The New Orleans Saints finally got to march back into their home stadium of Caesars Superdome on Sunday afternoon, their first showing since the devastation from Hurricane Ida forced them to evacuate on August 28th. The day was marked by a reunion with the passionate fans–for the first time in the regular season since the COVID-19 pandemic locked them out–who greeted their team with open arms and the loudest ovations, which only grew louder from the moment the opening kickoff soared. It was a day of pride and resurgence in New Orleans, but as the homecoming parade reached its final stretch, Jabrill Peppers stole the microphone as master of ceremonies and suddenly the New York Giants became the only noisemakers in the building.
Trailing by an 11 points in the fourth quarter, amid deafening New Orleans crowd noise and with an 0-4 start breathing down their team’s shoulderpads, Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley orchestrated a late, momentous New York rally that carried the festivities into overtime and punched the Giants into the win column for the first time this season.
As part of a record-breaking performance that saw Jones throw for a career-high 402 yards, the Giants quarterback completed five passes for 67 yards in the overtime opening drive, setting up a 6-yard cash in run by Barkley with five minutes left in the extra period to give New York the 27-21 walk off victory.
After watching two wins slip from their grasp thanks to unjustifiable miscues and last second field goals, the Giants got to experience their first taste of victory in 2021 on New Orleans’ turf.
“Proud of the team and they fought,” Giants head coach Joe Judge said after the game. “We talked about coming down here ready for sixty minutes in this kind of environment, this kind of team. Obviously it took more than sixty minutes, but as we talk about the way we work, it’s whatever it takes to get what we are working for and to make sure we come out victorious.”
“That was obviously a very good team, a well coached team, a lot of talent….so we knew all three phases had to come to play today and play good complimentary football. I’m proud of the way the guys prepared throughout the week, and obviously it carried over to having opportunities for success on the field.”
Sunday’s win was hard to predict entering the start of the week, but it certainly was one the entire Giants organization needed more than ever. The Giants came into New Orleans with their third 0-3 start in the last five seasons, at the bottom of the NFC East once again, and the heat was rising all the way to John Mara’s office. Calls for wholesale firings of the general manager Dave Gettleman and the entire coaching staff felt imminent if Big Blue did not figure out a way to win and cease the gnashing of teeth coming from the New York media and fanbase.
Now, for at least one week, all appears to be peaceful and joyous in the Big Apple, and the Giants temporarily feel the weight fall off their shoulders.
“We’ve shown glimpses of what we can be as an offense throughout these first four games,” said Jones during his media appearance. “We made a few more plays [today] and made the plays when it counted….We needed a win and there was a high sense of urgency to do that.”
Playing with urgency turned out to be more of a revolving door than a consistent effort in the Giants’ performance on Sunday, as the offense’s tempo seemed to fluctuate between high and low at different moments of the game. Through the first 21 minutes of competition, the Giants went toe to toe–scoreless and dull–with the Saints offense that’s been known to play conservatively on that side of the ball, averaging less than 200 yards from the air and around 120 yards on the ground per game. Both sides even exchanged missed field goals to remain tied at 0-0 with four minutes past in the second quarter.
Then, with 8:51 left in the second frame, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett took things up a notch, calling for Daniel Jones to run a vertical route play with new wide receiver speedster John Ross on 1st and 10 from the Giants 48 yard line. Following the snap, Ross, playing in his Giants debut after missing the first three games on the IR, completely beat his defender off the ball, prompting a 52-yard bomb from Jones which he caught and ran into the endzone for the game’s first score and a 7-0 Giants lead.
As both teams went into the locker room at the half tied 7-7, after New Orleans responded with their own touchdown on a 13-play, 75 yard drive courtesy of receiver Juwan Johnson, it felt like the Giants had some wind in their sails. That was until the Saints, in particular the defense and reserve quarterback Taysom Hill, popped holes in those sails, flipping the momentum and reigniting the Saints faithful.
With the third quarter underway, Saints coach Sean Payton and their offense took a turn in calling a big time play. On the first play of scrimmage in the second half, his quarterback, Jameis Winston, found receiver Marcus Callway on a 58-yard reception at the Giants 17-yard line. Two plays later, the Saints capitalized with an eight yard touchdown rush by Taysom Hill to take their first lead over the Giants, 14-7. New York would answer on the ensuing drive with a Graham Gano 23-yard field goal, his first make after missing one from 35 yards in the second quarter, to cut the Saints’ lead to 14-10.
The Saints were not ready to relinquish their grasp on the game just yet, and with the help of their top-ranked defense locking up the Giants’ offense, forcing Riley Dixon punts on their next two possessions, they proceeded to increase their lead heading into the fourth quarter. Taking the ball at 3:23 mark of the third from their own 37, Winston patrolled his team downfield 63 yards in under six and a half minutes before capping off another drive with a second Taysom Hill rushing touchdown, again from eight yards out, to give the Saints a convincing 21-10 advantage.
