New York Giants Wild Card Report Card: A Grade-A Performance

The New York Giants continued to poke holes in the arguments of their doubters by delivering a very convincing 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round. Here are the grades from that game.

Offense: A+

Can we finally put to rest any doubts that the Giants have themselves a franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones? He not only delivered a 24-of-35, 301-yard, 2-touchdown performance, but he also ran for a career-high 17 carries, picking up 78 yards.

And as he’s done all year long, he made a bunch of sound decisions with the ball in his hands, proving that he can be a lethal weapon that opposing defenses need to account for moving forward. Saquon Barkley only ran the ball nine times for 53 yards—he did score two rushing touchdowns—he was also part of a six-man rotation of receiving targets Jones threw to. Barkley caught five of six passes for 56 yards.

Speaking of receiving, Isaiah Hodgins continues to amaze for someone who wasn’t with the team at the start of the year. Hodgins finished with a team-leading eight receptions for a team-best 105 yards and one receiving touchdown, proving no match for cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Darius Slayton nearly earned the goat horns this week when he produced a fourth-quarter drop that, had he made, would have ended the game in the Giant’s favor, but thankfully, his teammates rallied to keep the Vikings from scoring again. In all, the Giants offense looked like a playoff-caliber group, scoring on five of their nine possessions, dominating the time of possession (33:36 to 26:24), and converting 7 of 13 on third down (53.8 percent) and 75 percent in the red zone.

Defense: B

The Giants' defense buckled down after giving up an all-too-easy touchdown on the opening drive by turning in a bunch of smart, efficient play. They held receiver Justin Jefferson to 47 yards on seven receptions but didn’t have any answers for tight end T.J. Hockenson, who caught ten balls for 129 yards. However, safety Xavier McKinney stopped the big tight end from converting a first down late in the game when it mattered the most.

Kirk Cousins wasn’t sacked, but he was hit 11 times, six of those by Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence combined. Still, Cousins finished 31 of 39 for 273 yards and two touchdowns in the passing game. And the Giants did a nice job against the Vikings rushing game, holding Dalvin Cook to 15 carries for 60 yards.

Special Teams: A

Graham Gano delivered his usual stellar performance, converting on a 25-yard field goal (his only one of the game), all his PATs, and limiting the Vikings kickoff return unit to just one return for 24 yards (his other five kickoffs went for touchbacks). Jamie Gillan only had to punt twice, and on both, returner Jalen Reagor came up empty, muffing one of the punts (in the third quarter) when Nick McCloud hit him.

Not much from Giants kickoff returner Gary Brightwell, who only had one return for 19 yards. Richie James delivered a nice 10-yard punt return that gave his offense some breathing room early in the game.

Coaching: A+

Brian Daboll’s insistence in sticking to the process has this Giants team believing in itself and playing some of its best ball. Daboll, who always professes his belief in his players, backed it up by going for it twice on fourth down and making both attempts. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka came up with a more balanced game plan between the pass and run, using a lot of misdirections and crossing patterns to put the Vikings defense on its heels. Wink Martindale’s unit had some early struggles with receiver Justin Jefferson, but then he adjusted by doubling up, perhaps at the expense of letting tight end T.J. Hockenson have a big day.

The New York Giants delivered a convincing 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card round, earning top grades across the board.

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