Daniel Jones answers the critics while leading Giants to upset win

NEW ORLEANS — If this indeed is a make-or-break year for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, he has answered in the affirmative that he can be on the "make" side of the ledger.

In Sunday’s 27-21 overtime win over the Saints at the Superdome, the

third-year quarterback threw for a career-high 402 yards, had two touchdown passes and looked as authoritative with the offense as he has at any time in his Giants career.

Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett had been criticized for being too timid in his play-calling with Jones, but this time Garrett had him throw down the field repeatedly — and the receivers responded in kind.

There was a 52-yard touchdown pass to John Ross in the second quarter on a deep post, a perfectly thrown ball that Ross turned into the team’s first score. There were several nice throws to Kenny Golladay, who had six catches for 116 yards. And a half-dozen more to rookie Kadarius Toney, who had 78 receiving yards. And a 54-yard touchdown pass to running back Saquon Barkley, who split out wide on a key play in the fourth quarter and hauled in a pass that jump-started the offense and fueled an 11-point comeback to send the game into overtime.

"I thought he handled a lot of things very well," coach Joe Judge said of Jones. "He did a really good job with the players throughout the week. He was able to make some big throws. He made good, accurate throws. You see the way he works. The performance keeps on coming."

Jones had one interception, but it was hardly a mistake. On his final throw of the first half — a desperation heave toward the end zone — the ball was picked off near the Giants’ goal line. Other than that, his ledger was almost spotless: 28-for-40 and a 108.5 rating. That’s the highest rating since the next-to-last game of his rookie season.

"It felt great," Jones said. "This team, everyone’s been battling, and we haven’t gotten the results [until now]. Hopefully we can build off it. That’s the goal, to use the momentum as we prepare for next week [at Dallas]."

Jones wasn’t surprised by the performance; he’d seen bits and pieces of a functioning offense despite starting the season 0-3.

"We’ve shown glimpses of what we can be as an offense," he said. "It wasn’t perfect. There are things we have to do better. But we have the potential to make a lot of plays. It’s about trusting what we do, staying true to that, knowing that someone is going to step up and make a play."

Jones spread the ball around quite well against the Saints, completing passes to seven different receivers and answering the critics along the way.

"He showed ’em," Barkley said. "Every single day since he’s been drafted, he’s been criticized. He does nothing but come in to work. We knew he was a special player."

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”