Giants win over the Vikings 31-24

"I was really looking forward to this game with the Minnesota Vikings, especially after the way the last one between the teams ended. That last second 61-yard field goal, that gave the Vikings the win, was crushing. Things did not start well for the Giants today. Every pass quarterback Kirk Cousins threw was a completion, and he finished his drive off with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.
The Giants started off their drive with a holding penalty on the first play that erased a Saquon Barkley 13 yard run. Now they needed 20 yards for a first down, but Daniel Jones took care of that. He completed a 13 yard pass to Richie James, and then Jones scrambled for 7 yards. He then completed a deep pass to Darius Slayton, ran with the ball again for a first down, and Barkley got into the act with a 28-yard touchdown run
With both teams easily scoring touchdowns on their opening possessions, it was 7-7 and the game looked like it could get out of hand. The overconfident Vikings tried a trick play on their next drive, where they needed just one yard for a first down, and lost two yards. After their thee-and-out, the Giants showed they weren't fooling around. Taking things more seriously, Jones hit Slayton for 47 yards, Lawrence Cager for 4 yards, Barkley broke up the middle for 16 yards, and Isaiah Hodgins caught a 14 yard pass for a touchdown.
Just four plays, and I was saying 'Wow', especially after our defense got the Vikings off the field quickly again, and the Giants added a field goal to take a 17-7 lead. Unfortunately, Cousins got hot with two of his passes going to his top receivers, each went for almost 30 yards, and he closed things out with a touchdown pass to cut the lead to 17-14 with less than a minute left in the half.
The Giants got the ball to start off the second half and stayed on track. In less than three and a half minutes, they scored again when Jones threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Bellinger. The Vikings had no quit in them, and soon matched that with one of their own. The Giants were leading 24-21, and every time they had the ball they had scored except for once having next to no time to end the half.
Things didn't work out this time when Jones took a third down sack, and the Giants punted for the first time in the game. Their defense had the Vikings facing a 4th-and-2 from the Giants 43-yard line, and Cousins turned that into an 18-yard completion. When he got his team down to the Giants 16-yard line, a false start penalty killed their chances, turning a 4th-and-1 into a 4th-and-6, and they kicked a field goal to tie the score at 24-24.
We were in the fourth quarter now, where playoff teams either put up or shut up. Jones passed on every play, except for one he ran on, until he got to the Vikings 7-yard line facing a 4th and 1. The Giants didn't want to settle for a field goal, and Jones picked up two yards on a quarterback sneak. Barkley soon closed things out with a 2 yard touchdown run, and it was great to see that the Giants had a 31-24 lead.
It was even better when the defense got the Vikings three-and-out. I was worried when the Giants took over, didn't get very far, and decided to go for it on a 4th-and-1 from their own 45-yard line. Barkley had just failed to get the one yard on the 3rd-and-1. It felt like it was a long Giants' time out for me to overthink about them not making it, and giving the Vikings the ball at that spot.
Jones was called on to do it, and another quarterback sneak picked up the first down. Now the Vikings were forced to burn all their timeouts while the Giants controlled the ball. Jones got hit with a sack and needed 15 yards to keep things going. He threw a pass to Slayton, but it was dropped. It was too bad, because there were still three minutes left after the punt for Cousins to do what we all know he could in these situations.
The sneaky football gods would have him tying things up, and the Vikings winning this playoff game with a 61-yard field goal. How did that thought come into my mind? Cousins got down to about midfield, needing to convert on a 4th-and-8. The Giants coverage was good and the pressure was on, so he had to throw it a few yards short, but the receiver couldn't pick up the needed yards when safety Xavier McKinney grabbed him, and the Giants had the ball.
After a few kneel down plays, the game was officially over. All the playoff games leading up to this one were pretty exciting, but the way I see it this one was the best. The Giants did what the fans expected and pulled off a win today over the Vikings, and it looks like the Eagles are next. As they say, bring it on."

"The Giants knew full well what they were up against in this Wildcard playoff, having just faced the Minnesota Vikings a few weeks ago. They did their homework and they did it well. The Giants went after Cousins in their first game and sacked him 4 times, but he was able to complete passes to wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson when he needed it the most.
Safety Xavier McKinney and cornerback Adoree' Jackson did not play in that game, and you have to think that Hockenson wouldn't have ended up with a career high 13 catches for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns, if they were available to play. The same goes for Jefferson, who caught 12 passes for 103 yards, and 1 touchdown. Despite the upfront pressure, Cousins kept looking their way, and the two missed on only 7 of Cousins 32 passes.
This time the Giants had a full crew on the field to kill some of the opportunities. With the added pressure and coverage, Cousins directed only 20 passes at Jefferson and Hockenson, and had to look elsewhere. Hockenson had the way better day this time out, but neither receiver caught a touchdown pass. The defense did a great job holding Jefferson, the league leading receiver in receptions and yards, to just 47 yards on his 7 catches, and 4 of those catches for 30 yards, came on the opening drive.
They couldn't stop both receivers, but limiting the big play guy was the way to go. There was pressure but no sacks on Cousins, and that might have not been the case if Azeez Ojulari didn't have to leave in the second quarter because of an injured quad. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale also eased off on the blitz in favor of better pass coverage, and still there were 11 quarterback hits.
On the offensive side of the ball, Daniel Jones had a stellar performance. Jones was cool under pressure, and completed 24-of-35 passes for 301 yards, with touchdown passes to Isaiah Hodgins and Daniel Bellinger. Jones also ran for a career high 17 carries for 78 yards, which included 2 fourth down quarterback sneaks. In this gameplan, they had Saquon Barkley run with the ball only 9 times, but he averaged 6 yards a carry, and had two rushing touchdowns.
Barkley also caught the second most passes, 5 for 53 yards. Jones picked on Isaiah Hodgins the most, and he caught 8 of 9 for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. Darius Slayton was next with 88 yards on 4 catches, and Richie James also had 4 for 31 yards. You can't leave out tight end Daniel Bellinger who caught both his passes for 17 yards, and one was a touchdown.
There were no major mistakes this time against the Vikings, and the Giants got the win they deserved. The only exceptions might be Bellinger getting caught for a penalty when Jones scored on a rushing touchdown. The Giants ended up having to settle for a field goal. Another time when the Giants were in position to possibly close things out, Slayton dropped a pass from Jones that could have picked up the first down.
The Giants have exceeded all expectations this year. So far as scheduling goes, they can say they are the only NFC East team that got to the playoffs, and were not one and done. That might change tomorrow night or not, when the Dallas Cowboys play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. More important for the Giants is to make sure the Philadelphia Eagles are one and done when they face them next week in the Divisional Round."

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