Daniel Jones: Calmness Personified with Big Game Ahead

With the New York Giants needing just one win to clinch a playoff spot, quarterback Daniel Jones is also one win away from making his postseason debut.

Jones has been a major factor in the Giants’ surprising success this year. He has set career-best marks for completions (298), completion percentage (66.5%), passing yards (3,028), and passer rating (90.7).

In addition to throwing 13 touchdown passes against just five interceptions, Jones has also set franchise records with his legs, most notably for rushing yards by a quarterback with 617. He has scored five rushing touchdowns, recorded 49 first downs, and only fumbled the ball twice this year.

Most importantly, Jones’s play has consistently put the Giants in a position to win. But the Giants’ signal-caller, known for his team-first mentality, emphasized his teammates when describing his role in the offense.

“A quarterback’s job is to distribute the ball where it’s supposed to go and give guys a chance to make plays,” Jones told us. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers on our team, people who have stepped up throughout the year and done that for us. I think when a quarterback is doing his job, he can put guys in a position to make plays.”

This focus on playing a team game on offense, alongside the improvement of Jones’s ability to improvise and extend plays, has allowed the Giants’ offense to come through in several clutch situations and compile a record of 8-6-1 through 15 games.

With two games left in the regular season, the Giants need to win one to punch their ticket to the postseason. The first of these two opportunities will be against the Indianapolis Colts on New Year’s Day, in the final home game of New York’s season.

Naturally, the MetLife Stadium crowd will be loud and electrifying with so much on the line, but Jones believes that atmosphere has been present at every home game this year, no matter the stakes.

“We’ve felt a lot of support and energy from them all year,” Jones said. “We certainly expect that on Sunday. We appreciate the support and are excited to get out there.”

The Giants are 3.5-point favorites against the Colts, who have struggled greatly throughout the season and currently sit at 4-10-1. However, the Colts are ranked 11th in total defense, and Jones knows they can’t be taken lightly.

“They’re a good group on defense. They’re consistent, do what they’re supposed to, and are in the right spots. Don’t blow assignments much or give you a lot of that,” Jones said.

“If you’re prepared and ready to go, you’re ready to put your best foot forward and put the team in a position to win. That’s what I’m focused on, just preparing every day as well as I can,” he added when asked about the team’s preparation for the game.

But even with good preparation, there is still significant pressure on Jones and the Giants to perform. A loss would force the Giants to win on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles in the last game of the regular season.

The Eagles currently have the best record in the NFL (13-2) and are looking to clinch the NFC East (needing either a win or a loss by the Dallas Cowboys), so trying to beat them to clinch a playoff spot would be a very difficult task.

However, these repercussions aren’t on Jones’s mind at the moment. He’s laser-focused on what the team needs to do to win. Great teams play to win instead of not to lose, and Jones is well aware of that.

“At this level, there’s always pressure, there are always expectations. Our goal is always to go 1-0 that week and to win the game,” Jones said. “The implications of it and how that plays out down the road, I don’t think we’re worried about that or thinking about that too much. What we’re focused on is playing as well as we can.”

Even though the focus is on the task at hand, Jones still savors the opportunity of playing meaningful games and is proud of his team for preparing for one on Sunday.

“It’s why you play, you put in a lot of time and effort and energy into getting the opportunity to do that, and we haven’t had that opportunity in years past,” Jones said.

“I’m very proud of this team. We’ve improved week to week, and we’ve fought hard. I think we’re a tough group. We compete hard week in and week out. We’ve been successful, and we’ve battled through some tough times too. It’s a tough, competitive group, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

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