Thus by the seven minute mark of the fourth quarter, with a double digit lead for the home team, a reinvigorated crowd, and an opposing offense blanketed by the Saints’ stout defense in their previous two possessions, the Giants appeared to have lost all urgency and tempo and were primed for another disappointing loss on the road. That moment was when Jones, Barkley, Peppers, and company found their urgency again, caught the Saints defense sleeping on one play and never looked back.
With 6:52 left in regulation, Daniel Jones found a wide open Saquon Barkley along the left sideline on a wheel route that the Penn State product took 54 yards to the endzone, beating out two trailing Saints defenders in the process to cut the score to 21-16 and commence the Giants fateful comeback. On the ensuing play, Jones rushed in a two-point conversion to make it 21-18, and suddenly there was a game once again and the Giants breathed life.
Then, as a cherry on top of the comeback, the Giants reversed the script of the previous two weeks, with Graham Gano nailing his own game-tying 48-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to send the contest into overtime.
Before you knew it, Caesars Superdome was inaudible except for where the momentum was felt–and heard–along the Giants sideline. But in case there wasn’t enough excitement for the possibility of a New York come from behind victory, enter Jabrill Peppers for the overtime coin toss.
During the traditional overtime coin toss exercises, Peppers was the Giants representative and he chose not to shy away from letting the crowd know his expletive-filled emotions and the team’s mindset towards ending the game on their terms. Upon winning the coin toss on a “heads” selection, the Giants corner let out an echoing “BOOM!” that was caught by the official’s hot mic before also letting the entire building know, and the social media world later, that the Giants “want that [expletive} man”.
“The adrenaline of it all,” Peppers recalled with a smile, “But I said, ‘Boom,’ and then I said, ‘We want that [expletive]!’ Yeah, I had a feeling [we were going to win], especially the way the flow of the game was going. They had a chance to put us away … I just had this feeling, ‘We’re going to finish this game off.'”
Peppers’s confidence in his team would pay off, as the Giants offense received the ball and never gave New Orleans a chance to have it back. On a 9-play 75 yard drive spanning over five minutes, Daniel Jones found multiple targets–John Ross, Saquon Barkley, Collin Johnson, and Kenny Golladay and Devontae Booker–and even ran the ball him himself to carry the Giants all the way down to the New Orleans’ 6-yardline. From there, all the Giants had to do was squash one of their former demons–scoring in the endzone to finish a long drive–and Saquon made sure it happened this time on a 6-yard goal line rush.
Diving over the plain with the ball against his forearm, Barkley had his comeback moment from his 11-month absence due to ACL rehab and finally gave the Giants what they needed most. A win. The moment not only felt soothing for the Giants fan at home, but it must have been cathartic for Barkley and his teammates who’ve heard nothing but heavy criticism amid the shortcomings of the first three weeks.
Now, leaving the Superdome field in walkoff fashion, the Giants’ star running back could let the whole world know that his team isn’t finished yet. In fact he did, putting his right index finger to his mouth to silence the raucous crowd inside Caesars as the two teams filled the field for the final handshakes.
“This team has been through a lot. We’ve been through a lot of close games and previously we haven’t found a way to finish it,” Barkley said. “That was just our motto, that’s what we kept saying at halftime: Stick together … and find a way to win this game.”
Barkley finished the day with 13 carries for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing. However, the entire Giants team made sure it was known that none of Sunday’s comeback was possible without the heroics of Jones.
Jones finished 28-of-40 for his career high of 402 yards and added two touchdowns along the way, but it was his complete composure through the entire game that caught praise.
“I love Daniel. He had a heck of a game,” Giants coach Joe Judge said. “I’m very proud of how this guy came down here, prepared throughout the week and the performance he had on the field today in that environment against that defense.”
“I see the work that he puts in. I see how great he wants to be,” said Kenny Golladay.
Sending New Orleans to 2-2 on their season, the Giants improved their record to 1-3, giving themselves and their fans a glimmer of hope for a year that seemed entirely lost just a week ago. They now possess tape showing their capabilities to finish and win football games against a top-tier opponent, and that film also contains exhibits for how to find opportunities for success on the football field.
According to Joe Judge,however, the Giants will not fall under the trap of letting the results or the process of success from one game dictate what they do against other opponents moving forward. As the team prepares for a divisional matchup with the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday, it’s back to the drawing board to figure out what new preparations will lead to success on that football field and implement them, while also improving the aspects of their game that didn’t work so well in Week 4.
“I’m a believer in the process,” Judge said. “I’m a believer in not looking at the results and thinking that justifies what you do. I believe in coming back to work every week, and knowing what it takes to be successful and sticking to that plan.”
“Results are the most deceiving thing in mankind. If you keep focused with what’s away from you and forget about the steps you have to complete on the way there, you’ll never get to where you really want to be.”
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