Big players want the ball in big moments, and Saquon Barkley has said as much about himself.
It should be no surprise, then, that in the biggest moment of the Giants’ season – 4th and 2 at the Vikings’ 27-yard-line, 2:07 left, down 24-16 in a game where a win was likely to lock up a playoff berth – that the play was a handoff to Barkley, who rumbled almost untouched up the middle for a touchdown.
“I thought it was the best call for that situation. If it works, it’s a great call, and if it doesn’t, it’s not a good call,” an uncharacteristically blunt Brian Daboll said after the game.
Added Barkley: “We saw an inside zone and Jon (Feliciano) did a really good job identifying it and making the call, and the offensive line did a good job blocking up. I was able to get a seam and get one-on-one with the safety and I made him miss. The line did a good job all day, and that’s what happens when you lean on them; when you get the opportunities, you have to make them pay.”
One two-point conversion later it was 24-24, and Daniel Bellinger, who had fumbled earlier in the game in a spot where the Giants could’ve been in position for points, was the hero for the moment.
“That was a play designed to get out of the pocket and get everything flowing,” Daniel Jones said. “A lot of options and guys out in route, and Belly did a nice job finding space in the back of the end zone and made a nice catch.”
About 100 seconds later, the Giants had the Vikings in a 3rd and 11 at their own 41 with 19 seconds and no time outs left, one stop away from overtime and a chance at clinching a playoff berth. But those 19 game seconds brought a conversion, a spike, and a franchise record field goal, and the Giants, who almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, felt the chew of failure.
“You never feel good after a loss,” Daboll said, and Jones followed up with this: “It was a lot of back and forth; we executed well at times and moved the ball well, but stalled out in a couple key situations that we can’t afford to have happen. We did some things well, but not well enough to win.”
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The best way to win is minimize mistakes, and the second-best way is to overcome them – and that’s almost what Big Blue did, overcoming Daniel Jones’ first pick since Week 11 against Detroit, a brutal Richie James drop, and a blocked punt, all in the fourth quarter, to tie the game with two minutes left.
“Just a bad throw; threw it behind him,” Jones said of the pick, which came inside Minnesota’s 35 on a first down play. “Have to throw a better ball there. You want to understand what happened and communicate and make sure it doesn’t happen again, but you can’t let it affect your mindset and approach going forward, so we tried to stay aggressive.”
“A little behind him, but good play by (Patrick Peterson) there,” Daboll added. “He made a heck of a play, and another turnover in the fringe that takes away points.”
Minnesota turned it over on downs after the pick, James’ drop at least led to a field goal, and the Vikings scored a touchdown with the short field after the blocked punt – but the Giants survived anyway, Barkley’s TD and the two tying it 24-24 at the two-minute mark.
“In games like this against good teams, it comes down to three or four plays, and you have to make the big play at a critical point,” Jones said, “and in the end, we didn’t do that.”
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They didn’t, but still got to a point where they were 19 seconds from overtime. However, on the final drive, instead of trying to force Minnesota into the middle of the field, or overload for small gains, the Giants stuck with their blitz-heavy approach. It worked on the second-and-four play that forced Minnesota into the fateful third-and-11, but failed on both of the third downs the Vikings faced, as they converted a third-and-9 and third-and-11 both to Justin Jefferson, who was no match for the Giants’ undermanned secondary in man coverages.
“I thought Wink had a good plan and mixed it up,” was all a succinct Brian Daboll would say. “They made a couple good plays.”
That they did, with Jefferson’s two huge third-down conversions setting up the game-winning blast of a field goal.
“Justin Jefferson is an MVP candidate…in my eyes, he should be the MVP,” said Barkley, who has faced another top MVP candidate in Jalen Hurts twice this season.
All in all, the Giants are still 8-6-1, and with a win next week at home, will wrap up a playoff spot. They can also do that with two more losses by Detroit and Seattle, but just like they were on Saturday, the Giants are only concerned about handling their business and doing it their way.
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”We’re disappointed we lost for sure, and in terms of playoff position, our focus was on winning today, so that wasn’t really something we talked about,” Jones said. “Our focus was on winning and we didn’t do that; however anything affected our playoff outlook, that’s not something we were focused on.”
Although, Jones did say, to be able to clinch a playoff spot in front of the home fans at MetLife Stadium would make that sweet success a little sweeter.
“It’s a huge opportunity for us, so we’re looking forward to it, and we’ll do everything we can to prepare this week and get ready for a good opponent on Sunday,” he said. “We’ll regroup and see what we can do better, and look forward to playing better next week. We’re excited for the opportunity.”
Added Julian Love: "Any time you can control your own destiny it's great – two years ago, it wasn’t in our hands. We have to have a great week, get our bodies right, focus on the Colts, and capitalize."
And if there happens to be a playoff rematch between these two teams?
"It was a competitive game and they're a good team," said Bellinger, "so if we come back, we have to step it up and make plays when they need to be made."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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