Daniel Jones leads Giants to 21-point comeback win over Cardinals
Daniel Jones #8 of the Giants runs the ball during the fourth quarter in the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on September 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. Credit: Getty Images/Norm Hall
GLENDALE, Ariz. — When Graham Gano’s 34-yard field goal sailed through the uprights with 19 seconds remaining at State Farm Stadium on Sunday evening, the Giants claimed a 31-28 victory over the Cardinals that seemed incredible . . . almost impossible.
It must have been a heck of a halftime speech by coach Brian Daboll.
For much of the game, the Giants looked lethargic and were outplayed by the Cardinals. They trailed 20-0 at halftime and, at that point, had been outscored 60-0 this season.
And they were being outplayed by a Cardinals team that is rebuilding.
There was nothing good about that, especially when you consider the 49ers are on deck on Thursday night.
Somehow, some way, however, the Giants put it together.
The postgame locker room featured more relief than celebration.
“Every game is different. You have to fight through adversity,” Daboll said. “Tonight was a good example of that. [The players] did their job in the second half, did the job on third down, hit some explosive plays, made some timely stops late in the game, made a winning field goal. Played much better, coached much better in the second half.”
He paused.
“Hope they all don’t start out 20-0.”
The Giants had lost to the Cowboys, 40-0, at MetLife Stadium in Week 1. This time, against a lesser opponent, they scored 14 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth, with Jones running for one touchdown and passing for two. He threw for 259 of his 321 yards in the second half.
The biggest drive of the night started 19 seconds into the fourth quarter. With the Giants trailing 28-14, Jones found Darren Waller for 25 yards, which qualified as a confidence-builder. On third-and-1, Jones scrambled for a first down. Then he found Waller again for 14 yards.
At this point, the Giants started to hum.
On a 13-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 5:50, the Giants got a 9-yard touchdown reception from Saquon Barkley, who later left the game with what appeared to be an ankle injury. That made it 28-21.
A deep ball to Jalin Hyatt, whose star is rising, went for 31 yards, and soon enough, the Giants were in the red zone again.
“We definitely wanted to get something going after that first half that we had,” Hyatt said. “[Jones] trusted me, Dabes trusted me and I just wanted to go out there and make a play. [To get another catch] down the stretch, I felt this game kind of brought my confidence back from where it was when I was in [college] at Tennessee. I want to make those plays because they trusted me.”
Isaiah Hodgins caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jones to tie the score at 28 with 4:25 to play.
Hodgins gave Jones the credit for the perfect pass.
“He’s confident in himself,” the receiver said. “He’s confident because he prepares his [butt] off the whole week. He’s one of the hardest workers. He’s always talking to the wide receivers. Before that catch, he’s looking and saying ‘be ready.’ He knew what was coming [defensively] because he’s always working.”
Daboll seemed to imply after the game that he wanted to see the ball in the hands of the Giants’ playmakers more often.
“I’m proud of how resilient the guys were,” he said. “They didn’t focus on the scoreboard. That’s hard to do. Hyatt made some plays for us, Waller, and obviously Daniel.”
Hyatt’s speed — and his two catches for 89 yards — were pivotal in the game.
The Giants dialed up a big play for the rookie on the first play of the third quarter. It went for 58 yards, and two plays later, Jones scored on a 14-yard run to slice the deficit to 20-7.
“Just a play that we’ve repped over and over in practice and that we prepared for. It wasn’t the [focal point] of the play, but you have to be ready for everything,” Hyatt said. “We got the look we wanted, [offensive coordinator Mike Kafka] dialed it up and we executed.”
The Giants wound up earning a win they probably shouldn’t have.
“Last week disappointing and the first half today was disappointing,” receiver Darius Slayton said. “We had to get out of it. I’m just proud of [Jones] and proud of our guys for how we came out in the second half. We didn’t do a good enough job in the first half.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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