Landon Collins' pick-6 in Giants' win over Colts is throwback to 2016

It was a throwback Sunday at MetLife Stadium, from Lawrence Taylor ringing the ceremonial kickoff bell to a big, noisy crowd that came to see a playoff berth secured.

So why not have one of the game’s biggest, most dramatic plays made by a guy best known for what he did the last time the Giants made the playoffs — in 2016?

Then, Landon Collins was an All-Pro safety on a team that went 11-5 before losing to the Packers in the wild-card round.

Now he is a guy who signed off the NFL scrap heap in October, landed on the practice squad, played in a couple of games, then returned to the practice squad before getting the call to stay before the Dec. 18 game against Washington.

Then came Sunday, and a 38-10 blowout of the Colts that earned the Giants a playoff invitation.

The Giants were ahead 14-3 late in the first half when Collins stepped in front of a pass from Nick Foles to Parris Campbell, intercepted it and ran it back 52 yards down the left sideline.

His second career interception return for a touchdown — and his first since 2016 — made it 21-3 and ended any reasonable doubt about the outcome.

Collins said the pick was so easy that the biggest challenge was waiting for the ball to arrive. He said he had studied that Colts play at least six times during the week.

“I saw No. 1 [Campbell] breaking out,” Collins said. “I had the flat and just broke underneath it and took it to the house.”

How did that feel?

“It felt awesome; it felt beautiful,” he said. “I didn’t hear the fans, but I was like, ‘I’m not getting caught. I’m getting this touchdown.’ ”

Collins, 28, wanted to stay with the Giants as a free agent after the 2018 season, but Washington signed him away with a six-year, $84 million deal.

His stay there was hampered by injuries, and the Commanders let him go in March. He signed with the Giants on Oct. 6 and joined their practice squad, preparing for a role as a dime linebacker and reserve safety.

He dressed for games on Oct. 23 and 30, then not again for five games, then was signed to the active roster before the Dec. 18 game against the Commanders.

There were times during that month on ice that Collins got frustrated, and he admitted the idea “snuck in” that he no longer wanted to be here at all.

But he said the support and encouragement of teammates got him through. The most important voice was that of safety Tony Jefferson.

“He just said, ‘Hey, just play the role; it’s going to happen,’ ” Collins said.

It did on Sunday.

Asked how the big play compared with some of his earlier career exploits as a three-time Pro Bowler, he said he preferred to stay in the moment.

“Honestly, I’m just glad to be back, getting this opportunity to showcase my skills, to show that I’ve still got it, that I can still do what I can do and be a playmaker,” he said.

Teammate Dexter Lawrence said: “It’s unselfishness. It’s playing for more than ourselves. For a guy just to sit for a lot of weeks and be out and then come in the past few weeks and make some big plays, it just shows that he cares. He cares for us, he cares about the game, and it’s a lot of respect to that.”

Collins, the only currently active Giant who played for that 2016 team, did not want to leave in the first place, but then-general manager Dave Gettleman was not interested in him at his asking price.

Now Collins hopes to stay with the team until he retires.

“It’s an honor,” he said of his big play Sunday. “It’s a blessing. It’s fun. I’m glad I could do it for this team, and the team I wanted to be on.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.