For a hot minute, it looked like same old Giants in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win in Tennessee.
Big Blue got a break when Tennessee muffed a punt and the Giants recovered in the red zone, but after two short runs, Daniel Jones threw an interception in the end zone, a pass intended for Saquon Barkley picked off when Amani Hooker easily undercut the route.
“Just a poor decision. Certainly a play to take advantage of (Barkley) and try to get him the ball, but I've got to make a better decision there and make sure we keep points,” Jones said after the game.
It looked like head coach Brian Daboll got heated with Jones in their conversation on the bench following the pick, with Jones clearly being seen talking about “back shoulder,” but neither coach nor QB said the convo was as heated as it looked.
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“I wasn't talking to Daniel, I was talking on the headset to some of the coaches, but I just said, ‘What did you see?’” Daboll said. “He thought he could potentially back shoulder it, and I said, 'That's not what I saw, but you got the ball in your hands, so you're going to get the ball back at some point. Our defense is going to get it to you. Let's drive down and get it again.'”
“I was just talking through the decision there. Obviously one I'd like to have back and a costly mistake down there,” Jones added. “I think he was just communicating that, and you've got to take advantage of those opportunities when we have points, and we'll definitely look to clean that up.”
All is well that ends well, as Jones did indeed get the ball back, and drove Big Blue all the way down for the touchdown and two-point conversion that ended up winning the game.
“Resilient. He doesn't flinch one bit in the huddle,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said of Jones.
And, that drive included a huge fourth-down conversion, where Jones got two yards on a fourth-and-1 bootleg at the Tennessee 17 just after the two minute warning, a play that could’ve ended the game if they didn’t execute but kept the drive and the hope alive.
“Yeah, that was a good call. Obviously, they're expecting a downhill run and I thought it was a great call there on fourth-and-one. Gave us a chance to convert and then ultimately go down and score,” Jones said.
And a few minutes later, when Randy Bullock’s field goal attempt was no good, head coach and quarterback embraced, the first of hopefully many wins this season for the duo.
“It was an exciting one for us to kind of come back there at the end of the game. It wasn't perfect, the first half wasn't great, so to stick with it, fight down the stretch and come out on top was exciting for us,” Jones said. “We've played a lot of close games these past few years, so it feels good to finish one, to come out on top and be able to celebrate in the locker room.”
Added Daboll: “All the credit goes to our players and the coaches for fighting and competing for 60 minutes. It's important to get a win, but I really appreciate those guys for the work they've put in since we've got here. Now we're trying to build something. We're a long way away, but it was nice to get the first W.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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