with 63 rushing yards on 17 carries, including a one-yard touchdown run, and tied with Darren Waller for the team lead with six receptions (for 29 yards, including a nine-yard score).
However, late in the game, Barkley injured his right ankle. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Barkley is scheduled to undergo an MRI on the ankle Monday in Arizona to determine the severity of his injury and how much time he could miss.
