It is growing increasingly clear that the Giants have a coaching advantage more often than not when they take the field. That advantage revealed itself again in their 31-24 playoff victory over the Vikings inside the very loud and, at the end, quite subdued U.S. Bank Stadium.
There were adjustments galore as the Giants engaged in another close game with the Vikings, a team that beat them 27-24 on Christmas Eve on a 61-yard field goal as time expired. On defense, the Giants took Justin Jefferson, the most prolific wide receiver in the NFL, out of the game, limiting him to one reception in the second half. The return from injury of cornerback Adoree’ Jackson had plenty to do with this, but so too did the maneuverings of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to give Jefferson different looks.
The Giants also took a play the Vikings like to run — screen pass to running back Dalvin Cook — and ground that play into the ground, with cornerback Darnay Holmes especially effective in stomping out those plays. Cook had six receptions in the game — for a total of only 10 yards. Martindale in the second half instructing safety Xavier McKinney to play closer to the box helped limit the damage tight end T.J. Hockenson created.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll (l.) reacts after the team’s win over the Vikings on Jan. 15, 2023.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Giants head coach Brian Daboll (l.) talks to running back Saquon Barkley (26) during the team’s wild-card win over the Vikings on Jan. 15, 2023.Corey SipkinThere were plenty of nifty looks from head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. Did you see that behind-the-back handoff Daniel Jones pulled off to Matt Breida? There was action in the run game sending the flow of the defense to the right side as Breida moved to his left. The Vikings should have been prepared for Saquon Barkley coming out of the backfield as a pass-catching threat but Kafka changed up the design on some of these routes, causing conflict with the Vikings linebackers. Barkley ran free to pick up 56 yards on his five receptions, providing a crucial safety valve for Jones.
More that came out of the Giants’ first postseason victory in more than a decade:
— Daniel Jones became the first quarterback in NFL history with 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 70-plus rushing yards in a postseason game. Jones finished with 301 passing yards, 78 rushing yards and touchdown passes to Isaiah Hodgins and Daniel Bellinger. Jones’ 300-yard passing game was the fifth for the Giants in the playoffs. Eli Manning and Kerry Collins each had two of them.
— The roughing the passer penalty on Dexter Lawrence for tossing Kirk Cousins to the ground just after he released the ball on a fourth-quarter throw? It might have been a soft call. “I was pissed off after that,” Lawrence said. “I had to shake it off and keep playing the next play.”
— No one questioned that the Giants belonged in the NFC tournament, but they did go into the postseason with a record of 0-6 against the NFC field – 0-2 vs. the Eagles, 0-2 vs. the Cowboys, 0-1 vs. the Seahawks and 0-1 vs. the Vikings. The Giants picked an opportune time to beat the No. 3 seed in the conference.
— Remember when reaching 30 points was some faraway ideal and not at all associated with Giants reality? They went 43 consecutive games without scoring 30 points before they piled 38 on the Colts on New Year’s Day. With the 31 points they slapped on the Vikings, the Giants have now surpassed 30 points in two of their last three games — and the one they scored only 16 points was with their backups on the field in the regular-season finale.
The offense certainly had no trouble moving the ball on the Vikings, amassing 445 total yards on Christmas Eve in Minneapolis and putting up 431 total yards the second time around inside U.S. Bank Stadium. There is plenty of speculation about the job security of Ed Donatell, the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, and the Giants did not help with that job security with the way they scored and churned out yards on his unit.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) runs the ball against the Vikings on Jan. 15, 2023.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post The 431 total yards was the fourth-highest total in Giants postseason history. Their most prolific playoff game also came against the Vikings – 518 yards in that epic 41-0 rout in the 2000 NFC Championship game. The other two high-yardage playoff games: 446 at San Francisco on Jan. 5, 2003, and 442 vs. Atlanta on Jan. 8, 2012. The 28 first downs was the second-highest total for the Giants in a playoff game, bettered only by the 31 first downs they had — you guessed it — against the Vikings in the 2000 game.
— No sacks and no turnovers on defense is usually a pathway to failure. That happened twice to the Giants this season, in losses to the Cowboys and Lions. Wink Martindale’s defense did not sack Kirk Cousins and also failed to create a turnover, yet the Giants won.
