Are the Giants Super Bowl contenders?
It usually takes an elite quarterback to be the last team standing, and running back Saquon Barkley is confident the Giants have exactly that.
“I know we have an elite quarterback,” said Barkley in regard to QB Daniel Jones. (h/t ESPN)
Jones was fantastic against Minnesota, going 24-of-35 for 301 yards and two touchdowns as well as leading the team in both rushing attempts (17) and yards (78).
Per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, no other QB in league history had at least 300 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 70 rushing yards in a postseason game prior to Jones.
The Giants have the tall task of going against the NFC’s top-seed Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. Per Oddschecker, Philadelphia (14-3) is a 7.5-point favorite against New York (9-7-1).
With Jones and Barkley playing like stars, a New York upset isn’t far-fetched. Of the two, Jones might find it tougher to replicate his performance.
One immediate mismatch in Sunday’s game appears to be Philadelphia’s secondary versus New York’s wide receivers.
Per Football Outsiders, Philadelphia ranked first in pass defense via the site’s Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) metric. DVOA measures how a particular team or unit stacks up against a league-average opponent.
As the Giants’ Darius Slayton showed when he dropped an easy target on a third-and-15 that gave Minnesota a chance to tie Sunday’s wild-card game, New York’s receivers make life harder for Jones than it has to be. It would be generous to consider them league-average.
