For Giants to win, Daniel Jones has to be close to perfect
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones walks to the sideline after throwing an interception during the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
MINNEAPOLIS
Daniel Jones performed like a playoff-caliber quarterback on just about every snap in the Giants' 27-24 loss to the Vikings on Saturday.
The one on which he didn’t is the reason he isn’t. At least not yet.
His stellar performance, which helped the Giants overcome a two-score deficit in the first half and roar back to tie it with 2:01 remaining, was overshadowed by one errant throw. With the Vikings leading 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, on first-and-10 from the Minnesota 32, Jones fired a crossing pass to Isaiah Hodgins that was just a few inches behind its target and was picked off at the Vikings' 18 by Patrick Peterson.
Hodgins might have been able to get to the ball, but Peterson undercut him. Having a potential Hall of Famer covering a receiver who was claimed off waivers last month will lead to that.
That was just one of the miscues by the Giants that led to the loss on a last-second 61-yard field goal. There were others — a dropped pass by Richie James, a fumble by Daniel Bellinger after a 16-yard reception to the Vikings' 23, a blocked punt that led to a late Vikings touchdown. There also was some bad luck, including the bobble that overturned Cor’Dale Flott’s would-be interception upon review early in a drive that resulted in a Vikings touchdown.
But those were gaffes by players the Giants don’t expect to be perfect. They’re supporting players, most of whom wouldn’t even be on the field if not for the injuries that have ravaged the roster.
Jones, though? The Giants need him to be flawless if they are going to win. That goes for Saturday’s game, any playoff games that may be in their still- promising future for this season, and, if he sticks around, moving forward.
Whether or not he can be that, and how consistently he can do so, is what the Giants will be trying to assess when this ride is over and the offseason decisions begin.
Jones completed 30 of 42 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown and threw a two-point conversion pass to Bellinger that tied the score at 24 with 2:01 remaining. In a season in which long gains have been hard to find, he completed three passes for 29 yards or more. He also ran four times for 34 yards. Those were some of his best raw numbers of the season.
But Brian Daboll wasn’t in the mood to be glossing over Jones’ one little mistake, if that gives any hints to the pending discussions.
“I thought he did some good things,” Daboll said, “but like all of us, we didn’t do enough to win.”
Of the interception, Daboll said: “That was another turnover on the fringe that takes away points.”
Off the scoreboard and maybe off Jones’ ledger. The staff and front office soon will be tallying that up.
Maybe one day the Giants will have the kind of team that can overcome such mistakes and still win. They certainly are close to it now. But they are not there yet.
“If we didn’t turn the ball over, I mean, we didn’t play our best game and they needed to knock a 61-yard field goal to win,” center Jon Feliciano said. “I think it is kind of obvious that if we played better, we probably win that game.”
Maybe that’s the lesson from Saturday, a reinforcement of the significance of every single snap.
“In games like this against a good team, those three or four plays, you have to make them,” Jones said. “You have to be able to make the big play at the perfect point in the game. We didn’t do that [Saturday]. We did do a lot of things well, we moved the ball well, but it was not enough.”
The loss certainly took some of the tinsel off the team’s holiday weekend, but the Giants will have another occasion to try to celebrate reaching the playoffs. If they beat the Colts (4-9-1) at home next Sunday at MetLife Stadium, they will clinch a berth. Even if they lose, there are other scenarios with other teams losing that could get them in, but the most satisfying path clearly would be to end their home schedule knowing there will be games beyond the regular season.
“That’s a huge opportunity for us,” Jones said. “We’re looking forward to it. We’ll do everything we can to prepare as well as we can this week and get ready for a good opponent. Get the most out of each day so that we are as prepared as we can be and cut it loose on Sunday.”
Beating the Colts to make a statement about the rebirth of a franchise in the right direction on Jan. 1? That would be perfect.
But Jones may have to be, too, in order to get it done.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
