Daniel Jones Reflects on Giants' Lost Opportunity

Daniel Jones had his best statistical passing game of the season, but the Giants still found themselves on the wrong side of a 27-24 loss to Minnesota thanks to a 61-yard field goal by kicker Greg Joseph as time expired.

Jones threw for 334 yards in the contest. It was only his second time throwing for over 300 yards this season and only his sixth time in his career. The Giants are winless in both his 300-yard games this season, and they are .500 in his four seasons.

Coincidentally, the last time Jones threw an interception was the last time he surpassed 300 passing yards; that was against the Lions in Week 11. He threw for a season-high 341 yards that day but also threw two interceptions in the 31-18 home loss to Detroit.

Jones talked about the interception and how he was ultimately able to put it behind him.

"Just a bad throw. Just threw it behind him; got to give a better ball there," he said. "I think you want to understand what happened and communicate and make sure it doesn't happen again, but you can't let it affect what we're doing going forward. Can't let it affect your mindset and approach, so just try to stay aggressive and keep taking opportunities when they're there."

That's exactly what Jones did in the game. After the interception, he got the offense in position for a field goal, a game-tying touchdown, and a two-point conversion. Jones admitted that he felt good about their chances offensively if the game had gone into overtime.

"I thought we were playing well, and yeah, an opportunity to play overtime I thought was a good one for us. Yeah, credit to them. Great kick, great play there at the end to get into field goal range, and a lot of credit to them."

Jones knows that, ultimately, this team's margins for error are thin, especially against quality opponents like the Vikings. It only takes a handful of plays to change fortunes for the better or worse. He discussed the lesson that he and the offense could take away from a close loss.

"I think in games like this against a good team, those three, four plays, you've got to make them. You've got to be able to make the big play at the critical point in the game, and we didn't do that today. We did do a lot of things well. We moved the ball well. We did make some plays. But not enough, and against a good team like that, you've got to make those few plays," Jones said. "We'll look at it, see what we can do better, and look forward to making them in the future."

The future includes a "win and in" game next week against the Colts after letting a playoff-clinching opportunity slip through their fingers in Minnesota with Seattle and Detroit losing. Although Jones admitted they were disappointed that they lost, he recognizes the huge opportunity that lies next week when they take on the Colts at home with everything on the line.

"We're looking forward to it, and we'll do everything we can to prepare as well as we can this week and get ready for a good opponent on Sunday," Jones stated. "Take it day by day, do everything we can, get the most out of each day so that we are as prepared as we can be, and then cut loose Sunday. We're excited for the opportunity."

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